Oh man I LOVE Soul Calibur!!! It's my favorite of the "in-depth" fighting games (a la Tekken, Virtua Fighter, and DOA) and I love the characters especially some of the laddiiieesss...*achem* they're good fighters really!
SIEGFRIED IS MAH BOY THO'!
I am super psyched for Soul Calibur IV and I can't wait...I've been a fan since Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast (missed out on Soul Edge though) and that was one of the most polished and beautiful looking games of its time.
For those that don't know, "special guest" characters is nothing new to Soul Calibur...they did this before with the multi-platform launch of Soul Calibur II...EVERY system got its own exclusive character:
PS2: Heihachi Mishima (Tekken)
X-Box: Spawn (Spawn comics)
Gamecube: Link (Legend of Zelda)
Looks like Namco is doing it again with SCIV and going BIG with the Star Wars characters. I certainly don't mind but I also know its a marketing tactic on their part to try and raise some sales and perhaps get some more people interested in the franchise.
Nevertheless...good stuff!!
BTW - whose everyone's favorite Soul Calibur characters? I typically play with SIEGFRIED as my top guy. I also like Nightmare, Mitsurighi, Raphael, Taki, Ivy, Sophitia and Killik.