In preparation for the upcoming Namco Fighting Games Panel at the San Diego Comic Con (the countdown on the front of 8WR is currently counting down till the panel); Namco has released some new assets and character artwork which confirm Ivy, as well as a stage without ringouts.

The most stunning of all this is that the male character silhouette that Daishi leaked to us last week is not Raphael, which I'm sure most of us assumed, but is instead a new character named "Zwei" (German for "two"). He also appears to be holding his sword in a "tonfa-like" fashion.

Be a part of the creation of Soulcalibur V! Your original character name will appear in the game! All participants will receive special Soulcalibur V desktop wallpaper!

Project Soul is now running a contest where participants may submit their own character in the hopes that it gets put into the game; most likely as a premade create a soul custom character you may fight against in story mode.

In addition to submitting your character information, there is also a short survey of 10 questions asking players some basic questions about how they play the game, and their takes on existing characters and stories.

Check out this link to enter: http://www.soularchive.jp/npc_recruiting/

MCZ/LLL.Kayane interviews Namco Bandai Games' Katsuhiro Harada and chats with him about his life, Tekken, and of course Soul Calibur!

Be sure to check out this interview from her and Geek Studio. Also make sure to chuckle to yourself when Harada-san flinches as Kayane mentions GGPO.

This week Daishi has been teasing that he might do an early reveal of one of the two silhouettes posted about a week ago. He's been asking which of the two silhouettes people want to see most, and today he gives us an early look at a brand new female character!

Daishi has been rather glib on whether or not Taki would be returning. However, with the reveal of this character, it can be assumed that Taki may only play a secondary role in Soul Calibur 5.

Thanks Daishi! Comic Con 2011 is only a week away, stay tuned for the next reveal!

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes during the making of Soul Calibur? Well, now you can see it for yourself! Namco-Bandai has given us a sneak peak at the offices and staff behind Soul Calibur 5.

From the animators to the director, this is your chance to see the team responsible for making Soul Calibur 5 at work.

Daishi has uploaded a new image of Soul Calibur 5 as it is being tuned, as well as two silhouettes of characters to be revealed at San Diego Comic-Con which you can view here and here.

And stay tuned to 8WR for the latest news during EVO2K11 and SDCC.

Tune in HERE to watch Canada's finest compete Toronto Resurrection: Omega Tournament in Soul Calibur 4, BlazBlue and Tekken 6 at the Toronto Top Tiers Stream!

*EDIT* Tournament is now over!

• 1st - NeoRussel (Yoshimitsu)
• 2nd - Eli123s (Ivy)
• 3rd - Oofmatic (Mitsurugi)

Good stuff, guys! Recordings available via playlist.