#games for linux

Games for linux   Get to know about all the upcoming games and download them at your convenience.

Every gaming news site has covered Good Old Games decision not to provide support for Linux. Network World published a related article that outlines one of the problems with developers and Linux gamers. Some Linux gamers can be a bit too passionate in their defense of Linux, and their reactions to developers can err on the side of rudeness.

This is where another problem within our greater open source/Linux community rears its ugly head - whenever someone talks about having a hard time figuring out how to support Linux without losing money, the mob tends to get angry and hurl insults at the speaker. If you look through the comments you'll find many along the lines of "their argument is just stupid," "It's bull**** and they know it," and "they just want to be a-holes is all." There are not a lot of constructive ideas or suggestions on how to achieve profitability by packaging and targeting for Linux desktops. These two issues join forces to create a sort of "super-problem." More at Network World

I believe that folks who engage in such behavior are not representative of the entire Linux gaming community at all. Most gamers seem to appreciate efforts being made to develop games for Linux, or even companies that haven't made a decision but are considering the Linux gaming market. We need to make sure that we are offering whatever support we can to developers, and we also need to understand that they have to have a viable business model to survive. If they can't make a profit, they will be hard pressed to continue to develop games for Linux. So please be positive and helpful if a company disappoints you. In the short term that company may not release games for Linux, but they may reconsider over the longer haul if the Linux gaming community offers useful feedback and advice.

Disney's Open-Source Cloud

Venture Beat has an interesting article about Disney's videogame division's decision to use a blend of OpenStack and Cloudstack for their cloud needs.

But instead of going with one vendor or open-source environment, the video game division of the Walt Disney Co. created a solution stitching together some OpenStack and some Cloudstack, said Peter Lopez, Disney Interactive’s system architect, at CloudBeat 2013 today. Disney Interactive comprises a portfolio of game studios it has gradually acquired, Lopez said. So its cloud must be hybrid...it needs to support applications built in multiple environments. More at Venture Beat

This strikes me as a smart move on Disney's part. They knew what they had to do, and they did it well. More companies should follow in their footsteps. Using open source products in such a customized way provides a great base for cloud efforts, while still preserving enough flexibility to change and grow later on.

Choose the Best Linux Server for Your Business

SJVN has a very helpful article here on ITworld for those you looking for the best Linux server for your business needs.

I think the single most important factor in choosing a Linux server is how experienced (or not) your IT staff already is with Linux. While Linux expertise is easier to find than it used to be, there's still nothing like enough Linux IT professionals out there. When I went to OSCon, the major open-source convention, earlier this year in Portland OR, everyone, and I checked and it really was everyone (even some company named Microsoft), was looking to hire people with Linux and open-source experience. In particular, employers are having trouble finding staffers with a few years of Linux experience under their belts. That is to say, exactly the employees you need to keep your Linux server trains running on schedule. More at ITworld

It's here!! The Fall Bundle from Indie Royale. Oddly enough, this time there are TWO games that support Linux, Oil Rush (Deluxe edition) and Reprisal. Both come with their own Official Soundtrack and obviously all games are issued with a Desura key and Steam keys (except for Reprisal which runs on Adobe AIR). Having purchsed the bundle, I was keen to see if Reprisal worked in Linux without any issue. As you know, Adobe no longer supports the Linux edition of AIR, so I was taken back when I saw the game working without effort, and rather well. The remaining games, To the Moon, Blackwell Deception, and AVSEQ I have yet to play. So if anyone gets them running in WINE, by means drop a comment and let me know about your experience. Without further ado... The Fall Bundle....

Leaves are falling and the weather is cooling - Fall is here! It's a great reason to offer you five great indie games in the Fall Bundle from Indie Royale! This compelling bundle is led by hit RPG To the Moon, along with the graphically gorgeous Oil Rush and critically acclaimed adventure Blackwell Deception, not to mention other great titles too! With deals like this, who cares if it's getting dark earlier since that's even more reason to stay in side and play these great indie games!

The first game in this seasonal bundle is RPG/sci-fi adventure game from Freebird Games To the Moon (Windows on Steam, Desura and DRM-Free). Adventure Gamers celebrates To the Moon for offering "(a)n incredibly moving narrative with a unique premise, sympathetic characters, and a powerful climax." Also included is challenging RTS/Tower Defense game Oil Rush from Unigine (Windows, Mac and Linux on Steam, Desura and DRM-Free); standout adventure game from Wadjet Eye Games Blackwell Deception (Windows on Steam, Desura and DRM-Free); audio-visual sequencer/color-matching puzzler AVSEQ from Big Robot (Windows and Mac on Steam, Desura and DRM-Free); and Populous-inspired RTS Reprisal from Reprisaluniverse (Windows, Mac and Linux on Desura and DRM-Free). To the Moon | by Freebird Games

To the Moon - Trailer Oil Rush | by Unigine Corp

The Commander's reminiscences Blackwell Deception | by Wadjet Eye Games

Trailer AVSEQ | by Big Robot

Launch trailer Reprisal | by reprisaluniverse

Reprisal - Desktop trailer And for those who pay $8 USD or their currency equivalent during the Fall Bundle will get a great fantasy electro 8-bit album from Makeup and Vanity Set: '88:88', inspired by the short film 88:88 directed by Joey Ciccoline. You can find more information on the Fall Bundle at their official blog or via our Facebook and Twitter pages. And remember, you'll want to get in early while the prices are still low (unless kind purchasers lower the price) so you can get in on this Fall Bundle before it's gone!

Todd B.. Linux Game News

Game publishers take note: Linux users are clamoring for high-quality video games.

Those of us who actively promote Linux as a viable desktop alternative to Windows are often greeted with the following refrain: “Nobody will use Linux because there are no good games.” The prevailing wisdom being that the abundance of high-quality, commercial video gaming is a key factor in the market-share dominance that Microsoft Windows enjoys. And, in all reality, this is somewhat true. So, then, the obvious course of action is to convince the video game publishers and developers of the world that Linux is a viable (if, perhaps, a bit niche) market. And by “viable” I mean one thing and one thing only – “profitable.” Without clear evidence (read: “case studies”) of profitable game releases, Linux is not likely to see big-game publishers jump on board en masse. Desktop Linux is dead? I thought it was thriving Luckily, there have been three high-profile recent examples of Linux users going absolutely nuts over video games, forking over their hard-earned cash in the process. I’d like to take just a few moments to highlight these in the hopes of driving the point home for any game publisher that may be reading this. The first big example is the Humble Indie Bundle – drawing in huge numbers of sales (for a DRM-free product, no less) with sales numbers by Linux users consistently beating out sales to MacOS X users. Sure, the sales numbers for Linux were only roughly one-third what they were for Windows…but think about that for a moment. If Linux desktops account for, let’s be generous, 5% of the overall desktop market, yet income from Linux game sales (via this mechanism) account for nearly 25% of the total sales, those are numbers that cannot be ignored. The second example is Canonical’s Ubuntu Software Center. Canonical publishes a monthly report on the top 10 paid software packages purchased through its still young software store. And these top 10 lists have been, month on month, consistently dominated by video games. In fact, there are only three non-game applications in the top 10 list for last month (August, 2012)…and one of those is an application that launches and configures a video game (Minecraft). Which brings us to the third example: Valve’s announcement that it is bringing the Steam store, and community portal, to Linux desktop (specifically Ubuntu). While this is still in the works and, as such, we have no hard numbers or results to look at, the reaction from every corner of the Linux-centric Internet has bordered on “wild, frenzied anticipation and excitement.” Linux users have, at this point, an almost unquenchable thirst for video games – and they’re putting their money where their collective mouths are. Now, the big question I have is this: Will the indie game developers (along with Valve) reap the bulk of the rewards that releasing games on Linux is offering…or will some of the big publishers realize what they’re missing out on and join in the fun?

Steam Greenlight lists games for Linux

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3 Tower defense games for Linux

This is a genre I like and usually I play this kind of gamesin their flash/java online version but…

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There could be a trade-off with Linux.

Electronic Arts are looking to branch out of being a pure gaming software company. They now want to be a major player in the hardware market, by investing heavily in their own 4th generation console, which will make them the fourth major player. They are doing this, as they see the console market as being a strong growth area. The other three major players are Microsoft (Xbox 360), Sony (PlayStation 3) and Nintendo (Wii). To achieve this, EA CEO John Riccitiello made a prepared statement that his company will be investing $80 million to develop a competing console, "We intend to invest $80 million in gen-4 console development in fiscal 2013. We are strong believers that console will return to strong growth, representing great opportunity, one that is in lockstep with our digital plan." Note that EA are not fazed by the drop in retail sales of boxed games, because online services such as Steam are taking off, making this a strong growth area. This ties in with previous news that EA are to start making games for Linux. This makes even more sense for consoles, because their new console will need an operating system and by using Linux they avoid licensing fees that a proprietary OS like Microsoft's Windows would demand.

Of course, with the top AAA titles exceeding $80 million in overall development costs for a title, the $80 million commitment may not actually translate into very many next-gen titles. EA would not go into detail about the platforms, the number of titles or when we might expect them. When EA is ready to dive fully into next-gen development, Epic Games would love to "help" them. We observed a tweet from Epic's Cliff Bleszinski regarding EA and next-gen titles: "We have just the engine for them!" Bleszinski is no doubt referring to Unreal Engine 4, which was already being demonstrated to some developers behind closed doors back at GDC.

So what good news do you think this potential union could bring to Linux?