To anyone out there in the gaming industry that thinks a hardcore, tactical TPS is not relevant in today’s market, our site would like to share something with you. TRS has seen a record breaking increase in traffic this year that has already surpassed the 1st Quarter of 2011 with SOCOM 4. We would like to thank all of the loyal SOCOM fans out there for making TheRealSOCOM.com the largest SOCOM fansite in the world. We couldn’t do it without you.

TRS Traffic for 2011:

TRS Traffic For Q1 – 2012:

Share your thoughts HERE at the TRS forums!

Right-click and save any one of these to your PC. You can also use your PS3 browser to navigate to TheRealSOCOM.com, press “triangle” on the image of your choice, “file” then “save image” to download them to your PlayStation 3. Then scroll to your Photo column, open the image, click “triangle” and crop all the way to the edges until the entire picture is outlined. You can also load one of our previous PS3 themes and simply swap out wallpapers to mix-and-match different custom icons and in-game sound effects. Enjoy!

SOCOM 1 Wallpaper – This is a 2nd concept Dominque created from our original SOCOM 1 PS3 Theme we released last year. It utilizes a similar brushed metal cropping with a black background and graphics featured in SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs.

SOCOM 2 Alpha Wallpaper  - This is one of my personal favorites. Close-ups of Navy SEALs emerging from the water are featured along with ghost camo on the navigation bars.

SOCOM 2 Bravo Wallpaper – More Navy SEALs close-ups including in-game icons featured in SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs.

SOCOM 2 Charlie Wallpaper – Features Rob Roy and various elements from classic and fan favorite maps from SOCOM 2.

SOCOM 2 Zombie Wallpaper – What if SOCOM had a zombie mode? What if Bigfoot and alien spaceships roamed Desert Glory? We don’t know what would happen either, but who cares? All we know is that it leads to one kick ass wallpaper.

Feel free to share any thoughts or feedback HERE.

Last month, Slant Six Games released Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City (REORC) and has been rather busy with PR and post-launch support. For those of you that are not familiar with Slant 6′s previous work, they cut their teeth as a PlayStation exclusive developer for SOCOM: Tactical Strike and SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 for the PSP, and SOCOM: Confrontation for the PS3. It wasn’t until REORC this year that Slant 6 developed a multi-platform title that included Xbox and PC releases with some help from Capcom. That being said, I personally find it rather interesting that Slant 6 has recently been showing a renewed interest in SOCOM fans on Twitter. Here are a few recent excerpts:

6:18 PM – 26 Apr 12 via Twitter

@Vigilant_ writes:

@SlantSixGames going great !! Be better if there was a true Socom/ Con 2 !!

@SlantSixGames replies:

@Vigilant_ So we keep hearing from the fans in our info@! What kind of features would you be looking for in your dream tactical shooter?

After a few retweets, the floodgates are open and SOCOM fans are feverishly tweeting as we speak. I also found it interesting that Slant 6 responded to one of my tweets personally when asking my followers which game they wanted me to livestream tonight at the TheRealSOCOM.com forums. SOCOM: Confrontation was one of the list of options I offered, and Slant 6 responded with their obvious choice. After checking out my recent activity, I noticed a little further down the feed that I was added to a new Twitter List (public) entitled “SOCOM Fans”. I immediately scrolled through their list feed and found April 10, 2012 to be their oldest tweet. They are slowly but surely acquiring more and more SOCOM fans on twitter, and will probably have their hands full very soon with the responses. (click here to see the “SOCOM Fans” Twitter List)

UPDATE: Shortly after the release of this article, the “SOCOM Fans” Twitter List mysteriously disappeared, adding even more fuel to the speculation.

I find this very interesting. I don’t think this is direct evidence of a “SOCOM: Confrontation 2″ currently in the works, but it at least points in a direction that Slant 6 is aware and asking SOCOM fans “What kind of features would you be looking for  in your dream tactical shooter?”

Share your thoughts in our forums by clicking HERE

Indie development is a new wild card on the table for major publishers and developers currently seizing up their demographics. As the industry swells into new frontier as one of the largest forms of entertainment worldwide, entities like Kickstarter are offering new stages to fill the cracks that industry leaders have passed over. Projects like TAKEDOWN are proving that not all of the feedback gamers offer on the internet is a complete bluff. We are willing to put our money where our mouth is.

Congrats to Christian and the rest of the team at Serellan. And an even bigger salute goes out to all of the gamers and companies out there that had the courage to stand up and let our voices be heard. I personally consider this a victory for every tactical shooter fan out there. Hoorah!

Feel free to discuss this article with other gamers HERE

During this surge of success, the gaming industry appears to be under a great deal of pressure to develop a stable product that can survive the effects of piracy, used gaming, and a crowded market with specific genres. As Serellan has stated, “…now most shooters follow the same model of big set pieces, regenerating health, linear levels, and “cinematic experiences.” The realistic tactical shooters with in-depth planning have almost entirely disappeared in recent years.”

Although this statement is very true from my personal observations, I think a similar issue plagues more than just the tactical shooter world. Serellan represents every franchise in the gaming industry that has been strained by the pressure to push profits beyond their original demographic. It represents a fear that is hanging like a cloud over investors, publishers, and design leads that feel as if they are fenced-in regarding taking risks with innovation or even preserving older formulas.

To me, any gamer out there not quite satisfied with modern gaming as a whole should support this project. Serellan is paving the way for all gamers out there who miss the “golden years” when gaming was a niche market that cherished it’s fanbases, and put “art & fun” above profit margins.

SOCOMers are not alone. There are plenty of hardcore gaming communities out there who feel our pain. Serellan has the courage to stand up in the face of scrutiny from the industry to stick up for gamers like us. Even if you are not interested in the actual game Serellan plans to develop, you should support the underlining message it represents.

We have two days left to show the entire industry that there is a market for tactical gaming. Every dollar, every comment, every retweet, and every post will make a difference. Serellan has the courage, do you?

DONATE TO THE SERELLAN KICKSTARTER HERE

Rumor: SOCOM Creators Being Shut Down by Sony

Zipper Interactive, a first-party Sony studio responsible for the creation of the SOCOM series and PS3 shooter MAG, is in the process of being shut down, according to Kotaku sources.

Sony has repeatedly declined to comment on the matter to Kotaku this week, citing their policy not to discuss rumor or speculation.

But we’ve heard chatter for several days that Zipper was in the process of being hit with layoffs and a project cancellation. The scope of the layoffs appears to indicate a studio shutdown.

Zipper has been in the business since 1996, with fan favourites like Mechwarrior 3 and Crimson Skies to its name before it was bought by Sony in 2006 to focus on the console business. The studio’s last game was third-person shooter Unit 13 for the PlayStation Vita.

Once seen as one of Sony’s most important studios, especially in the days of the PS2, Zipper has seen its titles struggle to find the same level of success in the PS3 era, with MAG never really catching on with players and the latest SOCOM title having the misfortune of being released right in the middle of 2011′s great PS3 downtime.

Without official confirmation, there is still the possibility that Zipper will remain open in a nominal fashion but the extent of layoffs that we’re hearing about appears to indicate studio closure.

We’ve again reached out to Sony for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

 

 

Click HERE for the original article on Kotaku.

Share your thoughts in THIS thread on our forums.

Retweet all tweets and share all posts.  Tell everyone you know that once played SOCOM.  We want to utilize all the fans that once were.  So if you have some dormant SOCOM fans from your old SOCOM clan in your contacts or on Facebook… now is the time to get them involved.

#SOCOMUNITE

We feel that the more we push, the more we fight, the more we show just how loyal of a fan base we really are, the more we inform Sony of what a great flagship online series they used to have before the formula was broken, the better our chances are that one day, we will finally get a classic SOCOM that has been LONG overdue…

With that being said, we’d like to introduce #SOCOMUNITE. Use this term anywhere and everywhere you talk or post about SOCOM. We feel as if SOCOM fans should “unite” as one and push for what we truly deserve, SOCOM in it’s original glory.

Our first phase is called “SOCOM IN ONE WORD”. The video below will explain exactly what this first phase is all about:

SUPPORT #SOCOM UNITE WITH AN OFFICIAL SIGNATURE: