Finally!

Well, it couldn't come at a better time - I haven't bought it for my PlayStation 4 Pro yet (mostly because I just haven't got around to it), and I obviously couldn't buy it for PC (I single-boot)... So it looks like I might finally get the chance to play Rise of the Tomb Raider.

The first (reboot) game was fantastic, so hopefully this is just as good...

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Guest

Quoting: Cyba.Cowboygaming is the primary business of Valve Software, and will likely be for the foreseeable future.

There was me thinking selling hats is their biggest earner :whistle:

:D

Well they did sell a lot of hats, so you never know... ;)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: lucifertdarkFirst Microsoft started working with Canonical to get parts of Ubuntu running inside Windows, now they're looking to buy Valve?

*Facepalm*

It is a rumour, and one that many of us think holds very little truth... At the time of writing, Microsoft are NOT buying Valve Software.

Quoting: lucifertdarkWindows is obviously on borrowed time & they know it, what better way to secure their future than by taking over a competing OS & incorporating it into Windows?

Are you talking about SteamOS, or Ubuntu?

If you're referring to SteamOS, then it accounts for probably 1% of Valve Software's business - gaming is the primary business of Valve Software, and will likely be for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, if you're referring to the Ubuntu thing, it's basically just the (Ubuntu-based) development tools being able to run under a Windows-based operating system (in "layman's terms" ), not the operating system itself (in the sense of how you use Ubuntu on your own computer)... There's a really BIG difference and the current "Ubuntu running under Windows-based operating systems" is in no way the first step to "incorporating it into Windows".

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: BlackBloodRumHow many people would stop using Linux once Microsoft removes Steam from it?

I don't think there's too many people that use Linux-based operating systems because of gaming... With the exception of Steam Machines and SteamOS users, people will just switch to other stores - GOG.com being the most obvious example, but there are a couple of others out there and some developers will sell to customers directly (i.e. via their own websites).

In other words, I'm pretty sure few - if any - people would stop using Linux-based operating systems, in the unlikely event Microsoft were to buy Valve Software...

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: GustyGhostYes unfortunately if you're looking for AAA titles or popular multiplayer titles for Linux, Steam is currently the only game in town. Too many big studios are afraid of DRM-free. I only keep Steam around today for the few titles that my (unenlightened) friends want me to play with them.

I don't mind skipping them if they are "afraid". They should respect their users and not insult them with DRM. IMHO this situation today is more about lock-in problem than DRM itself. As you point out, multiplayer games tend to be locked into Steam because of their match making and etc.

It's like when Apple and others started offering DRM-free music... The "experts" were saying it was the end of the music industry - but we now know it made virtually no difference to piracy levels and some sources even claim the (piracy) numbers went down slightly.

The moral of the story is, if you are too "scared" to sell your games DRM-free on sites like GOG.com, there's plenty of other developers out there that are more than willing to take my money whilst offering DRM-free games...

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: GustyGhostOne thing is for sure, it would be hilarious watching all of you guys who are so deeply embedded in Steam freak out over a Microsoft acquisition. A little lesson in all your eggs in one basket if you know what I mean.

This is one of the "key" reasons why GOG.com is my first choice for games these days - because they're DRM-free and thus, I am not "locked" to one proprietary company... I only really buy from Steam if they're the only place that have a particular game for Linux and even though, I go out of my way to make sure it's never going to be sold on GOG.com first.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Microsoft can have EA... People can defend them all they want, but EA have some of the worst business practices in the entire industry. Not to mention the fact that when it comes to customer service, I can't think of too many companies (in any industry) which can compete with EA for poor standards - in their defence, EA aren't the worst, but they're certainly high on the list.

Valve Software though? I agree it won't happen, but in the unlikely event that it did, I'd be closing my Steam account the very next day - Microsoft has always been sketchy at best, but at least under Bill Gates, I sort-of trusted the company (yep, I'm anti-Microsoft, but a pretty big admirer of Bill Gates!)... It's been a long time since I've had any trust for Microsoft though, and if they were still updating them, I wouldn't even trust them with the dozen or so Handheld PCs I have in the garage!

Fortunately, we have GOG.com and whilst they lost much of their "Linux steam" (pun intended) once they had launched the initial 100 Linux games they promised, they still seem to be semi-dedicated to Linux... Linux releases have slowed to a trickle, but every once in a while they surprise us with something particularly awesome.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: musojon74I'd use an open driver over the nvidia blob if it was better. But I don't see why I have to use exclusively open source stuff.

I don't buy into the whole "you must use Open Source stuff exclusively" mentality that a lot of Linux users seem to have.

Yes Open Source software has a lot of advantages over proprietary software and partially because of this, I'll use Open Source software where I can... But there's just as many scenarios out there where it is not feasible to offer Open Source software, and/or proprietary software simply outperforms the Open Source equivalents.

You can still be a pretty strong Open Source advocate without restricting yourself Richard Stallman-style...

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: GuestA lot of the comments though, it really doesn't seem like open software ideals matter, and they want things like on windows. So when I read about how things that should attract more users, I have to wonder at the cost. Surely open drivers that are installed out of the box will do far more to keep the OS open and free, and GNU/Linux, than reliance on blobs? Which means Intel and AMD (firmware notwithstanding), and encouraging users to look at nouveau.

Most of what I use is Open Source and I will usually choose Open Source software over proprietary software... But I also don't want to spend all day fixing my computers or in the case of gaming, spend hours on end trying to maximize the performance, only to end up with a sub-par experience.

It's not ideal that NVIDIA users need to proprietary drivers for the best performance... But sometimes compromises need to be made.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Leopard

Quoting: tmtvlUgh, still so many people using the crappy NVidia garbage. I suppose that'll change as Wayland becomes more prominent.

Wonder how many people are gonna switch from Intel to AMD after the IME stuff...

Because it works most of the time and performs better than AMD.

This.

Every computer I've had with AMD over the years (including fairly recent models) has caused my nothing but grief... When I bought a new laptop a few months back, I went out of my way to buy a laptop with NVIDIA graphics this time around (my partner's laptop had NVIDIA, and everything always "just worked" ) - the difference has been like night and day.

Don't get me wrong, I'm the sort of guy that often barracks/roots for the underdog and I'd love for AMD to be successful... But I have a literally a dozen laptops surrounding me at the moment, and the only ones that have not had never-ending graphics problems or poor game performance is the two NVIDIA laptops we have.

AMD say they're working on all these problems - but they've been saying this for years and the progress is so ridiculously slow that in my opinion, it's just not worth "waiting another year" for them to sort their s#*t out... NVIDIA might be the "big evil empire", but their stuff "just works" and for now, that's fine by me.

Maybe somewhere down the track I'll give AMD another shot... But it probably won't be for a while.

View this comment - View article - View full comments