Earlier this week gamers on the Xbox 360 got the first chance to try out the latest Call of Duty Elite Drops for Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Season of Content. Included in the first two drops were two multiplayer maps; Liberation, which is set in a militarized Central Park, is a sniper friendly haven and Piazza a small Italian village with twisting streets that is sure to be a close combat fan's delight. I've posted some new screenshots for both of the maps along with some additional information on the game and maps.

 • Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Liberation & Piazza Multiplayer Screenshots

The first content drops for what Activision is calling the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Season of Content have been released today for the Xbox 360 and Call of Duty Elite Premium members. Activision has stated that this "Season of Content" is schedule to last through September, with Elite Premium members receiving at least one new piece of content each month. Elite Premium memberships cost $49.99 per year and will include all of the content drops at no additional charge. Non-Elite Premium members unfortunately will have to purchase when they are packaged in the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Content Collections, the first of which is due later this quarter. Also due to the exclusive agreement between Activision and Microsoft the content is only available on the Xbox 360. Playstation 3 Elite Premium members should see the content in the next few weeks. There has been no word on how this content will be packaged for the PC, but it's probably save to assume that PC gamers will need to wait until content is packaged in the before mentioned Content Collections.

If you're not eligible to download the first new multiplayer maps you can be sure to take a look at the official ELITE Drops: Liberation & Piazza Map Trailer.

The first two drops include two new multiplayer maps:

Drop 1: Liberation - "a militarized Central Park in the heart of NYC, featuring a vast landscape ripe for long-range sniper and LMG kills. Mounted turrets on opposing ends of the map offer overwhelming firepower to anyone brave enough to man them."
Drop 2: Piazza - "This seaside Italian getaway is anything but idyllic, as tight corners and branching pathways pose great risk at every turn. Close-range combat dominates, and the team that best utilizes flanking routes will most often come out on top. Attacks from behind, above and below are an ever-constant threat. Keep up your awareness and don't get taken by surprise."

[source: Activision]

Late last month a Q1 release of Diablo III was a distinct possibility and many of us had our hopes up when release dates started popping up on retail sites. Less than a month later however a Q1 2012 release, appears to be very unlikely based on recent announcement from Blizzard.

Late last week Jay Wilson from Blizzard posted an announced that Diablo III would undergo some major changes to various aspects of the game based on internal testing and the results of the closed beta. Areas listed in the announcement include changes to crafting, items, attributes and inventory. Wilson goes on to state that

"we're working on major changes to the skill and rune systems that we're not ready to talk about, but I promise you we can't possibly ship without a finished skill and rune system."

While this announcement is not welcomed news for fans that have been waiting over a decade for a sequel, but it is not necessarily bad news. As Wilson says in his post, no one is going to remember if the game is late, they are going to remember if the game is great or not great. I would prefer to wait a few more months rather than rush something that has not been perfected. That being said my feeling/prediction is that we won't see this Diablo III release until the second half of 2012 maybe even as late as Q4 of this year? Here's to hoping I'm wrong though. You can read the full post on the Diablo III site

Bethesda Softworks has confirmed in the Bethesda Blog that a new The Elder Scrolls Skyrim patch will be coming in the next couple weeks. The Skyrim 1.4 patch is currently in testing and includes the Creation Kit and Steam Workshop, which will allow user/community created content/mods, as well as a big laundry list of bug fixes for all three gaming platforms.

"Skyrim's 1.4 update is currently undergoing testing on all three platforms. The update will include fixes and optimizations for the most common issues people have been reporting"

Bethesda goes on to state that the patch should be finalized in the next week or so,. with the PC version being release as a beta version through Steam which will allow gamers to install or uninstall the patch if needed. A complete listing of the bug and quest fixes can be found in the Bethesda Blog post.