News regarding Linux gaming

 Linux Game Company Opens Doors, Nov 09, 2007

Sixth Floor Labs LLC, a Linux game development company, has launched their business today. Founded by Ethan Glasser-Camp and Carl Li, the company aims to improve Linux's desktop feasibility through the creation of high-quality games. Games are "sold" to the Internet community through the "ransom model" -- for one large payment, the product is released under the GPL and freed forever.

Transgaming has released a new version of its Windows emulator the Cedega 6.0 which allows gamers to play proper games on their Linux machines.

If you think that there are no great games for Linux, think again! We are taking a look at 10 of some of the most popular Linux games... that just so happen to be completely free!

Gaming on Linux is, far more often than not, a second-rate experience.

My Game Company is pleased to announce the release of Dirk Dashing: Secret Agent 1.0 for Linux!

If you are anything like me, you have likely found that running WINE powered emulation software is more trouble than it's worth. Blasphemy you say? Nah, because by playing Windows games, you are in fact supporting games designed for Microsoft.

Tremulous is the best free software FPS game I've had the pleasure of playing, and I'm not alone in this opinion. It also has a community growing up around it, which should aid not only in growing its popularity but also in continuing improvements.

Perhaps there really is no better time than the present when it comes to Linux gaming and graphics development.

CodeWeavers is working on making it possible for CrossOver Office users to easily install and run WoW on a multitude of Linux distributions.

It’s a very serious matter. The GNU/Linux desktop is not ready. It is lacking an important, even essential, component without which it will fail. It’s got all the rest, the opposition has been squashed on every single detail except this one—but it is essential.

A Linux-based handheld gaming platform that runs native and emulated games is shipping in the US. Gamepark's GP2X is powered by a pair of ARM9 processors, has an "open-source" API and development tools, and can run thousands of classic console video games, online retailer Dynamism says.

Fans of the online virtual world Second Life can now connect from Linux machines. Linden Lab, creator of Second Life, recently launched a public test of the Linux client, sporting the same feature set and interface as the Windows and Mac OS X versions.

The GNU/Linux operating system isn't exactly known for gaming, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any games on it that are worth playing. Recently I installed an array of different titles and, combined with some that I had already played, I've compiled a list of must-have GNU/Linux games (and a few "honorable mentions") to joyously erode your free time.

If you want to play Windows games on your Linux desktop, you'll be glad to learn that Transgaming Technologies has enhanced its enabling software. Cedega version 5.1 adds support for three popular Windows games -- Civilization IV, FIFA 06, and Need for Speed -- among other enhancements.

Despite a very limited commercial market for Linux as a game platform, the top two companies in the 3D graphics chipset market, ATI and NVIDIA, officially support the operating system.

More work needs to be done on Linux at the operating system level, grids will have limited appeal, and there will be a mass movement to embrace clustering software among organizations large and small.

Linspire-oriented gamers will be pleased to learn that Linspire's CNR ("click and run") warehouse now stocks TransGaming's Cedega, which will make "hundreds of Triple-A rated Windows games" available for Linspire users, "with minimal installation," according to Linspire.

In an interview with Impress PC Watch, [Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken] Kutaragi disclosed that he plans to install the Linux operating system on the PS3's hard disc drive (HDD) so it will be recognized as a computer, rather than a mere console.

Adobe Systems has released version 7 of its Acrobat software for creating PDF files, with upgraded collaboration features and a beta version of its free Adobe Reader 7 for Linux.

ID Software has graced us today with the Linux Demo and Full Version of Doom 3. You can find their new Linux site for Doom 3 with all of the information you'll need to download and install both versions.

I hate to say it [don flame-retardant suit] but Linux gaming sucks. My modern, fast system at home is running Windows XP, people, and gaming is the reason. Okay, it's a glorified X-Box, but who cares - games install and they work. I can play some popular FPS games in Linux (Quake III, UT, America's Army) but where are the other games? Battlefield series? Call of Duty? Warcraft III? Far Cry? SimCity 4?

Computer experts will tell you that Linux software is unbeatable at tasks like scientific supercomputing or corporate number-crunching. But offer to take them on in a rousing round of Empire Earth or some other popular computer game, and watch their faces fall.

Linux is operating system software, code that controls a computer's most basic functions. Microsoft's Windows is the best-known operating system, and there's also Apple's Macintosh OS X. But Linux is something special. Created by volunteers scattered around the world, Linux is available free over the Internet. Yet Linux has been polished to the point where it's become a favorite with corporate and academic users worldwide.

But Linux software is so complex and unfamiliar that few casual users will give it a try. That means there's only a tiny market for Linux computer games. Of course, that means game companies rarely offer Linux versions of their top titles, which means even more consumers avoid Linux computers, and so on.

"Loki will be indefinitely suspending operations on January 31," according to this email sent to Loki resellers.

Loki Software, which specialised in porting A-class PC games to Linux, has filed for bankruptcy.

According to a report on LinuxPorts, the company owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to Activision and other publishers it has worked with.

Nokia will on Monday announce that it has turned to the Linux free software community to develop applications for its Media Terminal home entertainment system due to be launched later this year.

The move by the world's largest mobile phone maker marks an important endorsement for Linux and the open source software movement, which challenges established software companies.

It has been a while since there has been a real debate going in the Linux gaming community, but recently a debate has raged over which was the better solution for bringing games to Linux.

On one side of the argument is Transgaming, which sees the reality that the process of creating native Linux ports is an extremely expensive procedure with very little monetary reward. Their solution is to refine and extend Wine...

On the other side of the issue are the porting houses such as Loki, Tribsoft, and Hyperion Entertainment. They have shown that Windows games can be ported successfully to Linux.

One of the more specific an obvious examples for Linux gamers is the fact that despite how bright things were just 6 months ago with dozens of companies joining the fray, the market for Linux games seems to have stagnated and even briefly collapsed.

The Duke of URL has just reviewed Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition. While this isn't a huge release in the gaming world, it is one of the first games to be released cocurrently on Linux, Windows, and MacOS. The review discusses just that, the performance of the game, as well as the gameplay and much more.

ZOCKS.de has here an interview with SuSE about Linux games, the market etc.

oki Software, Inc., the leading publisher of commercial games for the Linux operating system, has announced an agreement with Timegate Studios, a premier developer of entertainment software, to bring Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns to Linux. Kohan will be the first of the immensely-popular real-time strategy gaming genre to be commercially available for Linux.

Loki Software, Inc., the foremost publisher of commercial games for the Linux operating system, and Trolltech, a leader in C++ cross-platform GUI application frameworks, has announced a strategic alliance to provide business and end-user programs for Linux.

The author look around for some Linux games, installs the ones he finds and reports on the results.

Indrema will introduce a Linux-based video game console in 2001, using Open Source to compete against Sony and Sega.

The move from Xfree86 Version 3 to Version 4, the addition of OpenAL and other developments in the fast-moving Linux world promise to lower the development bar for game companies, and that means more games for Linux

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