He is definately playable. There were two videos that IGN posted that showed Raiden fighting Baraka. Very hard to find though.

He is playable. He didn't die.

azeng808 Wrote: If raiden died like in the intro video, is he not playable. But isn't there a picture of him flaoting around?

He's not dead. He teleported just before the "kamehama" exploded.

Ya I saw those videos, I know hes playable from the start. He looks awesome in this game.

XxFoXrAcErXx Wrote: Ya I saw those videos, I know hes playable from the start. He looks awesome in this game.

You have to unlock him. He isn't playable from the start

On the character select screen you could clearly distinguish Raiden in the shaded area due to his enormous hat. I've seen that video that was mentioned on this thread and Raiden looks quite evil.