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Turn Your New Opteron Into A One-Game Console 350
An anonymous reader writes "A new 64-bit Linux CD can instantly turn an AMD Opteron-equipped PC into the ultimate gaming console, according to Super Computer Inc. (SCI). The company has created a distribution of the popular America's Army multi-player strategy game on a bootable Linux CD, that it says was developed in partnership with AMD, nVidia, and the US Army."
Big deal....I'd like more than one game thank you (Score:3, Informative)
Mame.dk (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Mame.dk (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.starroms.com/
Well gee (Score:5, Funny)
Daniel
This can't even be used as a positive for Linux (Score:3, Interesting)
You're not looking at it right... (Score:3, Insightful)
It's a good thing, just not as good as it could be.
As it stands, it may bring a few players over that would have otherwise stayed away from a Linux version or port of their products.
Re:Well gee (Score:3, Insightful)
Hang on....Gentoo? (Score:5, Informative)
Well, alright, it didn't actually run on "any" system - maybe on ran on "some" systems but I seem to remember this was quite a while back when Icculus [icculus.org] first ported it.
Re:Hang on....Gentoo? (Score:2, Insightful)
The 65 bit Port - The difference?? (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyone have any further info on this 64bit port as the article seems a little thin in that respect....
Re:The 65 bit Port - The difference?? (Score:2, Insightful)
Remember, just about the only way Atari's Jaguar made any sales at all was pretending to be 64 bit. (It does handle some 64 bit data, but whether that really makes it 64 bit is a debate which could rage eternally.) Nintendo 64? Ooh, it's 64 bit! It's a baby SGI!
Re:The 65 bit Port - The difference?? (Score:3, Informative)
Now, of course, all that's ended, and much fun was poked at the "64-bit" generation, which was pretty much entirely a marketing oddity.
Re:Hang on....Gentoo? (Score:2)
Is this the same guy? I can't find it but maybe the people who instantly post links to three year old dupes can do better...
A 64-bit gaming console? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:A 64-bit gaming console? (Score:3, Informative)
$248 USD
Gamecube:
$99
Re:A 64-bit gaming console? (Score:5, Funny)
- A.P.
Re:A 64-bit gaming console? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A 64-bit gaming console? (Score:2)
The Gamecube is actually a 32-bit processor. A PowerPC in fact! with ATI video! I guess if you want to slap together a superdeduper system with a superdeduper card for a good $1000, go for it, but it seems silly to me, especially since I hate FPS's
Re:A 64-bit gaming console? (Score:3)
Turn your $2000 PC into a $150 Toy! (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe they can release instructions on how to dissemble my car and build a go cart out of the parts.
Wrong console, methinks (Score:2)
This leads me to assume they mean the stand-up arcade consoles which might run thousands of dollars, instead of a few hundred bucks for a home gaming gadget.
Re:Wrong console, methinks (Score:2)
This leads me to assume they mean the stand-up arcade consoles which might run thousands of dollars, instead of a few hundred bucks for a home gaming gadget.
Actually, I believe that's how the CPS3 'standard' works (CD/DVD based, I believe). CPS2 has two boards, A and B.
Re:Turn your $2000 PC into a $150 Toy! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Turn your $2000 PC into a $150 Toy! (Score:3, Insightful)
OT: Sig Comment (Score:2)
I guess there's very little you can say to talk him into using Gentoo?
Gentoo Games (Score:2, Redundant)
But Gentoo! GENTOO! Arghahahaha Gentoo!!!!! (Score:2, Funny)
I am so sick of hearing about Gentoo everytime I read Slashdot. If Gentoo were a living person I would kick him in the ghoulies.
Re:But Gentoo! GENTOO! Arghahahaha Gentoo!!!!! (Score:4, Funny)
You will be assimilated.
Resistance is futile.
Single Game Console? Try Multi-Game,,, (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Single Game Console? Try Multi-Game,,, (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, granted... this fine for the game makers to include this as an option. That way if you can't get the game running any other way, you can always just boot into it. However, please don't start making this the only way to get into the games.
Please let those days die.
Davak
Re:Single Game Console? Try Multi-Game,,, (Score:3, Insightful)
Equivalent to console scenario (Score:2)
Also, it would seem to be the equivalent to a console game having to reboot on new game insertion (everytime you put in a new CD ROM).
Re:Single Game Console? Try Multi-Game,,,MOVIES (Score:3, Interesting)
They Mean... (Score:2, Informative)
This concept is not new (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:This concept is not new (Score:3, Insightful)
A games console... (Score:3, Interesting)
Where do I sign up?
Re:A games console... (Score:2)
Since this is a work of AMD+NVidia I would bet that you would need some kind of GForce (maybe IV) to run the game plataform.
Re:A games console... (Score:2)
Re:A games console... (Score:2)
On a PC, even given one common API like OpenGL, there are so many variables that optimisation is far harder. Can you assume SSE1/2? Or should you switch to 3DNow on athlons? How big is your L1/2 cache? Bus speed to memory/v
Re:A games console... (Score:3, Interesting)
You need one of these [lik-sang.com]!
This would be great. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:This would be great. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:This would be great. (Score:2)
How far we've come... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How far we've come... (Score:2)
developed by nvidia? (Score:4, Interesting)
drop this into an opteron with an nvidia card it should say.
Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:4, Insightful)
I see the future and it looks like this: a bootable Linux CD with my choice of applications, and a USB dongle with my
It is a revolutionary way of using PCs. And only possible (AFAICS) with Linux and the kind of support provided by Knoppix et al.
I predict 12 months before bootable Linux CDs become a completely standard model for games and application distribution, and 24 months before Microsoft attempt an imitation.
Just love it...
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2, Insightful)
If this is a threat to MS, watch them exert pressure on the pc manufacturers to change the default boot device (and maybe even put in a pw) for home users !
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2)
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2)
Dude. If you don't let people open the machines, you don't exactly have a problem here. BIOS password, done. Seriously.
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2)
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2)
Slow down, Sparky.
1. There are lots of software that runs off of MS OSs and not Linux. There are tonnes of games like this alone.
2. There is a reason why we moved to harddrives, its more convient.
3. Uptime anyone? What the use of Linux stability if you have to reboot it every time you want to switch an application?
Bah. (Score:2)
There are lots of software that runs off of MS OSs and not Linux. There are tonnes of games like this alone
Developers write for what people have. They write stuff for Windows, GameCubes, and whatever else. Using a bootable CD would mean that, instead of writing for Windows or Linux, they'd be writing a game for "a pc". They could do this with a bootable Windows disk too, if not for licensing issues.
There is a re
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2)
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2)
Ever bought a server from HP, Dell etc? They give you a CD with all the relevant drivers etc. You boot into the CD, it detects the devices, copies drivers onto harddisk, writes a kickstart file etc. Then you reboot to a normal OS CD and install proceeds fine. HP uses Win95 (98) for their first bootable CD , Dell uses NT etc. the boot environment is a full OS (with intentionally crippled networking etc.). The latest from MS is based on winXP and is
You're smoking crack and it's not even good crack. (Score:5, Insightful)
I predict the entire computer gaming and applications industry will not follow your lead. Just a hunch, but it seems slightly beyond farfetched to think that anyone who sells software for money would consider a bootable Linux CD the ideal method of application distribution. It's especially farfetched to think they'd drop everything they're doing and begin selling their products this way.
- A.P.
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2)
Re:Proof that Linux is becoming The One OS (Score:2)
No, it's the way the Apple ][ series worked (and PCs, for that matter), except with older, fixed hardware. We all migrated to hard disks for a number of reasons including SPEED and storage. Nowadays we have more hardware, which means more drivers, bigger OSs, which mean more stuff to load when booting, and much much bigger games. Call it "bloat" because it's
Means nothing if ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Means nothing if ... (Score:2)
All the comments so far... (Score:5, Insightful)
Except that I will say this sounds like a cool idea and I will definitely give it a shot.
~Dan
http://www.pbase.com/efatapo [pbase.com]
Re:All the comments so far... (Score:2)
Re:All the comments so far... (Score:2)
I'm going to lose my uptime.
Therefore, I won't play games.
~Will
Re:All the comments so far... (Score:2, Insightful)
Sure, I stripped the OS down quite a bit when I initially set it up, to the point where I sometimes have to enable rather mundane functions to do other things, but over
Re:All the comments so far... (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is that when anybody ever says "end of story", it never is the end of story? I should sic Lionel Hutz on your ass.
You'll see some FPS improvement, maybe. But you'll also see less bearable issues. How do you patch it? How do you install a new driver that makes things go faster or more stable? How do you justify the time lost rebooting the machine by getting another 2 fps? How do you go about using other programs such as Roger Wilco to talkk to your team mates? Etc.
Sorry, I don't share the 'cool factor' here because PC based architecture is too varied from machine to machine. If they were all the same generic build, then yeah I'd be on your side here. But no, too many different machines, too much can go wrong. That's why us gamers like having a common OS with an API like OpenGL or DirectX. If your hardware works with those two APIs, then the game should (theoretically) work, no need to tell the game what kind of sound card you have.
So no, not end of story. Piece of advice, when something seems so gosh darn simple to you, it's not because everybody in the world is a fucking moron, it's because you're missing information that they have.
Re:All the comments so far... (Score:3, Interesting)
All the tweaking gamers out there should love this CD thing, for now. Then at
Now this sounds like it has promise for Linux (Score:5, Interesting)
From the article:
"The fact that America's Army is available in 64-bit on the GameStorm CD allows gamers to get a taste of the next generation of gaming just by inserting a CD and powering up the computer," said Major Bret Wilson, Operations Officer for America's Army.
This really does make sense to me. P.C.s in my mind are just better for the serious gamer, and hardware issues aside, if they can actually get to a point of porting single CD games like this, it could really create an exciting new breed of "console games." I'd love to just pop in a disk of Baldur's Gate, Nascar, Halflife, etc... and get the best of both worlds. Quick access to the game w/o the hassle of an install and all the advantages of the superior AI seen on the p.c. platform as compared to the console platform.
Add in the capability to save games and "ini" info to a CDR or Floppy and you are good to go.
just my
jeff
To be realistic... (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, all that's needed is a hotkey to eject the CD and kill the machine in case Someone approaches...
This would be the day... (Score:3, Interesting)
For the gamers that always want maximum frames per second this must be a dream. Nothing extra claiming memory and other resources in the background. It's just the game and you! Not to mention how this would boost Linux game development.
Ciryon
Re:This would be the day... (Score:2)
How would the linux kernel recognise that hardware?
Re:This would be the day... (Score:2)
We've talked about this sort of thing before... (Score:2)
Heh,I didn't like the 32 Bit Version All THAT Much (Score:2, Funny)
Hmm.... (Score:2)
What would be neat is for someone to do the same thing to boot straight into Open Office, ideal for a diskless network workstation for an office, wouldn't you think? A kernel totally optimized for word processing in the system's CD-ROM. No concerns about your staff playing Q3A when you're not looking.
Saving the game? (Score:2)
A new 64-bit Linux CD can instantly turn an AMD Opteron-equipped PC into the ultimate gaming console, according to Super Computer Inc. (SCI).
P.S. You (probably) also need an nvidia graphics card.
Company Marketing Manager Jay Majumdar says America's Army on GameStorm will be distributed free by AMD with Opteron-equipped PCs
Translation: People buying a $3000 PC won't notice an extra $50.
Anyway, I guess I'm b
Re:Saving the game? (Score:2)
You could probably use some kind of USB key, or *gasp* a floppy
Re:Saving the game? (Score:2)
well, the thing that i'm worried about saving is keyboard configs and such, or maybe even those are saved on the servers.
but basically, you don't need a savegame, just remember your pass and login.
all that being said, of linux distros at least gentoo had had such a livecd for ages.. and maybe there's a morphix version with aa too(not sure on that).
WOW. 64 Bits R kewl (Score:2)
So thats whats been going on... (Score:2)
Fast America's Army Download (Score:3, Informative)
You can download America's Army from multiple sources very quickly at magnetmix.com [magnetmix.com]. It'll download off of everyone who has downloaded it on Gnutella.
There is a point to a bootable game cd (Score:2)
Hello people - it is 64 bit! (Score:3, Interesting)
I doubt either situation is the case. What I actually expect is that this is a great short term solution to the problem of not having a mainstream 64 bit OS on the desktop for PC's. This gives the Opteron a chance to shine as the game will be compliled for 64bit, as well as the OS that runs under it - 64bit Linux.
Microsoft has not released 64bit XP except to subscribers AFAIK - and it won't be available until 2004 anyhow.
"But wait!" I hear you cry - you could continue to use Linux on the desktop yadda yadda... That is not the target of this thing. It is a quick and dirty solution to getting a 64bit game out the door and into the players hands. Yes - you could do this with Linux alone, and no boot disc, however, most people who play America's Army don't use Linux - or even MacOS X for that matter. They use Windows.
This then, is a good win for Linux - some of the users may realize that they are using Linux, and become intrigued by it if America's Army runs much better in this form. More "joe sixpack" users may start to take notice of this strange OS. Furthermore, with the lag time that Microsoft will have in getting a 64bit OS out to the public, and with the avalibility of the Opteron right now, we may see more Linux games!
This is a good thing!
So stop whining about it, for the love of god. It is no wonder that people may not want to support Linux apps if as soon as one is released in any form, all the slashbots start complaining about it.
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Is there a specific significant improvement in the game over running it under regular Linux or Windows they can tell us about or are they just throwing around buzzwords and stuff like "super gaming console power". I'd like to see some hard evidence and benchmarks and such explaining why you would wan
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that the real attraction isn't necessarily performance, but the convenience:
The game developer's life is made easier because they don't have to deal with different desktop architectures, registry cruft or driver versions. Plus, they can tweak the drivers and kernel to optimize performance for their specific game.
The user doesn't have to install anything to the hard drive, but the HD (or hd or floppy or cdrw or usb flash-drive) are all available for saving games and/or settings.
Is rebooting
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:2)
Will someone please think of the children?!?! (Score:2)
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:2)
Even if you don't join the army, the basic first aid awareness offered in the game is enough to help people understand some very, very, basic first aid information.
Overall, I t
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:2)
For your padded nuts, when you make a fighter jet capable of Mach 1+, things are really different than assembling a set of bookcases. If those nuts get a nick in them, you create a stress point. Subject that nut to the varying loads and temperature changes that a jet does, just idlin
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:2, Funny)
Just have armed teachers camping at the respawn points. That'll learn'em!
There are far worse expenditures. (Score:2)
to the point of "many soldiers"
As for this leading to "Columbine" situations, I think that is very far fetched. This game does nothing to dilu
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:2)
And what dent would not spending money on this have on the 399.1 billion [cdi.org] dollar military budget?
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:2)
It's also pretty inexpensive compared to hundreds of other things I should be worried that tax dollars are paying for. Recently a woman won approximately $300,000 in a suit against the government. She had been placed in a position where she earned over $100,000 per year, but was given no
Dude, that is really SAD (Score:2)
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:2)
1)yes, i know the government wastes money on tons of other things. and every one of those wasteful government expenditures is justified by someone who says "hey, well we waste money on all these other projects, what harm is this?"
2)i'm not saying that this game turns people into crazed killers, but that it is desensitizing and teaches them war tactics in a way that they understand, outside of the army's supervision, and t
Re:is anyone else bothered (Score:3, Insightful)
Grow up. I don't want to pay for Social Security because GenX won't be getting anything lavish as that, but I still have to pay for it. I don't want to pay for murderers on death row for 20 years, but I have to pay for it. I don't want to pay for lazy people with fake disabilities robbing our safety net, b
Re:Gentoo did it first. (Score:2)