I'm a little late with the news, but this is straight from Socom.com:

We wanted to touch base with you and let you know about some of the things we have been working on for SOCOM: Confrontation.

Tournaments

A consistent tournament schedule is now up and available for our community to join in on the fun. Tournaments are being advertised several days in advance and a new tournament is starting almost every day of the week. And for you Cold Front owners out there, we've set aside a tournament just for you which takes place every other week.

Here is the layout for our weekly tournament schedule. Check the in-game calendar for registration and start times.

Mondays & Wednesdays

- 32 teams of 4 over two days on Day maps

It's fast paced action with 32 Fireteams of 4 players going head to head. The tournament lasts 2 days. Gametype and map are random with the setting in the daytime. No restrictions.

Tuesdays & Fridays

- 32 teams of 8 over two days on Night maps

Looking for squads? Look no further. We've got 32 squads of 8 facing off every week. The tournament lasts 2 days. Gametype and map are random with the setting at night. No restrictions.

Thursdays

- 64 teams of 4 over two days on Night maps

Fireteam fans, you want some nighttime map action? Thursday is your day, with 64 Fireteams of 4 players set to compete on night time maps. The tournament lasts 2 days, with Gametype and map set to random. No restrictions.

Saturdays

- 128 teams of 8 over two days on Day maps

Squads, we've got you covered on the day/night switch also. Saturday is our weekly 128 Squad of 8 match, and it's set on daytime maps. The tournament lasts 2 days. Gametype and map set to random. No restrictions.

And, for those of you looking for the BIG tournaments, we've got an 8 week rotation complete with some Cold Front specific challenges. Each of these is a 5 day tournament, beginning on Mondays with the final matches on Fridays. This is how the schedule looks through the 8 week cycle:

Week 1- Cold Front Exclusive
64 teams of 8 over five days on day maps in Arms Run gametype.

 

Week 2- 64 teams of 8 over five days on day maps.

 

Week 3- Cold Front Exclusive
128 teams of 8 over five days on night maps in Arms Run gametype.

 

Week 4- 128 teams of 8 over five days on night maps.

 

Week 5- Cold Front Exclusive
256 teams of 8 over five days on Night maps in Arms Run gametype.

 

Week 6- 256 teams of 8 over five days on night maps

 

Week 7- The BIG one, just for Cold Front owners
512 teams of 8 over five days on Day maps in Arms Run gametype.

 

Week 8- The BIG one, open to everybody!
512 teams of 8 over five days on Day maps.

 

Golden AK-47 Unlock Through PlayStation HOME

For those of you looking to add another weapon to your arsenal in SOCOM: Confrontation, we've got a special unlock for you coming in April. You can now get the Golden AK-47 by visiting the SOCOM Confrontation spaces (including the new OP-FOR space) in PlayStation HOME. Complete the puzzle in the HOME spaces within the time limit and you will be rewarded with a previously hidden Golden AK-47 that you can use to help bring your team to victory in-game.

 

New Spawning System for Medley Games

We have heard the community and are working to finish changes to get an improved game spawning system out there for the public. The changes will reflect each medley game type, 4v4 and 8v8. It will reduce these down to one initial room to fit each gametype, and will then spawn a new overflow game once the initial game is 75% full. So in a 4v4 game, once there are 6 players signed up to join the game, a new 4v4 game to join will be made available. This change should also be coming in April.

It's official!  Zipper announced today that SOCOM 4 is indeed in developement and set for a fall release this year!  Here is that announcement taken from the Socom site...

Hello everyone, my name is Jeremy Dunham and I’m the Senior Community Manager at Zipper Interactive. I wanted to drop in and introduce myself and deliver some truly exciting news -- on behalf of everyone here at the studio, I’m pleased to announce that SOCOM 4 is indeed in development and is slated for release exclusively on PlayStation 3 this Fall.

Of course, as with any new announcement, what you really want to know are the details. Who’s in your squad? Where have they been deployed? What kind of threat are they up against? Though we’ll be revealing the answers to all these questions and plenty more throughout 2010, we don’t want to leave you completely in the dark, so what we will tell you is that a militant revolutionary has unexpectedly seized control in an important South Asian country. As the Ops Com, your mission is to command an elite five-man squad charged with stopping his aggressive agenda before it’s too late. In only six days, you must lead your team through a hostile jungle and urban environments against an army of well-armed rebel insurgents that completely outnumber you.

If that setup doesn’t whet your appetite enough, you should also pleased to know that in addition to the SOCOM’s single-player operation, players will also be able to enjoy a 32-person multiplayer mode that boasts more Special Forces units than ever before!

If you crave even more information, then the guys at IGN have you covered with their exclusive first-look preview at what we’ve shown so far. Editor and shooting game fanatic, Ryan Geddes, dropped by our studio earlier in the week to check out SOCOM 4 for himself, so be sure to read the full IGN article to find out what he thinks.

But wait! There’s more! As part of our continued announcement celebration, the folks at Game Trailers TV will air the world premiere trailer for SOCOM 4 tonight at 12:30 a.m. All you have to do is tune in to Spike TV when the time is right and let your eyes and ears do the rest. Don’t miss it!

Oh, and before we let you go, we wanted to send a message to our SOCOM and MAG fans all over the world. First, if you play MAG and wonder what this means for the game’s future, wonder no more – we’re still fully committed to supporting MAG for a long, long time and the addition of another game in our lineup doesn’t change that. Second, it's been great to hear from SOCOM fanatics located in every corner of the globe as we led into today’s announcement. We’re extremely excited to be attached to this beloved franchise again and knowing that so many people wanted us to return to something that already meant so much to us has been both inspiring and touching -- so thank you to all of you who wanted it to happen! We look forward to living up to your expectations.

You can also check out IGN's info here: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/107/1074103p1.html

Appx

Today it appears PSN crashed, with widespread reports of error code 8001050F - hardware failure for PS3 consoles!

This is currently happening to a LOT of people, and some are concerned their PlayStation 3 entertainment system is now bricked as a result!

8001050F - Hardware failure. Cannot update Firmware or connect to Internet

Heavy Rain gives a different error (same error code) than "hardware failure" it says "Can't register trophy information. The game will now quit"

Source 1: http://forums.n4g.com/tm.aspx?high=&m=792732&mpage=1#792732
Source 2: http://boards.ign.com/ps3_lobby/b8269/189807005/p1
Source 3: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26690041
Source 4: http://boardsus.playstation.com/t5/P.../td-p/45309292
Source 5: http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/ps3-error-8001050f/1026416?page=1

Can't connect to PSN ("An error has occured. You have been signed out of Playstation Network. (8001050F)")

Can't load up disks ("Registration of the trophy information could not be completed. The game will quit. (8001050F)")

Can't play any downloaded titles ("The copyright protection information is invalid. (80029513)") For some reason all my downloaded games have no owner, so they don't work.

System time changed to Dec 31 1999 (YOU CAN'T EVEN MANUALLY SET IT THAT LOW)

The only things that will work are demos, and the free version of FlOw (has no copyright information).

Anyone know what is up? Also, my PS3 slim upstairs lets me log in, but my PS3 Fat is all messed up to hell.

Read more: http://www.ps3news.com/forums/ps3-online-news/psn-crashed-8001050f-hardware-failure-ps3-consoles-110004.html#ixzz0gstSLDAw

The B1 stands for Beta Release 1. To help test out and apply to see this theme, please leave a comment! (Nooby and Duc - you're already set).

Thank you for all your help!

This is not a blog about MAG. This is not an attempt to recruit C420 members to come play MAG – even though I would love it if you did! (Rumor has it that AnubisIIGoW is picking up his copy this weekend.)

This is a blog about Zipper & the absolutely amazing job they did producing MAG. Zipper has knocked it out of the park. I cannot believe how much better the gameplay & interfaces of MAG are than the Slant 6 version of SOCOM. There is no comparison.

I never played SOCOM 1 or 2 from Zipper, but I’ve heard they were great. Obviously they created a huge following. I’m not going to whine about Slant 6 but I am going to compare.

Now, I know that SOCOM requires a different lobby system than MAG does. In MAG you cannot join a lobby & set up your opponents, switch sides, & play against your friends. You can only join a group of 8 friends and play with those 8 as teammates. Your opponents are always chosen for you.

Nonetheless, I hope & pray that Zipper can take what they’ve done with MAG & apply it to the next SOCOM (which they are already working on).

Imagine pressing a button on any of the menus (community, armory, friends list, stats, extras) and not having to wait for between 1 & 5 seconds while it pauses to load. The screen loads instantly!

Imagine being able to go into any home screen menu while you are still in the game lobby. You never have to ‘leave’ your party & you can still talk to them while you are playing with your other stuff.

Imagine playing 16 versus 16 on large maps (or even up to 256 in this case) with NO LAG. You never get shot after you’ve already killed someone. You never see people jumping around. Wow what a concept!

All Zipper needs to do is apply their top-notch technology & programming to the SOCOM concept. Personally I hope they scrap the existing lobby system that is in Confrontation, which is straight off the short bus. Australasia, I never want to see you again!

Instead just used the MAG basic concept & expand! Perhaps make the party system be able to hold 32 players instead of 8. Then make it closed mike. Then add an option for ‘closed’ (unranked) or ‘open’ (ranked) game type. Then launch! That’s it! The party leader selects the game type & the party is off!

Come on Zipper, I know you can do it  

G'day C420! It's yer old pal Cold here with a few updates. First off I wanted to let you all know that my attendance on the site has been sparse because I've been really busy being unemployed! Heh - actually I've been working on getting some clients from my old job, getting a new website up for my business, and getting ready to visit some family again. But that's not all! I've also been working on a new theme for the site. I showed it to IOU1 last Saturday, and let me tell ya folks, he likes it! I should have some screen shots of it up soon in the forums to see what you guys think. Here's some changes to the site so far:

(Update in the comment section)

Events have been taken off of the main page, as the content itself is rather empty and takes up a lot of white-space. I'd rather encourage other users to write blogs and create forum topics. If any of the leaders like it enough, we'll promote it to the main page!

I'm working on a new theme for the site. The one you're looking at now (with all the game titles and controllers on the sides) seems to break when viewing events or blogs if the content has a comment with an embedded signature. Not sure what all that web-tech mumbo-jumbo means? Neither do i! But what I do know, is that if you want something done right you have to code it yourself. So, I downloaded a "skeleton" theme and opted to design it how I saw fit. There's still a few minor bugs I need to iron out, but the usability far exceeds the old theme. If you want to test-drive it, send me an email (cold AT c420.com).

Lastly, our trusty email server "Spammy" has been acting up. I'm getting all of these bounced emails, which should be going to your email accounts (i.e. when SWR does his weekly "I forgot my password" form). I don't know why Spammy isn't sending out emails properly, but I will figure it out as soon as possible! As soon as I'm done with this ham sandwich and piece of cake! (The cake is a lie! LOLOLOLOL)

Bye!

Clark Kent, Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne … you know who they are. They’re “Super Heroes” – men who live amazing double lives, saving the planet in their spare time when they’re not at their regular jobs.

Reality check people – you’re not one of those guys. You don’t need 2, 3, or 8 identities on the Playstation Network.

Now, let me come clean: I do have 2 PSN IDs. Originally I was Zeppelin444. I always wanted to be 420 but it was taken when I started on the PSN. Then, when I started playing SOCOM: Confrontation, I created Zeppelin_420. The old Z444 name became dormant. Now, it’s used sparingly – only twice actually, to check out the other factions.

I’ve heard that the Italian faction has a cool gun, & I wondered if I should become more active with Z444, join the Italian faction, and be available to play on two C420 ladders. I know that some other C420 guys are already doing the double roster thing &/or want to.

Here’s the deal – don’t do it! Of course you can create as many IDs as you want to – I really don’t care about that. But when it comes to C420, you should just use one name. Bottom line: it’s too damn confusing! It slows down everyone else’s XMB by adding more & more friends names to our list. It slows down everyone else’s SOCOM friends list screen, which is already slow as shit.

I hereby pledge to use only 1 name within C420 and not send any requests to join multiple factions or have 2 names on your lists. I hope that the rest of us do the same. If I really get the itch to join Italy or Dutch or whatever, I’ll just switch the same name I have now.

Or I’ll just team-kill COLD and steal his gun at the beginning of every round.

There seems to be a rumor going around that Sony is going to begin charging for Playstation Network access beginning January 10.  Fortunately this is just that: a rumor.

You can read it yourself in the links I provide, but apparently Sony is planning on offering premium online services for a price.  I don't know what the price is, or what the premium content will be, and I don't think anyone really does.  Speculation runs rampant, but G4 TV correspondent Stephen Johnson quoted Sony president Kaz Hirai as saying:

"SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral and PlayStation Network. Especially in the on-line area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services."

Read more: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/700836/sony-dont-panic-playstation-network-not-going-pay-to-play.html#ixzz0aX5b8rVt

For now, though, a more present problem exists in messages stating "If you forward this message to 15 people," yada yada yada, something about being put on a list for free subscriptions.  You'd think people wouldn't be so gullible as to fall for this sort of thing, nevertheless it happens.  It's not the first chain letter I've had passed on through PSN messages, but it's certainly the most dangerous.

Please, people.  Do some research before passing on inflammatory and wrong messages.  It's called Google.  Use it.

For further reading:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091208134628AAyN3Hr

http://gizmodo.com/5411054/playstation-3s-psn-will-get-premium-level-pay-subscription-in-2010

I love the new maps.  Can I say that first?

Sure, I say I hate Nightstalker, but really, it's kinda cool not to be able to see fifteen feet in front of you.  The other guy has the same limitations you do.  Now, one thing I don't like is the map newbies sniping with thermals from waaaay across the map, but whatever, we'll make do.  As Anubis says, it's not the map.  I digress.

I think Slant 6 has really outdone the Confrontation maps.  They seem almost plain, after playing the Cold Front maps.  My favorite at this point has to be Uprising.  It seems like a combination of "That-one with-the-training-camp" (I'm not good with old map names), Citadel and Blackwoods.  It also seems to evoke a Call of Duty feel.  Anyway, I am really enjoying getting to know these maps, and I can't wait until we're all on there at the same time.

Are you as tired of the Slant 6 bashing as I am?

It seems like no one is every happy with what we get, and that's fine, people are free to criticize.  However, we don't have to pay a monthly fee like XBOX live, and honestly, this game is graphically superior to any other shooter I've played.  Now, I haven't played a lot of them, but the detail and smoothness seems to be far and above better than the other games out there.

I don't know why Zipper Interactive didn't get the license for the PS3 version, and I don't really care at the moment.  Could they have built a better game?  I don't really know.  One thing I do know, is they are standing at the plate with the bases loaded, and they're being pitched a softball.

What?

Imagine you're the guys at Zipper.  You're supposedly working on SOCOM 4 for the Playstation2.  You have the opportunity to scour the forums for every negative about Confrontation, figure out what the naysayers are screaming for, and give it to them.  People are already screaming for Slant 6 to be taken off the next-gen SOCOM team.  Imagine what it will be like if SOCOM 4 is released.

One thing people won't understand, is what if Zipper had made Confrontation?  Wouldn't there be the same critics, saying Zipper had lost their touch?  That they forgot what made all the other SOCOM games successful?  It's not a stretch, and if Slant 6 had made all the others, and Zipper was new to the project, people would be begging for Slant 6 to come back.  It's all a matter of who went first.