First, in case you missed the announcement from the PS Vita CES keynote yesterday afternoon, Unit 13 is scheduled for release on Tuesday, March 6th. We are quite excited to bring this new title to PS Vita. Thanks to the excellent dual analogs sticks on the Vita, Unit 13 represents the first full shooter experience on a portable gaming device. But don’t take our word for it: the press have been playing it and really like what they see. Check out the recent coverage from Kotaku, Destructoid, and IGN.

We also have, as another PlayStation.Blog exclusive, the first view of the North American box front!

But what I am really here for is to provide an exclusive video walkthrough of a new level and game type in Unit 13. This is the first detailed video walkthrough of a Covert mission:

For those not keeping up on Unit 13, there are four different mission types. Direct Action missions are larger, multiple objective missions that reward tactical play. Deadline missions are medium-sized missions where players have to race against the clock; they reward speed over tactics. Elite missions are small- to medium-sized missions with no health regen or check points. Elite missions reward taking as little damage as possible. Finally, the Covert missions are stealth missions where you need to get in and out without the enemy knowing you were there. It rewards players for remaining unseen and you get a bonus for leaving enemies alive. However, if you are discovered, you can still recover if you take out the alerted enemies fast enough. Each different game type has different scoring rules and each one makes the best use of the six different operatives and their equipment.

With 36 missions playable in single player or co-op, along with dynamic versions of those missions; plus nine HVT missions to unlock and share via near; six different operatives; 10 levels per operative that unlock new abilities, weapons and equipment; plus the daily challenge missions and leaderboards for all 36 single player and co-op missions, I predict that Unit 13 will keep you busy for a very long time.

Some of the patch highlights are:

• Framerate improvements in all environments
• Vote/ Kick implemented
• Art and lighting updates to all levels
• Art updates to weapons, vehicles and objects
• Animation improvement and updates
• Client patching improvements
• Design tuning on all environments (attacker/defender, out of bounds, sightlines, routing…)
• Tuned all skills (skill point expense, skill trees, skill effects)
• Tuning pass on experience rewarded for all actions (resuscitate, heal other, destroy turret, destroy motor pool….)
• Tuning pass on player & leadership experience progressions
• Full audio tuning pass
• Bunker, APC, and Spawn camera adjustments
• Lowered initial spawn times for attackers and defenders for all gametypes
• Update Major/Minor victory and loss percentages and conditions for all gametypes
• Updated Domination gametype scoring values
• Improved weapon feel and hit feedback

A lot of the changes are based directly on feedback from the MAG Public Beta community. Please keep this feedback coming, it really helps us improve the title.

If you are not yet a part of the MAG Public Beta there is still time. If you pre-order MAG at GameStop in the US or EB Games in Canada you receive access to the MAG Public Beta. And remember, from November 9th until November 20th the only way to access the MAG Public Beta in North America is to pre-order MAG.

We look forward to seeing you in battle.

The hours for this phase of the MAG Public Beta are:

Monday – Friday:
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT
8:00 PM – 12:00 AM EDT

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM CDT
7:00 PM – 11:00 PM CDT

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM MDT
6:00 PM – 10:00 PM MDT

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM PDT

Later this week or early next, we will be releasing a new version of the MAG Public Beta client. This will be a major update to the MAG Public Beta client and server set.

Remember, in North America the MAG Public Beta access from November 9 to November 20 will be available exclusively to people who pre-order MAG from GameStop or EB Games (in Canada). If you live in North America and you want to continue playing MAG you will need to get your pre-order in to GameStop or EB Games and get your MAG Public Beta voucher code. This will also be the first time the MAG Public Beta will be available 24/7 with unlimited server hours (with the exception of server maintenance).

In conjunction with the next phase of the MAG Public Beta, we are also introducing a ton of new features for our Web site, MAG.com. The updated site will include a community section with access to the MAG forums, RSS feeds, and new media and downloads for fans, including wallpapers, AIM icons, and XMB themes for each of the PMCs. You can also read more background on each of the PMCs and enlist in your favorite private army. Check it out now at MAG.com. The Shadow War is coming 1.26.10.

We also know that many of you have an itchy trigger finger, so we’re making sure that you have plenty of opportunities to experience the battle before launch. Many of you were fortunate to have some time with MAG at E3. Now the Shadow War continues at PAX; Join Zipper, SCEA, Jeff, Chris and fellow PlayStation.Blog readers for a MAG-centric community event in downtown Seattle. The event is scheduled for Friday, September 4th from 6:00 – 9:00 PM PDT. 200 lucky PS.Blog readers are invited to attend the 256-person function and get hands-on with a new MAG map. Members from the MAG team at Zipper will be on hand to take your feedback and answer your questions. SCEA will also be showing off the new PSPgo and a few upcoming PSP titles.

All you need to do is be one of the first to RSVP below and choose which private army you plan to join. By now, you’ve read and heard some of the information on the three PMCs in MAG—Raven, Valor, and S.V.E.R.—and it’s time for you to start choosing your allegiance. Be prepared to stand up for your private army.

And if you can’t make it to PAX, we’ll be doing something special for a select group of PS.Blog readers, so stay tuned for more details. We’ll also be releasing more information on the MAG Public Beta very soon.

Battle lines are being drawn in the Shadow War and no mercy will be shown after January 26th, 2010. For those of you who were unable to attend E3, here’s the first Web release of the MAG E3 trailer. We’ll have new assets coming very soon.

I’m happy to announce that SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation will be hitting store shelves and the PLAYSTATION Store on September 16th, 2008. You’ll be able to download it from your couch or pick up a copy at your favorite brick-and-mortar and get to business.

As we approach the release of SOCOM: Confrontation on the PS3 this September, we are very excited to announce the all new SOCOM community site: www.SOCOM.com.

We’ve been working for some time to grow and expand our support for the SOCOM community. The initial phase of SOCOM.com (Phase 1) will launch with the official Blog and Message Boards dedicated to the world of SOCOM. The Blog will be the place to go for the latest updates on everything SOCOM related; including screenshots, video, behind-the-scenes blogs and more. It will also give us a method to directly communicate with the SOCOM community. You can sound off in either the comments section for each post or in the message boards. We have agents gathering intel and dev team members will respond when they can.

When SOCOM Confrontation is released, we are planning to deploy Phase 2 of SOCOM.com: a whole new website which will integrate your SOCOM Confrontation experience onto the web. We’ll have more information on Phase 2 as we get closer to release.

Unfortunately, my hands are currently tied and we cannot provide any new screens or video due to a certain exclusive which is about to hit. Rest assured, we are going to bombard you with new media soon enough.

P.S. We are looking for a select few to provide early feedback on SOCOM: Confrontation in an upcoming Private Beta test. Only the top contributors at the Official SOCOM Blog will be selected. We are on the look out for people who have intense knowledge of all the previous SOCOM games and can also demonstrate their leadership in the Message Boards and Comments section. More details soon.

2. What did you do on this game that you couldn’t do on another platform?
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation makes full use of the HDD in the PlayStation 3. One of the often overlooked advantages of the PS3 compared to competing platforms is that it contains a 2.5” serial ATA hard drive which allows us to use the Hard Disc Drive for extremely fast data access. Since we can count on the hard drive to be in every PS3 console, SOCOM Confrontation uses a very aggressive data streaming system which in turn allows for much greater detail in the game environments. For this reason alone, the level of detail which you will see in the environments and characters in SOCOM Confrontation is not possible on any other game console.

Take a quick look at the screenshots below for an early look at what we are able to achieve using the hard drive in the PS3. This is still pre-alpha and the quality will continue to improve as we get further into development.

3. What do you think is the coolest aspect of this game?
The environments are the real star in SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation. We are focusing a lot of effort on creating intricate and highly detailed urban environments. The amount of detail in the environment will help you to easily distinguish where you are in the level and the intricacy means that you are going to discover new areas and snipe points long after you thought you had the environment memorized.

The characters are also looking really good.

At the top of the post is an in-game screenshot of our Heavy Commando model. The skin shaders, cloth shaders, normal maps, and highly detailed textures allow us to have extremely realistic characters in the game. Again, this is a work in progress.

4. If you could sit one person in front of your game for an hour, who would it be?
N’Gai Croal. He’s been a long time player of the SOCOM franchise and I would really like to discuss what he thinks about this game. It doesn’t hurt that he is also one of the best journalists writing about video games and also writes for Newsweek.

5. What game do you most want an hour to sit in front of yourself (besides your own)?
Metal Gear Solid 4. I’m very curious how the game plays compared to the videos that have been shown so far.

6. How many E3’s does E3 2007 mark for you?
All 12 of them. I’ve been to every E3 including the first one in 1995.

7. Describe the pre-2007 E3 experience in five words or less.
Very stressful, little sleep…

8. Most over used phrase or expression during E3 season.
“Game of the show.” The press are so busy each trying to be the first to declare the game of the show that they ignore most of the games shown at E3 including some really good ones. Also, half the time they declare a game which is shown as video only as “Game of the Show.” A note to the press, a game by definition is interactive and so a video is not a game and cannot be game of the show.

9. You are asked to make suggestions for an E3 survival kit- what three items HAVE to be included?
Aspirin, water and a GPS unit to navigate LA.

10. Describe what you anticipate from 2007’s newly formatted E3 in five words or less.
One word, fiefdoms.

11. What’s your favorite part about developing games for a living?
My favorite part about developing games is that moment of relief and excitement when I finally see things working in the game as we meant them to be. Most people don’t realize this, but it can take more than a year of hard work and planning (some times several years) before the game is up and running as you envisioned. That whole time you are hoping that things are going to work as planned and that you are going to have a great game but you never know until that moment. It is extremely exciting when it does work and you realize you have something special.