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.
