Posted on 08/01/2014 11:35:34 AM PDT by ShadowAce
The true measure of any great gaming platform is not the number of games available. Nor is it the need to have the same games as other competing platforms (the Playstation 4 doesn't need Mario games to be considered successful). And it really isn't even about how many total games are sold, though that certainly helps.
The measure of a great gaming platform is if people want to use it to play games on... rather than another platform. At least on occasion.
For example: The SEGA Genesis. That beautiful console sold substantially less than the Super Nintendo. But it was still an excellent console that people enjoyed playing on. Thus, a success.
By that measure and that is the only measure I can think of that makes any sense Linux qualifies as a successful (even, great) gaming platform.
(Bear with me here. This isn't a cheerleader article. This is going somewhere. Pinky swear.)
I've seen quite a few articles that have made the point, in one fashion or another, that Linux is becoming a viable gaming platform. Now, I'm a big advocate of Linux, and I've spent years in the video games industry. So these sorts of statements should get me excited... right?
Yet they tend to have just the opposite effect on me. Whenever I see an article declaring something akin to Gaming on Linux has arrived! it immediately reminds me of the last decade (two decades, really... plus some) of that similar declaration we have all heard so many times. Next year will be the year of Desktop Linux!
There came a point where I had heard that refrain so many times that hearing it instantly made me pessimistic, or, at the very least, compelled me to say something snarky.
When I hear something like 2014 is the year for gaming on Linux I have the same reaction. Pessimism. Snark. That simple statement, as positive as it may be, can turn even the most exciting of news into something... far less exciting.
That's when I realized we need a way to actually determine if Linux is a legitimate, successful gaming platform. Then we can simply determine if it is or isn't, and stop making those sorts of (oddly un-compelling) declarations. After much thinking on it, I decided on the criteria I laid out at the top of this article, which I am not going to repeat now, because I am lazy. Also scroll-bar.
Once I figured that out, it became clear. Linux is a solid gaming platform. It has been for a long, long time. And, in recent days, Linux has only gotten even stronger as a gaming platform.
But it's not the year of Linux gaming. That already happened a long time ago.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play Battle for Wesnoth.
“The first version of Privateer came on floppies. Still love it and wish I could play it.”
You need to check out Star Citizen. The creator of Wing Commander (and Privateer) got boatloads of money off Kickstarter to revive the space combat/exploration genre. I fear the day that game is released ... I may as well say goodbye to my wife, son, family, friends :-) ...
Wow! First I’ve heard of Star Citizen. I’m checking it out now, it looks great!
Vectrex was GREAT! I was a video game reviewer, and got the how thing free. Sold long ago. Perfect Star Castle. Minestorm a classic. Responsive analog controller. I didn’t have the color wheel. I did have the pen.
The owners of the ROMs turned them over to the public domain.
Great Trivia Question Answer: Vectrex was the only game unit that didn’t have to pay royalties to Magnavox, because it didn’t hook up to a TV.
lots of GTs for me on Rites Of Passage.
Star Citizen looks like something that will cost me $$$$ in computer upgrades. :-/
telnet 198.212.189.111 Trying 198.212.189.111... Connected to 198.212.189.111. Escape character is '^]'. EMPIRECLASSIC:hello player.warp HP3000 Release: C.65.00 User Version: C.65.00 SUN, DEC 11, 2011, 6:41 PM MPE/iX HP31900 C.25.06 Copyright Hewlett-Packard 1987. All rights reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------- | W E L C O M E T O W A R P ! | | | | The paradoxical world of Warp awaits you with | | intrigue, suspense, and adventure! | | | | Please sit back and relax while I assemble the world. | | | | Brought to you by | | * Rob Lucke and Bill Frolik * | | | ---------------------------obie----------------------------- //|| | //|| | //|| | // || | \/\/ // || | \/\/ // || | // || | || // || | || // || | VVvwWWvWWWwVVvVVwWWwwVVvvWWwwwWWVvVwwVwwVVwwWWvwWVvwVwvVWvvvwVV Initializing, please wait .................... Central Plaza. You are standing in what appears to be the central plaza of a small seacoast resort. There is a large fountain in the center of this square, and the plaza extends quite a distance to both the north and south. You can see the ocean in the distance to the west, and to the east there is a large building on which there is a sign that reads "WARP BUILDING". I can see the following: Fountain Round Peg >look at fountain The fountain is obviously neglected, its bottom is covered with mud and old leaves. >get in fountain That's not a vehicle! >get peg Round Peg taken. >look at it Round. Made of wood. Not very big. >touch fountain "Touch" is Danish to me. Try English. >w Easy Street. You're in the middle of a long north-south street. To the west you can see the ocean in the distance, and to the east you can see a large building. I can see the following: Policeman The policeman tips his hat to you as he moves on. >look at policeman Policeman? I don't see any policeman here. >w North Beach. You're on a sandy beach. Ocean lies to the west; you can go any other direction. There is water lapping at your feet. >e Easy Street. >look Easy Street. You're in the middle of a long north-south street. To the west you can see the ocean in the distance, and to the east you can see a large building. >e Central Plaza. You are standing in what appears to be the central plaza of a small seacoast resort. There is a large fountain in the center of this square, and the plaza extends quite a distance to both the north and south. You can see the ocean in the distance to the west, and to the east there is a large building on which there is a sign that reads "WARP BUILDING". I can see the following: Fountain >e Warp Building Lobby. You're standing in the lobby of the Warp Building. On the door to the north you read "MEN"; similarly, on the door to the south, "WOMEN". There's a security desk between you and the corridor to the east. The only other exit is to the west. I can see the following: Security Guard, who possesses: a Gun A stately policeman just wandered by. >take gun Gun taken. The policeman tips his hat to you as he moves on. >look at gun It is a large, heavy handgun of Warpian manufacture. There is a small engraving on the handle which reads, WARPSON 19MM BLASTER Treat With Respect >shoot guard >BANG!< That was stupid. The guard, seeing you reach for your Gun, whips out a hidden gun and deftly shoots you through the head! You sense yourself leaving your physical body -- A spiritual entity in a black haze. The bleakness begins to clear, however, and you begin to recognize familiar things, only everything appears in various shades of grey. Cemetary. This small cemetary appears to serve the City of Warp, but it does not have room to contain many graves. Small simple grave markers show the location of those in eternal sleep. A large fence prevents you from going east into a very deep ravine. I can see the following: Tombstone >look at tombstone ******* *****/ \***** / + / R.I.P \ + \ | LEE | |/ COLLINS \| | 6/1980-9/1981 | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | | PIONEER WARPIAN | | PUZZLE SOLVER | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | | "He died every | | way | | imaginable" | vwwWvVVvvwwWWvVVwwwvVVvwWWwwwVVwv >
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Not just Steam, but one of the most wildly popular games among kids, Minecraft, plays on Linux without a hiccup, assuming you’re okay with installing Java on your Nix desktop.
I LOVE my Ubuntu desktop. I think one of their bigger challenges, one I’m dealing with right now, is their LTS (Long-term Support) distros (i.e. Ubuntu 12.04) aren’t as “long-term” as say, Microsoft’s Windows. I’m having to upgrade all of my 12.04 servers to 14, and while it’s a pretty painless upgrade, there are some features that are tweaked just enough to make troubleshooting difficult on some products.
If they could come out with a universally stable OS that’s patched and updated for, say 2 or more years, they’ll have something that’s commercially viable.
12.04 LTS has been out 2 or more years. :)
April 2012 was the first release, so yeah, it’s been 2 years. They’re already putting up the warning messages in Landscape that security update development stops later this month.
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