Tech Olive

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

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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]

In honor of QuakeCon 2010, Steam has announced that they will be offering many awesome discounts on Bethesda and Id games over the next four days. To kick off the event, Steam has slashed Oblivion GOTY and GOTY Deluxe prices by 66%. Each new deal is posted at 12:00pm EST.

And, if you don’t feel like spending the next four days waiting for the deals to go live, you can just purchase the entire QuakeCon 2010 Pack. It’s fantastic deal, but remember that you won’t be getting the special discounts as they go live.

[News Release]