While the content season will contain more than 20 items overall – some multiplayer maps, some game modes, and some Spec Ops missions – the first two pieces of content in the season are a Call of Duty player’s bread and butter: multiplayer maps. The seaside village of Piazza is a perfect battleground for fans of close-quarters combat; the sharp corners, tight corridors, and stone staircases all offer compelling examples of why the word “paranoia” is the same in English and Italian.

Liberation offers more room to run, but it’s no less deadly. Enjoy the beautiful foliage, romantic footbridges, and brutal explosions as you attack the enemy centrally located park in Manhattan. Snipers will find their perches, but sneaky players will enjoy the underground passage and ample ambush cover options.

The first two maps will arrive for Call of Duty Elite premium members first on February 28th, with more content to come over the nine months that follow. If you’re an Elite premium member, you’ll get a message at the MW3 multiplayer menu as soon as the content is available to download; from there, just select Store from the multiplayer menu and the downloads will be yours at no additional charge. It’s part of the whole Elite premium package. If you want in, the details are here.

It won’t be long now before we see each other in Italy and New York. Ciao, buddy.

That said, the gap between the masters and the students is not that wide. We’re all playing for the same reason – Call of Duty games are fun, that’s all. I’ll always take an opportunity to learn and improve, but even when I get my ass handed to me online, as long as I enjoy the company of the people I’m playing with, I’m more likely to leave a session laughing, regardless of KDR.

This is where Call of Duty Elite comes in. Not many games have 30 million people playing them, so the idea behind Elite was to give all those players a common ground – a service that would help them connect, compete, and improve. We’re all playing together as it is; let’s play together better.

This summer, some of you may have had a chance to check out the Elite beta, which gave PlayStation 3 players an early taste of the service. The beta only incorporated data from Black Ops, but Elite’s launch date of November 8 – same as Modern Warfare 3 – is no coincidence. The beta was truly just the beginning. Well, before the beginning, if you think about it.

Check your stats. Tweak your loadouts. Analyze heat maps from all the matches you’ve played in the last month and learn what you did right and wrong. See your stats using each weapon in the game and get detailed advice on how to use it better. Track your performance and compare it instantly to that of your friends on custom leaderboards. Create a clan and Join social groups of players with similar interests. I found groups for guitars, juggling, and Ghostbusters; if you don’t see what you’re looking for, you can create your own. (You are hereby invited to join the OneOfSwords group – that one’s mine.)

All that stuff is free. No charge. Thank you for being a Call of Duty player, says Activision. Enjoy this extra stuff.

What’s more, in MW3, Elite is fully integrated into the game. Wanna change your loadout during the day for your big match that night? Just visit the website, change your settings, and it will automatically push to the game, waiting for your next login. Don’t want to use the web? Use your iOS or Android device. Just want to do it all on your console? No problem – there’s a PlayStation 3 downloadable program that you can download and use from directly within MW3. That Elite PS3 application is free. The mobile app is free. The website is free, too.

If you are a dedicated player and you want more from Elite, you can sign up for a premium membership (using the funds in your PlayStation Wallet, of course) to access a ton of extra features – most notably, you’ll get ALL of the MW3 DLC content as soon as it is released on PS3, ready and waiting for you the day it comes out. You’ll also have access to exclusive Elite TV programming to high-stakes competitions for real-world prizes (like iPads, Jeeps, and trips to Paris) to more video storage space to all the MW3 DLC that will be released, ready and waiting for you on the day it’s released. There’s a big chart that goes into all the relevant details here. And if you like what you see, anybody who activates a premium membership before November 13 will receive Founder status, which comes with its own benefits. Plus, you get to say “I was there from the beginning.”

Regardless of how you wind up using Call of Duty Elite, just remember why it’s there: to serve and unite the community of CoD players. Maybe you’re wonderful sniper, maybe you’re terrible flag runner, or maybe you’re simply a work in progress as a player. Call of Duty Elite is here to make your triumphs into celebrations, your losses into educational tools, your performance into prizes, and your opponents into your friends. After all, we all have one big thing in common.

You know, zombies have to take a lot of heat from the living. I mean, is it their fault that they are doomed to roam the earth, lurching from brain to brain in a murderous rampage? They’re doing the best they can with the hand they’ve been dealt.

That’s why I’m asking you, the PS3 community, to welcome some zombies into your home this weekend. The Rezurrection DLC pack comes out today for Call of Duty: Black Ops, and it contains five maps that many will approach as a thrilling first-person horror experience – or maybe, just maybe, it could be a very special chance to connect with the dearly departed.

Four of the maps are a joyous reunion anyway; they’re upgraded and remastered versions of levels first seen in Call of Duty: World at War. There’s Nacht der Untoten, which some see as a desperate standoff in a dilapidated building, but could just be the perfect place for zombie peace talks. In Verruckt, how do you know the asylum isn’t just a nice, padded place for a zombie nap? Shi No Numa takes place in a swamp – a relaxing vacation spot for you to get to know your new friends. And Der Reise is a huge factory – basically, you’re inviting yourself into the zombies’ home. Be a polite guest by not blasting their faces off with a shotgun, huh?

The fifth map is all-new – a trip to the Moon, where you will be forced to interact with your zombie friends in a whole new way. Zero gravity looks like fun, plus you get to play with new toys like the Wave Gun and the Quantum Entanglement Device. Don’t you think your putrefying pals would like to have a turn, too?

My point is, this new batch of content represents a fantastic opportunity for greater understanding. The zombies are making the effort to be your friend – that’s why they’re stumbling directly toward you. They come bearing gifts! Who do you think suggested that Rezurrection include a free Zombies soundtrack and a Moon theme on PS3? And who said “Hey, if you already have the first four maps from the Hardened or Prestige Editions of Black Ops, you can download Moon, the soundtrack, and the theme for free?” That’s right. And think about how you’ve been repaying them for that kindness – with headshots. Splattery, splattery headshots!

Trying to eat your brain is just a zombie’s way of seeking knowledge, direct from the source. Tonight, grab the Rezurrection DLC pack and learn more about zombies — and give the zombies a chance to learn more about you. I think you’ll find that the screeching, lumbering undead are just like you and me; it’s what’s inside that counts. And since they’re zombies, you can easily see their insides.

First Strike was fun. Escalation rocked. But Call of Duty: Black Ops fans want more – they crave new battlegrounds and new experiences. Black Ops developer Treyarch knows this, so they’ve been busy creating another fresh batch of DLC maps: Annihilation. The newest add-on content will be ready for download from the PlayStation Store starting Thursday, July 28th.

Annihilation features four new standard multiplayer arenas – Silo, Hangar 18, Drive-In and Hazard – and the deadly jungle Zombies experience, Shangri-La. “The goals we set were about quality and variety,” says Treyarch’s Online Director, Dan Bunting. “We wanted to make everything feel unique and distinct.”

Annihilation delivers on those goals with five all-new environments:

Drive-In: This one-time American movie paradise once showed war movies; now it’s the location for one. The holes in the screen have been filled with snipers. The popcorn is stale, but they’re still serving up hot lead in the concession stand. “Drive-In is a small map, very fast paced,” says Treyarch’s Online Director, Dan Bunting (the nice bearded man from all those behind-the-scenes videos). “It’s similar to Nuketown in that it’s a fast, close-quarters map.”

Hazard: Ah, the Cuban good life! This swanky golf course features lush greens, oceanic driving ranges, and long-range sniping opportunities straight down its deadly fairway. Never mind getting a hole in one — try not to get lots of holes in you. Those skilled with assault rifles and sniper rifles will enjoy this one.

Silo: If you’ve ever said to yourself, “This is a great map, but what it really needs are missiles launching right next to my ear, so every time I line up to snipe someone, I pee myself instead” – and really, who hasn’t? – this is the map for you. Muddy sloped terrain, a smattering of construction equipment, and a few carefully placed sniper towers make this military outpost a tactical challenge regardless of game type.

Hangar 18: This one’s a tribute to the Groom Lake military base where the government developed the SR-71 Blackbird – or, depending on the conspiracy theories you choose to believe, where they stored a recovered alien spacecraft. Either way, you’ll be in an out of buildings frequently here, not to mention using a multi-million-dollar piece of reconnaissance aircraft for cover. But that’s not the only secret project it’s hiding. “Hangar 18 has a couple of fun easter eggs,” hints Bunting. “I can’t talk about them because it would ruin them.”

Shangri-La: Welcome to the jungle, where the Zombies have taken over an ancient shrine. But be extra careful – the environment’s many hidden tricks and deadly traps can be used against you as easily as your undead enemies. “It’s one of the more creative and clever map designs we’ve got so far,” says Bunting with pride. “The diehard fans are really going to appreciate the story hooks in this one as well.”

Annihilation will be available in the PlayStation Store July 28th — less than two weeks away. And as is the custom, the weekend that follows will offer all players double XP in celebration. See you at the drive-in!