SOCOM avoiding Confrontation until Oct. 14

After months of uncertainty, those awaiting word of the release of SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Confrontation got a firm answer in March. That's when Sony Computer Entertainment America announced that the popular third-person shooter series' PlayStation 3 debut would ship on September 16. The game looked set to lead a charge of first-party action games from Sony, followed by Resistance 2 around the holidays and Killzone 2 the following winter.

Unfortunately, during the week of 4th of July, the makers of SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Confrontation had some decidedly un-gung-ho news. Buried amongst various patch updates, an inconspicuous post on SOCOM.com saw SCEA director of development Seth Luisi reveal a hard choice had been made.

"Unfortunately, even working late into the nights and every weekend, we've had to reevaluate our schedule," he said. "Our top priority is delivering the best SOCOM online experience possible. Tough decisions had to be made, and we've decided to push back the release date to October 14, 2008. We just had to face the facts and do what is best for the title. Rather than sacrifice features, quality, and stability, we had to do the right thing and readjust our schedule."

SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Confrontation is the first PS3 title from Slant Six Games, the young Vancouver shop behind the PSP hits Syphon Filter Dark Mirror and SOCOM: Tactical Strike. (Most prior SOCOM games were developed by Zipper Interactive.) Bundled with a PS3-branded Bluetooth headset, the multiplayer-only game is also one of the first titles confirmed to support the console's trophy system out of the box. For details on Confrontation's ambitious clan support, community features, and gameplay, check out GameSpot's recent hands-on preview.