Okay, who's stoked for SOCOM 3? On shelves October 11th...

Well, lets see, do you want an honest answer or the one you all hope I'll give?

Oh, be honest, I guess. Will you be purchasing or are you going to forsesake those that love you?

Popular answer: Hell yes! I'm SOOOO excited for SOCOM3! Top of my list! I'm gonna take this one online and totally JUICE my Stats baby! Frag city!

Honest answer: Meh, not even close to the top of my list. For no other reason than that the first 2 simply ended up as expensive novelty games for me, because I get fed up OH so quickly with online gaming and 12-14 year old brats in their parents basements shouting things at me that would make Eminem cry, while simultaneously surviving only about 1 minute per game due to the fact that I just simply don't have the time or motivation to get even reasonably adept at the game, by online standards (which are insanely high given the amount of aforementioned 12-14 year olds who do nothing else). And run n gun sucks (which is why I also never got into CS:S, HL2 Online, or any other game I thought I'd enjoy but didn't). Sorry kids, I'm a 1p gamer, or coop strategy if they got it. I just seem to be alone there (unless I started into MMORPG's, apparently, which I also don't have the time for).

Well, Zipper is saying that S3 will be more cooperative, but, that being said, chances are that the strategy will fly out the window unless you're playing in a clan match (which would be cool, but given our erratic schedules, clan matches probably wouldn't fly).

Will you at least purchase the beast?

Probably not within the year.

Wow, I'm absolutely awe-stricken that I am not getting berated about this yet.

Hey, brother, personal opinions are not up to debate.

Also, I'm not sure Z or Murphy has sniffed out this thread yet...

Wow, that's really holding? Good!

But now what are we going to talk about. Oh, OK. Would you like to know what IS on my list?

I'm here.

If Sock doesn't buy it, thats fine. I'm not being a jerk here, but it wasn't like we could get him to play the other ones anyways. Hell, we never even played Battlefront together, and it was pretty much the anti-SOCOM. So, it would probably be in his best interest to buy something he would play more. I'm cool with that.

I do, however, think that your analysis of the game is very "SOCOM 1". IF you play at night, and IF you play in the right servers (like Z and I do), you avoid most of the things that you were complaining about. Now, it still requires some patience/luck, but it can be a very rewarding game with a little effort. That said, I think the game needs a little bit of repair in the hit detection/lag department before it reaches the next level, but from what I have read, those improvements are coming.

There are a select few game experiences that I would put in my top 5, but I would have to say that the old days of all of us playing together online was right near the top for me. We had some GOOD times!

REFRESHING!

Actually, now that you mention it, Star Wars Battlefront 2 is pretty high on my list. I actually really liked that game (battlefront 1). I think I just don't have that competitive spirit... I just want to play and enjoy and not care if somebody else is better than me. At pushing buttons.

Well, I 've pretty much always maintained that, although I still reserve the right to poke fun at you for buying all those licensed games that are no good (even by your standards).

Also, it's not so much the ranking/competitiveness that gets me excited about playing SOCOM, it's the fact that we can play together and have a ton of fun doing it. I couldn't care less where I am ranked, so long as I can play along side some friends. In fact, I NEVER play by myself. Never. I like the game because I get to hang with my friends online. For some reason, that has been lost.

Lost, like the other thread I made. It was good too. I slammed kahli hard....

I was composing a retort when it got yanked.

Told you so! Neener neener neener!

Well, then, it's a catch 22 for me. Because I like being online with you guys, I really do, but all the other little dickheads piss me off so much that it's barely worth it. Plus, even if they aren't being total dicks, I end up playing roughly 10 minutes actual gameplay during 2 hours of online time, when I could have had 2 hours of actual gameplay... reason for this being that I don't have time to get (as I said before) even reasonably good at the game (by insanely high online standards, especially for an established title). Nor do I really care to, because the gameplay itself is less than thrilling to me (in the SOCOM series in particular - especially for what the online became, in SOCOM 1 and 2 (throw grenades, wait for others to throw grenades, hope you don't die or get sniped in the meantime, then run all over like hell looking for someone to shoot at for 30 seconds until you, him, or both die, in which case if you manage to kill him, someone else is there to mop up because they simply ran towards the gunfire and you're dead anyway, but HEY LOOK, I got a kill! then wait 10 minutes for the last 2 guys to find each other and DO IT UP AGAIN!)). /end rant.

I guess for me, the reason the fun of hanging out in online games is lost is this: it's only fun if the online game is reasonably amusing for everyone. Hanging out together rocks, but hanging out together solely for the purpose of eating multiple turd sandwiches kinda loses it's shine.

GoW, I love to death. It's awesome.

ill most likely be getting it. if its as much of an improvement over 2 as that was over 1, it should be really good.

OK, so the turd sandwich thing was kinda harsh, so let me say this another way...

you guys probably wouldn't be waiting in line to buy WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006 just because it has online capability and I'd play it online, if that were the case (I wouldn't, so this is a non-issue). Nor would I expect you to, because really, that just isn't your thing.

SOCOM (and online games in general, really), as cool as it was at first, just isn't my thing anymore. At all.

Still love the gaming, though! GoW kicks ass! So does Madden! And Legends! And HL2!

Dig?

Where are you at now? Is the PS2 still choking on FMV?

Well, seeing as how I didn't play last night because of Hitchhiker's Guide, I'm still just after Medusa, at the first big mounted crossbow. I've already grabbed the hidden chests and kicked over the statue of Zues, so I'm ready to ascend another ladder.

If you remember all that, it's amazing.

No online gaming for you, eh? What ever happened to the Sock I knew in college who played Mechwarrior online for hours at a time? Jade Falcon would be disappointed!

What about Madden online if we all had it? Can you do co-op and versus at the same time (Like Clavian and me vs. you and Z)? Would you still shun the online gaming?

You have come down hard on blanket statements in the past, and I think you just made one!!!