With SOCOM's 1.50 patch finally "feature complete," the guys at Slant Six decided to announce plans for patch 1.60. The release will add new Special Forces to the game: the Dutch KCT and the Italian COMSUBIN. Each Force will include new heads, voices and outfits. Each of the Forces will also don special weapons: the 417 assault rifle for the Dutch KCT and the SPAS 15 shotgun for the Italian COMSUBIN Special Forces.

Additionally, four new weapons will be available to all players with the 1.60 patch. These are the 9mm Sub Machine Gun, M82A1A, Ak-74 and SR-25. The patch will also include a number of weapon updates and adjustments to existing weapons.

Beyond patch work, Slant Six has also been working on "a major content release/pack," which will be revealed later this month.

[Thanks, Tim B.!]

PlayStation Home is getting yet another update today, with the introduction of a new SOCOM Confrontation game space and a new for-purchase personal space based on Ghostbusters.

The "SOCOM Tactical Operations Center" space is actually the first half of the SOCOM Home hub. This space will allow players to gather and create strategies around the Telestrator. Sounds a lot like the Warhawk game space.

The Ghostbusters firehouse personal space is a three-story complex, ripped straight from the Ghostbusters video game. The personal space will come with unique items, like an Ecto-1, and features Stage Set functionality, so players can create their own Ghostbusters-themed movies. Finally, you'll be able to fly around as Slimer as well. Both these updates should be available in Home later today.

Slant Six released a version 1.41 patch for SOCOM: Confrontation this morning. It's available for download right now and fixes some of the game's slowdown issues. It also adjusts some minor display settings and tweaks a bit of the gameplay.

The last patch for Confrontation was the 1.30 update in January, which added Trophies. So, why are we now on 1.41 without a 1.40 update? Slant Six had this to say: "The 1.40 was intended to support the European release, we combined the 1.40 and the 1.41 together to speed the deployment of the above fixes." Check after the break for the full list of patch notes.

Hi Europe,

It's me! SOCOM Confrontation! Did you miss me? I know I've been gone for a while, playing with Americans. But, I thought you wouldn't mind. I'll finally visit you on these dates: 13th March (UK), 18th March (EU) and 19th March (PSN).

I know you're totally eager to see me, so I hope to see you soon. Wait, hello? Where are you going?

[Thanks, Jeremy S.!]

If you've been putting off SOCOM: Confrontation until developer Slant Six worked out all the bugs (oh, and added a Quick Match/Party system ... and Trophies), then today's your lucky day, friend. The long anticipated 1.30 update was pushed out early this morning, bringing with it the aforementioned features and fixes. Will it be enough to restore Sony's once-proud franchise to the top of your multiplayer shooter-heap? We won't pretend to know the answer to that, so we'll ask you. Is SOCOM back in action?

SOCOM fans looking forward to playing Confrontation over the holiday break won't be able to enjoy patch 1.30. Those expecting all the features of 1.30 will be disappointed to hear that the patch won't be available to download until the new year. "Unfortunately, due to the Holidays the update will not be approved by SCE Format QA until early next year. Our QA staff will be here, testing the game over vacation, but the SCE QA teams which must approve the update before release will not."

As of now, it appears the patch will be available during the week of January 5th or January 12th. While it's disappointing to have to wait so long, SOCOM fans have proven to be some of the most patient gamers out there.

[Thanks, Devin93!]

Try and stay SOCALM as we relay this exciting news! Sony's frequently updated SOCOM: Confrontation blog has been firing off tons of posts over the past two weeks releasing details about the trophy-infused "patch 1.30" that will eventually be making its way to the game. A recent entry into the blog revealed the addition of two oft-requested matchmaking features that are SOCOMpletely overdue -- a "quick match" mode and a party system which allows you to join games with groups of friends with ease.

The two features are actually linked -- selecting the quick match option will take you into a party lobby, where you and your PSN friend platoon can congregate. After your party is built, you can choose one of the three match types to join (16 v. 16 Ranked, Unranked and Respawn) and be automatically matched up against similarly skilled parties. However, no word has been given on a specific launch window for the much-anticipated patch -- SOCOMe on, Slant Six! The anticipation is killing us!

This is what we're talking about! SOCOM Confrontation has had a less-than-stellar launch, but it looks like things are finally turning around. The upcoming version 1.30 patch is quite the biggie -- it add features like Trophies, revised items and controls, and the return of the prone move. However, it also significantly expands upon the game's lobby system, allowing the online experience to go more smoothly. For a game that has no single player component, this is quite crucial.

The Quick Match/Party system will be added in the upcoming patch. What does this mean? It means that SOCOM players will be able to jump into appropriate games, with the friends, in a much faster and organized way. "Once you select quick match you are taken to the party screen where you can invite other players to join your party. On the party screen, you can chat with your party while you are waiting for everyone to join. Once everyone has joined, select join game and your party is matched with other players of similar skill. For the 1.30 update, you can select from 3 different game types for the quick match; 16x16 Ranked, 16x16 Unranked and 16x16 Respawn. All large maps and game modes are available and the playlists are selected at random."

It's great to see Slant Six finally making Confrontation a game worthy of the SOCOM brand. While it's unfortunate that it has taken so long to get to this point, we're reminded of the old saying -- better late than never.

[Thanks, John!]

We've brought word previously that SOCOM: Confrontation was getting a 1.30 patch to fix a large set of bugs and add in tons of community-requested features, including Trophies. You can find a whole list of those changes here. However, the v1.30 patch will also be adding more than just the previously revealed content. The patch will also add in the ability to use the D-pad for the lean-in feature, instead of using the regular Sixaxis controls. Players can toggle between the two options in the middle of battle as seen in the clip above. Also featured in video (after the break), SCEA and Slant Six shows off the new transparent scoreboard.

However, there's still no mention of a release date for the v1.30 patch. Fans have been waiting for the patch since news first came out nearly a month ago, and hopefully, they won't have to wait much longer.

Hope you weren't waiting for your SOCOM fix, our dear European reader. Looks like SOCOM Confrontation has been delayed to "early 2009," according to Eurogamer. While American gamers have had their hands on the game for a few months, the experience has been less than stellar, with a very buggy launch followed by a number of frequent patches. Perhaps when Confrontation lands in Europe, the game will actually ... what's the word we're looking for? Oh yes -- work.

The game will be bundled with the official PS3 Bluetooth headset, just like it did in America. Should it be priced the same as in the US, the bundle will still be a terrific deal.

[Thanks, Christopher G.!]

SOCOM: Confrontation didn't launch with Trophies; instead, it shipped with a lot of bugs. Slant Six even admits that "the launch was pretty rough on all of us." However, with patch 1.20 already out fixing a majority of the problem issues and a 1.30 patch coming soon, things are turning around.

In fact, the much coveted Trophy support is said to arrive in the upcoming 1.30 patch, among other new features. You can find a list of all the new features and bug fixes for the new update after the break. The crew notes, however, "that some items listed may be delayed to a following update if additional development is required beyond what our schedule for the 1.30 update allows." That means, don't take it as a 100 percent guarantee.

[Thanks Ryan and DeforMAKulizer!]

Unfortunately, SOCOM Confrontation has been plagued with a number of game stability issues since release. The bugs have been significant, rendering the game unplayable in many situations. A patch tomorrow will fix a myriad of problems:

• Fixed many issues which would cause the game to crash, hang, disconnect and exit to the PS3 XMB.
• Fixed an issue which would cause large numbers of players in a high player count game to be simultaneously disconnected.
• Fixed an issue which would cause players to be invincible.
• Fixed a physics issue which would cause players to occasionally "warp" around on the map.
• Fixed an issue where a "corrupt save data" message would be incorrectly displayed after updating the game.
• Fixed some player model issues related to team swapping.
  
• Client/server optimization.
  
• Fixed an issue where the scope camera had an incorrect offset from the barrel of the gun while prone or leaning/peeking.

[Thanks, DeforMAKulizer!]