So I just caught the podcast where Soul Caliber IV got blasted and had a few things to say in the games defense....

On stonking great jugs....     

     First, Jeff thought the game came off as desperate with the female characters endowment. Okay I can admit they went alittle overboard with the jubblies, but I dont think that move was as much desperation as it is the fact that sex sells. Take a look at DOA, which set a new standard for jiggly physics. Remember when Mortal Kombat decided to have Sonya's thong straps showing over her pants. Or how about Cammy's first appearances being alittle less clothed and a lot more 'perky' than Chun Li? 
     Lets also please not forget that Namco is a publisher from Tokyo Japan. A country where gigantic boobahs are just a part of pop-culture. Hitomi and Kukaku from Bleach and Tsunade from Naruto are all staples in highly popular Japanesse Animation television shows that have naughty bits so large they lead to running jokes in the program. I doubt designers set around and dicussed inflating things to get more attention in foreign countries. They just took what were natural (no pun intended) design choices from their culture.

On guest characters....

     I personally love the guest characters. They are there as a novelty. They are spencers additions and not really meant to be taken seriously. The game has two guest characters and had four guest artists design character clones. I dont care what anyone says, thats bad-ass. I wish more fighting games would invite artists to design a guest character just to change things up a bit and add a slight taste of another visual style. I again do not agree that putting Vader and Yoda above the games title was 'desperate'. Namco did the same thing with Link, Spawn, and Heihachi. In most movies or television shows, hell even music albums any sort of special guest usually gets a good bit of spotlight. With the words "Featuring..." or "Guest Starring..." preceding the title or names of the main actors or artists. Its freaking professional courtesy that you have seen 500,000,000 times but chose to point out here for some arbitrary reason. Soul Caliber is a weapons based fighting game thats is supposed to showcase the best fictional fighters throughout history. The Master Sword is probably more well known by now than Excalibur, Spawn was at the height of his popularity and lightsaber duels and that flowing style are legendary, so the characters were a natural fit as guests; not meant to be the focus and main selling point of the game.

On Story....

     Really guys...your going to be critical over a fighting games lack of story? Street Fighter didnt even have a story until Alpha. Mortal  Kombat's story became a convoluted mess. I dont know what the hell Dead or Alive or Bloody Roar were about, where the crap did the boss from Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 come from? Killer Instinct was about a giant corporation, but the bosses were a cyclops and gargoyle and somehow a dinosaur, barbarian, and skeleton get thrown in the mix? 
     In a fighting game your lucky to get little clips of dialogue, maybe a cut-scene halfway through storymode and a character ending that never really explains a damn thing. At some point the developer will look at all the pretty endings they came up with, figure out how to tie them together and then release a few paragraphs in the instruction manual, game title screen, strategy guide or website to pass as plot. What kind of Shakespearean caliber drama and scripting are you expecting from MK vs. DC?

On Game-play....

     People that learn the game are on a different level than people that dont. Obviously. You learn the game and can perform impacts, just impacts, soul crushes, guard cancels, attack throws, feints and juggles. Or you dont, pick Maxi or Kilik and still have a good time. The fighting system is very deep for those that want to explore it, but the game stays accessible and flashy enough for people that want to pick up and play. Its nice to have a fighting game that makes you think or one where skill matters, instead of memorizing a fifteen button press string that triggers a thirty hit predefined combo animation (looking at the last three Mortal Kombats). Whats there isnt broken, aside from the novelty characters its balanced enough to be a good competitive game and the fighting system is intricate enough to keep you learning new things if you choose to.

     It may not be perfect, I would have liked more modes (vesus tag battles anybody?). A few fighting styles for custom characters only, instead of just cloning mains (it was in SCIII) would have been nice. And the game is gorgeous graphically, but there is A LOT of clipping, especially on custom characters. Perhaps the most desired feature (and missed) is the ability to taunt or grunt at eachother on the 'vs.' screen before the match. It just doesnt seem like Soul Caliber without it.

Anyway, my rants done. All in all I love you guys, but you made some pretty poorly thought out comments and judgement about a game that deserves more credit. Like I said, its not perfect. Its arguable that it falls just short of great, but its also a long long way from bad or 'desperate'.