Update: Modern Warfare 3 Content Drops 4, 5 and 6 won't be released for premium Elite subscribers on PS3 on 12th April. Activision's Dan Amrich said the date was "a mistake", and the proper date is "TBD".

"I have been informed that this is a mistake and the date is still to be determined. I'll update you when I have a new, final date," wrote Amrich on his blog.

But Content Drop 3 - Overwatch - will still be released on 29th March. That wasn't a mistake.

Black Ice can also cause skid marks.

Original story: Modern Warfare 3 Content Drops 4, 5 and 6 - map Black Box and Special Ops missions Black Ice and Negotiator - will be available to PS3 premium Elite subscribers on 12th April.

There or thereabouts, explained Activision's Dan Amrich - PSN dates are out of Activision's hand, and European localisation may alter the date very slightly. 12th April is a Thursday, which is an unusual time for PSN content to appear. The US usually updates on a Tuesday, and Europe on a Wednesday.

Before then, on 29th March, PS3 premium Elite subscribers will be able to download the Overwatch multiplayer map.

All of this Modern Warfare 3 content releases first on Xbox 360. On 20th March, Collection 1 - containing content drops 1-6 - will be released for Xbox 360. There's no date on Collection 1 for PS3.

There's a Call of Duty Elite content calendar for upcoming Modern Warfare 3 content. This changes dynamically according to the platform you select.

If RedLynx has one design lesson to teach to the world, it's this: you can make a game as hard as you like, as long as you give players a restart button that can be pressed at any time. It worked a charm in Trials, and it works again here.

It's important to note that it isn't quite instantaneous in MotoHeroz. Rather, it allows you half a second to reposition your thumbs back over the digital controls before you lurch off the start line once more. The timing is exquisite, the hallmark of an idea tested to the Nth degree.

The road from WiiWare to App Store isn't one that's commonly travelled, and MotoHeroz - a knockabout, physics-powered time-trialler that could reasonably be called Trials Jr. - has encountered a few bumps along the way. Gone is the slapstick chaos of the original's local multiplayer mode, while the single-player game has been repurposed to better fit its new format. Its touch-screen controls aren't a match for d-pad and buttons, but you knew that already. Besides, they're as close to the real thing as you're likely to find on iOS.

The Future stages are gorgeous, tracks silhouetted against an enormous sunset.

What you have, then, is a series of challenges spread across six themed environments, with a different vehicle to master in each. You'll bounce around desert stages in a dune buggy, pootle along woodland tracks in what looks like a souped-up tractor, and plough through heavy forest in a chibi tank that looks like a camouflaged rhino on wheels.

Price and Availability

• Platform: iOS
• Price: iPhone £0.69, iPad £1.99
• App Store

Tracks make even Trials HD's most outlandish courses seem conservative: you'll be launched by cannons, teleport from one side of the circuit to the other, and whizz round a concentric loop, powered by successive rocket pick-ups. Elsewhere you'll grab sticky wheels to cover tricky terrain and springs to clear gaps (or cut large sections of track, if you're savvy enough to know the perfect time to use them).

If all that suggests a lighter-hearted tone than RedLynx's most famous series, don't imagine the challenge is any less severe. Though you shouldn't have too much trouble finishing the courses - at times it actually helps to land upside-down, and you can right yourself with a shake if you're properly stuck - beating the times to three-star every stage proves a hefty long-term challenge. Each run sees you racing against ghosts representing the next star target and an online rival from a leaderboard position close to your own; if you don't beat the first, then you often have the consolation of having bettered another player's time.

If you see an iPhone with a permanent thumbprint in the top-right of the screen, you've found a MotoHeroz player.

The fun is soured slightly by an upgrade structure that requires you to pay in-game coins to boost acceleration, top speed and item boost. Though you'll pick up coins during each run (a hidden treasure chest on each stage provides a more substantial cash top-up) you either need to grind to make your vehicle competitive or pay a fee for a full upgrade.

But it's a minor niggle in a game that offers giddy thrills as frequently as it provokes stifled swears. It may be more gimmicky than Trials, but its physics and systems are every bit as robust. And when you invariably screw up, you know you're less than a second away from another shot at getting it right. It's another downloadable delight from a developer that takes having fun very seriously indeed.

App of the Day highlights interesting games we're playing on the Android, iPad, iPhone and Windows Phone 7 mobile platforms, including post-release updates. If you want to see a particular app featured, drop us a line or suggest it in the comments.

Obsidian's deal with publisher Bethesda for post-apocalyptic open world RPG Fallout New Vegas meant that a bonus payment would only be paid if the game achieved an 85+ Metascore on review aggregation website Metacritic.

It managed 84.

"FNV was a straight payment, no royalties, only a bonus if we got an 85+ on Metacritic, which we didn't," Obsidian designer and Fallout New Vegas developer Chris Avellone tweeted.

He was answering a question from a follower after news of layoffs at the US role-playing specialist hit the internet.

According to Kotaku, the layoffs were caused by the cancellation of a Microsoft-published project for the next Xbox.

Project "North Carolina", as it was codenamed, had been in development for seven months. Microsoft allegedly pulled the plug, and Obsidian let 30 people go.

Obsidian currently only has one announced title in the works - a South Park RPG for publisher THQ. Its last release was Dungeon Siege 3 for Square Enix back in July 2011.

By 8th November 2010, Bethesda had shipped five million copies of Fallout New Vegas. This, coupled with a "heavy volume of digital downloads", generated well over $300 million in sales.

"We are delighted by the reception Fallout: New Vegas has received from fans around the world," said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda, at the time.

SoulCalibur 5 will receive a free title update for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 21st March, Namco Bandai has announced.

It rebalances the characters, tweaks the gameplay - based on fan feedback - and optimises new online ranked game search.

This title update will be followed by monthly DLC costume packs for use in the fighting game's Creation Mode. The first of which due out on 3rd April on Xbox 360 and 4th April on PlayStation 3.

Meanwhile, Namco Bandai pointed towards the SoulCalibur 5 world finals on 10th April, at the Cosmopolitan hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. There's a total cash prize pool of $10,000 up for grabs.

The SoulCalibur Impact 2012 tournament decides who goes there from Europe, Russia, Australia, Taiwan and Singapore. The grand finals take place this Saturday, 17th March, at St Stephen's, Rosslyn Hill in London, UK.

The winner on the day gets a cool £1000 and a unique trophy: an authentic Soul Edge sword replica especially forged for the occasion. Two winners will also be flying to Las Vegas to compete in the Worldwide Finals in April. The event will be streamed online.

Amid the excitement and anticipation generated by the recent New iPad announcement, it's all too easy to forget that Android tablets are already providing bleeding-edge quad core power to the masses. While Apple aficionados drool over the prospect of improved visuals and more immersive gaming possibilities, NVIDIA and Asus have been making good on such promises for most of 2012.

The flagship Android tab of the moment, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, boasts NVIDIA's powerful Tegra 3 processor - a CPU that dynamically distributes power to each of its four cores, making for a seriously adept piece of kit. It also offers the unique proposition of a desktop and tablet solution for a single price; the keyboard docking station which comes with the tablet grants a full QWERTY setup, complete with track-pad, USB connectivity and even an additional battery.

Despite its long list of plus points, there's never been a harder time to weigh up a potential Transformer Prime purchase. With the New iPad sure to continue Apple's dominance in this sector of electronics, is there really any point in laying out £500 for an also-ran Android? Hopefully by the end of this review, you'll be better equipped to answer that question.

More Than Meets The Eye

Given that the Transformer Prime is being sold on its ability to provide both a tablet and netbook experience, it seems apt to look at this aspect of the device first. Divorced from the keyboard dock, the Prime functions as a standard Android tablet, relying on its Gorilla Glass capacitive touch-screen for interaction. Once docked, the device becomes a touch-and-type hybrid, offering a full keyboard - complete with shortcuts to essential functions - and a track pad, allowing you to make selections on the screen without having to use your fingers.

While it's tempting to assume such a configuration is nothing more than an attempt to carve out a niche in the market which doesn't actually exist, the Transformer Prime performs admirably in both settings. Granted, Android isn't a desktop OS and never will be, but it lends itself surprisingly well to typical desktop tasks. When you consider that Android user accounts are tied in with cloud services such as Google Docs, Calender and Google Mail, what you're essentially getting here is a replication of the much-hyped Chrome Book.

Asus Transformer Prime Specifications

Unquestionably the king of Android tablets, this quad core powerhouse not only has the muscle to shame its rivals, but it also looks absolutely gorgeous in its aluminium casing. When combined with the keyboard dock, it more than lives up to its name, elegantly morphing from ultra-thin tablet to lightweight netbook.

• Dimensions: 263x180.8x8.3mm (without keyboard dock)
• Weight: 586g (without keyboard dock)
• Processor: Tegra 3 quad core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A9
• Graphics Core: ULP GeForce
• Memory: 1GB system RAM, 32GB internal flash storage, microSD card slot (SD card slot on keyboard dock)
• Display: 10.1-inch Super IPS+ LCD with 1280x800 pixel resolution (149ppi)
• Camera: 8-megapixel rear camera with auto focus, 1080p HD video recording and stills. Single LED flash. 1.2 megapixel front camera
• Inputs: Multi-touch capacitive touch-screen, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyro, compass, aGPS
• Cellular Connectivity: None
• Other Features: Keyboard docking station, 3.5mm headphone jack; Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n); Bluetooth; Micro USB 2.0, microSD card slot, Micro HDMI-out connection. Keyboard dock includes USB 2.0 port

Unlike the previous Transformer, the Prime's external casing is composed almost entirely of metal. As you might expect, this lends the device a premium feel that comfortably rivals that of Apple's iPad. It might seem like a trite comment, but it's worth bearing in mind that very few Android tablets have even come close to matching the output of Cupertino's world-class designers.

With a thickness of just 8.3mm and an overall weight of 586g, the Transformer Prime is also thinner and lighter than Apple's new tablet. Naturally, when you add the keyboard dock those statistics change for the worse, but even so, the Prime is still more svelte than its direct predecessor, which looks positively bulky in comparison.

The Screen to End All Screens and Imaging Greatness

Although the Transformer Prime's 1280x800 display can't compete with the New iPad's eyeball-busting 2048x1536 Retina screen when it comes to packing pixels, it's still one of the best LCDs we've seen on a mobile device. The Super IPS+ tech affords an astonishing degree of brightness and contrast - even in direct sunlight - and viewing angles are absolutely rock-steady. No matter how much you turn and tilt the device, the image is always perfectly legible and insanely bright.

Not only is the Transformer Prime capable of displaying amazing images, it also does an above-average job of capturing them, too. The tablet's size means that it rarely lends itself to impromptu photography or video recording, but the eight megapixel snapper works well enough. The inclusion of auto-focus and LED flash will please budding David Baileys, and the ability to record in 1080p high-definition means that a plethora of awkward yet pin-sharp home movies are within your grasp. It's unlikely that this imaging proficiency is going to encourage many to swap their dedicated cameras for the Prime, but these little extras are welcome all the same.

A sample of random photographs taken using the 8-megapixel camera found in the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. Quality isn't bad overall, but we still struggle to see unwieldy tablets being used for photography and video work.

Fearsome Power From a Quad Core Beast

"Although it's advertised as quad core, the Tegra 3 CPU actually has an additional fifth core, limited to a clock speed of 500MHz, performing low-level activities and conserving battery life."

The Transformer Prime is the first of a new wave of quad core Android tablets, and that increase in technological power has predictably brought with it significantly improved, smoother performance. Google's Android platform is tremendously versatile and powerful, but even the most devoted fan would stop short at calling it smooth and completely lag-free. On the Transformer Prime there are still rare pauses and stutters when several processor-intensive applications are running in tandem, but for the most part the experience is slick and responsive.

Although it's advertised as quad core, the Transformer Prime's Tegra 3 CPU actually has an additional fifth core, which is limited to a clock speed of 500MHz and is cunningly able to perform low-level activities and thereby conserve battery life. Even when the four main cores (which can clock up to 1.3GHz when running simultaneously, or 1.4GHz individually) are firing on all cylinders, the Tegra 3 tech is capable of dynamically balancing the workload across each core. All of this basically means that despite the massive increase in raw processing power, NVIDIA's new chip-set is actually more economical on battery life than the dual-core Tegra 2, which was seen in the original Asus Transformer.

To further prolong the lifespan of the tablet's battery, you can employ desktop-style power modes, choosing to limit performance for the sake of increased stamina. Even without the keyboard dock's secondary battery, the Transformer Prime is effortlessly capable of smashing through the 10 hour barrier and beyond; linking the dock allows the tablet to leech even more juice, offering the kind of battery life you'd never expect to see from a traditional laptop.

Room to Expand

Android tablets have always excelled in the area of expansion and connectivity, and the Transformer Prime is no exception. On the tablet itself you'll find a microSD card slot and Micro HDMI-out, and the presence of the keyboard dock affords even more ports to make use of, including 2.0 USB and a SD card slot - not micro SD, but full-size, full-fat SD.

With 32GB of built-in storage as standard, the Prime is hardly short on space, but using the microSD card slot (which resides on the tablet) and the aforementioned SD card slot on the dock, you can boost that figure to incredible heights for very little cash. The USB port on the dock can also be used to plug in memory sticks to add even more space. The lack of a 64GB model of the Prime therefore becomes irrelevant; if you find you need more space, you can simply pick up a 32GB SD card for around £20.

Given the robust nature of the Transformer Prime's expansion options, it's disappointing to note that Asus has stuck with the 40-pin proprietary connector that was used on last year's model. Rivals such as Motorola have wisely moved away from this approach, allowing users to charge its new Xoom 2 tablet with a standardised microUSB cable - the same type that is supplied with practically every non-Apple mobile phone on the planet. Asus' decision means that if you're doing some travelling, you'll need to bung an additional charger in your bag if you plan on taking the Prime along with you.

"The Transformer Prime has 32GB of storage as standard, which can be expanded via microSD on the tablet and a full-size SD slot on the keyboard dock."

Ice Cream in the Offing

Much was made of Asus' decision to launch the Transformer Prime with Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) instead of 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), as many potential buyers had hoped that as well as being the first quad core tablet, it would also be the first to feature Google's shiny new unified operating system. Although it sadly wasn't to be, Ice Cream Sandwich has now been pushed to all UK Transformer Primes; if you purchase one today, chances are you'll be notified of an pending 'over the air' software update when you first switch it on.

At first glance, 4.0 on the Transformer Prime looks an awful lot like 3.2 did. Little embellishments like superior task management and the ability to track data usage are welcome, but overall the most significant improvements are ones you're unlikely to notice unless you're intimately familiar with Honeycomb; 4.0 is more stable and offers better overall performance than its forerunner.

Hard (Quad) Core Gaming

With a quad core CPU and a 12-core GeForce graphics processor concealed beneath that lush aluminium casing, it should come as little surprise to learn that the Transformer Prime is a class apart when it comes to intense 3D visuals - and that means console-quality gaming on a device that is thinner than your average newspaper.

NVIDIA is clearly keen to stress the tablet's strength as a gaming platform, as it includes a custom Tegra Zone application which highlights available games that make use of the additional power provided by the chip. Most of these are games already available on Android which simply harness the strength of the Tegra 3 to boast improved visual effects, but there are some exclusives. Wave Race-wannabe Riptide contains some amazing water effects, while Bladeslinger offers up graphics which would not look out of place on your PS3 or 360 - and running at a higher resolution too. Lamentably, the gameplay isn't comparable, but it offers a tantalising glimpse of just how impressive the Transformer Prime is as a gaming system.

It's here that the tablet's impressive connectivity is called into play. The keyboard dock has a USB port (sadly just the one, unlike the dock seen on the original Transformer, which offered two), into which you can plug a wired 360 pad or a PS3 pad with the USB connection lead attached. Because Android has native controller support, these devices are immediately recognised and do not require any configuration or set-up. Load up the superb Shadowgun, and the controls are automatically mapped. The difference in playing this kind of game on a proper pad compared to a touch-screen is immense; what was previously a rather clumsy affair becomes a visually arresting and hugely enjoyable third-person shooter - and one that is available for the princely sum of £3.49 in its Tegra-supporting guise.

"NVIDIA is keen to stress the tablet's strength as a gaming platform, including a custom Tegra Zone app, highlighting available games that make use of the additional power provided by the chip."

Asus Transformer Prime: The Digital Foundry Verdict

With its combination of gorgeous aesthetics, superior processing power and the very latest Android OS, the Transformer Prime is without a shadow of a doubt the best Android tablet money can buy. Add in the keyboard dock and its ability to turn the tablet into a true laptop replacement, and the package becomes even more irresistible.

However, we all know that in the tablet space, Android isn't calling the shots. Apple's iPad remains the leader in this sector, and when compared to the upgraded model the Transformer Prime's supremacy is less assured. The iPad benefits immeasurably from unparalleled developer support, and has a digital storefront that is literally bursting with apps and games. Android tablet apps are few and far between, and as a rule the Google Play market (formerly known as the Android Market) is usually a few months behind the App Store when it comes to essential downloads.

Apple is even claiming that it has technological dominance over the Transformer Prime, going as far as to state that the New iPad's A5X chip offers four times the power of the Tegra 3. This boast has been made without any solid evidence or reliable benchmarking and is therefore impossible to substantiate at the moment, but it's reasonable to assume that games on the New iPad will look as good - if not better - than those on the Transformer Prime.

Still, the iPad isn't for everyone. If you're looking for an alternative tablet which is flexible, powerful, has incredible battery life and comes bristling with expansion options, then this is your dream ticket. [Updated: correct iPad pricing added] When you consider it retails for only a little more than the mid-range 32GB WiFi version of the new iPad, the deal becomes even more attractive - the only cloud on the horizon is the forthcoming release of its successor, the Transformer Pad Infinity, which packs a higher resolution display.

Forza developer Turn 10 is hiring for its "Next Generation of games".

The Microsoft owned studio is after a cinematics art director. The job, spotted by Superannuation, involves "defining and driving the cinematics vision and techniques needed to achieve exceptionally high quality content for our Next Generation of games".

Turn 10 is not working on this year's Forza game. Forza Horizon, announced last month, is being developed by Playground Games and is due out on Xbox 360 this autumn - freeing up Turn 10 to make its "Next Generation of games".

Microsoft is rumoured to be preparing to show its Xbox 360 successor at E3 in June, with a 2013 launch planned. Will Forza 5 be a launch title?

Elsewhere, Superannuation spotted the first Microsoft job ad that explicitly mentioned the next Xbox. It was later pulled.

"The ISS Console Multimedia Team, responsible for designing and developing the next generation console, is looking for a highly motivated and skilled audio developer," the advertisement read. "If you love gaming, game audio and music, then join us as an integral part of the team tasked to revolutionize audio for the next generation of Xbox."

Next Xbox rumours have ramped up in recent months. It is reportedly codenamed Durango, and will not have a disc drive.

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure launches across Europe on Thursday, 5th April, Nintendo has announced.

The 3DS game is developed by Xeen and published by Sega, with a little help from Nintendo on these shores. A demo is available to download from the Nintendo eShop right now.

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure is a music game that includes over 50 rhythm-based challenges set against the background of a 3D anime style Paris. It stars Raphael, a young Parisian boy who works as a thief, stealing art from museums.

You have to tap the 3DS touch screen as well as push buttons and use the stylus to control a gyro in time to the music. There's multiplayer, too, either through local wireless or download play. Meet another player through StreetPass and they'll pop up on your map. If you beat their high score, they will become your fan. The more fans you get, the more special characters unlock.

The number of trophies included in PlayStation Network games will remain unchanged despite Microsoft's decision to increase the achievement count in Xbox Live Arcade titles, Sony has confirmed.

As of next month, all Xbox Live Arcade titles will have the option to increase from 200 to 400 Gamerscore points, with the addition of up to 30 achievements. The new 400 point ceiling will be mandatory in all new XBLA games releasing from June this year.

Many games released on both XBLA and PSN have the same unlocks for achievements and trophies - but Sony told IGN it won't change the way it does things.

"There are plenty of downloadable games on PSN that currently offer platinum trophies," an SCEA spokesman said. These include Dead Nation, Rocketbirds and Trine.

The spokesman added that Sony has "a standard and consistent system to determine the trophies available for a particular game. The overall scope of the game determines the trophies available, not method of distribution".

Five years from now tokens, sold bundled with figurines or plushy toys, will probably have replaced discs.

That's the opinion of Christian Svensson, senior vice president of strategic business development at Capcom ("US boss", in short).

"Retail will always have a place in our future," predicted Svensson to Gamasutra. "But five years down the road, the value proposition of retail, to publishers, will change. Retail's role will shift from planned purchase to impulse purchase, predominantly. And planned purchases will increasingly happen online, just for sheer convenience's sake.

Club Penguin already sells cuddly Puffle toys with attached plastic tokens that unlock in-game items (via a code).

"Five years from now, more likely than not, we'll not have plastic discs in a box, but we'll have tokens in a box, something that is gift-able and able to be bundled with other hard items like figurines or plushes - or something else that has tangible value that can't be downloaded over a wire."

His thoughts tally with a recent report about the Next Xbox not containing a disc drive.

Svensson also gave an oft-heard prediction of game sales becoming predominantly digital, as they have on PC.

"Very obviously, certainly sometime before five years from now, every game will be digital and retail day and date [same release]," he said.

"To quote my friend Paul Raines, the CEO of GameStop, they don't disagree on the inevitability of it, they disagree on the timing of it - when it's going to happen.

"I definitely think that's going to happen very, very quickly. It's going to depend a lot on what the first party [console manufacturers] do in the next generation of console hardware.

"Five years from now, more likely than not, we'll not have plastic discs in a box, but we'll have tokens in a box, something that is gift-able and able to be bundled with other hard items like figurines or plushes - or something else that has tangible value that can't be downloaded over a wire."

Christian Svensson, senior VP strategic business development, Capcom

"But I'm not privy to those details today," he added, "so I couldn't possibly predict what is going to happen there."

In next-gen machines, networks will be crucial, and games will more and more be viewed as services, "less discrete products", Svensson went on to say.

"I'll tell you something I'm hoping for," he added, "I'm hoping for a much more fluid means of providing updates to consumers, being able to have a much more rapid turnaround in between when content is submitted and when content goes live to consumers, to provide a higher level of service to them. I'm hoping that the networking and the processes in the future are built with that in mind.

"I'd like to see more server-based backends that are more under publisher-developer control, rather than being forced through systems pre-defined by the first-party. That would enable experiences online that are not currently available in today's console marketplace."

Sony has worked closely with Eve Online maker CCP to make this hope a reality. With PS3 MMO Dust 514, CCP will apparently have "complete ability to service and update the games as much as needed". Sony said CCP "removed" the barriers that have prevented games like MMOs getting off the ground on consoles in the past, although Microsoft has always been the greater of the two evils here (Nintendo doesn't really factor). Dust 514 is due this year, and the alterations Sony and CCP have been working on will spread across PSN.

That's not to say Microsoft doesn't have similar plans. The Xbox maker may be distilling a relationship similar to Sony and CCP's with Undead Labs - a studio founded by MMO royalty Jeff Strain (co-founder of Guild Wars dev ArenaNet, lead programmer of World of Warcraft and instrumental in the Diablo and StarCraft franchises). Undead Labs is making an Xbox Live Arcade-exclusive zombie MMO, and has worked from the ground-up with Microsoft to ensure it works. Our hunch is that Class3, like Dust 514 on PSN, will signal a wider change to Xbox Live policy.