After an amazing first year here at VGW, we want to continue giving back to our community — the amazing people who make it awesome for us to wake up each morning and hit the keyboards. So we’ve introduced the VGW Newsletter. Here are some reasons you should subscribe: It’s obviously free. No spam attached. Personalized letters from our editors Exclusive subscriber-only giveaways Exclusive subscriber-only giveaways (that 2nd time was on purpose) Exclusive content and insights from the VGW staff …and well, we think it’s pretty slick. We already have 110 subscribers, and the next 100 will be entered to win their choice of $20 in Microsoft Points or...

Modern Warfare 3 players can expect their first map pack on January 24, 2012, but it will only be available to Call of Duty Elite subscribers before being widely downloadable for non-Elite Xbox 360 users. The much-touted exclusivity deal held between Microsoft and publisher Activision means there will be at least a one month delay from the release date until PC and PS3 users get the new content. What Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling hasn’t made clear is how long the window of time between the DLC’s availability to Elite subscribers and non-Elite subscribers will be. What we do know is that at least one of the maps...

When Final Fantasy XIII was initially announced as being published on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, it certainly generated some disdain among Sony loyalists, even though Final Fantasy Versus XIII – which went into full production only a few months ago – was promised as a PS3 exclusive. Now, Microsoft is hoping to generate more sales of the sequel Final Fantasy XIII-2, on its platform with an exclusive DLC weapon for the Xbox 360. Square Enix has just announced “Azrael,” a legendary bow weapon used by protagonist Serah, which has been created “through a collaboration between Square Enix and Microsoft.” It looks to be a launch-day piece...

Ditch the round-robin singalongs and caroling at your christmas gathering this year. Instead, show your friends and family that you can jam out to some holiday tunes on the guitar. Ubisoft just made available a free holiday song pack for Rocksmith. Available now as a free download on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, the Rocksmith holiday song pack includes: “Carol of the Bells” by Seth Chapala, “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” by Brian Adam McCune, and “We Three Kings” by Versus Them. If you’ve only recently picked up Rocksmith (or expect it under your tree), Ubisoft has also released a Megadeth track pack, in addition to DLC by Boston, Deep...

If you read our review of Sony’s Playstation 3D Display and thought the tech sounded appealing but was outside of your price range, we have some great news to report. Sony has dropped the price from $499 to $399, positioning the device at a much more competitive price point. Earlier in the week, we noticed that BestBuy.com had cut the display from $499 to $399. Then, we noticed Amazon.com match it, followed by the Sony Style store. Was this a case of price-matching, or had Sony officially dropped the price? To be sure, we reached out to a representative at Playstation and got this official reply: The price reduction is...