Coming five months after the American release, SOCOM Confrontation will be out in Australia on March 18, and in Europe on March 13. It should be an all-around improved experience from the US launch, too, with a series of much-needed patches that have been released for the game in the intervening months helping fix most of the game's more notorious online glitches.

CONFIRMED SOCOM RELEASE DATE [PlayStation, thanks Brett!]

The release of the patch was proceeded by a couple-hour outage to update the servers with the new code. That's the good news. The bad news is that in order to "resolve incorrect player stats" and to correct the stats for the Trophy support, the developers cleared all player stats.

Doh, time to start over.

The newest patch to come, version 1.30, is said to fix plenty of bugs and errors, namely stability issues and, most notably, the "heart attack" bug (couldn't find a Youtube video, sorry). The good news is the patch has been sent for certification. The bad news, however, is that people typically have off over the holidays, so don't expect a released until after then. Seth Luisi on the SOCOM blog writes:

Unfortunately, due to the Holidays the update will not be approved by SCE Format QA until early next year. Our QA staff will be here, testing the game over vacation, but the SCE QA teams which must approve the update before release will not. Again, these teams must approve all titles and updates before they can be released. We are unable to release the 1.30 update without their approval. As much as I would like to play Scrooge, it is impossible for us to cancel their vacation and get them to approve it over the holiday.

The scheduled release for 1.30 is during the weeks of January 5th or January 12th. For now, though, singalong and enjoy this Christmas special!

(SOCOM Blog via Ars Technica)

"Unfortunately, the server environment is not holding up during peak loads. We've made many changes and improvements to the server to improve the issues (the first few days were really rocky) but we are still seeing server issues when we get up to around 25,000 simultaneous players during peak hours. Our primary focus at this time is to resolve these server issues."

Luisi also noted there would be patches coming down the road. Yes, patches. Plural. One patch will look to fix client side stability issues, including getting booted to the XMB and getting disconnected from games. He also said another patch is in the works to enable trophies and address user feedback. The client patch is expected to be out "in the next week or so" with no scheduled release date for the second.

SOCOM: Confrontation Update October 20th, 2008

Full statement after the jump:

We will be performing server maintenance and rolling out a new patch on September 9th at 5am PDT, 1200 GMT. The SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation game servers will be unavailable during the maintenance. The server maintenance is not expected to last longer than 1 1/2 hours.

SOCOM: Confrontation Public Beta 1.10 Patch

* Adds support for European EULAs.
* Adds support for dedicated servers located in Europe and Australia.
* Addresses a number of stability and late joining issues.
* Reduce the volume of the proximity chat by 50%.

The server maintenance and patch are not meant to address all issues. We will have more updates to both the server and client in the future.

Regards,
SOCOM Confrontation Online Team

SOCOM: Confrontation Public Beta 1.10 Patch and Server update [Official Site via PS3 Fanboy]

We are doing everything we can to resolve these issues as quickly as possible and you should see some improvements progressively over the next couple of days. However, we do not expect to have the issues completely resolved until close to the end of next week.

Before your rage builds, now would be a good time to remind you this is what betas are for.

SOCOM: CONFRONTATION PUBLIC BETA UPDATE [SOCOM]

Official Bluetooth Headset for the PLAYSTATION 3 [PlayStation.Blog]

Update: We contacted Sony Computer Entertainment of America earlier today after some of you noted that the images appeared to be old. SCEA just told us that in fact they are at least six months old. The images were all accidentally placed on the Leipzig press disc and their press site as new images by accident. Sorry for the misinformation.

Gamers can land entry to the public beta by preodering a copy of the game at GameStop, which will also give them two keys to the beta to share. They can also get in by downloading the June issue of Playstation Network video show QORE. GameStop beta keys go live on September 1, while the Qore when start on September 8.

Unfortunately, this is only for North American gamers. Other regions will have to wait to see what their local Sony tells them.

Public Beta Info No Really! [SOCOM]

It seems like every online shooter coming out nowadays is held to a much higher standard than before when it comes to features and modes. Everyone is trying to outdo each other by having larger multiplayer maps, better cover systems, or smarter AI bots. So it was refreshing to see that SOCOM: Confrontation went the simple route and included none of these.

SOCOM is strictly multiplayer-only (read: no bots) and consists of seven maps. Five are for 32 players and the other two are for only 16. The level I was shown was for 32 players and we played against the QA testers back in Foster City. The game was a little laggy, but nothing that broke the gamplay.

I was surprised when I was told there’s no cover system of any kind. Moving the analog stick slightly forward will allow you to crouch-run, like in Metal Gear Solid 4. Also, for you Sixaxis fans out there, tilting the controller left and right when immobile will allow for peaking around corners. It worked pretty well, but I didn’t think it was all that useful since the gunfire can get hectic at times.

Graphically, the game looks phenomenal. While certain areas look better than others, the overall scope of the map I saw was impressive. In terms of destructibility, there isn’t a lot to blow up. You can blow up cars and barrels, but don’t expect to blow away pieces of buildings or terrain.

While I wasn’t given specific details on trophies, and since there’s no single player campaign, it appears they’ll be tied to your online stats. I assume that means there will be trophies for number of kills, accuracy, victories etc…

There’s also a great deal of customization for your character. You can select from a variety of armor pieces and weapons to bring into a fight, each affecting your overall movement speed and accuracy. There’s also an option to make your own badge if you’re hardcore enough to start making clans.

For a $40 PSN game, this is looking like a title online shooter fans will have a hard to passing up.

The SOCOM folks broke down the bundle options on their site a bit earlier today and it looks an awful lot like the options Warhawk gamers were given. While they haven't yet nailed it down, the team hopes to have the game hit the rest of the world at the same time.

And now for your choices:

$59.99 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation (Bundle Version)
Includes SOCOM Confrontation, a newly designed Bluetooth® Headset for the PLAYSTATION®3 system and exclusive Behind the Scenes videos.

$39.99 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation (Stand Alone Version)
For all of the people who want SOCOM: Confrontation on a disc. Does not include the headset or the Behind the Scenes videos.

$39.99 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation on the PlayStation Network
SOCOM Confrontation downloadable from the PSN without ever leaving you couch. Does not include the headset or the Behind the Scenes videos.

I sure hope that headset is SOCOM-themed. If you're going to buy the game, which option do you think you will be picking up.

More headset pics here

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation Release Date [SOCOM]

If you think Quarantine looks nice, hit the jump for Crossroads - definitely my favorite of the two.

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.

In SOCOM Confrontation, you can now fully customize your character, tweaking the look of your character head to toe, with the type of special force unit a gamer chooses providing them access to different bits of customizable gear. Customization includes the ability to add armor to your character, though the more body armor you wear the slower they move.

Players can now sprint in game. Running, something that long ago became a mainstay of most shooters, has somehow never shown up in SOCOM titles before. Now that it's in the game, I'm not super impressed with the way it's being implemented, mostly because it doesn't allow you to change directions as you run. It's an odd choice, one that seems to indicates that Slant Six isn't really behind adding sprinting to the game.

The biggest change to actual SOCOM game play would have to be Slant Six Games' use of the Sixaxis motion controls in the game. While you're never forced to use them, you can use tilting and up-and-down motions to go prone, squat or lean. Leaning with the Sixaxis took a little getting used to, but seemed to work well. It was a little unsettling that players don't lock to cover, as with most games that use a cover system, but the end result felt far more organic, and, I suspect, true to life.

These few changes, Sixaxis controls, character customization and running, are so slight that they're not really noticeable. Instead the chief focus of the team, it seems, is to create a next-gen version of the popular PlayStation franchise that emphasizes graphics over any significant shift in gameplay.

And the graphics are a significant step up from the PS2 entries in the series. They don't however leave other PlayStation 3 titles in the dust; instead they seem to be about on par with some of the better titles I've seen hitting the console recently.

The thirty minutes I spent with SOCOM Confrontation was liquid fast, interrupted only occasionally by in-progress bugs. The map I played on, a next-gen version of classic "Crossroads," is as deep as I remember it, with the ability to go through most doors, access most rooftops, and create choke points by blowing select access points. The map is packed with nuance, lots of tiny little details that breath life into it.

But most of the changes I noticed on the map and in the game were cosmetic, changes to the look and, perhaps, the depth of the game, but nothing that really changes the way you play the game, for good or bad.

I think this, coupled with the fact that SOCOM Confrontation is online, multiplayer only, will feel more like a title meant to tide SOCOM fans over until the next full installment hits, rather then quench their thirst for some Playstation 3 SOCOM gaming.

Check out the jump for details on some of the screens taking from the Crossroads and Urban Wasteland maps. I can't wait till this game hits, looks like it's going to be a total blast.

On the Crossroads map:

Three on one? All’s fair in love and war.

I’m a huge fan of architecture and the way cities look. I took a trip to New York City a couple weeks ago and came home with more pictures of random buildings and streets than I did of the actual thing I went there to see.

So, there’s a lot for me to like in this one screen. The way that the tile gives way to basic dirt, the street lamps, and the brick work are all pushing my buttons over here. It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?

Do you see that lion in the background, just to the left of center?

If you wanted to, you could travel all the way over there. Same thing with the tall building in the center, and the rooftops to the left, front, and center.

Two more bits. First, if you have a proper weapon, you can snipe from this position and pick people off from across the map. Second, do you see the birds flying in the air? You can shoot them. We don’t encourage that sort of thing, and you’re really better off shooting at the enemy, but hey... you can shoot them.

This is an image from the same angle as the post from the other day, but a bit lower to the ground and more detailed. You can see some things that were blocked or covered before. The bicycle, the garbage bags (there are two), and the fuel can, for example. There’s even a transformer on the electrical tower.

For those of you who don’t speak French, “Bain pour hommes" translates to, “Men’s Bath.”

On the Urban Wasteland map:

This is a shot from Urban Wasteland. We can get a good look at the wrecked building, and can probably figure out some decent working strategies for this specific point. There are pretty clearly four levels at work here— the beginning of the stairs (off-screen), the first landing, the second landing (off-screen to the left and top), and then the walkway in the top right.

It seems like it’d be pretty easy to pick people off from any level of the staircase, which means that you’ve got to stay on your toes when ascending or descending. The real question is what’s in the rooms that the staircase comes from and goes to?