Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Charges for DLC but ELITE is Free (VIDEO)

You know how you can tell Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is just around the corner? They're talking about downloadable content and other "digital services." This is the hot fancy new cash register of the video game industry, the one the suits behind the games love. The ELITE service for Black Ops 2 will be totally free now. While this likely means the ELITE service itself will be pared down in terms of features and reach; it should mean a more robust off-console experience for those of us who like to track statistics and tinker with weapon loadouts. What makes it over from ELITE Plus into the free ELITE service for Black Ops 2 remains to be seen.

The other half of this announcement is that there will be a Season Pass for Black Ops 2 that will allow you to pre-purchase all four upcoming downloadable map packs right now, before we even know what those suckers are. Forx Xbox Live subscribers you can drop $50 right now on the Black Ops 2 map packs and know you'll be the first to be playing on the new maps whatever they end up being. Activision is giving you the choice to pay $60 for all four if you want them ala carte as they come out, or they'll allow you to gouge them by paying only $50 for all of them right now, sight unseen. You're so lucky.

Info on downloadable content, maps and pre-purchase plans on other platforms (read: PS3 --somebody must be mad at somebody) is still to come. Watch the clip above and notice that the most exciting part for us was the idea that you can copy sombebody's weapon loadout using ELITE and push that to your loadout in the game. The old if-you-cant-beat-em-jack-em button should be a favorite.