A bunch (and we mean a bunch) of new Soulcalibur IV screens have popped up. These are screens that show things like the game's Single Player Mode menu, Arcade Mode, Training Mode, VS Mode, Museum, Character Creation and a comic as well. There's lots of nitty-gritty to click through, but it's interesting stuff.

With this, the seventh new character to join the Soulcalibur IV line up, we're starting to notice a trend. Kamikirimusi, like her predecessors Shura, Scheherezade, Algol Fear, and Ashlotte, is a female fighter designed by a well known Japanese artist, this time by guest artist Hirokazu Hisayuki. She'll fight with a very large metal club/mace and satisfy fans of exposed upper thigh flesh.

According to importer YesAsia, the PlayStation 3 version of Soulcalibur IV will join the ranks of games requiring a substantial installation to the console's hard drive. How substantial? Substantial. About 6.5 GB worth of your HDD, with 2 GB of space on top of that allocated to save data. The latter disk space requirement makes some sense, as the game looks to have a fairly robust character creation tool, which we hope allows for a larger number of custom fighters than its predecessor. Regardless, 2 GB, if true, is still rather hefty.

It's official. Castlevania Judgment, the first 3D fighting game to bear the Castlevania brand, is coming to the Wii this Fall. Series producer Koji "Iga" Igarashi is helming the project with a little help from manga artist Takeshi Obata, the man in charge of character designs this go 'round. Obata may be best known for his work on Death Note and the Blue Dragon manga adaptation.The title was revealed in this month's Nintendo Power.

The Castlevania Judgment release points out that the Wii game will feature head-to-head battles via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Fans of wireless signals will also be thrilled to learn that Castlevania Judgment can wirelessly connect to the Nintendo DS via Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, unlocking "bonus gameplay content". Guess that confirms this little rumour, eh?

Full release is after this.

Total Mortal Kombat says it got its hands on a Catwoman render for the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe title. I did some scrounging for Catwoman pics to see if there was anything obvious out there that could serve as a fake for this sort of thing. Couldn't find any, so, props to TMK (whose water mark is all over this, as the render leak was exclusive to them).

That leaves Prototypical Super Hero, Mystical Super Hero, Amazon Queen, Crazy Villain, and Military Superhero among the unidentified generic descriptors of DC Universe kombatants. Catwoman apparently takes the "Sexy Villainness" title. Not that big of a surprise. Big version of the pic is on the jump.

Sorry for being curt there, but really, that's about all there is to these latest Soul Calibur IV shots. Tits. Oh, and that subtle crotch shot. Good to see Namco Bandai are remembering it's not all about Star Wars, and that there's a church full of the converted who still enjoy being preached to every now and again.

The latest issue of Famitsu has more news on Soul Calibur IV. Nothing on Star Wars or disappearing clothes here, though, this stuff's technical: the game will feature tag-team action. Yup, in the good old-fashioned Marvel v Capcom style. Well, almost. It's supposedly not quite as extensive - it's suggested that team-mates are used only for stuff like combos, not full-blooded, mid-battle tap-outs. There's also only mention of it being available in singleplayer, but still. A Vader-Kratos one-two punch? What a weird and wonderful world we live in.

Soul Calibur IV Features 'Character Swapping' [1UP]

If you're going to next month's San Diego Comic-Con and think that Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a fantastic idea, we have good news. Well, Midway has good news, as it has announced a Comic-Con panel dedicated to the fighting game series reboot. "Worlds Collide: The Making of Midway's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" will go down Friday, July 25th and features MK creator Ed Boon and DC Comics collaborator Jimmy Palmiotti rappin' about the crossover, showing off "never-before-seen gameplay" and unveiling "key characters".

They're also giving away posters! Hopefully, said posters feature Wonder Woman and Sonya Blade for extra poster-kissability. For those who aren't able to make the trek to Comic-Con, perhaps these day old MK vs. DC in-game screenshots will soothe the pain.

If you purchased Commando 3 on XBLA the other day, good news! What may well have been the real reason you bought it - the Street Fighter II HD beta - kicks off today! Remember, you're supposed to be helping Capcom test the game, not scamming some kind of free, early access, so your complaints that it features only one stage and two fighters (Ken & Ryu) will fall on deaf ears. If you're stuck on how to actually access the beta, it should appear as an option on the game's main menu.

That's Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono holding a new Street Fighter IV publicity poster. Quite swanky! (But it does remind me of the GTA IV "IV" — that's because there are only so many ways to do "IV", I guess.) There's another post after the jump. Same basic layout, but different characters in the "IV" and sporting a different colour. Kinda like it better, but you go on and judge for yourself.

If you're a PlayStation The Official Magazine subscriber, you already know that Flash will be joining the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe roster, along with an impressively chesty Sonya Blade. If not, well, there you go. The speedy champion of Central City is going to rep the DC side in Midway's upcoming brawler, bringing the confirmed list of DC heroes to three. How many others from the DC stable will appear?

If Darth Vader wasn't enough to sway you toward the PS3 version of Soulcalibur IV, perhaps the God of War will. According to the latest issue of EGM magazine, by way of 1UP, Kratos may be joining the line-up of souls in Namco Bandai's newest weapons-based fighter. Considering that Yoda versus Voldo fights will be commonplace, we're nonplussed at the concept. It's a surprisingly good fit.

Sure, it's a rumour, but that "expect confirmation soon" and a hint about Xbox 360 owners getting their own platform-specific fighter — Joanna Dark? Marcus Fenix? Banjo?! — makes us wonder if this is less of a rumour than it is a tease.

Quartermann: God of War Meets Soul Calibur? [1UP]

So yesterday we had the announcement that THQ would be releasing UFC 2009: Undisputed sometime in the spring of 2009. Gametrailers has the above debut trailer up and, from other sources, Voodoo Extreme has culled 10 screenshots and some fun facts about what the game has to offer.

Not my cup of tea, but I know how bent-out-of shape MMA enthusiasts get when you suggest the sport is anything less than the fastest growing sport in the world (I always imagine John Cusack in Say Anything: "Kickboxing: Sport of the future",) to say nothing of that "human cockfighting" label that never seems to go away. Still if you like squatting over another guy and jackhammering his skull off a virtual canvas, looks like it'll accommodate you nicely. And you don't have to do it as someone in the stable of UFC combatants. A deep "create-a-fighter" and career mode will make this almost a (wait for it ... wait for it) MMARPG.

Hit the jump for more details from Voodoo Extreme:

While Soulcalibur III was largely forgettable for some of us at Kotaku, some of our best memories were forged in the game's custom character creation tool. The "dancer" style fighter armed with a pair of tambourines made for some rather amusing matches. Soulcalibur IV doesn't appear to be a slouch in the custom fighter department, with all manner of ridiculous weapons and fetish focused accessories at your disposal.

Cowgirls? Check. Pirate wenches? Check. Cat-eared cuties wielding deadly feather dusters? Don't ask stupid questions.

If you have a hi-res shot of yourself and can think up a reason that amuses Capcom, you can get yourself in Street Fighter IV as a background spectator. You have to do it fast though. Capcom extended this offer on Friday and it runs through Wednesday.

Unless you're a die-hard fighting game nut (and British), you probably weren't planning on popping round to the Battle of Destiny fighting game tournament next month. Shame. Because by not attending you're not only missing out on a chance to play Street Fighter II HD early, but you're missing out on a chance to play the arcade version of Street Fighter IV early as well. Oh, so you've changed your mind? Fancy that. It's on July 26 & 27, at the London Metropolitan Uni.

The Battle Of Destiny [via Capcom]

First Guitar Hero kicks the bucket, now this... Soul Calibur IV has been dated and priced for Japan. That's good news! The game will be released on July 31st for ¥7,800 ($AU 76.89). Above is the official Japanese box art for the game, box art that features Darth Vader for the PS3 version. Yoda is on the Xbox 360 version's cover. That's, well, not such good news. By putting these iconic Star Wars characters on the box doesn't it make Soul Calibur IV seem less like a Soul Calibur game and more like a Star Wars game? Yes, yes it does. You had a good run SC. Gonna miss ya.

Hit the jump for Yoda and try not to wonder why the Lightsabres aren't slicing through the swords!

Yesterday it was revealed that Darth Vader's secret apprentice from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed would be appearing as a character in Namco Bandai's Soul Calibur IV, and now we've got pictures of the Mr. Secret himself in action, taking on the Soul Calibur regulars as well as the lean, green lightsabre machine Yoda himself. If this were a Star Wars game the screenshot up top would be immediately followed by a rolling Sith apprentice head, but who knows how things will go in the Soul Calibverse?

Check out the full gallery below, and hit the jump for the full video reveal, that promises, "New Powers Will Be Unleashed By A Secret Apprentice". Ooooo.

He's blue! And freaky! And not in a kooky-yet-heroic way like Doc Manhattan. In a creepy, evil way like Seth, Street Fighter IV's #1 bad guy. I still think his gut's a bit...silly, but then I usually think that about ridiculous boss characters in fighting games, and it doesn't stop them from kicking my crap through my teeth.

A brand new character is joining the cast of Soulcalibur IV and, surprisingly enough, this one isn't sporting Jabba the Hutt sized breasts. Darth Vader's "secret apprentice" Starkiller, star of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, will join Yoda and Vader in pitting lightsaber against blade when the game hits the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next month. Yes, Starkiller is coming to both versions of Soulcalibur IV, making your decision that much easier.

Soulcalibur IV Unleashed [GameSpot]

We've known that the Dark Knight would feature in Midway's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe since day one, but we hadn't seen much of him beyond his scowl and cowl. We've already gotten a taste of how Superman looks, but now we know what the fighting game version of Batman will look from head to toe, as official rendered artwork of the caped crusader has been released. He looks... well, he looks like Batman. We're neither disappointed nor overly ecstatic about his appearance, but that general ennui is in line with our Mortal Kombat interest over the past decade.

Larger, full body shot of Bruce Wayne's alter ego and a fresh render of Sub-Zero after the jump.

If you need one last injection of hype and haven't already basked in its goodness, don't miss this beautifully rendered, full length "sand-painting" trailer for Street Fighter IV. It features a showdown between classic street fighter Guile and French newcomer Abel in a grainy style that Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono claims was extremely difficult to get right. The only downside is that you'll—once again—wish that SFIV looked as stylised as its pre-rendered stuff.

Capcom shipped in four Street Fighter IV arcade cabinets for its international media event, dubbed Captivate 08, giving us a chance to go hands on with final code, an experience that was far better than what we'd played at GDC earlier this year. With a final roster of sixteen—the twelve classic Street Fighter II Champion Edition fighters and four newcomers—we longed for between-battle character switching to get a feel for each fighter. Eventually though, we got a chance to go hands-on with every new street fighting tough, plus almost all the returning pugilists.

Part cinematic sand-painted pre-rendered action, part straight to the point gameplay, this new Street Fighter IV trailer may be your first look at newcomers Abel, Rufus, Crimson Viper and El Fuerte. It may also be your introduction to Annoying Street Fighter IV Announcer Guy, a chatty Cathy who runs at the mouth with an unusual brand of hype. Also prominently featured are the bosses of Street Fighter II, with a respectable dose of arcade gameplay from veterans Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M. Bison. It's perfectly acceptable to mute this one, folks! Enjoy!

Capcom made it official last week that Street Fighter IV was coming home, confirming that the arcade version would be ported to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows-based PCs. Speaking to Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono at Captivate 08, we learned a bit more about Capcom's plans for the home versions.

As Ono and crew already specified, the Street Fighter IV home conversion with feature characters not seen in the arcade version as well as online internet play. Ono stressed that the two characters not in the final arcade version who showed up in preliminary art form, Dan Hibiki and Fei Long, are not yet confirmed to appear in the console version. He told us that the team simply hasn't decided yet who will be added to the roster and that SFIV artist Daigo Ikeno "is still working on many designs."

Street Fighter IV is months away. How the Dickens are you meant to pass all that time? Replaying older SF titles and soaking up all the media for this game won't keep you busy for long, so you'll need something a little more long-term. A little more...practical. Like learning, reading, living, loving some of the character's special moves. Hobby Media were able to sneak their cameras into a recent location test held in Akihabara, and come away with the moves list for every character revealed thus far. And not that they ever would have done such a thing, but its reassuring nonetheless to see Messrs hadoken, sonic boom and yoga fire return unchanged.

Missed the television debut of the new Street Fighter IV gameplay trailer? S'Okay. I did too. There's a good chance games, and not mixed martial arts TV shows, are your thing. So here it is, for your perusal, presented in stunning internet-o-vision.

Last night's network debut of mixed martial arts on CBS also featured the commercial airing of the Street Fighter IV gameplay trailer. Now it and a lot of other stuff is live on Capcom's official Street Fighter IV website, which launched shortly after the commercial. Not a big fan of the Faith No More track, but yes, ad people want to tout the game as "Epic" so I can connect the dots.

GameStop also is flacking an "Art of Street Fighter" book as incentive for the Xbox 360 and PS3 releases. The game is supposed to release Feb. 3, 2009.

The site contains character bios, sketches and making-of content -- some of it you may have seen elsewhere, but now it's all together under one roof.

Street Fighter IV [Capcom, via Gaming Bits]