My fragile Barbarian body is ready for Inferno mode's unforgiving beatings. I've even prepared the best game-over music ever to play over voice chat with my fellow dungeon crawlers.
News Blips:
Fist, meet monitor: Blizzard reveals the ultra-hard Inferno mode for Diablo 3. Presumably because the previously established Hell difficulty doesn't conjure up enough images of fiery torment, Inferno beefs up enemies past level 61 — the hero level cap is 60 — along with new abilities, deeper health and mana pools, and a power-trip-induced sadistic streak. The upside, predictably enough, is a shot at the best loot in the game, complete with "but at what cost?" special art for touting the fruits of your sleep-deprived efforts. That is, if you can make it past the first town without getting creamed by a level 99 sewer rat of eternal agony. Diablo 3 is coming out on the PC and Mac OS, with no release date ascertained yet. [Kotaku]
Freshly christened EA Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore specifies how Battlefield 3 would "win" against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. "It's less about being second place," he told GameSpot in an interview. "This is about taking market share. If you look at last year, you might argue that Call of Duty took maybe 90 percent of the market share. We think we can knock that down to 70 percent this year. We don't have to outsell Call of Duty to have a very successful year. This is a long-term strategy to be a major player, if not ultimately a dominant player in this industry. But it starts this year."
Ubisoft stays its Internet connection crack addiction by reeling in the always-on requirement for Driver: San Francisco. Don't toll the bells of freedom just yet — the publisher now requires players to sign into an authentication server when launching the game, a similar method bundled with the ill-received PC port of From Dust. Ubisoft claims the change stemmed from negative feedback of its DRM system, but Rock, Paper, Shotgun isn't convinced.
Time for more science enrichment: Free Portal 2 DLC heads to the PC, Mac OS, Xbox 360, and PS3 this mid-September. Valve Marketing Director Doug Lombardi said the new content brings new test chambers, leaderboards, and challenge modes. While the DLC was initially slated for a mid-summer release, Lombardi maintained that September is still "technically summer." Stay classy, Valve!
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