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Why Can’t I Play a Decent Game on Linux?

by Mike Maher

Linux gamers lament: “If Linux is so powerful and everyone
raves about how great a server and client it is, why can’t I play a
decent video game?” Help from a startup named Loki Entertainment
Software is on the way.

There are people who use Linux for some of the most powerful
applications in the world. Scientists, for example, are using Linux
to help split the atom. But you might ask, “If Linux is so powerful
and everyone raves about how great a server and client it is, why
can’t I play a decent video game?”

Playing games on Linux in the past was nothing more than
‘novel’. Sure, cutesy games like ‘xevil’ and ‘xtrek’ have some
following. But these days people want something more substantial —
something with real appeal, game play, and substance. They don’t
want a poor imitation of their Commodore 64. That’s why there are
emulators.

Hopefully, companies like
Loki Entertainment Software will come to the
rescue.

Crackdot Com made an attempt at some real games such as ‘Abuse’
and ‘Golgotha’. But these games were not mainstream. They were not
consumed by the mass public. “What about ‘Quake’?”, some might say.
Well, it’s true that you can get ‘Quake’ to run on Linux and quite
well, but can you go to the store and purchase a copy of ‘Linux
Quake’? No, you can’t.

What is a gamer to do?

Hopefully, companies like Loki Entertainment Software will
come to the rescue. Loki is a gaming company that ports games to
Linux — real, mainstream, big-title games. If you ever played PC
games in your life, you have heard of a game called ‘Civilization’.
It’s a classic. There is a new version of this game about to hit
the shelves and guess what? You won’t just find a Window’s version
on the shelf, but a Linux one too. It will have it’s own manual and
run under X natively. CompUSA, Electronic Boutique, Best Buy, and
all other major retail computer software stores will be carrying
this latest title.

Loki Entertainment Software is committed to porting the
bestsellers in the gaming industry. Their first port called
‘Civilization: Call to Power’, produced by Activision, will be
followed up by four to eight more mainstream titles this year.
Scott Draeker, the president of Loki, told me that they hope to
work with some big names out there. They plan to offer a variety of
games such as Shooters, Platformers, First Person, and Sports
games.

You might wonder why a company would do this. Why Linux? Is
there really a market for games on Linux? Loki is betting that
Linux users are also the same people that will buy video games.
What good geek doesn’t like video games? I tend to agree with
them.

Look forward to seeing the new game ‘Civilization’ out in stores
in April.

Mike
Maher
has a degree in Computer Science from Moravian College.
“I’ve worked at a medium sized ISP and currently work for a modest
sized Linux Company. 🙂 Other things include small talks and
presentations at usergroups, support of customers, and development
of products. I contribute to the main distribution for Red Hat and
do the primary development for the PowerTools product. I also
organized the first Editor Wars (You can ask Dave about that one) at Linux
Expo.”

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