For companies such as Namco Bandai that derive a significant portion of their business from the arcade scene, the cooling of the coin-op in Japan represents more than just a bittersweet farewell. After reporting nearly flat revenue growth during its first fiscal quarter yesterday, the company said that it would be selling off an additional 69 arcades in an attempt to clot its mounting losses.
Along with the game's returning cast, which includes Siegfried, Ivy, Cassandra, and Cervantes, Soulcalibur features a few iconic stars on loan from LucasArts in the form of Darth Vader and Yoda on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions, respectively. Although the two Star Wars titans can't go head to head, LucasArts also lent The Apprentice character from the upcoming Force Unleashed for proper lightsaber duels.