There's a lot of people out there who feel that the fighting genre has gone the way of the dodo. While it's true that the days of people crowding around an arcade machine and lining their quarters up have passed, we can't help but feel that reports of the genre's death have been greatly exaggerated. One need look no further than the offerings on tap for 2008, as two of the year's most anticipated fighting titles are sure to be huge hits. Capcom will be bringing the latest Street Fighter game (creatively titled Street Fighter IV) to arcades and next-gen systems, but it will have to battle at least one other eagerly-awaited sequel for the title of Fighting Game of the Year: Namco Bandai's Soulcalibur IV.


We recently had a chance to go hands-on with the game for the first time in Las Vegas, and while the developers didn't alter the formula very much, that's definitely not a bad thing. The only real drawback to the event was that we only got to see Taki, Cassandra and Mitsurugi in action, and we couldn't help wondering who else would be in the game's stable of fighters. Thankfully, Namco Bandai decided to send a bunch of exclusive screens our way today, giving us a glimpse at some of the other characters populating this new chapter.


Although the three fighters in these screens aren't new to the series, we're happy to confirm that Maxi, Mina and Yun-seong will be playable in Soulcalibur IV. Maxi is still sporting his trademark nunchaku, while Mina and Yun-seong will be heading into battle with their respective weapons, the long-bladed Scarlet Thunder and the White Storm sword. If you take a close look at the screens, you'll likely also notice two new environments, Maxi's pirate ship and what appears to be a cave bathed in blue light.


Once you're done oohing and aahing over the screens in this article, be sure to head into the gallery to check out the rest of the exclusive screens, as well as some character renders!