Tech Olive

Since its reveal at E3 this past June, all there was left to do was simply wait for a Portal 2 release date from Valve, but even that was a game in itself for some reason (we should have known). However, Game Informer, who wrote a 12-page cover story in their April 2010 issue, has reported that Valve told them at Gamescom that Portal 2 will be arriving February 9th, 2011. Valve has also told Game Informer that Wheatley, a British robot character in the game (and who was featured in past trailers), will be voiced by Stephen Merchant, who was a writer and an actor for the British version of The Office, as well as a current writer for the U.S. version.

via [Game Informer]

Microsoft Games Studios General Manager Dave Luehmann said that the company “needs to invest” more in PC gaming. He told gaming news blog Computer and Video Games that “Windows is an important space for us so we need to invest our first-party IP in it as much as anybody else. We cant really ask other companies to step up if the first party isn’t stepping up.”

Luehmann continues on about how Microsoft may have been focusing more on the Xbox 360 console and not paying a whole lot of attention to the PC platform as much as they should be.

I’m glad that they’re finally realizing this, and actually, they’re already starting to focus more on the PC with Fable 3 coming this Fall, as well as the just announced Microsoft Flight and Age of Empires Online.

via [Computer and Video Games]

Image Credit: Robert Scoble

We love a good news story, and with only two people manning the controls at Tech Olive, we sometimes miss some good ones. This is where you, the loyal reader, can help us out. We have a ‘Tip Us‘ section of the website. Here you can send in your juicy news tips that you’ve secretly come across or share a simple news story that you want us to cover. Don’t worry, we’ll credit you for sure (unless you want to remain anonymous, of course).

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We’ve known that it was set for a September release since its announcement back in March, but official word has finally released that Codemasters’ F1 2010 will hit U.S. shelves on September 22nd. For gamers outside the states, the game will release on the 23rd and 24th.

via [Big Download]

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The Bargain Bin is a weekly feature that helps out gamers in the tough economy. How does it help? Once a week, it offers a great and cheap game ($10 or less) to keep you going until your next paycheck.

This week’s Bargain Bin aims to please zombie hunters everywhere. Burn Zombie Burn! initially released on the PS3 a year back, but the game has finally been ported to PC and Steam is offering it for 10% off during launch week!

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Flash Game Friday is a weekly feature that provides gamers with (uh…duh) a free, browser-based flash game. You may have played it before and you may have not, but it’s always worth checking out. We’ll be bringing you the latest, time-wasting, challenging, lose-sleep-into-the-wee-hours type of flash games.

While most flash games find you setting up tower defenses, saving lost kittens, parking cars, and countless other combinations of mostly casual and brightly-colored gameplay, if you look hard enough, you might just find some flash games for the FPS gamers in the world. Cue Anaksha: Female Assassin.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. developer GSC Game World shocked fans today with a huge announcement that S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 is in development and releasing sometime in 2012. According to GSC, the game is based on “completely new multi-platform technology,” but unfortunately no other information was given.

It seems the first three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games (Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat) are being looked at as the first part of the series, with the sequel moving the series to a more traditional numbering system for future installments.

[Dev Blog]

Electronic Arts has finally given Crysis fans a day to look forward to with Crysis 2‘s official release date. The game will be hitting shelves on March 22nd, 2011 (the 25th for Europe). Adding to the hype, developer Crytek released a screenshot of the game’s multiplayer that offers no info or any HUD, just a bit of eye candy.

via [Big Download]

Microsoft announced today that the Internet Explorer 9 beta will be officially launching on September 15th and the company will be holding a neat little event in San Francisco to celebrate, but as far as the beta itself, there’s really no information about it yet. However, we do know that it will require either Windows Vista or 7 to use. Windows XP users are left in the dust. Not surprising, though. Microsoft has been trying to get people to stop using XP for a while now.

[Windows Team Blog]