There's no single "Linux"

Story: Commercial Gaming, Coming Soon to Linux?Total Replies: 2
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hkwint

Mar 12, 2010
12:25 PM EDT
This article makes an important mistake IMNSHO.

They only consider Linux Desktop Gaming. "Fat gaming" that would be, including "fat GPU's" from nVidia / Ati and "fat CPU's" from Intel and AMD.

However, the market for 'fat' is almost satisfied. The future isn't in a satisfied market, it's in a new market. The future isn't Windows Mobile / CE. The future is Android. The future isn't a fat desktop. The future is mobile, a bit less mobile, or a tablet. The future isn't x86. The future is ARM. The future isn't Intel. The future is competition. The future isn't nVidia / Ati. The futere is Imagination Technologies. The future isn't Geforde / Radion. The future is PowerVR.

Here's an interesting example: A PowerVR SGX543 MP4 ('embedded' quadcore GPU) delivers as much polygons per second as an Xbox360, two times as much as a PS3. It uses a bit of a different rendering-order of polygons though, more efficient.

Of course, there will always be desktop gaming, just as there will be console gaming (PS4, next Xbox, next Wii etc.)

But look at CES, CeBit and Computex. What did Intel deliver? What new desktops are coming? How much excitement was there about the newest Radeon or Core i7? About none. Sure, they delivered some new stuff with 10% speed improvements maybe.

Allmost all the buzz&fuzz was about 'Android devices', be it tablets, smartphones, smartbooks, netbooks (real ones, not the 'Fat Windows / Intel Atom netbooks'), tablets, TV's doing PC tasks etc. There were announcements such as "300% speed gain for Flash on ARM", "60% speed gain for Java on ARM", "Linear speed improvements with multicore architecture for PowerVR cores" (meaning a 16 core SGX543 delivers 8 times the number of polygons per second a PS3 does). These improvements are much more dramatic than the 'slow but steady' evolution of desktop / console hardware. However, these mobile gaming devices are cheaper.

And cheap is an issue these days. More than half of the world population can't afford a PS3/ XBox360 / Fat gaming desktop. The Wii sold way above expectations while the PS3 and Xbox360 didn't, maybe the price was a part of that success.

Gaming on the iPhone is a huge success, it seems. Look at the number of Apps sold, it's an exponential growth.

Only looking at how CrossOver is able to play some 'fat desktop Windows games' surely is interesting, but I doubt if it's relevant.
Scott_Ruecker

Mar 12, 2010
12:51 PM EDT
Your post has the makings of a great editorial Hans..

hkwint

Mar 12, 2010
2:38 PM EDT
I was afraid of that, but I have yet to finish the previous two of them. But yeah, I'll consider that.

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