SOCOM 4 will be 3D-enabled

Thanks to a quick eye by Dirty_Walter it looks like SOCOM 4 will indeed be 3D-ready when it releases next year. This was also confirmed by a post in the thread later on, by Zipper's Community Manager Chris Roper.

Well then...

As I said I've said before and as Tombstone mentioned, the game was not delayed to add 3D in any way, shape or form. Did the extra time allow for it? Well, you've seen the video.

Err, I mean, no comment. Or something.

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Chris Roper

Community Specialist, Zipper Interactive

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Now the question is, what percentage of the SOCOM audience is actually going to have a 3D TV to take advantage of this. I did play Motorstorm in 3D at the Playstation Canada event a few days ago and I have to say that it was incredibly impressive. But the cost of the television and the fact that it requires glasses, turns me off.

My SOCOM 4 impressions at GreatCanadianGamer.com

A couple days ago I attended the Playstation Holiday Preview Event in downtown Toronto. You can read the entire article here about what I experienced, but here is a short snippet from my SOCOM 4/Special Forces experience:

Despite the crowds, I was able to go hands-on with some games, notably SOCOM: Special Forces. As a SOCOM veteran player, this was the game I was really looking forward to playing. At first I couldn’t even find it, but eventually noticed it tucked away in the corner with the Move games. Sadly, once again Sony is treating SOCOM like an afterthought, and not just because of where it was placed but also because of how it was setup. It was only being showcased with the Move, which wouldn’t normally be a big deal except for the fact that the Move was placed in the ‘gun peripheral’ shell casing. The issue with this? SOCOM: Special Forces is not a light-gun game, and requires you to use the face buttons on the Move controller, which you do not have access to while the Move is in the gun peripheral casing.

The result of this was a game demo where players couldn’t do half the maneuvers. The ability to change your stance (prone, crouch, stand), get into cover, and even zoom, were all not possible while playing the game at the Playstation event. To make matters worse, instead of giving us the Navigation controller (the complimentary one-handed controller to the Move) for movement, we were forced to use the Dual-Shock, meaning people playing the demo had to balance the full Dual-Shock controller in their left hand while struggling with the Move in the gun peripheral casing in their right hand. I could not think of a worse way to showcase the game. At least they got the HDTV settings correct, as the game was visually impressive, but it’s a real shame that people who are not familiar with Zipper’s latest SOCOM game came away with the feeling that it’s a mess.

So as you can see, due to the less than ideal setup, my first experience with the game wasn't as good as I was hoping.

SOCOM 4 coming to Toronto on October 5th

Just yesterday Playstation Canada announced that they will be holding the Playstation Canada Holiday Preview event in downtown Toronto from 5pm-9pm. Among the selection of titles listed as being at the event, is SOCOM 4.

Naturally, being a resident of Toronto you can bet that I will be there on October 5th playing SOCOM 4 and everything else on display there. Of course I'll also be taking pictures, possibly video, and writing up my impressions of SOCOM 4 when I get back.

Look for that October 5th!

Hope to see you there.

No armor or encumbrance confirmed. Time to rejoice!

Last night's episode of the Zipline came with some great little tidbits of information about SOCOM 4. The most exciting of those announcements being that there will be no armor or encumbrance systems in SOCOM 4's single player and multiplayer. Travis Steiner, Lead Designer on SOCOM 4, stated the reason for this is that they wanted everyone to have the same amount of hit points and remain on a level playing field.

Which I believe is absolutely the right decision and would mark the first time that this has happened since SOCOM 2. Can you feel the excitement in my words? From the little tidbits of information and the model of "KISS" (Keep It Simple Stupid) that they are following, I'm pretty confident that SOCOM 4 will, at the very least, have the most balanced online mode since SOCOM 2.

SOCOM 4 HD walkthrough and a SOCOM documentary?

So, I'm sure you've all seen this by now, but on the Playstation Blog Zipper posted an HD walkthrough of the Gamescom build of the game (but in english). Check that out below.

I think it's looking really good and there is no doubt that Zipper is really focusing on polish and adding those last touches to make the campaign stand out more than any SOCOM game in the past.

Also, according to this week's Zipline Episode 18, Zipper is working on a documentary about the history of the SOCOM franchise, something I find VERY interesting. If you aren't already aware, I currently working at a major television news station up here in Canada, and went to school for video production. As someone big into videogames and video production, I've always loved watching those "behind-the-scenes" videos found in many videogame collectors discs. So that fact that one is being done on SOCOM is very appealing to me.

Apparently it will be posted to the SOCOM Blog once its finished, but for now there doesn't seem to be any real time frame for it. Regardless, keep an eye open for that.

The lack of updates

Hello readers,

Sorry for the lack of updates as of late. Just recently made a big move, been working a lot, and also when I've had time to breath I've been enjoying life on vacation by a lake. But now I'm back, and as time draws closer to the release of SOCOM 4 (some time in 2011), I'll be ramping up my over-analyzing and podcasting, as well as the occasional spotlight on some community members.

So look for all that in the coming weeks and months up till the release of SOCOM 4.

Regards,

David

Speculation. IGN visited Zipper Interactive last week. *Update*

On yesterday's Podcast Beyond, go to the 13 minute mark. One of the IGN editors (I think his name is Colin) stated how he saw Chris Roper last week, then another editor states "Didn't you see someone else too?", and Colin hesitates at first, sounding like he feels he shouldn't be talking about this, but then admits to seeing Jeremy as well.

I find it kind of interesting. It sounds like IGN made a little visit to the Zipper Interactive offices last week. Possibly for a new story on SOCOM 4?

Let the speculation begin.

UPDATE:

Chris Roper has replied to the speculation with this:

Mark Ryan Sallee, their guides king, went on a road trip for the week and we met up for lunch. Nothing secret going on, sorry.

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Chris Roper

Community Specialist, Zipper Interactive

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Looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer for more SOCOM 4 information.