Rumors are flying around about whether or not the exclusive characters in this week's release of Soul Calibur IV are going to end up being available as downloadable content for both the Xbox 360 and PS3.

The original story is that the each console would get one exclusive Star Wars character. Yoda was going to available only on the Xbox 360, and Darth Vader was coming to the PS3 version.  However, after a YouTube video showed up last week of Yoda and Vader doing battle on the 360 the speculation began.

Is the video fake?
Is this really on the 360?
What about the PS3?
I heard that Jar-Jar was going to be on the Wii Version.

The most common thought is that the code for both characters exists in both the 360 and PS3 versions, and the unavailable character will be made available as downloadable content. The question is will Namco allow access both characters and how? They have offered no official statement so everything else is purely rumor at this point.

Personally, the novelty of DLC is just gaining steam. Companies are going to continue to find ways to squeeze more money out of gamers. In this case, if the rumors are true, paying $5 bucks for Vader is better than no Vader or having to buy both full versions of the game like it was for Soul Calibur 2. However, in Soul Calibur 2 each exclusive character at least had some tie-in to the console it was on (ok, maybe not Spawn) so the exclusivity made sense. Nickel and diming us for Star Wars content at this point in the history of that franchise, seems a bit excessive, even if it tends to happen all of the time.

However, as a 360 owner if I get a chance to pay for Vader I'll do it, as long as the fee isn't ridiculous. Even if on the inside, I wish there was a way to fight this trend of getting content into the game that should be there at launch. Reserve DLC for episodic content that adds a significant new piece to the existing game. Hell, release SC IV now without the Star Wars characters, and give me a Star Wars character pack with Darth Maul and Obi-wan in addition to Darth Vader and Yoda in 3 months for $5 to keep me playing.

Then again, some people have their own ideas:
"Can I pay $5 not to have any star wars characters at all?" - tedsofbeverlyhills, Ars Technica article comments