Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Valve dropped a bunch of knowledge on Kotaku's Stephen Totilo, going into details on the team's goals for the upcoming PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Arcade/PC/Mac version of the classic shooter. In short, Counter-Strike: GO is a slight update to CS: Source with an emphasis on inviting new players while giving hardcore veterans what they want.

Global Offensive aims to bring Counter-Strike's core five-on-five lethal gameplay to new audiences. Some maps have been tweaked, like the notoriously imbalanced Dust and Aztec. Valve added a few new weapons and a "casual" mode that removes the in-game cash requirement for setting up your loadout between rounds. Other than that, this title is the Counter-Strike you know and love with modern matchmaking and community support.

One amusing tidbit: Xbox 360 players will have their own matchmaking pool, while PC/Mac/PS3 players will share a separate one. On the plus side, you can plug in a keyboard and mouse to your PS3 so that you aren't at a brutal disadvantage against PC/Mac players.

Read Totilo's full article for a bunch of interesting tidbits from Valve's Chet Faliszek and Ido Magal, including what they think about CS:GO's potential as an eSport ("If it happens, that's nice"), why dying in CS isn't bulls--- ("You died because you made the wrong choice), and why Valve decided to do another quasi-remake of Counter-Strike in the first place ("We got excited").

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is scheduled to come out for PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 early next year.