CES '08: Yoda, Vader warring in Soulcalibur IV

Cameos are nothing new to Namco Bandai's long-running Soul Calibur fighting series. When Soul Calibur II released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox in 2003, each version received an exclusive, and seemingly oddball addition to the game's fighter roster. Nintendo's iconic sword fighter Link wound up in the GC version, while Todd McFarlane's Spawn materialized in the Xbox game and Tekken's karate master Heihachi Mishima appeared in the PS2 game.

With Soul Calibur III seeing a console-exclusive release on the PS2, Namco Bandai forwent the cameo route, instead throwing all three out-of-place fighters into the same ring. However, with Soulcalibur IV slated to arrive this summer on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the Japanese publisher felt a new round of iconic fighters was in order.

Namco Bandai today announced from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that it would be partnering with LucasArts to add Darth Vader to the PlayStation 3 version's roster, with Yoda joining up with the Xbox 360 crew. Screenshots released with the announcement reveal the two will both wield their respective red and green lightsabers, though no other details on how the two characters will play were given.

Soulcalibur IV continues the story begun in the first three fighter installments in the Soul Calibur/Soul Blade series, with Project Soul returning to development duties on the game. In addition to new battle system, Soulcalibur IV will let fighters create their own custom characters with distinct looks and moves and will also feature online play. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.