SOCOM Interview: SoCOM CrossTalk and the future of the PSP

Zipper Interactive, the developer of SOCOM: Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo and its sequel SOCOM: Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 2, was recently interviewed by IGN as part of their series which inquires on the opinion of developers about the PSP. In the interview, many things were discussed, including the difficulties of developing the game for the PSP, as well as the PSP’s future.

According to members of the SOCOM team, a feature called  “SOCOM CrossTalk” has been incorporated into the game. This feature makes use of the PSP headset and microphone. When asked about the difficulties of such a complicated task, they modestly replied, “Implementing headset support into PSP games is relatively straight forward. It is not difficult if a development team feels that it is important for their product.”

It was also mentioned during the interview that the biggest challenge they faced was implementing the control scheme of the game. They said that SOCOM “used every button and stick on the Dual Shock 2 controller, so adapting the controls in a way that was easy, fun and yet maintained the depth expected was a challenge.” In addition to this, they also mentioned that the 16-player ad-hoc network was “a big challenge” because of the bandwidth limitations involved.

Finally, they were asked about how they see the PSP’s future, they replied by saying that the PSP “is a great platform, but very few publishers and developers are creating games that really take advantage of the platform”, and that they are hoping that this trend will change.

For the full interview, just click on the “Read” link below.

Zipper Interactive, the developer of SOCOM: Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo and its sequel SOCOM: Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 2, was recently interviewed by IGN as part of their series which inquires on the opinion of developers about the PSP. In the interview, many things were discussed, including the difficulties of developing the game for the PSP, as well as the PSP’s future.

According to members of the SOCOM team, a feature called  “SOCOM CrossTalk” has been incorporated into the game. This feature makes use of the PSP headset and microphone. When asked about the difficulties of such a complicated task, they modestly replied, “Implementing headset support into PSP games is relatively straight forward. It is not difficult if a development team feels that it is important for their product.”

It was also mentioned during the interview that the biggest challenge they faced was implementing the control scheme of the game. They said that SOCOM “used every button and stick on the Dual Shock 2 controller, so adapting the controls in a way that was easy, fun and yet maintained the depth expected was a challenge.” In addition to this, they also mentioned that the 16-player ad-hoc network was “a big challenge” because of the bandwidth limitations involved.

Finally, they were asked about how they see the PSP’s future, they replied by saying that the PSP “is a great platform, but very few publishers and developers are creating games that really take advantage of the platform”, and that they are hoping that this trend will change.

For the full interview, just click on the “Read” link below.