Ship a video game title without an online component, and you'll get bad word from consumers and critics alike. That wasn't the situation prior to this generation, but Soul Calibur 4's (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3) director Katsutoshi Sasaki admitted Namco Bandai's fighting game series intended to bring players together before there was Xbox Live or PSN.

In a recent blog post, Sasaki explained that Soul Calibur could've been online since its inception. Unfortunately, issues with network infrastructure, communication technology, and servers available made it impossible according to Soul Calibur 4's director. He added, "We didn’t want to compromise the quality of the battle sequence while playing online."

On a positive note, Sasaki hinted at Soul Calibur 4 having online features beyond versus matches over the Internet. To quote:

We should be releasing more detail regarding the online features in the coming days but our prime achievement for the online mode has never changed which is to simply come up with a system where players with similar abilities can compete in a hassle free environment.

Meanwhile, Sasaki also wanted gamers to realize that "bonus" characters differ from "guest" characters. Guests, such as Darth Vader and Yoda, were defined as "well known characters recognizable by many" that help in maximizing hype. As guests, they don't belong in the Soulcalibur storyline and only "appear on as a one off basis."

Bonus fighters Scheherazade and Angol Fear were dubbed as special treats to customers. Sasaki further explained:

Such characters usually came to life as a pure coincidence and it can be a one off team’s favorite or even characters being created for different usage elsewhere. This time round, we felt that having characters designed by renowned creators would be a treat thus we went around asking if anyone was interested in the idea.

Finally, Sasaki stressed out that there are other surprises for everyone keeping tabs on Soul Calibur 4. Of course, we'll make sure to keep you posted, so watch this space for updates!

Buy: [ Soul Calibur 4 (PS3) ]
Buy: [ Soul Calibur 4 (360) ]