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MAG, SOCOM PS3 servers signing off for good
Servers for MAG, SOCOM 4, and SOCOM: Confrontation are shutting down on January 28, 2014, Sony has announced. As it stands, the server shutdowns will essentially make MAG and Confrontation obsolete, due to their reliance on online play. The news follows the closure of MAG and SOCOM studio Zipper Interactive last year. When asked then about future SOCOM entries, Sony Worldwide Studios chief Shuhei Yoshida said his company never retires a franchise. Nonetheless, today's news will sound like a death knell for fans of the long-running shooter series, and certainly as one for MAG, which will go offline two days short of its fourth birthday.
Zipper Interactive staff reduced following SOCOM 4 completion
Sony has confirmed a round of layoffs incurred at Zipper Interactive, its Redmond-based developer of abbreviated squad-based shooters SOCOM and MAG. "This is of normal business practice and a result of cutting back on production resources after the launch of two major franchises," a representative told Joystiq. "The team will continue to support existing properties and its work on future projects." Sony did not say how many positions were terminated at Zipper, though a report on Kotaku suggests that 33 employees were affected. Lead designer Travis Steiner recently parted ways with Zipper to form his own startup. His next project, along with that of his former employer, are both not yet known.
SOCOM 4 lead designer leaves Zipper Interactive
Zipper Interactive community manager Jeremy Dunham has confirmed SOCOM 4 lead designer Travis Steiner has left the development studio to form his own start-up company. Dunham Tweeted yesterday that Steiner wanted to finish his work on SOCOM 4 before leaving to start his own project -- and, other than a very simple flash page, the identity of that project is unknown. Considering Steiner was with Zipper Interactive for about eight years, we're sure that whatever his new excursion is will be worth keeping an eye on. Also, judging by his former studio's lineage, we're going to guess that said project will feature much shooting.
SOCOM 4 launch trailer is going to sneak up and stab you
Sure, there are plenty of guns in the launch trailer for SOCOM 4, but there are just as many (if not more) lethal sneak-up-and-stabs going on. There's also something about a "story" or whatever, but we're much more interested in clandestine assassinations.
Bear McCreary's SOCOM 4 soundtrack now available
If you've ever listened to and, as a result, fallen in love with the soundtracks to Battlestar Galactica, Dark Void or Human Target, you'll probably groove to composer Bear McCreary's latest opus: The musical accompaniment to SOCOM 4. The shooter's soundtrack arrived alongside the game itself today, and is now available through iTunes and the PlayStation Store for $10. You can check out a track from the soundtrack over on PlayStation Blog, but you may first want to strap yourself down to your computer chair. If left unrestrained, listening to the track in question might cause you to lose control of your body, sending you off on a wild and irresponsible terrorist hunt. [Image source: Screencap from Dark Void soundtrack trailer]
SOCOM 4 review: Covert oops
When it arrived on PlayStation 2 nearly a decade ago, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs was unlike anything console gamers had experienced before. Rather than running and gunning, it focused on strategy, stealth, teamwork and a fair amount of realism. At the time, the idea of a military shooter in which one or two shots would take the player down was more or less unheard of, but it was a great representation of the authenticity the series strove for. True to its namesake, the title drew upon the field tactics and training of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs, putting players in command of two, two-man fire teams as they snuck behind enemy lines, destroyed targets, rescued hostages and generally worked to get their job done like ghosts. Now the first numbered installment in the series since 2005 is finally here, and if it weren't for squad commands and a familiar acronym in the title, you might not give it the time of day -- for good reason.%Gallery-87398%
SOCOM 4 comes with Resistance 3 beta access
It's always healthy to take frequent breaks while playing through a first-person shooter to indulge in other, distinctly different kinds of shooting. If you purchase a specially-marked copy (or Full Deployment Edition) of SOCOM 4, then you should be all set -- Sony has announced that the game will include a voucher that will net you access to the public beta for Resistance 3. The bundle's announcement on PlayStation Blog doesn't mention when said beta will kick off, but mentions that the voucher itself includes further details. We'll make sure we'll let you know when we get our hands on one of these golden tickets! At least, we assume that they're golden. If not ... well, then, what's the point?
Walmart.com lists SOCOM 4, Michael Jackson: The Experience pre-order exclusives
Walmart is offering up two exclusives on pre-orders for upcoming games this week. First up, Ubisoft's Michael Jackson: The Experience is available for pre-order on Xbox 360 and PS3 via retailer's site right now. Not only is the game on sale for $46.54, but you'll get the exclusive track "Another Part of Me" -- featured in Captain EO and in the old Moonwalker arcade game -- as part of the deal. There's also a promotion going down with SOCOM 4, where you can pre-order the game and get an exclusive SU90-S Shotgun to use right away (as opposed to, say, GameStop's exclusive map). Let's see: a gun or an entire map? Hmmm ...
SOCOM 4 lets you dance victoriously over your enemy's corpse
People will tell you they play games because they're "fun" or whatever, but since the advent of the tea-bag it's all about humiliation. What better way to humiliate an opponent than to dance, so full of life, over their dead, dead corpse? SOCOM 4: US Navy Seals knows what that new hotness is.
SOCOM 4 beta dated, PlayStation Plus members get early access
Everyone is invited to the SOCOM 4 beta starting April 5. But you'll have opportunities to get in earlier: March 15 - Private Beta. "We'll be contacting eligible players soon." March 22 - PlayStation Plus early access March 29 - Access included with Killzone 3 April 5 - Free public download on the PlayStation Store The beta will include all of the game's competitive multiplayer modes -- Suppression, Last Defense, Uplink and Bomb Squad -- playable on two maps: Port Authority and Assault & Battery. It's scheduled to conclude on April 13. Unfortunately, the beta won't give you a taste of the five-player co-op mode. You'll have to wait until April 19 to try that out.
SOCOM 4 bundled with Move in $150 'Full Deployment Edition'
If you're thinking about picking up a PlayStation Move controller with which to bust caps in the bottoms of your foes in SOCOM 4, Sony and Zipper Interactive have announced a pretty tight little bundle to fit your needs. It's the SOCOM 4 Full Deployment Edition, a $149.99 package which includes the game, a Move controller and Navigation controller, the "Sharp Shooter" gun attachment and a PlayStation Eye camera. The bundle will arrive on store shelves on the same day as the standalone game, April 19. That's a pretty sweet deal -- all those components sold piecemeal would run you over $200. More importantly, think about all the time you'll save if you purchase them altogether! Seriously, searching for these items and clicking "Add to Cart" five times would take you, like, three whole minutes. Three minutes! In this fast-paced, interconnected world, that's like, seven minutes.
SOCOM 4 co-op preview: Hey, hey, the gang's all here
The final major piece of Zipper Interactive's plan to put SOCOM back on the map -- five-player co-op -- has been fully declassified and I've given the latest Navy SEALs game, due April 19, a shakedown. Sony revealed at an event Tuesday evening that the cooperative mode will eschew a traditional "play through the main campaign together" setup in favor of letting players create their own full, multi-stage campaigns using a set of six maps and the ability to randomize normally scripted events on each play-through. I experienced some of this when playing through the same map more than once, with various difficulty and enemy density settings in effect. It was easy to tell that, while your group of friends might get used to the map layouts, the challenge you'll face will never be a known quantity. %Gallery-117449%
PS3 Bluetooth headset available in 'Urban camouflage' color scheme this April
a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/18/ps3-bluetooth-headset-available-in-urban-camouflage-color-sche/">Finally, you can play chat-enabled PS3 games outside in the city, while rendering your ear virtually undetectable.
SOCOM 4 is so-coming on April 19, GameStop gets exclusive map
Zipper will finally return to the franchise that made it famous on April 19, the PlayStation.Blog confirms. But, if you want to get everything SOCOM 4 has to offer on day one, you'll want to pre-order at GameStop. The classic "Abandoned" map from SOCOM 1 and 2's Suppression mode is exclusively theirs. Check out a new trailer after the break.
Killzone 3 includes admission into SOCOM 4 multiplayer beta
Yo, readers: Sony heard you like shooting, so it put a shooter in your shooter so you can shoot while you're shooting. More specifically, the publisher has announced that both regular and Helghast Edition copies of Killzone 3 will include vouchers which give early access to the SOCOM 4 multiplayer beta. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the beta will arrive at the same time as Killzone 3's launch -- Zipper Interactive's Chris Roper explained on PlayStation Blog, "To find out when the SOCOM 4 multiplayer beta begins, be sure to check back at SOCOM.com once you pick up your copy of Killzone 3, hitting shelves on February 22nd." Perfect; so we'll have some time to get really used to Killzone 3's control scheme before switching over to SOCOM 4's presumably wildly different control scheme. We anticipate that we'll be eating quite a few of our own accidentally-thrown frag grenades.
PlayStation Move strategy to focus on 'more core titles,' says Sony's Koller
John Koller, director of hardware marketing for PlayStation, acknowledged to the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft's 8 million shipped Kinect units amount to a "very impressive" figure, though he assured that his company is still "happy where we are in the market" with Move. As of the end of November, Sony had shipped 4.1 million units of its motion controller and believes it has an edge over Microsoft in the race to earn the hard-won affections of the "hardcore" consumer. That's you, right? "The limitations are such that you can't create all the games you want to do," Koller suggested of Kinect, implying that Microsoft's controller-less technoloy lacks the precision control necessary to support so-called "core" titles -- just what Sony has in mind for Move in the coming months. The apparent strategy involves "layering on more and more core titles," Koller explained, and there are at least two Sony titles around the corner that fit the bill. While Move was intended to launch with core support in SOCOM 4, that game's delay to April, coupled with Killzone 3 in late February, means that Sony will have two of its core franchises equipped with Move support in the market within a few months. Microsoft and Kinect? Still zero. In a recent preview of Killzone 3's Move controls, our own Rany Nelson concluded, "I am now committed to using the Move for my first full playthrough of the game. Not only does its integration seem justified to me, but I'm sold on its improved accuracy and greater sense of immersion over the DualShock controller." Koller and Sony sure hope a lot more of us core-types will be sold, too. [Thanks, Devin]
SOCOM 4 confirmed for April
After seeing its deployment delayed into 2011 way back in July of 2010, Zipper Interactive's latest entry in the SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs franchise finally has a more tangible release date: April 2011. The date was nonchalantly dropped in a Wall Street Journal article on PlayStation Move, which the game has become a key "core" title for. SCEA subsequently confirmed to Joystiq that its release is indeed set for April. Mark your calendar -- with a bullet! [Thanks, Devin]
SOCOM 4 to offer 3D mode
"We can confirm that SOCOM 4 will be released in 2011," SCEA senior corporate communications director Patrick Seybold told us back in July, right after the tactical shooter had been delayed. "The team is focusing on additional features which will help to deliver the most compelling and immersive SOCOM experience yet." As glimpsed in a gameplay video recorded at this year's Eurogamer Expo in London, one of those additional -- and don't forget compelling and immersive! -- features will be a 3D display mode. Responding to the discovery on the official SOCOM forums, Zipper Interactive community specialist Chris Roper explicitly noted that the game hadn't been delayed simply to cater to a small group of expensive televisions. "As I said I've said before and as [forum member] Tombstone mentioned, the game was not delayed to add 3D in any way, shape or form," he wrote. "Did the extra time allow for it? Well, you've seen the video. "Err, I mean, no comment. Or something." That 3D something joins SOCOM 4's other list of announced features, including PlayStation Move support and a soundtrack by Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary. Marketing department, that's your cue to put "An astonishing sensory assault!" on the back of the box. [Thanks, David]
PlayStation Move review
The PlayStation Move. It's funny to think just 15 months have passed since Sony first unveiled its motion controller, and now we're mere weeks away from hitting the retail market. To be sure, it's not like the company didn't have waggle on the mind already -- patents dating as far back as 2005 reveal as much, and of course the incredible success of Nintendo's Wii proved there's a market for more physically exerting gameplay. And it's not just PlayStation; Microsoft's got its controller-free Kinect motion camera system coming this November. So, in the year where all major game consoles now ask you to get off the couch and earn arm muscle, how does Move fare? Read on for more!
SOCOM 4 takes its fight to 2011
Zipper Interactive's latest in the SOCOM series has seen its release delayed into 2011, the developer has confirmed via the franchise's official blog. Having appeared in playable form as early as GDC 2010, SOCOM 4 was scheduled to ship this fall and has been used by Sony as a key "core" title in demoing PlayStation Move. "While we're certainly aware that you've been looking forward to playing SOCOM 4 this year, we don't want to take any shortcuts. Instead, we want to deliver the best and most immersive SOCOM game we possibly can and we're going to use our extra time to do just that," read the statement, penned typed by Zipper community manager Jeremy Dunham. SCEA's senior corporate communications director, Patrick Seybold, told Joystiq, "We can confirm that SOCOM 4 will be released in 2011. The team is focusing on additional features which will help to deliver the most compelling and immersion SOCOM experience yet. Please look out for further updates and announcements over the coming months." As soon as a more specific release window for the title is announced, you'll read it here. [Thanks, Solace]
