Since they've already begun public beta testing for SOCOM 3 for the PS2, it only makes sense that they'd get started on SOCOM for the PSP before too long. Last night (Monday the 19th), select members of Sony's PlayStation Underground elite (i.e., the Gamer Advisory Panel) received e-mail invites to register for the first PSP online beta test. The game in question was SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo, and with a little over two months until its November 8 release date, the team at SCEA's going to need all the help they can get if they want to really make waves with the much hoped for infrastructure multiplayer mode. (That's playing online, people!) Registering fast enough to make it into any of the PSU's beta tests is hard enough for games on the PS2, but there's a special twist with this application: you've got to register using only your PSP browser, as there's no other way to sign up. Of course, this means you're required to have at least one of the 2.0 firmware updates installed in order to even apply (let along get into the beta itself). If, however, you're ready with that and have your invitation handy (you did get one, right?), try pointing your PSP browser to http://pspbeta.us.playstation.com and hopefully get started.
I’m sure there are folks out there who’d love to get in on this, but where does that leave me, a guy who doesn’t even own a PSP (but just bought a DS)? It’s hard to say, as I received this e-mail invite despite having never registered a PSP with Sony nor ever indicating that I’d owned one. Not only that, there’s also this restriction: “You may only participate in this beta test with the address to which we sent this invitation,” so the invites are not very transferrable, and I wouldn’t feel right handing out my invitation for someone else to use. (Sorry!) Well, I guess I’ll have to leave the testing to dedicated PSP owners this time. Help make a good game, guys, and please let us know when all the tester spots fill up.
