SOCOM Confrontation: Sixaxis, Running and Armor Bring Slight Changes

It doesn't look like there will be a whole lotta new coming to SOCOM Confrontation when the online-only shooter hits the PlayStation 3 in September. Sure, you're going to get new maps, and lots more detailed graphics, but if you were hoping for some paradigm shift, some major change in the way you play the popular PlayStation shooter, you're going to be disappointed.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. A developer doesn't always have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to hardcore shooters, and SOCOM is about as hardcore as they come.

The team did talk up a few of the changes coming to this latest iteration while they were showing SOCOM Confrontation off during last Friday's SCEA Pre-E3 Judges Day held by Sony in Hollywood.

Creating My Own Level In LittleBigPlanet

It's becoming almost a cliche to say how much fun and how cute LittleBigPlanet is. But each time I play the game I'm surprised to find that my already absurdly high expectations aren't just met, they're exceeded.

The game is fun, and it's cute—no, strike that, it's fucking cute—and last week I got a chance to sit down with Alex Evans, technical director for the game, and go to town with LittleBigPlanet's "Create" function.

We've all seen the sped up videos of someone whipping out custom levels for the game in less time than it takes to start most games up, but I wanted to know just how easy or hard it was for someone with no experience.

After quickly walking me through the basics of design, Evans set me loose in the world.

Multiplayer bedlam got you down? Endless cross-map sniping bumming you out? Insomniac Games honcho Ted Price feels your pain and he's doing his best to fix some of things that often plague the best of multiplayer shooter matches.

He has to. Resistance 2 online play will support up to 60 players on one map, and without some way of sorting through some of those problems the matches just wouldn't be any fun to play.

If you really don't care about the confusion of such a mighty match, if you revel in the disorder, you can still play the matches you want, but for the rest of us Price and his team has some pretty neat ideas.

Evolution Studios' tropically themed follow-up to MotorStorm was playable at today's SCEA Pre-E3 Judge's Day, a pre-alpha build that gave us just a taste what the sequel holds in store. Just two levels were on hand in the demo version of MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, Beach Comber (for single player) and Rain God Spires (for split-screen multiplayer). The former was comprised of an inland area, thick with vegetation, and a sandy beach, the sun setting brightly in the distance. The latter was a rockier track, one that looked to have been inspired by Rain God Mesa from the original MotorStorm.

Evolution may have changed up the setting, but they haven't mucked much with the MotorStorm mechanics, as players of the first will feel right at home. The vehicle line up is almost exactly the same, but handling on the rides felt just a bit looser, making it harder to avoid obstacles than we remember. Unfamiliarity with the new Pacific Rift tracks more than likely accounted for our many, many crashes. It certainly wasn't a skill issue.

The newest, most notable changes come in the form of engine cooling by driving through pools of water—watch out though, motorcycles simply can't handle deep water—the new monster truck vehicle class and splitscreen multiplayer.

Tucked away in the back corner of SCEA's Pre-E3 Judges Day suite was a PlayStation 3 demo station featuring Linger In Shadows, an interactive, semi-playable technical demonstration designed by demoscene team Plastic. We showed the Linger In Shadows video back in March—but don't watch it if you want to avoid "spoilers"; it's pretty much the entire demo that will hit the PlayStation Network later this Summer.

But Linger In Shadows can't just be watched in full from the get go, it has to be unlocked. At certain moments in the demo, clues will be given to the player, indicating that some unspecified action needs to be performed. Miss it and the demo will rewind. The display then switches to a letterboxed mode and you'll be shown controller prompts that give you an indication about how to move on to the next scene.

We just returned from SCEA's Pre-E3 Judge's Day, an event that gave us hands-on time with highly anticipated titles like Killzone 2, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet. So why am I writing about PixelJunk Eden first? Probably for the same reason that, at the end of the day, while Killzone 2 demo stations were available with no waiting, the wait to get hands on a DualShock to play more PixelJunk Eden was a good 15 minutes. We're not trying to downplay Killzone 2, mind you, as it's a fine game. But Eden? I'm already having withdrawals.

The thing about PixelJunk Eden is that its appealing and addictive qualities might not come across well in screen shots or trailers. Q-Games Dylan Cuthbert showed a trailer for the previous build of Eden at GDC, likening it to "an organic Mario." It's accurate, in some sense, as the game is a platformer at heart, but one that oozes style and originality.

Here's how you play PixelJunk Eden.

Siren: Blood Curse Even Scarier Moving

Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 - More Tiny Golfing Goodness

Sure, they showed a whole lot of this at the European PlayStation Day last week, but they didn't show these babies. These are U.S. exclusive shots of Siren: Blood Curse, the episodic horror game that Sony will begin delivering via the PlayStation Network this summer. If you are not from the U.S., please refrain from looking through this gallery. We appreciate it. Just trying to follow instructions.

Feel free to hit the jump for the fact sheet, however, as it doesn't seem to be exclusive at all. Just not the screens. If you look we shall be very cross.

Pixeljunk Eden Does...Something

That's it. I don't want to see any more Little Big Planet screens until I can play the game with my own two hands. This latest set, available at the Sony Pre-E3 Judge's day goes beyond tantalizing to torture. Can I be a zebra? Do I want to be a zebra? I just don't know! What I do know is that companies need to stop showing really cool stuff a year and a half before it is released, because my mind just cannot handle it anymore.

Yes! I want to be a zebra! *breaks down*

Sony's Pre-E3 Judge's Day is in full swing, and while Brian and McWhertor will be updating throughout the afternoon with hands-on, eyes-on, and whatever other body parts they can get onto the games featured at the event, we'll be here at home base gathering up the information, screens, and movies for your viewing and reading pleasure.

First up is SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, due out in September for the PlayStation 3. We've got screens, concept art, and a giant fact sheet after the jump that contains all you really need to know about that latest game in the SOCOM series. Enjoy!

Sony's Gamer's Day Kicks Off

Just arrived at the top of The Roosevelt Hotel where Sony has kicked off their Gamer's Day. This time around the company has decided to cut to the chase and just let us dive in to the rooms full of games they have present for hands-on.

So far I've seen consoles set up for Buzz! PS3, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm 2: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2 and SOCOM: Confrontation. PSN titles on hand are Linger-In Shadows, PixelJunk Eden and Siren: Blood Curse and Playstation Portable titles playable are BUZZ! PSP, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee and Secret Agent Clank.

Stay tuned for hands-on impressions of all of these games from myself and McWhertor throughout the day.