Socom Franchise
Socom was the first online game for a home console that showed a lot of people
that it was possible to communicate and form a community within a game.
Features such as lobbies, push to talk, and single life rounds in the game seem archaic
compared to today's standards. (ie quick match, open mics, respawn)
But these features are what made the community so special.
We had time to talk, not only about the game, but about life and everything under
the sun. We had time in the lobby rooms, and time when we were dead to get to
know the people we played with. With the push to talk we did not have a bunch
of garble from background noise. With the lobby's we knew where we could go to
play with friends, and to meet up with others that we would rather shoot or talk
trash to. People knew where to find you if they wanted a clan war. Or just
some good friendly competition.
There are lots of personal stories that go along with such a community.
In a series that is only 10 years old most us have come to form
friendships and more that will last us a lifetime.
My psn friend list is full. 100 people all but a hand full are from Socom.
Tons of them are on my facebook, some clanmates I text/call, and when
I want to relax, or blow off steam with friends w/o hitting my wallet
up I know where to go.
Personally I have known people in the game who sadly are no longer with
us in this crazy journey of life. I had another clanmate that was from Japan
that did not speak alot of english, and sadly I have not seen him online since
the tsunami hit, I can only hope he is doing ok.
I have met a few of my clanmates in real life that live halfway across
the country. ( And I will tell you this, meeting someone that is a big
dude with tattoos, riding a Harley, and working as a bar tender was not
the type of person I usually hung out with but I consider this person a
good friend today.)
I met my girlfriend of 3 years on Socom. Traveled from Va. to Ca. to meet and we now
live together. Maybe some day I'll have a wedding and see how many of
our friends from the game can come.
A game that was designed from the ground up as a competitive tactical game.
The only game where I have had people tell me it gets their blood
pumping. A game where many have formed bonds that will last a lifetime.
A game full of memories of glory and of many many many controllers thrown across
the room. I will never forget the first person to get the honor of making me throw one,
his name was Cpt. Howdy. He was hiding in the bushes as a Seal on Death Trap
and shooting me through the overlooks.
A game I feel has been neglected because of technical bugs and people
trying to take it to the main stream audience in it's 2 ps3 debuts.
It saddens me greatly that such a series has been set by the wayside.
I could spend all day talking about what I want to see happen with the
series. That is not what this article is for though, so I am going to
say good day to you folks and hop on Confrontation for my daily fix.
Yours Truly,
Ihova-, the one that just keeps on coming.....
