ALL GOOD THINGS.. Where do I even begin to describe how disheartening this news is. After 17 years in the business, Zipper Interactive is closing its doors. Zipper, and its SOCOM series for the PlayStation 2, are tied together eternally like Michael Jordan is to the Chicago Bulls. To me, the SOCOM series is a milestone game that reflected the power of multiplayer on the PlayStation 2. Immersive, challenging, never dull, and will keep you on your toes for a measurable period of time. Dubbed “SO-CRACK” by many in reference to its very addictive multiplayer gameplay. I would be lost, literally, for hours at a time playing SOCOM 3′s “Convoy” mode. Opposing teams take turns in loading cargo trucks with supplies and ultimately driving them to the extraction zone, while another tries to destroy them. I loved extracting Convoy trucks. Production value of the SOCOM series progressed in high fashion by the time the 3rd installment was launched. Big names like Michael Clark Duncan and Jennifer Hale had lent their talents. There was even a whole orchestra to accommodate and compose the soundtrack. The game was not just some clone of the previous one. What you have to understand during this time is multiplayer games were just starting to blossom, and words, such as “DLC” or “XP,” did not exist. No one cared about how your character on screen looked, there were no extra reticule colors or XP to harvest. It was just pure team work and fun from the get go. MUST COME TO AN END.. Game Informer confirmed, through an official response from Sony reps, that the studio has, indeed, shut down. Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm the closure of Zipper Interactive, a Seattle-based internal game development studio that has been part of the global development operation of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS). The closure is a result of a normal cycle of resource re-alignment within SCE WWS. Zipper has completed all work associated with its most recent project, Unit 13 for PlayStation Vita. Zipper titles MAG, SOCOM 4 and Unit 13 will continue to be supported, including the new Daily Challenges in Unit 13. The news brought the good and bad attitude that is prevalent with today’s social media enriched world. Tons of tweets reflected sentiment, while a handful showed disgust. Disgust in the fact that the studio “did not follow their fan base that made them famous” reads one tweet. I would’ve loved to see them build upon the control scheme of SOCOM 2 and hopefully re-release the franchise with a HD version in the future. To date the series has sold over 12 million copies, and its last developed game, “Unit 13,” has gotten a ton of positive response. Good luck to all the staff and thank you for the best franchise ever made!

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[Opinion] Zipper Interactive Closes its Doors After 17 Years in the Biz

Welcome back to another week of gaming news, with FooBear and yours truly. There wasn’t a whole lot this week, though the news we had was pretty interesting, with the rumors and game studios hiring for ‘Next-Gen Consoles’. Besides the game talk, you get to hear a tale about FooBear’s real life thieving skills, which is fun to hear and now we all have some dirt on him! Someone isn’t going to be running for Mayor anytime soon! Enter the secret word(s) mentioned in the PS3BlogCast to earn 75 points. The first 10 people to enter it correctly get double points! As always, we want to remind you that the PS3BlogCast is listed on iTunes! So please subscribe and rate/review us there. You can also leave a voicemail for us by calling PS3-888-BLOG or if you want to contact us via email for us you can do so here . We have a dedicated forum for the PS3BlogCast so you can leave your questions and feedback there as well. Here’s a list of some things (or everything) we discussed: New Releases Major Assassin’s Creed Announcement Inbound Assassin’s Creed III Character Leaked Unreal Engine 4 More Medal of Honor: Warfighter Info Ready at Dawn Working on a Next Gen Console Game Coderunner Vita Round 2 Secret Word

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PS3BlogCast Episode 39

If you had a chance to listen to the official PlayStation Blogcast this week, (How would you? You should be listening to our blogcast !), then you already know about Sony’s plan to release Killzone 3 multiplayer as a standalone free download on PSN next week. The multiplayer trial will be free for all PSN users but limited by a level cap. You will be required to purchase the full experience to unlock the skill tree and the full multiplayer mode (think Homefront demo). The full multiplayer experience will cost you $14.99 with no plans of releasing the single player campaign separately. On other News, Guerrilla Games co-founder and technical director Arjan Brussee will be leaving the company to join Dead Space developer. Visceral Games , working on a new unannounced “Exciting” IP.

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Killzone 3 Multiplayer FREE Download Next Week

Another week is here, and though the news is light, we’re back with another episode of the podcast. It’s FooBear, Isli and I discussing what news there was as well as what we are playing, while also giving tips to a listener on what PS2 games to play. Enter the secret word(s) mentioned in the PS3BlogCast to earn 75 points. The first 10 people to enter it correctly get double points! As always, we want to remind you that the PS3BlogCast is listed on iTunes! So please subscribe and rate/review us there. You can also leave a voicemail for us by calling PS3-888-BLOG or if you want to contact us via email for us you can do so here . We have a dedicated forum for the PS3BlogCast so you can leave your questions and feedback there as well. Here’s a list of some things (or everything) we discussed: New Releases Skyrim 1.4 Patch Battlefield 3 VOIP Patch David Jaffe to Leave Eat Sleep Play LittleBigPlanet Kart Racing? TV Show Talk What We’re Playing FooBear’s Giveaway Details Secret Word Listener Email

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PS3BlogCast Episode 36

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the podcast. This week we have a special guest from the site joining us, you might know him, a little fella that goes by the name of Isli. Tune in to catch Isli, FooBear, Tosh, and I discuss a few things in the news as well as some more Skyrim talk, and a few other stories about our gaming experiences. If you’d like to be a guest on the podcast feel free to join us! You also get points for being on the podcast, so don’t worry about missing out on the secret word you point fanatics! Just send me a message on the site and I’ll let you know when we start, and I’ll add you on Skype. Also a bit of warning for those of you who didn’t beat Heavy Rain, but we talk about it at the end of the podcast quite a bit. So if you want to stay away from spoilers, you can just stop the podcast there. I made sure to put the secret word before that. We also talk/spoil Uncharted 3 again, as well as a little bit of Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol, but it’s all after I give you the spoiler warning for Heavy Rain. Enter the secret word(s) mentioned in the PS3BlogCast to earn 75 points. The first 10 people to enter it correctly get double points! As always, we want to remind you that the PS3BlogCast is listed on iTunes! So please subscribe and rate/review us there. You can also leave a voicemail for us by calling PS3-888-BLOG or if you want to contact us via email for us you can do so here . We have a dedicated forum for the PS3BlogCast so you can leave your questions and feedback there as well. Here’s a list of some things (or everything) we discussed: New on PSN Nohopeleft.com Infinity Ward Hiring for Next-Gen Games Dead Island DLC ’12 in ’12′ SOPA Secret Word Heavy Rain Discussions

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PS3BlogCast Episode 33

Welcome back to another week with the podcast. This one is light on the news, with FooBear and yours truly. We don’t get into a whole lot, beside the basics of new releases and a few bits on the Japanese Vita launch. For those of you who don’t feel like taking a trip to Spoilerville, FooBear and I talk about the ending to Assassin’s Creed Revelations. We do the code giveaway and the secret word before hand, but if you want to skip over it stop the podcast at 51:30 and you can pick it back up at about 1:02:43. We also won’t be having a podcast next week, so we’ll see you all next year! At least…in the podcast. Stay active on the site! Enter the secret word(s) mentioned in the PS3BlogCast to earn 75 points. The first 10 people to enter it correctly get double points! As always, we want to remind you that the PS3BlogCast is listed on iTunes! So please subscribe and rate/review us there. You can also leave a voicemail for us by calling PS3-888-BLOG or if you want to contact us via email for us you can do so here . We have a dedicated forum for the PS3BlogCast so you can leave your questions and feedback there as well. Here’s a list of some things (or everything) we discussed: Vita Launch Issues New Releases Code Giveaways! Secret Words Assassin’s Creed Revelations Spoilers

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PS3BlogCast Episode 30

Sony has recently announced that it has shipped 3.7 million PS3′s in Q2 of this fiscal year which is a full 1.4 million more than the Xbox 360. This brings the total PS3′s to 56 million where as the Xbox 360 is 57.3 million units shipped. The bad news is Sony listed a 350 million dollar loss for the entire company while MS posted a profit in its game division. In other news the PS2 sold a surprising 4.3 million units so far this year. This system will not die.

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Lifetime PS3 Sales Only 1.3 Million Away From Catching Xbox 360

While Xbox 360 users got their hands on the Beta about two months ago it is now our time now to experience the Elite-nesses of this beta. Activision Stated that “Beta testers can take their current Call of Duty multiplayer experience to the next level by jumping into the Beta version of the Call of Duty Elite service, as beta access will start to be activated in stages, with limited invitations rolling out effective today,” explains Activision’s press release Most of the Beta features are free but if you’re a die hard Call of Duty fan Activision would be more than happy to sell you the premium subscription already for a full year… which goes for just $50. Premium members get exclusive Clan benefits and all of the MW3 DLC (such as Map Packs) as well as 20 pieces of new in game content. The Beta has just started on Monday and is very limited but if you’re interested in joining the ranks of Call of Duty’s beta testers, you can sign up at www.callofduty.com/elite Good luck getting in!

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Call Of Duty Elite Beta

A story about a boy, a fairy doll and the boy’s quest to revive his recently deceased mother. From the minds of Level-5 and studio Ghibli , comes this role-playing magical adventure. Ni No Kuni (or The Another World) was first announced in the Japanese publication Famitsu in September 2008 for the Nintendo DS. Later in 2010, it was revealed that the game was in development for the PlayStation 3 and a world premier trailer of “Ninokuni: Shiroki Seihai no Joou” (Queen of the White Ashes) was shown in TGS 2010. Many English-speaking players were wondering if this will be another Japanese import, but wonder no more … Level-5 president Akihiro Hino confirmed that an English version of the game is in production for an early 2012 release in North America, exclusively for PlayStation 3. I leave you with some gameplay footage from TGS 2011 … Here is a second Gameplay video to demonstrate the game’s “Final Fantasy/Pokemon” battles!

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Ni No Kuni (North America English version confirmed)

I am a LittleBitLate with this news, but LittleBigPlanet 2 is now $39.99 “at participating retailers”, so if you haven’t picked it up because of the price, now might be a good time to do so. Also, earlier in the week, there was a new update available for LBP2. One that allows you to play the game using the Move controller. To go along with that, Media Molecule will also have the Move Pack DLC available next week, a video showcasing that can be viewed up top. From the looks of things, it adds quite a bit more to the already great gameplay the game provides! Here’s some information about the Move Pack (from littlebigplanet.com ): Featuring a brand new story mode; Rise of the Cakeling, a new power-up for Sackboy called the Brain Crane, and a suite of creative tools to help you build your own Move games, paint your own stickers and record movements, the Move Pack is our biggest DLC add-on pack to date! No pricing details available just yet, though. Source

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LittleBigPlanet 2 Price Drop; Move Support Enabled!