Enter the SOCOM Micro-Transaction
It has begun. You can now download new SOCOM 3 content (for a nominal fee).
Published: February 21, 2006
Sony was talking up so-called micro-transactions -- new game content for a couple bucks -- long before Microsoft managed to spin the concept and (this is important) bring it to market in an easy to use way with the Xbox 360's Live Marketplace. Even with the HDD, downloadable add-on content was extremely hard to come by (conveniently enough, most of the content was for SOCOM II) and, not surprisingly, it more or less tanked.
But if WipEout Pure showed anything, it's that Sony's internal development teams are plenty capable of churning out tons of extra downloadable content for their games, and seeing as SOCOM 3 developer Zipper Interactive is now part of Sony (man, we're just link-crazy today, but click them, click them all!), well, it just fits that they're releasing more content.
Oho, but what's this?! Sony is charging for the download? Could this be the first signs of the much-vaunted online marketplace that Sony has been working on for lo all these five years? Hey, could be.
"SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs Map Packs allows for the millions of SOCOM fans to experience updated versions of their favorite maps from earlier SOCOM titles or take on competitors in all-new environments simply by purchasing and downloading the SOCOM 3 Map Packs from their SOCOM 3 online account," SOCOMed Seth Luisi, senior producer at Sony Computer Entertainment America. "With the release of the SOCOM 3 Map Packs, the SOCOM franchise will expand with even more online environments, adding to the SOCOM experience you can only get on PlayStation platforms."
SOCO--awhaaaaaa? Packs? Looks like the first pack is just the beginning, and here's where it gets interesting. The first pack, which goes online next month, is actually a collection of updated maps from the very same downloads HDD owners got if they had SOCOM II. After Hours, Last Bastion and Liberation have been tweaked and refined to include vehicles, new spawn points, the new game types and weapons customization, all of which SOCOM 3 added to the familiar formula.
The packs can be downloaded for $5.99 a pop, and can be saved to a HDD (yes, again), USB thumb drive or other "compatible" USB Mass Storage device, or (and this is where it gets a little cooler), your PSP, fueling the fires of cross-compatibility between Sony platforms. Our gut tells us this is the start of what we'll be seeing with the PS3 too. The second and third packs will offer maps from the original SOCOM and new SOCOM 3 maps, though in what ratios remains to be seen. As soon as we know their contents, we'll update you.
But if WipEout Pure showed anything, it's that Sony's internal development teams are plenty capable of churning out tons of extra downloadable content for their games, and seeing as SOCOM 3 developer Zipper Interactive is now part of Sony (man, we're just link-crazy today, but click them, click them all!), well, it just fits that they're releasing more content.
Oho, but what's this?! Sony is charging for the download? Could this be the first signs of the much-vaunted online marketplace that Sony has been working on for lo all these five years? Hey, could be.
"SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs Map Packs allows for the millions of SOCOM fans to experience updated versions of their favorite maps from earlier SOCOM titles or take on competitors in all-new environments simply by purchasing and downloading the SOCOM 3 Map Packs from their SOCOM 3 online account," SOCOMed Seth Luisi, senior producer at Sony Computer Entertainment America. "With the release of the SOCOM 3 Map Packs, the SOCOM franchise will expand with even more online environments, adding to the SOCOM experience you can only get on PlayStation platforms."
SOCO--awhaaaaaa? Packs? Looks like the first pack is just the beginning, and here's where it gets interesting. The first pack, which goes online next month, is actually a collection of updated maps from the very same downloads HDD owners got if they had SOCOM II. After Hours, Last Bastion and Liberation have been tweaked and refined to include vehicles, new spawn points, the new game types and weapons customization, all of which SOCOM 3 added to the familiar formula.
The packs can be downloaded for $5.99 a pop, and can be saved to a HDD (yes, again), USB thumb drive or other "compatible" USB Mass Storage device, or (and this is where it gets a little cooler), your PSP, fueling the fires of cross-compatibility between Sony platforms. Our gut tells us this is the start of what we'll be seeing with the PS3 too. The second and third packs will offer maps from the original SOCOM and new SOCOM 3 maps, though in what ratios remains to be seen. As soon as we know their contents, we'll update you.
