Generally, online play in one on one fighters has been a relatively untapped feature. Primarily because lag exhibits more problems in a fighter than it does with your average FPS for example. Fighters require split-second timings to perform all those wicked combos.

Thankfully, this is becoming less and less of a problem with more people getting high-speed connections and ISPs that are working to improve network latency. As such, we’ve already heard that Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection will soon be going online via a patch due out later this year. And now, it’s been confirmed that Namco’s Soulcalibur IV will also feature online play.

Why online this time around? Director Director Katsutoshi Sasaki says, "What’s changed this time round is that the next-gen platforms have network infrastructure already in place." I agree, the fact that these next-gen consoles have their own network for online play is a big improvement. Granted, we had it last-gen as well, but the online features were more or less add-ons, rather than being integrated into the system like they are now.

Soulcalibur IV Goes Online [1UP]

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