Quoting: MaelraneThen enlighten me! What other reasons are there for *solely* using Linux and not having a dual-boot system?

That question answers itself. Why would you dual-boot if you don't need or want another, inferior (in my subjective opinion) OS on your system. Linux simply works better than the competition for many people. But this is getting way off topic. Par for the course for me I guess...

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: MaelraneWell, I get it. Some people just switch to Linux for the bucks, not for its openness.

You don't get it at all if you think money and idealism are the only valid reasons one could have for using Linux.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: minjN00b question: won't bypassing 'error checking' etc in the driver impact system stability?

N00b answer: They're not just taking OpenGL and dropping useful but slow stuff. That would be idiotic. There's simply less need for runtime validation if the API is simpler and better defined. And the layered architecture allows for a more efficient pipeline, loading only whatever validation and error checking "layers" are needed in any given situation. Is this the part you were worried about?

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Segata SanshiroEqually it could be defined as a Linux machine hooked up to a TV instead of a monitor or a Linux PC which uses controllers as the primary input.

That's way too liberal. It's not a Steam Machine unless it's primarily used to play games on Steam. I've got a gaming/media PC hooked up to the TV in our living room, running XBMC/Kodi and games on Mint, occasionally Steam as well, more often than not controlled with a gamepad, but it's sure as hell not a Steam Machine.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I can't see myself ever buying a Steam Machine. I just couldn't talk myself into buying a personal computer purposely gimped to exclusively cater to gamers. And if the Steam Machine is just a generic PC with SteamOS pre-installed, what's the point? No, don't answer. I know what the point is. I know there's a big market for simple things in pretty packages. The target audience hardly includes grumpy nerds who have not bought a pre-assembled computer since the Amiga 500.

To sum up: Go Steam Machines! I would never buy one, but I'd happily recommend them to "real" gamers.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: PozzuoliThe final question regarding AAA games is misleading. Every option suggests that I *have* bought a AAA game on launch day, which is not true. (FWIW I selected "average".)

+1. I've never even seriously considered buying an AAA game on launch day.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: BeamboomIt never ceases to amaze me how these kind of games are still released. They could have ran on an old Oric-1? If you are a fan of these kind of games, why not just run an emulator on your PC and download the entire catalogue of games from the 80s?

A free tip: Games are supposed to entertain, benchmarks to test the performance of your system. You see the difference?

If old games are still good (and many of them are), why couldn't new games made in a similar style be good as well? In my opinion many of these new "retro" games are great fun, and often even better than the games they draw their inspiration from, especially if you're not prone to nostalgia. And the fact that they are still released does not mean you get any less of the graphically demanding games you deem worthy of your time.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: ShmerlGood to see them considering GOG. I'm not sure why he assumes that Steam is the most active for Linux users. A lot of Linux users avoid DRMed platforms.

Well, most gamers likely do not care about DRM as long as they can play their games. Especially "DRM" like Steam that actually provides some useful features and isn't just about making your life miserable as a consumer. Granted auto-patching is pretty much the only Steam feature I actually like, so Galaxy will do the job just fine for me.

GOG is awesome and DRM is simply idiotic, but the fact is GOG is nowhere near as popular and well known as Steam. Even among Linux-users, I'd bet. Remember that Linux gamers are usually ex Windows gamers.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

These games are wonderful time-wasters (in the positive sense). But the actual reason I enjoy HOGs and HOPAs is that my wife loves 'em, and likes playing them with me. Yeah, I'm whipped, and that's okay.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: BeamboomPlease remember that the cost of adding a platform is not merely the porting job itself, it's also support and user handling. An additional platform to do patches on. Another platform to do QA on. And so forth.
And one shall not underestimate the cost of getting a decent port done, especially not if it implies adding support for a second 3D API (OpenGL).

Yes, I do know what Linux support means. That is why I picked that term over Linux port. I'd still say it is or would be a decent return for investment for most projects. Additionally, it would seem that the lions share of any large game project's budget goes to content and advertising, not platform-dependent code, although the big studios are not very forthcoming with hard numbers. Which is a bit weird, as movie studios seem to make a point of releasing budget figures for their blockbusters.

The additional api thing is only a problem if the game in question runs on an engine with poor portability design. A hefty percentage of new and upcoming games from the bigger studios are built on modern engines with existing OpenGL backends, but that of course does not mean they get released on minor platforms like Linux.

Quoting: BeamboomI'm telling you - the prospect of an increase of 30-50.000 copies sold if supporting an additional platform is not very lucrative for the players on the league we now talk about. The potential must become larger.

That's true. The platform must become more profitable, and I believe it will.

View this comment - View article - View full comments