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There's nothing quite like seeing thousands of home theater setups falling from the sky, as evidenced above by the latest trailer for PS3-exclusive MAG. Aside from reminding us of the not-quite-an-MMOs impending release date, the video shows off a variety of different gameplay types, and asks if we have it in us to earn our fellow players' trust. We suggest that those of you looking to enroll with the toughest, most ragtag group of rumblers this side of the Colorado sign up right here. Can you earn our trust?

(Hint: You earn our trust by leaving friendly comments ... and maybe sending us booze. Maybe.)

I, like most people, have never participated in a 256-player virtual battle (or, due to its uncannily enormous amount of participants -- is it a war?). Though Zipper Interactive's MAG is built on incredibly strong first-person shooter foundations, incorporating fast-paced combat and a plethora of unlockable character modifications, the takeaway impression from my recent time with the game during a Sony preview event at PAX is, as you might guess, it is enormous.

The game does an excellent job of partitioning players off into smaller, 8-man squads. Though most of your contact is with your immediate teammates, there's a constant sense that you're part of something bigger. There's nothing intangible about the cause for that feeling -- you are a cog in a much larger military machine, rewarded for spinning in accordance with your higher-ups' orders.

Various US retailers have changed their estimated release date for upcoming PS3-exclusive shooter MAG. The general rule of thumb is that if a single retailer has a funky listing, it's usually an error -- but when two or more retailers have MAG listed as releasing in January, something begins to smell fishy. Of note is the fact that both GameFly and GameStop are listing different January dates.

While Sony hasn't "made any announcements in regard to a date for MAG" and is "assuming that the retailers are speculating in an effort to start preorders," we were told by a Sony rep at E3 that MAG would be part of the company's Christmas lineup. Without it, we're looking at Ratchet and Uncharted having the entire Christmas stage to themselves.

Another interesting thing to note is that European retailers Play and Game have the game listed for a November release. In short, we have no idea when this game is coming out, but at least we're not the only ones.

By now, you must have heard about MAG -- an ambitious 256-player online shooter. We've seen it in action and have even tried it out for ourselves, but what's it all about, and what's this Shadow War we keep hearing of? Luckily, this developer video diary (posted after the break) gives us a look into the storyline of MAG and its fictional Shadow War backdrop and answers all those questions.

We get a closer look at the maps, weapons and characters seen in the game, while Zipper details the various PMC groups vying for power in the Shadow War. The clip also shows off some all-new gameplay footage, so make sure you don't miss it.

Last week we had the honor of being some of the first people outside Sony to try out MAG, Zipper Interactive's first game on the PS3. While you can find out a lot of information from our hands-on report, we wanted a bit more insight into one of the most ambitious shooters to come along in recent memory. Russ Phillips, art director for MAG, was kind enough to answer some of the questions that came up during our extended demo of the game. Hit the jump for the full interview.

With competitive shooters these days, one of the things that really drives the community is online integration. The ability to log on, see your character and his stats, see how your clan is doing, etc. Is that something that you guys are looking at integrating into MAG?

Definitely! We want you to be able to follow your character, build a career with him, and be able to get on any time of the day -- especially to follow your Faction's progress and what is actually going on in the 'Shadow War' so we'll have websites dedicated to providing this information. I think any player that has played a game like this will want to know where they sit and and where their faction sits. So yeah, we've given a lot of thought to that.

You've already read our hands-on impressions of MAG -- if not, why not? -- and now you can see it in action in the video above. Included is almost a minute and a half of footage, which will no doubt quench your thirst for some insight into the title. Surprise surprise, it's looking great.

Little has been heard about MAG, Sony's ambitious 256-person online shooter that was announced during last year's E3. In fact, other than the CG trailer shown at the conference, there has been an almost total lockdown on any information related to the game. Last week, however, all that changed during Sony's Seattle Gamers Day event.

The event was held at developer Zipper Interactive's Redmond, Washington headquarters, where studio heads Jim Bosler and Brian Soderberg took the stage to explain MAG, the technology behind it, and how the game actually works with 256 people.

With a long history of making online shooters (the developer was the first to bring an online game to the PS2 with the first SOCOM), Zipper has been working hard to make sure that players will experience a smooth and pleasant experience, even when playing against a couple hundred other people. In fact, it's been running weekly 256-player tests since late last year with SCEA folks in California in order to test the network technology -- Zipper says it's already achieved smooth gameplay.

Concept-wise, the idea behind MAG was to be able to re-create battles on the scale of Blackhawk Down, with hundreds of well trained soldiers engaging in highly coordinated battles across large areas. In order to do this, the developer has created one of the most robust command systems we've ever seen in a videogame.

Looks like Sony is slowly starting to promote its upcoming Zipper-developed follow-up to the SOCOM franchise. MAG, or Massive Action Game, promises online multiplayer action for up to 256 players. The official website for MAG has just launched, and it's definitely hiding some secrets. Look around the map for a few hotspots. Pinpoint a certain location and you might get a very small glimpse into the upcoming game. If you find any cool tricks with the site, definitely let us know in the comments section.

[Via PS3center.net]

The pickin's have been mighty slim regarding details and sneak peeks for Sony and Zipper Interactive's upcoming 256-man shooter, MAG: Massive Action Game (the only official screenshot we've seen thus far is posted above), so we thought we'd bring your attention to some screenshots that would normally fall below our threshold of dubiousness. Flickr user 1337guyzorz recently posted 28 supposed images involving the title, including a number of in-game screencaps and a few character models.

The images are fairly attractive, though they may leave the viewer with a number of unanswered questions. Namely, where did they come from? Are they leaked from a Sony FTP server? An exclusive from some gaming journalism outlet? Summoned by some sort of ominous pact with a screenshot demon? More importantly, are they even real? They certainly seem massive, and the pictures contain elements of action, and, well, it looks like a game. The shoe seems to fit -- but where did the shoe come from? We may never know.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

A triumphant Sony press release which heralded next week's arrival of Killzone 2 and, effectively, the kick-off for its 2009 line-up, contained a tentative list of the games that will likely cause PS3 owners to foam at the mouth with anticipation over the coming months. The list contained two mammoths in particular -- according to Sony, both God of War III and Zipper Interactive's MAG: Massive Action Game will be among the "blockbuster exclusives" which will land on the console "throughout the year."

The imminent launch window for the two titles (which were mentioned alongside inFamous, Heavy Rain, MLB 09: The Show and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves) is just a bit surprising -- though we suppose Sony's selective wording ("throughout the year") could mean that the listed titles will be dropping by this time in 2010. Still, barring any delays, 2009's shaping up to be a heck of a year for the enthusiastic supporters of Sony's monolithic home console.

Sony has refused to comment on the "rumor and speculation" surrounding a possible monthly or yearly fee for PS3's Massive Action Game, reports VideoGamer. The rumor originates from website Bitbag, which cites a PlayStation Undergroud survey asking "15 questions related to payment plans" for MAG.

MAG is the 256-player online game by SOCOM developer Zipper Interactive. Considering surveys are designed to elicit feedback, Sony is probably getting an earful about this issue already.

Source - Sony to charge monthly/yearly fee for MMO MAG
Source - Sony refuses to comment on pay to play MAG reports

Here, in all its compressed glory, is the first actual screenshot of Sony and Zipper Interactive's 256-player MAG: Massive Action Game. We say "actual" because it was clear to anyone with eyes that Sony had pulled another Killzone 2 with the MAG video debuted during its pre-E3 press conference. In other words, it was all pre-rendered.

MAG senior producer Rade Stojsavljevic posted the shot to the official PlayStation blog, calling it "a sneak peak from one of [Zipper's] internal play sessions." Stojsavljevic also said that the dev has used its experience working in online games with the SOCOM franchise to create an entirely new server architecture for MAG capable of supporting its, well, massive amount of players.