The big, big, big rumor floating around right now is that God Of War's very-own Kratos will be making an appearance on the PS3 version of Soul Calibur IV. That, of course, leads to the thought that an Xbox 360-only character will have to pop up to balance everything out. Who would be the contenders? Let's start with two that would rock, but there's just no way:

Ryu Hyabusa (Ninja Gaiden).
-The dude's a ninja, that's all I need to say. Imagine being able to switch weapons on the fly, dealing out massive death and destruction. There's just one little teensy problem. He's a major character in the DOA series.

Master Chief (Halo)
-MS' poster-boy would also make as much of an impact to the 360 crowd as Kratos would to the Sony faithful. Unfortunately, this one's been done already in DOA.

Well shoot, that takes away two of the most high profile of the 360 stable. Might have to get creative, and only go half-serious:

Altair (Assassin's Creed)
-Ok, he's not exclusive to the 360, but bear with me. Altair is character that would fit into Soul Calibur like a silken glove. His only downside is that his outfit is reminiscent of Zasalamel. But you could always work that into the game. He could have a decent keep-away game with is throwing knives, but still be able to stand up to melees with his step-in and step-out, parrying **** Likelihood?: Pretty good fit, actually. I could see it.

Marcus Fenix (Gears of War)
-Figure that his main weapon is the chainsaw gun. He'd be a slow, plodding kind of player, but you could expect his chainsaw bayonette to deal out some massive damage. I wouldn't actually make him cheap by giving him many ranged attacks, but a quick chainsaw/blast to the chest would be a nice 1-2 combination at close range. Likelihood?: Might be a bit of a stretch, as Marcus is mostly a duck-and-cover, shooting kinda guy. Still, I could see it.

Kameo (Kameo)
-Now that we're well past the launch period, Kameo can safely drift off to "forgotten launch game island." However, her relative lack of clothing, and cool shapeshifting abilities seem like something the Project Soul team would jump all over. She'd probably play similar to Lei Wulong in Tekken, lots of different styIes to mess up opponents. Likelihood?: Nah. Kameo's old and forgotten.

Frank West (Dead Rising)
-By the end of Dead Rising, Frank West has a moveset that rivals some of the fighters. His combat styIe is more suited to crowds, so I'd think his attacks would focus on horizontal attacks. I'm not sure what sort of system you could put in place to give him the random weapons he usually employs. Maybe you could scatter crap all over the arena ala MK4. Likelihood?: Probably not; he's too normal and modern day to fit into SC. Though with Vader in the game, who knows?

Banjo (Banjo Kazooie)
-If anyone can pull off putting a bear into a fighting game, it's Namco. Likelihood?: A definite lock; they just need to borrow Kuma's code from the Tekken guys.

Who else?

Ugh, I am so glad I'm done with that game. Don't get me wrong, it was really well done, but I was so bored playing it.

If I had to give it a number, probably an 8/10.

At least now I know that I don't ever want to play another GTA game.

So all of the tracks for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith have been announced. Each tier starts with two warmup songs from bands that have some sort of relationship to Aerosmith. Then, the boys take the stage for the next three songs. In a cool twist, D.M.C. hops onstage in his untied Adidas sneaks to deliver the rap on King of Rock and Walk This Way - you'll also be able to unlock him as a guitarist. Each tier highlights a key venue in the band's progression, leading up to being inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame. After completing the main setlist, there are also a dozen bonus songs in the mix, bringing the total to 41 songs on the disk.

Tier 1: "Getting The Band Together"
Venue: Nipumec High School
All The Young Dudes by Mott The Hopple (cover)
Dream Police by Cheap Trick
Make It
Uncle Salty
Encore: Draw The Line

Tier 2: "First Taste of Success"
Venue: Max's Kansas City
I Hate Myself For Loving You by Joan Jett
All Day and All of the Night (cover)
Movin' Out
No Surprize
Encore: Sweet Emotion

Tier 3: "The Triumphant Return"
Venue: The Orpheum
Complete Control by The Clash
Personality Crisis by New York Dolls (cover)
The Other Side
Rag Doll
Encore: Love In An Elevator

Tier 4: "The Great American Band"
Venue: Half Time Show
Always On The Run by Lenny Kravitz
Hard To Handle by The Black Crowes (cover)
Back In The Saddle
Beyond Beautiful
Encore: Dream On

Tier 5: "International Superstars"
Venue: Moscow
She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult
The King of Rock by Run-D.M.C.
Bright Light Fright
Nobody's Fault
Encore: Walk This Way (Run-D.M.C. version)

Tier 6: "Rock 'N Roll Legends"
Venue: Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent (cover?)
Sex Type Thing by Stone Temple Pilots
Guitar Battle vs. Joe Perry
Mama Kin
Toys In The Attic
Encore: Train Kept A Rollin'

Bonus: The Vault
Combination
Kings And Queens
Let The Music Do The Talking
Pandora's Box
Pink
Rats In The Cellar
Walk This Way (non Run-D.M.C. version)
Joe Perry Guitar Battle
Talk Talkin' by Joe Perry
Mercy by Joe Perry
Shakin' My Cage by Joe Perry

While the effort that went into this spin-off is very impressive, especially compared to GH:Rocks The 80s, is it worth $60?

Background: My girlfriend is a mentor for Team In Training, which is an organization that trains atheletes to run marathons. In exchange, the runners pledge to raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Like any of those type of groups, they do a host quite a few events to thank the runners, to raise money, and to inspire people by having cancer survivors talking about how the L&LS has helped them. It's a wonderful cause, and I'm very proud of my girlfriend for the work that she puts into it.

The Setup: She told me about a happy hour last week, which I pictured as an informal get-together with some of the runners. I figured that it'd be cool to crash it, since I know a bunch of them, and it's more of an excuse to have a few beers and chit-chat than anything else. So I popped over and realized that I was grossly under-dressed. It was 95 degrees out, so I had thrown on a t-shirt and shorts. Everyone else had blazers, trousers, etc. Even my girlfriend, coming straight from work, looked swank. I also saw that it was a pretty formal event; there were presenters and hors-d'oeuvres.

The Dilemma: I knew right then that I was going to have to take off, but they had an open bar. As the presenters were getting starting in the next room, I grabbed a free beer from the bartender, then took it downstairs to the main bar. I finished it off and took off (texting my gf that I was getting out of there). So, in effect, I STOLE A BEER FROM A CANCER BENEFIT!

The Verdict: An informal poll of my friends was split. Some figured that it wasn't a big deal, since the beer was free either way. The others think that God will poison my liver. As for me, I'm not so sure. That's why I savored that beer and finished it off. If St. Peter sends me to hell for it, at least I'll know that I drank the whole thing. What do y'all think?

...They Keep Pulling Me Back In.

You might've seen by now that Vader's Apprentice from the upcoming - and awesome-looking - The Force Unleashed will be joining his master in Soul Calibur IV. Here's an image of him facing off with Yoda:

Despite bashing of how Namco is handling their female characters, I can't argue that Soul Calibur is anything short of an amazing series. The fighting has always been top-notch and fun. Now, they're adding cool new characters into the mix, making it even harder to ignore just how great SCIV looks. That I'll be able to play online, a feature sorely lacking in the last few iterations, makes me wonder if I can keep from blowing $60 on it. I gotta stay strong until the Platinum Hits version comes out.

At this point, I'm wondering why Lucasarts hasn't contracted out the Project Soul team to make Masters of Teras Kasi 2. We know how well Namco can make a fighter, and despite my reduced interest in the Star Wars Universe, I still get fanboy tingles upon seeing Yoda and Vader in action.

After months of trying, iamchrisforlife finally full-combo'd - 100% of notes hit, notestreak not broken - Guitar Hero 3's uber-track, Through The Fire And Flames on Expert. That's a 3700 note track that he beat. Very cool. Congrats, Chris!

Vid

In other news, I was listening to yesterday's Giant Bombcast. Brad Shoemaker and Vinny Caravella have permanently joined the cast. It's just like the good old days of On The Spot. Very cool!