Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 14th Feb 2013 20:21 UTC
"Valve today announced the release of its Steam for Linux client. In celebration of the release, over 50 Linux titles are now 50-75% off until Thursday, February 21st at 10 AM PST. The Steam client is now available to download for free from the Ubuntu Software Center. Ubuntu is the most popular distribution of Linux used by millions of people globally and known for its well-designed, easy-to-use customer experience." The beginning of the Steambox. We're on the cusp of a sea change in the gaming world.
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RE[3]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?
by Thom_Holwerda on Thu 14th Feb 2013 21:22
in reply to "RE[2]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?"
Member since:2005-06-29
RE[3]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?
by shmerl on Thu 14th Feb 2013 21:23
in reply to "RE[2]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?"
Member since:2010-06-08
Right, big studios have more resources, but they often aren't putting emphasis on different perspectives of quality such as depth and originality. Rather they focus on producing mass market stuff. I.e. you often find indie games with much better story lines than many mindless AAA eye candies.
Edited 2013-02-14 21:24 UTC
RE[3]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?
by silviucc on Thu 14th Feb 2013 21:38
in reply to "RE[2]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?"
Member since:2009-12-05
They generate millions for who exactly? Certainly not the developers. Tim Schafer of Double Fine fame said once something along the lines of "when using other people's money to develop a game, most of whatever you make in sales, is going to them"
Kickstarter and other sites like it, bring developers in direct contact with their audience (the gamers) with the latter choosing to pay for a product that might ship in a few years, in advance. It was also the reason, InExile, who develop Wastelands 2, enabled Unity 3D to create native Linux games.
If I were one of the big publishers, I would have pissed my pants by now. The writing is on the wall. They are going extinct.
The "AAA" titles are dying. For some reason they cost millions to make and most turn out to be horrible. They end up as losses (which are blamed on piracy, of course). Just look at the latest "AAA" flop - Aliens: Colonial Marines. Took 6 years to make, turned out to be a turd.
RE[4]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?
by Darkmage on Thu 14th Feb 2013 22:04
in reply to "RE[3]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?"
Member since:2006-10-20
RE[4]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?
by Lennie on Fri 15th Feb 2013 19:41
in reply to "RE[3]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?"
Member since:2007-09-22
RE[3]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?
by Soulbender on Fri 15th Feb 2013 02:47
in reply to "RE[2]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?"
Member since:2005-08-18
RE[4]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?
by WereCatf on Fri 15th Feb 2013 04:41
in reply to "RE[3]: If you build it, they will come..... maybe?"
Member since:2006-02-15
And yet they so often fail completely (DNF, Aliens: Colonial Marines etc).
Can't help but wonder what they're paying all those millions for. Obviously not for talent and skill.
Can't help but wonder what they're paying all those millions for. Obviously not for talent and skill.
The developers and designers may actually be perfectly-well skilled and talented, but if the head(s) of the department(s) constantly hop in to "guide" the people, to restrict what they're allowed to do or how and so on the end result is often like this. And the one reason these heads often do this is because they've got an expensive license on their hands that they need to turn into cash and they believe they know more about gaming and development than they really do. You know the saying about the blind leading the deaf and so on? (Okay, in this case it'd be a 200-pound blind and deaf gorilla leading a mouse that's tied to its ankle with a chain and any wrong step..)
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.More Features »
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2006-11-19
I wish it was true.
While indies have made really good strides (Bastion was my favorite game of 2012 for example), AAA content requires millions of dollars for development.
Until we can somehow generate content (graphics, levels, audio, music, etc) with a much smaller budget there will still be a market for AAA releases.
I'm not saying AAA is particularly better (most of the time it's opposite), but they sell well. It's like the big Hollywood blockbusters, vs independent films.