OT Action Computer games

Phil Meyer pmeyer at themeyerfarm.com
Tue Apr 24 16:02:41 UTC 2007


Norm wrote:
> My sister is in the process of buying a new computer for her 15 year 
> old son.  She would prefer to follow my advice and use a Linux 
> operating system, the catch is there does not seem to be many games 
> for Linux that would hold a typical 15 year olds attention.  The 
> option of an emulator such as wine is out as the games I have tried to 
> install under wine require additional setup or work that neither my 
> sister nor my nephew wish to learn.  The option to do the work for her 
> is out as she lives a days drive away from me, and frankly driving a 
> day to install some game even if I do have opportunity to visit with 
> my sister is just not worth the effort very often.  Is there a source 
> of  a selection of games available for Linux?  The tetrex/ solitaire 
> style games just don't have the type of action a kid expects. 

We have raised 4 boys and 2 girls.  Well, they are my children and lived 
with with the wife and I until they left.  Their Ideas of 'raised' may 
be different than mine. :)

It has always been a job requirement to be an early adopter of computer 
technology.  Therefore, we had Internet access at our house in the days 
when the NSFnet (National Science Foundation) joined the DARPA nets.

Early adoption of technology also includes (in my mind) games.  25 years 
of PC gaming has led me to this:

1.   I don't want to pay $3,000.00 every two years to stay current.  And 
yes, I did that for 25 years, and yes, it is necessary to have the best 
when you are beta testing the newest and latest.

2.   PC gaming in Windows is a mess, and has been for a while.  I gave 
up on Microsoft as a platform provider, even for games, in 2002.

3.   Linux as a development platform is magical, but programmers now 
days are used to massive IDEs that let you code without thinking.  Many 
modern applications and games demonstrate this problem.  There are few 
exceptions, in my opinion.

4.   Gaming consoles now days really do have better games available, and 
its pretty sad when the PS3 runs Oblivion better than my aging $3,000.00 
PC.   Keyboard and mouse are available to gamers on the PS3.  Whether 
the developers will allow them to be used in games in the future is 
still unknown.  Aiming with my THUMB is not the best way to FRAG fest.

5.   A PS3 can dual boot with Ubuntu or Yellow Dog Linux or Fedora.

Hmmm...  should I spend $4,000.00 for the gaming PC I want this year, or 
should I buy the PS3 for $600.00 and dual boot Linux?

I would recommend the PS3 to parents who want their kids to learn Linux 
and have access to some of the best games available.

A PS3 with the new Dell 27" LCD display is ... wait a minute!  We are 
approaching $2,000.00 now ... $60.00 per game ...

ACK!  There went my money anyways, but I am having more fun.




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