Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hit store shelves just under two months ago, but gamers are already looking forward to the first piece of downloadable content (DLC). In a Roll Call video released exclusively to premium Call of Duty ELITE members shortly before Christmas, Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling revealed that the game’s initial DLC offering will be released on January 24.

Additional details are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks, but we do know that the 2012 Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Content Season will kick off with the map “Park.” Other features include “Spec Ops missions and a variety of things that players have never seen before,” said Bowling.

In addition to receiving all MW3 DLC for free, premium ELITE members will have access to the content ahead of everyone else. Microsoft previously inked a multi-year exclusivity agreement with publisher Activision, ensuring that all Call of Duty DLC would hit Xbox 360 ahead of the competition. As a result, premium ELITE subscribers on Xbox 360 will receive the content first on January 24, followed by the general Xbox 360 public soon after. Premium ELITE PlayStation 3 (PS3) subscribers are expected to receive it approximately one month later, followed by the general PS3 audience and finally PC gamers.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic, the story-driven massively multiplayer online (MMO) role playing game from industry veteran BioWare, has managed to amass one million subscribers in just three days on the market. The game has been in beta for a few years now--first as a private beta and more recently as a semi-public beta--but it officially launched on December 20 after a one-week Early Access Program for those who pre-ordered the game.

World of Warcraft (WoW), by comparison, currently has more than 10 million subscribers. The Old Republic’s launch membership is quite small by comparison, but it is excellent for a brand-new MMO. In fact, BioWare had the “largest one-day subscription account registration process in MMO history” on Thursday. Other statistics include more than 28 million in-game hours, an average of five hours of gameplay per day, and 3.8 million characters created so far.

Most impressively, the game’s servers have continued to function normally throughout all of this. Some of the more popular servers are experiencing 5-10 minute wait times during peak hours of the day, but it isn’t usually a problem. BioWare appears to have a hit on its hands. Between the fantastic Star Wars setting, BioWare’s trademark storytelling, and engaging gameplay, The Old Republic should have no problem competing in the MMO space.

Microsoft is celebrating the end of the year with style, counting down the last 12 days of December with some excellent deals on great Xbox 360 content.

The company kicked off the promotion on Tuesday with 50% off Bastion, a critically acclaimed Xbox LIVE Arcade game. Each subsequent day until New Year's will feature a different 24-hour discount on a select item.

Of course, that's not all. Eight Xbox LIVE Arcade games, two full titles from Games on Demand, a game add-on season pass, and 14 Avatar items will also be sold at a discount until January 2, 2012. Most of the deals are 50% off the regular price, and highlights include Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, the LA Noire Rockstar Pass, and Portal: Still Alive.

With the holidays and plenty of vacation almost upon us, it's the perfect opportunity to spend some time with a few great games. Information on the latest deal can be found on the recently revamped Xbox 360 Dashboard, as well as on Xbox.com.

Rather & Clank is one of my all time favorite games series. The platform game's humor (plumber cameos, anyone?), platform gameplay, and arsenal of ridiculous weaponry makes it one of those games that I never get tired of, even 10 iterations in. I mean, who in their right mind doesn't like guns that turn enemies into cute animals?

All 4 One is the newest game in the series, and the fourth game on the PS3 if you include the DLC game Quest for Booty. Whereas older games have had you controlling Ratchet & Clank either together or apart (Clank even got his own game at one point), this game has you playing as one of four characters: Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark, or Doctor Nefarious. The game is designed for up to 4 player coop, either online or locally. Coop modes will activate special mechanics, such as overload attacks. It's still playable solo though, which might not be overly apparent from the game's title, description etc. Not quite sure that the series needed a new game mechanic as I still haven't gotten tired of the old single player experience, but at least it's an attempt at innovation. The game is out now, friends sold separately.

Microsoft isn’t the only company delivering console updates to gamers over the next week. Sony has announced that version 4.00 of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) system software is now freely available for all PS3 consoles.

The main feature, of course, is support for the PlayStation Vita portable gaming device, which will be released in Japan in three weeks. Gamers with both systems will be able to copy media—including music, videos, and images, as well as games and applications—between devices. PS Vita backup and remote system updates are also supported when connected to the PS3.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 set record sales numbers over the Thanksgiving weekend, making it the “biggest week in Xbox history.” The software giant managed to sell nearly one million consoles—960,000 to be exact—in one week, with approximately 80% of those devices being sold within a 24 hour period. Kinect for Xbox 360 was also very successful, with more than 750,000 total devices sold during the same timeframe.

This success isn’t without reason. Microsoft has continued to add great games and fantastic new media experiences to the console, despite seven years on the market. The Xbox 360 has also held the number one spot on the NPDs for many months. Microsoft will even be providing console owners with a fresh new intuitive interface next week, based on the Metro style seen on Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8.

GTA 4 was a let down for me. Sure, it's the most realistic GTA yet, with 16 million shades of gray and cars that spin out if you turn too quickly. That kind of game has its merits, but some of the best memories I have from the GTA series are from things like flying a hydra jet upside down through a tunnel. GTA 4 didn't appeal to people who like the crazy part of sandbox games, but luckily, there are games that do.

The third game in perhaps the craziest of them all is now out. Saints Row: The Third continues the story of the Third Street Saints and this time there is absolutely no connections left with reality. Mind controlling octopus launcher, enough said. Forget about spending your in-game time finding an internet cafe to check your email or taking your girlfriend to dinner, just go out in the streets and destroy things. Saints Row: The Third is one of those games that I doubt any sane person would ever blame for causing violent tendencies, as it's simply so out there in terms of craziness that no one would ever accuse it of being realistic.

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that the latest Xbox 360 Dashboard update will make its way to gamers on Tuesday, December 6. The new dashboard finally merges the formerly separate experiences for controller- or Kinect-based navigation into a single Metro-inspired interface, codenamed “Madrid.” The fact that it’s fast and beautiful is also a major plus.

Other features included in the update are beacons, which let users notify their friends about what games they’re interested in playing, Facebook sharing, intuitive system-wide search, and support for full voice control. Roaming profiles have also been added, freeing gamers from USB flash drives, memory units, and the dreaded profile recovery, which could take hours. Gold members also have the option of syncing their saved games to the cloud, so they can access them wherever they go. Finally, Microsoft is bringing TV services to Xbox LIVE through a series of apps from nearly 40 content partners.

Last one week one of the most anticipated games this year hit the shelves; The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Skyrim is the fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series, but aside from some "hidden" references here and there it isn't directly tied to the previous games, so it can easily be played without having played the others.

Skyrim is, like its predecessor, a massive open world sandbox game that has you riding around the world of Skyrim to complete quests. Bethesda (the game studio behind the game) is famous for such open world quest based games, so if you've played games like Oblivion (Elder Scrolls IV) or Fallout 3/New Vegas before then you will recognize the system.

Skyrim is massive, and to really play the entire game you have to go far outside the main quest chain to do side quests and the likes. It has been suggested that clearing absolutely everything in the game will take around 300 hours, or 12 days continuous gameplay (but don't do that).

I'm holding out with getting this one until Christmas when I have time to sit around and do nothing all day, but I seem to be the only one who didn't run to the store the day it came out. With good reason, too, as the game looks awesome.

It's hard to believe that the Xbox was released a decade ago today. The console, and its predecessor, played a major role in ushering in the HD gaming era and defining the online multiplayer that gamers have come to know and love. Microsoft is celebrating the anniversary with a free Avatar item, discounted games, and the release of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

The re-release of Halo: Combat Evolved--a launch title on the original Xbox--is especially great, thanks to the updated HD graphics, brand-new features like terminals, skulls, and Kinect integration, and more. The game has been lovingly re-created, and the team at 343 Industries even re-recorded the soundtrack with the famous Skywalker Sound orchestra. Many of the classic Halo CE multiplayer maps are now playable in Halo Reach, and those without a copy of Halo CEA will be able to pick up the Anniversary map pack on Xbox LIVE tomorrow.