Soul Calibur III to exclusively skewer PS2s

Hot on the heels of the release of Tekken 5, Namco Hometek has announced a new installment in its other flagship fighting franchise. As with previous games in the series, Soul Calibur III will feature a cast of colorful characters battling it out with a variety of weapons.

But unlike previous installments, the game will only be available for the PlayStation 2 when it arrives later this year. It will mark the first time the series has been exclusive to a single console since the first Soul Calibur was released for the Sega Dreamcast in 1999. It also marks the first time that a Soul Calibur game has been released for a console before it was released in arcades. In fact, no arcade version of Soul Calibur III has even been announced as of press time.

"Soul Calibur III expands upon the landmark achievements of the franchise and is undoubtedly one of the must-have games for PlayStation 2 owners in 2005," said Yoshi Niki, Namco's business unit director.

According to Namco, Soul Calibur III will sport several modes of gameplay. Besides the story-driven single-player "tales of souls" and traditional versus modes, the game will sport a history of the franchise in museum mode. The game will also sport three new modes: character creation, which will let players build their own characters; "chronicles of the sword," which will let players fight as said characters in "a real-time simulation"; and "soul arena," which Namco cryptically describes as featuring "unique and original battles."

Namco also disclosed that three new characters--Zasalamel, Tira, and Setsuka--and two returning characters--Samurai warrior Mitsurugi and female Ninja Taki--will appear in the game. Details on and the first pictures of these characters can be found in GameSpot's first look at Soul Calibur III.