both. :) i just haven't gotten around to it yet, but sooon. :)

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awesome! warms my heart to see the industry seriously considering this.

i've never played half-life, and i hope to do so first on Linux.

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sorry if i came off strong! hard to hear emotional context on the internet. =)  sometimes i can be very "matter-of-fact" in my dialogue, but i assure you there are no hard feelings on my end. =)  those are just my thoughts in response to the matter raised.

though i totally appreciate a more elaborate post that let's me see more of where you're coming than a quick one-liner.  i don't disagree with your position, i'd just hate to see decent games get overlooked amidst the general critique.

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understandable.  it's a tough market, and we can't fund them all.  but i say, there are far worse problems to have when talking about Linux gaming!  more options, more better! ;):)

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here's a comprehensive list of the indie games showcased at PAX East. [External Link]

while not all are guaranteed for Linux (or even on the radar) many are. 

and from talking with many of the Devs, with the advent of Kickstarter, the success of HIB, and the arrival of Unity4, Linux development is more and more being talked about, and slowly beginning to be seen as an important touchstone for an indie dev team to meet.

it further sets them apart from the AAAs while also allowing them to reach a starved market.  and most of them just want to make sure to get their game out to as many prospective buyers as possible.

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as someone who loves platformers, i'm in bliss. =)  for me, new platformers + Linux = a happy user. =)

there's also the possible issue of talent and team size.  indie development can't really be expected to be at the same level of AAAs, so perhaps many go for a simpler graphic style because it allows them to actually realize the game at all.

though there were some great looking indie titles at PAX this year.  some dungeon rogue-likes, a racer-vs-time, some bit-builders ala Terraria, classic adventure games, and of course, platformers and puzzlers. it was a great year for indies, and i think it'll be a breakout year for Linux gaming. =)

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a few things come to mind.

the 8 & 16 bit eras are arguably the golden-age of gaming, so it's understandable that those of us who grew up on the classics would continue to esteem that artistic style, users and devs alike.

furthermore, the previews for this game are excellent and it received a lot of accolades coming out of PAX East.  made by a talented team of ex-devs from WayForward, it's a team that knows what made classic gaming great without taking itself too seriously.  it's not just "riding the retro train" to cash in, so i think it'd be unfair to judge it harshly based on graphics alone.  rather, a game should be judged for its complete package.

finally, let's not forget that we're on Linux.  even a year ago we were lucky to get any game attention at all.  as far as i'm concerned, any game news for Linux is good news.

if it's not your style of game, that's fine. but can we not play the hipster "retro is so over" card? ;)  i'd like to think we're better than that. ;)

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i'm happy on Chakra, which is also Arch-based and semi-rolling.  popular packages are kept up to date, but major system changes spend more time in testing before pushed to stable.

i left K/Ubuntu for a few reasons, but mostly it's the stuttering releases.  as a gamer, tearing down my install every 6 months just isn't worth it.  so Chakra really fits the bill for me, and it's an amazingly smooth implementation of KDE (my preferred DE.)

note that Chakra is more KDE/QT focused.  i have no issues installing GTK on it, and i'd rather the devs focus on making KDE and the system run smoothly anyway, but if one wants a more GTK friendly distro then Manjaro may work well for you.

i spent last year on windows, but in the end i returned to Linux because i missed my freedom and, well, indies are where the action is these days. ;)

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