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.

A recent interview on Next Generation had pretty much nothing to do with the upcoming PC game Hellgate London, yet somehow this piece of information from the game's publisher Namco Bandai was either slipped or fabricated as fact:

"Given the company's newfound penchant for cross-platform development, I ask if an Xbox 360 version is likely. Karlsson won't confirm it, but he admits that it's highly unlikely that such a notion is far from the company's planning calendar."

Namco Bandai hasn't offered any other words on the matter yet. It could very easily be some guy expressing his own opinion instead of speaking for his company, but let's hope it's a small leak of info. I wouldn't really be interested in taking up more of my nearly full hard drive with a large Hellgate London install, but I'd definitely give it a good play on a console. Hopefully PS3 will get a crack at the game too if this turns out to be true.

Namco Bandai Games wants to establish itself as a PC publisher, with currently only one game under its belt: Mage Knight Apocalypse back in September. So they're totally cheating at hard work and have signed an agreement with Electronic Arts to co-publish the game Hellgate: London, the game being pieced together by the bad boys who worked on the Diablo games for Blizzard in the past.

Makoto Iwai, the senior vice president of Namco Bandai's development group, said "Hellgate: London is more than just a highly anticipated PC game, it is the cornerstone of a franchise and that requires a different approach than the average product." It's interesting to know that Namco Bandai will get the publishing rights to the future Hellgate: London projects. Goo job Namco, you picked a winner, Hellgate: London is a FPS MMORPG of sorts, and is due out some time in 2007.