Oh, and don’t I mean revealed. Soul Calibur IV (or, to be accurate, Soulcalibur IV, since they’ve removed the space for some reason) was announced last month and now we’re getting some more info about it. I was reading the August issue of EGM and the cover story was on SC4 (let’s abbreviate to avoid the whole question of space or no space).
I loved Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast. It was actually the game that got me to buy the console. Soul Calibur II was a lot of fun, III was not quite as good but the series remains my favorite fighting game series. Unfortunately, there’s been a disturbing trend in the character design. The female characters have become hyper-sexualized to the point that I’m actually offended by the art that I’ve seen of SC4.
I can’t find the really most awesome shot that was in EGM but here’s one that I found on Gamespot:
You can’t see the true “glory” that is Ivy’s frontside but her backside gives you an idea of what’s going on with the look of the characters.
In the article, one of the developers is talking about a new way to win. He says there’s a way that doesn’t involve health or ringouts. And he indicates that we should look at the screenshots to get a clue to what it is. I think I’ve figured it out! It’s Strip Fighting! Every hit knocks some more clothing off of your opponent and you win when they’re naked! Clever of them to hide that in the screenshots.
Here’s what Taki has become. She’s covered up, but it looks like she got some porn-star-implants and her outfit is more body paint than actual coverage.
I’m truly upset about this. I want to play SC4. I’ve been quite excited for it from when I first heard rumors of it. Next-gen action fighter? Yeah! Next-gen jiggle tech? Nooo!
Come on, isn’t it enough to have excellent gameplay? Are they really truly attracting more sales by making these characters so ridiculously sexual? Because they’re repelling me.
Some co-workers suggested this was a war of escalation started by Dead or Alive. But we have to be bigger than this! The games industry needs to realize that juvenile antics and puerile art direction are not helping our market grow. The Wii is successful because it’s games for everyone, not because it’s approaching porn.
