Previews

Apr. 22, 1999 - 12:00pm
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Soul Calibur Details

SOUL CALIBUR
(PAL/USA title is not available at present)
[30% Completion]

Scheduled Release Date: TBA 1999
Price: To be announced
Game Genre: 3D Fighting Action with weapon
Other Specification: Compatible with Sega's "Puru Puru Pack",
Others to be announced

Copyright Notice: © 1998 1999 NAMCO LTD., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

By the history a man becomes a soldier, Through the history a soldier becomes a hero.

From a bard's song in the fourteenth century

This is a tale of souls and swords, transcending the world and all it's history, told for all eternity.....

From a tale of the end of the medieval age: Author unknown

A title for the Dreamcast ("DC" hereafter) will finally be released. The name of the game is "Soulcalibur." As many of you may know, this software will be a conversion from the same title that appeared in the arcades in July 1998. This title, which shook the industry with its outstandingly high quality at the time of its arcade release, is now being converted for the home.

Surprisingly it is not a mere straight conversion, but will appear with graphical improvements, higher accuracy of natural motions and special features for the DC, it will literally be superior to the arcade version. You will be amazed to see the charming characters, solemn and bravura sound and smoothly pleasant playability which have already made this game far more advanced and unmatched by the competition.

No doubt it will prove to be a great title.

[Original Features of Soulcalibur]

In this game ten characters with varying personalities and fighting styles will appear, all depicted in superb detail by using one-body formation modeling to render smooth movements of human joints; clothes wave in the wind and there are quality effects for weapons clashing against each other etc.

In addition, each stage where the characters fight, has real-time lighting according to its situation, with wind and rain depiction also present, which helps better to represent realistic 3D space.

The greatest feature is that these high-quality character models will be animated and interactively controllable at 60 frames/sec. An "8 Way-Run System" which traditional fighting games don't have, enables the player to control the fighters naturally and with real-time super smooth and fluid movements very life-like to a human being in 3D space. These help to give remarkable improvements in the feeling of control as well as a more successful way in the representation of reality.

[Notable points of Soulcalibur Dreamcast version]

1. Superior Graphical Quality

Character models and stages are being recreated to exploit the performance of the DC to its limits. Therefore the graphics which have been reputed to be the best in the industry, can now be further improved upon with smoother silhouettes for the characters, distinguished 3D stage structure and finer and more realistic texturing, which all aims for providing an even higher level of visual quality.

2. Powered Up Character Motions

Further detailed motions have been achieved by using floating-point scale. Enjoy delicate and lively motions of characters, made by one of the best motion-capture teams in the industry, which Namco boasts of.

3. Various Modes

Let us repeat that the conversion itself is a terrific thing. Yet this time we will do it again. Namco's specialty is to surprise one who thinks, "what more can be done?", that is a plus for a conversion. Soulcalibur will be known exception to this, as each mode is planned to be improved for the DC version. Please look forward to further news.

Note: Other specifications, features and modes including new ones will be announced in the future.

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