Back when Socom 4 was officially announced, being a die hard Socom fan of the previous titles.
Original-Gamer.com: "Sony has decided to shutdown the servers for SOCOM Confrontation, SOCOM 4, and MAG in January 2014. SOCOM 4 and MAG were developed by Zipper Interactive while SOCOM Confrontation was developed by Slant Six Games."
MAG is not even too old yet, this doesn't make any sense. It's still fairly populated with the dedicated fans, even one of my friends recently got back into it. Hell even Confrontation has a pretty decent sized dedicated player base, I think only 4 is pretty deserted.
This really makes no sense, the games aren't old. They better be making new games in the future at least.
Come on now, MAG's pretty old, their new console is coming out, and there's only about 5000 individual players coming on every month, if that.
It's run its course, a fantastic game while it lasted. Hopefully, we can get a few massive battles in before the servers close, knowing the community, I expect it.
Also, a lot of MAG is on Dust 514 now, which isn't amazing, but is still alright.
It makes sense.
MAG is no longer selling, so Sony is making no money from it. In fact, it's costing them money to keep it alive.
Maybe with PS4 pay-for-online and microtransactions (read: ongoing support), you'll get a better service.
@HammadTheBeast
"Come on now, MAG's pretty old"
No it isnt, you want really old check out:
Warcraft 3, Starcraft 1, Counter strike. Then tell me why those games are still running?
Sony closing servers to older games is just a tactic to force users on board their next console.
Its the nature of console gaming, too controlled with console gamers having little to no rights at all. Hell if Sony closes PS3 online services after PS4 launch there is nothing console gamers can do about it.
MAG is barely alive now these days. Domination is only playable early AM hours (CST) when the JP players get on and that only last a few hours. Only thing going on is Sabo or Suppression.
Lucky to get an Interdiction or Acquisition going.
Kind of ironic i recently put mag back in and got all the updates and restored all my skill points. And OMG i could not kill anybody for nothing, it was quite weird. I used to be beast at that game and i went negative for a few games before finally i quit. Felt like i was doing worse for the team then helping.
It wasn't very populated then, but hate to hear that.
H-Hour is the new Socom. You can still support the development studio by way of Paypal, and you still get access to all of the Kickstarter rewards, but only until the end of the month.
http://sofstudios.com/index...
H-Hour is set to come out on PS4 and PC.
@all
MAG was released in 2010, just 3 years ago! You're telling me I should expect online servers to be around for just 3 years?
"It's still fairly populated with the dedicated fans."
You only see one side of this. Sony sees the stats of how many players are playing on average. No reason to waste server power for a handle full of people. Yes that handle full could be a few thousand but still.
From what I remember during MAGs development. Zipper was given a blank check and setup a server farm for MAG.
No reason to let all those servers go to waste. They will most likely use them for the PS4.
Where's the outrage? They effectively saying that you've been renting MAG all this time. Online only games shouldn't have their servers shut so soon.
There's about 200 people on at any time now.... and most from the free demo.
^^
So? You're perfectly fine an online-only game that people are still playing will be shut down
#Corpser
Yes there is a community, but a very small one. It's the same case with White Knight Chronicles 1/2. Both MAG and WKC I've played heavy enough to say they had a very small community that most likely didn't warrant Sony paying the money to keep the servers going for any longer. It sucks, but it happens when it's a case like this.
If anything, I'm more surprised that MAG is being shutdown much later than WKC was. IMO, it should of been the other way around.
Haha, some have no clue of exactly what you just did there. Or am I reading too much into it?
In other news, the 2007 X360 online only game, Shadowrun, is still playable on its online server. This show where the priority is for both companies when it comes to online gaming.
MAG community is far from dead, why?
And no wonder GameStop has been selling the game used for $0.99. It's an online-only game too
It's a shame, I enjoy playing MAG more than just about any other shooter out there. I know many do not agree, as it does have some very obvious flaws, but it's a gem of a game beneath them.
That's the only problem I have with digital downloads and multiplayer only games. If they shut the servers down your screwed...
I would hope such a service would work for a game like MAG, enough of the community (that is already dwindling) would need to know about that capability, and actually be bothered to want to try using it in order for it to work. I think it's just going to kill the community enough to make the game unplayable, as MAG relies on very large matches.
My only gripe with it was they tried catering to the damn cod noobs.I feel like typing a letter to all FPS Devs and telling them to stop trying to cater to the damn noobs cuz it's ruining what we originally fell in love with their games.If that make's any sense.
I don't like the whole "one-man warrior" gameplay that COD seems to cater to. I realize companies like Activision along with the others are trying to maximize profits by developing what's popular. However, I emplore Zipper to sacrifice sales for quality and authenticity.
And here I thought the author would have got the hint after the absence of Demolition in the game but it was bound to fail. The protagonist is from NATO for heaven's sake....
But I lost all faith in Zipper especially after hearing the podcasts of Seth dodging vital questions and playing ignorant to the complaints of the old fanbase (and actually some of the new as well).
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier here I come...
Socom is a dead series. When two games in a row release named Socom get deemed as "not a true Socom" its time to kill the series.
I bought Confrontation - What a mistake.
I loved MAG, but I just couldn't support Zipper on this one.
Its not a Socom game at all. It feels more like a crappy version of Ghost Recon if anything. The gameplay isn't even the same, nothing about this game resembles Socom. Confrontation was a better game.
I agree with all the authors points, but damn this article is poorly written.