There's no pictures to go along with the news like in the Halo 3 preview below, but the newest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly has these new details towards the end of the magazine:

"If you're hankering for a virtual fistfight, top-quality options about -- the Virtua Fighter, Tekken, and Dead or Alive franchises all offer satisfying punch-up action. But if you're truly looking to give your opponent something to cry about, it's all about wielding sharpened steel, and nothing beats Namco Bandai's Soul Calibur series for weapon-based fighting thrills. In our world-exclusive preview, we'll reveal the future direction of this beloved series."

We still don't have any confirmation of when to expect the fourth game, or which consoles to expect it on, so hopefully the new EGM issue offers even more insight. I haven't received my copy in the mail yet, so feel free to give us an update if it's already arrived at your place.

The Nintendo characters just keep getting more and more evil lately. In Mario Strikers Charged we saw Mario's feet of fury, and it seems like his hands are also wreaking havoc. Earlier this week we were shown a somewhat weak looking gooey bomb item in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and now Nintendo is revealing their showstopper:

The Final Smash is a secret skill that can be performed but once…and only after obtaining an item called the Smash Ball, which is a precious item, indeed. The basic gist of it? I suppose you could say it’s kind of like a powerful and personalized hammer. (Or maybe not…) You can look forward to experiencing the glowing personality behind each of the many Final Smashes!

[Mario's] explosion launches out and expands vertically as it travels, so in order to inflict the most damage possible on enemies, it’s best to release this from a slight floating or midair position on either the left or right side of the screen. If Mario launches this at you, you’d better flee!

In other words, Brawl will bring those magical Mario Golf clubs onto the battlefield, and let you use each others' heads as golf balls. This should allow them to offer varied visual slaughters, and make up for certain characters' weaknesses by over compensating on the kaboom factor of their final smash attacks. In Melee I was always the one to boldly take on enemies who had hammers, so this doesn't bode well for idiots like me. Any predictions on what other characters' final smash attacks might be? I want to see Pit quote the 300 movie and blot out the sun with raining arrows.

The newest issue of Arcadia magazine has some details on what to expect from PlayStation 3's next big fighting game. Here's the newest updates on Tekken 6:

• Although old fighters will be making a return in Tekken 6, expect completely new models and animations for each one.
• All characters will have a "item move," like Bryan's shotgun in the most recent trailer.
• The quirky Yoshimitsu has undergone serious changes. Now a "expert character" with his sword "losing power," a different fighting style wouldn't be unexpected.
• Lei Wulong's arsenal of moves has changed - now more similar to Lei Fei's from Virtua fighter 5.
• Marshall Law is yet another character undergoing serious changes by adopting the fighting style Jeet Kun Do. If you don't know what that means... fans of Bruce Lee get ready to kick some ass.

Too bad I'm not a Bruce Lee fan, I don't care if he could knock out Jackie Chan in one punch, Jackie's still more entertaining. Which is why I'd rather play a text based Shenmue game than play a button mashing 3D fighting game for more than a day or two. Even if you are a fan of the series, Tekken 6 is still in a rough spot - Virtua Fighter 5 already came out and stole its thunder on the PS3. The lack of new games will definitely help equal that out, although Tekken Tag Tournament got some high scores back when it brought life to the new PS2 console, and I doubt Tekken 6 will even come close to delivering that "wow" level of impressment now that next gen fighting game graphics are nothing new. More importantly, IGN has it listed as an October 2007 release for Europe, and a "to be announced 2007" release for America. Ouch.

With Star Fox 64 in America, and a few fun Sega games in Europe, the April Virtual Console releases have been pretty good so far. PS3 will take the lead tomorrow though, Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed that Mortal Kombat II will be available for download on the PlayStation Network tomorrow for $4.99. That's twelve characters, ten levels, and whole lot of fatalities of good memories to revisit. Which Mortal Kombat character was your favorite in the series? I look forward to remembering how badly I wanted Kintaro to be the last boss in the game, I'd like to see Shao Kahn beat Kintaro or Mortal Kombat III's Motaro.

If you're an anime fan you don't get much love in the game industry - half the games you have to choose from are terrible Dragonball Z games, and the good half are usually over in Japan. A new Naruto game has been announced with the tentative title of Naruto: Clash of the Ninja MVZ. The Wii fighting game won't come to America until fall (winter or longer in Nintendo time) and we'll even get exclusive content now that Naruto is gaining popularity here. There's no way it would ever happen, but I'd love a Cowboy Bebop MMO game set in that anime's setting. You'd never see any of the main characters, except maybe a grown up Edward, but you'd get to play through dozens of nonlinear bounties across the solar system. Gunz the Duel gameplay might work well, but licensing would be a nightmare - I'd like to see a company brave enough to even try it.

The director of Super Smash Bros. Brawl was on a Japanese radio station recently, and instead of being a guest on a late night sex talk-show, or narrating a top ten song countdown, he actually gave out some new details on his upcoming Wii fighting game. Masashiro Sakurai announced that the Metroid villain Ridley would be joining the already announced Samus and Zero Suit Samus characters. He also mentioned that the Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, and Young Link will not be featured, but that Celda Link (Link from Wind Waker) would be replacing the young hero. The last new character he named was Bowser Jr., which makes me think that Baby Mario and Baby Luigi will also be included on the next roster announcement. The cel-shaded Link character will definitely be the first fighter I try out, but I'd prefer having Link from Majora's Mask as a playable character - being able to morph into the Deku, Goron, and Zora forms would be so much better than the typical bomb and arrow style combat we're used to. I'm still looking for Mega Man, Bomberman, and a dozen other characters announced soon. Any predictions?

The Dead or Alive movie popped up on the Internet recently, but was quickly sniped by Google after everyone started watching it for free. So someone uploaded it with a foreign title and no one noticed. I can't condone watching this movie, but it's nice to play minimized and check on whenever you think the TNA quota is being met. I'm only ten minutes in and the scene where the blond puts on a bra in the middle of a battle has already happened. You can watch it above, but you might want to play it for convenience. Thanks to reader Jeff for the tip!

It's been a while since we've seen or heard any new information about Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, but there's a new trailer for the game thanks to the Nintendo World 2006 event. You'll see plenty of moves from each of the cast that was already revealed, including Snake, and the trailer also reveals some of the different maps and their features. For only being in development for half a year or so it's starting to look like we'll have another great Super Smash Bros game in the next year.

In the inauguration of its new Chicago development house, Electronic Arts quickly mentioned the projects it was currently working on including the already known Def Jam: Icon, as well as a fighting game based on a new intellectual property. Could we finally get the celebrity fighting game we've always wanted? Paris Hilton and Tom Cruise are safe for now, no one has any idea what it could be, but EA did say that they plan to add another 100 developers to the Chicago studio next year. Got some game making skills and want to help them out? Go for it.