Continuing the series’ fine tradition, NAMCO Bandai have revealed that Ezio Auditore da Firenze of the Assassin’s Creed franchise will be featured and playable in SoulCalibur V.

The white-clad assassin, who found fame in Ubisoft’s hit adventure franchise, will be available in both versions of the title. However, considering all the previous guest characters, Ezio, perhaps, makes the most sense because the renaissance-era assassin fits closely to fits the series plot and era.

Now, that San Diego Comic-Con and EVO 2011 are over. SoulCalibur V director Daishi Odashima has unleashed a barrage of details surrounding the “Critical Edge” combat system, which will be featured in the upcoming fighting game.

“Critical Edge is a new attack system that delivers high damage to the opponent. [It] can be used in combos. Requires 1 Critical Gauge bar,” Odashima explained. “The Critical Gauge can be charged up to 2 bars. So some characters can connect 2 Critical Edges in a row.”

“A small portion of the Critical Gauge can be used to perform Brave Edge; a powered up [version] of standard attacks (character shines when used). The properties change depending on the move; increase damage, adds additional attacks, gives advantage on block, changes hit property etc,” he continued.

He then detailed some of the newer defensive maneuvers in SoulCablibur V. “There are 3 defensive systems. Quick Move can be performed by tapping the same direction twice. Kind of like a faster version of the [8-way Run] 8WR,” he explains. “[It's] similar to SC2′s evasion but doesn’t have invincible frames. It’s very easy to do and can be used by beginners too.”

While we’re still wondering when, or if, the PlayStation 3 version of Tales of Vesperia would be making its way stateside, Namco Bandai is, already, considering a Tales of Verperia sequel, reports Andriasang.

At a The First Strike event, questions concerning a possible sequel for the original Vesperia popped up. Answering the questions, Makoto Yoshizumi, Namco Bandai Games general manager, said that during staff meetings, the staff would ask him, “Will you be making Vesperia 2?” to which he would respond, “Don’t talk like a fan!”.

“It appears that [within the company] there’s a desire to make part 2,” he said. “We’re thinking about it.” With that said, it looks like the Vesperia story is far from finished with the Xbox 360 version, and the PS3 version, which is only in Japan.

Last week at a event in Tokyo, it was revealed that one of Namco Bandai’s team were busy working on the sequel to Magna Carta: Tears of Blood, which released back in 2005 for the PS2.

The game simple entitled Magna Carta 2 follows the original story set in the world of the war-torn Lanzheim Continent and involves a male character named Juto – who, apparently, can’t recollect his past.  The game will contain character designs by Korean artist Hyung-Tae Kim, and will include fully-voiced CGI cutscenes to deliver parts of its narrative. 

For a battle system,  the game will mix strategic turn-based and real-time elements. Also there’ll be no loading screen when headed into said battle - everything will happen in the same environment, bits of which can be used by players in battle. However, its developers, Namco Bandai, are promising 40 hours of gameplay in which players can explore the world of the war-torn Lanzheim Continent. 

Players will earn Kamonds by beating up monsters that can be applied to power up weapons and generate new items. With each weapon comes a different style of fighting, which, according to Namco Bandai, will offer a set of special abilities tailored to the weapon. 

However,  some of the special abilities will require timed button presses, and once a powerful over-drive mode is initiated, players can smack around foes with their most formidable skills. The current release window is the third quarter of 2009 for the U.S..

[Magna Carta 2 Revealed via IGN]

While 360 fanboys are playing the demo for the upcoming 360 game Naruto: Broken Bond, PlayStation fanboys are patiently awaiting the release of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm. Our friends at GP had the chance to go hands on with the game after receiving it in the mail earlier this week. According to them, the game will have a mandatory install of 4GB which will take about 15-20 minutes to install. As you may remember the game has the same download time as the hit game Bioshock, which was recently released on the PlayStation 3. The game is a PlayStation 3 exclusive and is releasing sometime this week so be sure to pick it up.

[Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm To Have 3.9GB Install via GamersPlatform]

Afro Samurai, as you may already know, is about a lifelong journey to avenge a father killed by the lethal fighter Justice. And it looks like Afro Samurai is going to have to add another journey to his list. Originally planned for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in North America on 27 January 2009 Afro Samurai is set to make an arrival in Europe 2009. The game is based on the manga created by Takashi Okazaki and the hit anime series starring Samuel L. Jackson, Afro Samurai drips with cutting edge style through its fusion of hip hop and Japanese culture that’s as sharp as Afro’s sword.

Back in April leading video games publisher and developer Namco Bandai Games officially revealed Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Today, Namco Bandai officially revealed the limited edition of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm for the PlayStation 3. The limited edition comes packed with a deluxe SteelBook case featuring alternate artwork with a protective slip cover, each copy of the Limited Edition comes with an exclusive soundtrack music CD featuring 18 original tracks, an individually numbered limited edition Laser Cell depicting Naruto and Sasuke in battle, and two exclusive limited edition collectible cards. The Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Limited Edition will carry a suggested retail price of $69.99 and will be available through GameStop, Best Buy, GameCrazy, Amazon.com and other select retailers.

In a scan from a Japanese magazine revealed that Star War’s R2-D2 will be a playable character in the upcoming Soul Calibur IV, which will release on PS3 and Xbox 360 on July 29.

At this time we are not sure if this is a console specific character that will be added to the game seeing the Xbox and PlayStation are very different from each other featuring two different character’s from the Star War’s Universe.

Here’s a Translation of the Profile of R2-D2 according to the scan.
Age: Unknown
Race: Astromech Droid
Place of Birth: Industrial Automation
Height: 96cm
Weight: Depends on add on gear
Birth Date: Unknown
Blood Type: None
Weapon: Stun Arm, Saber Launcher
Style: J Type Defense Program

[CNG4U] [N4G]

There was a rumor going around that Kratos would be testing his blade against Darth Vader and his secret apprentice from the Star Wars universe in the upcoming PlayStation 3 version of Soul Calibur IV. The rumor wasn’t so far fetched, mainly because in other Soul Calibur games featured players for different universe’s like Link on the GameCube version and Heihachi on the PS2 version.  However thanks to a podcast made by 1UP the rumor was quickly smashed , stating that Kratos will be absent from Namco’s upcoming game. But, there still is the strong possible that he could be included in future planned downloadable content.

Let’s just hope that they do included Kratos in upcoming downloadable content for the game because i know there alot of people who can’t wait too play as him.

Namco Bandai  has revealed new screenshots of there newest character for Soulcalibur IV, Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice. The Secret Apprentice will join other character from the star wars like Yoda and Darth Vader in the upcoming Soulcalibur game. You will be able to play as the Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice on the PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, PS2, Nintendo DS and Wii.

Namco Bandai has released a new video gameplay for there upcoming game DragonBall Z: Burst Limit. There isn’t much i can’t tell you (other than the fact its the final fight between Goku vs Frieza), your just going to check out the video for yourself.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is complete with online battles, 3D graphic, enhanced playable characters, realistic battle stages, and much more. The story takes place from beginning of the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Cell Saga. The video game based off the popular anime show Dragon Ball Z, the game is releasing for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

According to a thread posted by one of the Atari staff members, a demo for Dragonball Z: Burst Limit will be available over the PLAYSTATION Network at midnight. So “KAMEHAMEHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”.

Dragonball Z: Burst Limit is complete with online battles, 3D graphic, enhanced playable characters, realistic battle stages, and much more. The story takes place from beginning of the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Cell Saga. The video game based off the popular anime show Dragon Ball Z, the game is releasing for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Update:

The demo is up on XBL and PSN.

The demo is on XBL right now but, PlayStation 3 owners won’t be missing out on the action. A demo is coming to the PlayStation Network too. It may not have had a midnight launch like what was mentioned by a administration on the Atari Forums but, it’s in the pipeline.

[PS3 BURST LIMIT DEMO GOING LIVE TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT via Atari]

Namco Bandai has released a new video gameplay for there upcoming game DragonBall Z: Burst Limit. There isn’t much i can’t tell you (other than the fact it features Gohan and Piccolo), your just going to check out the video for yourself.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is complete with online battles, 3D graphic, enhanced playable characters, realistic battle stages, and much more. The story takes place from beginning of the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Cell Saga. The video game based off the popular anime show Dragon Ball Z, the game is releasing for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

With the approach of Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit coming sooner, Namco Bandai has released new video gameplay for Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit. There isn’t much i can’t tell you (other than the fact that the video is from japan), your just going to check out the video from your self.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is complete with online battles, 3D graphic, enhanced playable characters, realistic battle stages, and much more. The story takes place from beginning of the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Cell Saga. The video game based off the popular anime show Dragon Ball Z, the game is releasing for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

In an interview with IGN, Hiroshi Matsuyama, President/CEO of CyberConnect2 told the PlayStation 3 team at IGN that Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm will cover the first 135 episodes. Also in the interview Hiroshi Matsuyama told IGN that online play will not be incorporated in the game. Here what he had to say:

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any individual online matchmaking modes for the game, but we will be planning downloadable content that will hopefully compensate for the lack of that feature. We’ll make sure we have something interesting for the downloadable content, don’t worry.”

Namco Bandai has revealed the premier screenshots for there new upcoming game Afro Samurai, set for a release on the PS3 and the Xbox 360 this year. The game is base off popular anime series and TV show Afro Samurai. We haven’t seen or hear many details about this game but, judging by the fact that we just got new screenshot, expect more details on the way.