Linspire To Run Windows Games

Ken writes "Aviran's Place reports that Linspire and TransGaming released Cedega for the Linspire desktop Linux operating system, allowing Linspire users to play hundreds of popular Windows-format games right out of the box."

Portability

[SadPenguin]

Not a linspire fan, but i think its about time someone's thinking this way. Portability is key for widespread acceptance, and I like cedega, because in my experience, it works.

ongoing cost

[Laz7]

at 45USD a year, I think I will pass on that ...

Immediate Relevance

[SparksMcGee]

Not to rain on anyone's parade (this is certainly good news for Linux users, though of course it'd be best if it were free), but how much of th ecurrent Linux market overlaps with the Widnows market. It seems to me that if you're buying a gaming rig, you probably already have at least one HDD that boots windows automatically (especially given the relatively incremental hardware advances since last summer). I'm not saying it's not something Linux users should demean, but I'm just not sure that they can count on this gaining Linux market share since those who game, run windows, those who like Linux, run Linux. The Linux community may now run games, but is this supposed to bring new people into the fold as the blurb suggests?

Re:Windows just isn't that expensive

[Shrapn3l]

I agree. Why buy more software for Linux (which is supposed to be mainly open-source) and run Windows programs like Wine? Why not use an actual Windows environment?

Still, though, I'd love to play Madden 2005 on my Linux. It just sounds so forbidden. :)

Re:Windows just isn't that expensive

[angrist]

Thats not the point...

I don't want to have to reboot to play a game.

Wow, I wonder why nobody thought of that

[jbellis]

Maybe it's because having to save all your work, rebooting, rebooting again when your game is done, and restoring all your applications to the right state is a HUGE WASTE OF TIME.

Right now, for instance, I have 12 applications open, only a few of which have entirely satisfactory auto-restore-after-shutdown functionality.

Re:Windows just isn't that expensive

[qewl]

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20020531/windows _gaming-06.html [tomshardware.com]

Yes, actually it is about half the speed on Linux. But I still think it will become faster. I also think Wine/CVS may catch up to WineX/Cedega in a year or so. After all, the real goal is to not have to leave Linux for atnything.

Hundreds eh?...

[Timbo]

What they say: "allowing Linspire users to play hundreds of popular Windows-format games right out of the box."

What they mean: "about 90 or so games run after spending hours changing config files and trying different version of cedega. 90 is nearly 100 right?"

Re:Portability

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd rather see games run natively under Linux. Cedega is a discouragement.

Re:Linux Games

[dreamchaser]

I'm surprised you were modded as insightful. The point was that they were including software support to run games via Cedega (Wine). If you bought an ATI card then given their track record with Linux drivers you get what you deserve. ATI's Linus drivers are known to suck. If you want to run Linux and play games, Nvidia is still the best for that purpose.

This thread is about added software support in a Linux distribution, not about various hardware/driver issues on Linux.

Re:No need for choice?

[MikeBabcock]

Your comment is illogical. The marketing comment was in fact valid.

I read both statements a few times before bothering to say this, but don't decide its babble just because it came from marketing.

The statement from Kevin should probably be broken down grammatically and semantically into "People who want the (fun|stable|non-MS) operating system that is Linux but also want to play games (primarily released for Windows) won't have to choose between the two anymore since they can now have their cake and eat it too -- their Windows games will run on Linux."

If we took your comment at face value, what you're saying is "there's no reason to choose Linux." which is in fact flamebait.

Re:Uh Oh!

[Meagermanx]

Actually, I don't think he's worried. If you want to game, you use Windows. Gamers already have it, have it set up with all their games, and if they use Linux, it's only as an alternate OS. Not a primary one. If this was free, that would be something, but charging $45.00 a year?
"Yeah, well my free, community supported, open source OS can run almost all the games yours can for only $45.00 a year! So there!"

Re:Portability

[eno2001]

Hmmm... I got Cedega and was still unable to play Riven or Uru. I also noticed they aren't on the list of games people want to play. But... I want to play them.

Re:ongoing cost

[saider]

I wish my mortgage holder and grocer would get more into the spirit of Open Source.

Re:Wow, I wonder why nobody thought of that

[mrchaotica]

As long as the game runs "fast enough," some of us don't really care.

Yearly fees, AHHH!!

[skarps]

Some games(MMORPGs) are already forcing the gamer to pay a montly/yearly fee(i.e. World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, etc...)to play, now in order to play a non-montly fee game (Doom 3, HL2) on my linux box, I'm forced to pay a yearly fee. So now I've went from paying a montly fee for just my MMORPGs to paying an additional yearly fee for all my games.

No thanks, I'll stick to my Windows box for gaming.

Re:Your forgot the cost of Linspire

[Anonymous Coward]

You and other posters are wrong about the price of Game X. The quote is:

Kevin Carmony, president and CEO of Linspire, Inc. ..."Point2Play with Cedega is so easy and affordable, you'll be able to play Windows games on Linspire for less than it would cost to purchase a Windows system."

Put on those reading goggles and note how it's comparing playing Windows games on Linspire to a *gameless* Windows system.

Hrrrrrm.

[WWWWolf]

Given the general idea on average geek's opinion on Linspire's suitability for anything, and how Transgaming has kept up their relations with Wine folks and rest of the opensource community, wouldn't it just make sense to call this "Linspire Evil-in-a-Box" and bundle Doom III with it (Not native, of course - running in Cedega!) to draw people's attention away from the true "evil" in the box? =)

But seriously, I've been playing a lot of games in DOSBox lately, and I just wish there was something as brilliant for Windows apps too. A self-contained distro for just playing Windows games might be a great idea - too bad plain Wine just isn't up to the task yet and Cedega isn't open.

(a letter to editor from "a worried Windows 98SE license owner who can't get the damn thing to even boot on the new machine and XP upgrade costs too damn much")

Wrong solution

[suitepotato]

Pure and simple if the Linux community is going to squak about Windows, bash Microsoft, and copy everything they do, then they might as well quit now. Innovation and providing the end users with what they want is where it is at. Microsoft does it, Linux doesn't. Simple.

TuxRacer proves that decent graphics and speed are possible natively on Linux. Linux based game design and publishing is needed, not using Windows games on Linux. As Linux is proven to be capable of running games of its own just fine, more publishers will port their games natively to Linux. Trying to co-opt Windows apps onto Linux is kludgy and ultimately screams "we're unoriginal me-too hacks". The Linux world needs to innovate, carve its own path, and create not copy. Until then, it isn't going to be getting where we want it to go, which is to be loved for being what it is and not used simply because we are angry with Microsoft.

Re:Wow, I wonder why nobody thought of that

[leonmergen]

And spending hours playing WoW or Halflife isn't?

No, that's called being entertained... just like going to the movies, taking a swim, going on vacation - it all isn't very much productive, but it isn't a waste of time.

Re:Linux Games

[poofyhairguy82]

Then there's folks like me that switched to Linux recently, and have an ATI card that worked just fine in windows. Did I get what I deserve, jerk?

No...but you still have to deal with it. When I switched I sold my card ATI on ebay and got a new Nvidia card to avoid that problem.

Re:Wow, I wonder why nobody thought of that

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

seriously though, i doubt you run your games with all those files/applications going on at the same time sapping your ram and cpu speed...

Spoken like a Windows user. My web browser, mail application, messaging client, calendar, terminals, text editor, image viewer, layout application, and a dozen more have been running non-stop for the last several weeks. Why would I shut them down to run a game? Any system with decent multitasking and prioritization will not use any real CPU cycles or hog the rRAM on applications just sitting open while I'm playing a game.

Note, this is on a couple year old laptop running OS X. The games I usually play are some older ones, like UT2003, Warcraft 3, Neverwinter nights, and a handful of less cpu/gpu intensive but fun games.

Maybe you should use a good OS for a month and see what it is you're missing. I'm very unlikely to ever reboot to play a game, nor am I ever going to quit all my running applications.

(-1, Reverse Psychology Troll)

[orasio]

"I'll probably get modded down for this because i'm pointing out the facts."

Stop saying that, please!
I would mod down every guy who says that, if I ever got mod points. It's just a cheap shot a getting modded up, and the most annoying thing is that it works.

I would really like mods to stop modding up people who say "I'll probably get modded down", because most people who do say things that matter, don't care that much about their karma.

Win is a dead end for games

[WillAffleckUW]

Most gamers have moved on to platforms like PS2, and are drooling while they see the specs on the PS3 (or whatever they were calling it last week) and the GameFrog (or whatever the Nintendo thing is).

Seriously, I can't remember the last time I bought a Windows game. Maybe a few years ago? So long as I can get Fable (ya ya, so it's xBox, but it's not even that great) and Lego Star Wars and Sims: The Urbz and suchlike, why would I want to buy a Win game?

Re:Wrong solution

[deaddrunk]

Which is indeed the case until you remember that one OS has a stranglehold on the market. Look at the alternatives to MS Office. What's the first thing they need to offer to stand a chance? Compatibility with the beast.

Microsoft did this themselves with their ability to read and write Lotus and guides to using Word if you're used to Wordperfect.

If there were 10 equal games in town instead of one Linux would already be shining; as it is it has to be compatible with the platform that the overwhelming majority of software only runs on.

Re:Portability

[menkhaura]

Roger that. If there is no need to write native games for Linux, then why bother? The performance penalty will be high, Linux gaming will be slow and painful, and people will say: "Look at that Linux thingie, it's slow, it's incompatable [sic], it's hard to use...". Should more software houses follow iD Software's example, using open standards (OpenGL anyone?), portability would be dead easy, code would be better written, Linux gamers would have more options, and these soft houses would have faithful customers (I wouldn't have bought Doom 3 if it didn't run on Linux, and it runs smooth; now I know that iD respects its Linux customers, and I buy anything Linux they make)

Re:B.F.D.

[drsquare]

Of course, those millions of dollars and teams of programmers working for years are obviously spending their time working out how to do a for loop...

Perhaps they don't make Linux because the cost and effort aren't worth the rewards. Coding for a new architecture is more than re-writing a few API calls. You often have to completely write most of it from scratch. Then TEST IT ALL OVER AGAIN. Testing takes months. Testing for Linux would take even longer. All for a potential extra 10,000 customers, 9,000 of whom are convinced that 'information wants to be free' and look for your game on bittorrent.

Re:Cedega and "Out of the box" in the same sentenc

[WhiteWolf666]

Weird hardware, or a weird linux distribution.

Don't expect everything 'mainstream' to work properly on the plethora of hardware/distribution combinations out there.

On SuSE linux (~8.2-9.3) Warcraft III in Cedega/Point2Play really is easy. No settings to configure, everything works out-of-box.
I'm sorry to say that the current situation is unfortunate; the truth of that matter is that it will work out-of-box, but only with certain configurations, and there is no real way to improve that without greater unification among distributions (which, I believe, is a mixed blessing), and more support from hardware manufacturers (which will be extremely positive).

Also, Transgaming has made noises about going completely opensource, but this is really only likely if they get some large licensing deals, like funding support from RedHat, Mandriva, and/or SuSE, or if they are purchased by Crossover or something.

Re:ongoing cost

[Anonymous Coward]

I strongly disagree. Linux needs commercial software. Why? First, commercial software builds Linux's legitimacy in the commercial world. Why is the commercial world important? Commercial = money, money = pay the bills. Hey, money is NECESSAR, even in the "free" software world: just ask any of those guys with a "Donate with Paypal" button on their site. Second, legitimacy grows support, such as drivers. Could Transgaming have something to do with the ongoing driver releases from nVidia and ATI? Probably, though how much is questionable. Linux needs drivers, and sometimes developing open source/free versions isn't practical.

IMO, the most important role of Linux is to eliminate the monopolistic lock-in of proprietary operating systems. Giving one company control of the very heart, the core, the foundation of your computer on which all software must be built, is extremely dangerous.

Re:Portability

[Khuffie]

If people at least try it, they might see that it's a pretty decent OS.

Linux has one major hurdle to overcome. It's not the interface, as Gnome/KDE are pretty user friendly, but this: installing programs. I'm a pretty savvy computer user (for windows/ os x), but I've never had any luck running Linux. Using the default set of programs that come with your distribution is fine, but when trying to get anything else installed is a nightmare. Most programs require using the terminal, apt-get or, dare I say it, compile from sources. Until Linux has the ability to just download a file, double click it and install (for all distros, not just one), it'll still be out of reach for regular users. Just my 2 cents.

Re:Cedega is not an answer..

[spitzak]

They wouldn't take a "bath" if they put it on the same CD as the Windows one.

It seems to me that spending 100% of the cost of supporting Linux (ie in writing the port) and then purposely desiging the distribution so that unsold boxes are returned, is some scheme by management to "prove" that supporting Linux loses money.

Re:Portability

[Trelane]

You should try installing Unreal Tournament 2004. Pretty GUI install--even under Linux!

I ask myself again and again why vendors keep including these ancient installers for Linux, but have pretty, shiny installers for Windows. The stuff is there--InstallShield, for example. They should frelling use it . End rant.

Re:Portability

[Khuffie]

I actually like Ubuntu. By far the best Linux distro there is (for linux newbs anyway). Its userfriendly and nice. And while the Synaptic app manager is pretty damn nifty and a step in the right direction, its still not as easy as going online, finding a program and installing it. You sort of have to know what you're looking for in Synaptic. And I'm actually looking for a decent PC laptop that I can install Ubuntu on a partition; I can't part with my main PC (i'd never boot out of Windows to run Linux for fun), but a secondary laptop would be fun.

here, cut your nose off

[Matt_Joyce]

Any serious gamer will take an unhealthy interest in game machine performance, and therefore is not going to add layers of software tech which *will* slow performace and *may* not actually work.

this is product for linux users who want to play games, not for gamers who want to use linux.

If you want to play games get xp.

I'm not saying this is a good situation, but until games are developed for portability, linux users will mostly have old shit games to play.

I for one do not care enough about which OS has the biggest halo, but linux is not for gaming and it embarressing when people suggest otherwise.

Anyone who really want to play decent games and run linux, should dual boot xp, hell, they don't even have to tell anyone.

Re:Portability

[Khuffie]

And elitist users like you don't help either. Firstly, apt-get works in Debian, and RPMs in Redhat mostly. There needs to be a universal method of installing programs, and not having a different way for different distributions. Besides, presumably you'd like to see Linux become more popular, no? It'd need to be easy. Regular folk aren't gonna go to the terminal. They're not gonna remember commands like apt-get.

Oh. And you know, using apt-get, you have to *know* what this "something" is. And not just that, but what version it is you're installing. And that its available in the repository. So no. Its far from ideal, no matter what you think.