Could a Linux Gaming Console Ever Work?

by Sam Dean - Oct. 27, 2008Comments (5)

A few days ago, Kristin covered Envizions Computer Entertainment's announcement that it will deliver its EVO Linux-based gaming console on November 18th. She predicted that the announcment would probably stoke the long-standing fire surrounding whether Linux can ever be a viable gaming platform, and indeed it did. Many readers responded saying that there is no future for a Linux gaming console. The model that Nintendo followed with the Wii, though, may argue otherwise.

In response to Kristin's post about the EVO console, one reader wrote: "Hate to say it, but as much as I would like it to succeed, I just don't see it doing so, unless it can get huge developer support in the form of exclusive games." Another added: "2008 Year of the Linux Console... right." Then a reader conjured up the Indrema console, a supposedly Linux-based gaming platform that never moved beyond vaporware.

Now I don't disagree that in the ultra-competitive world of gaming, where big budgets are thrown behind the leading consoles and games, it's a tall order for a Linux-based console to ever succeed. The budgets behind hugely popular games such as Grand Theft Auto now exceed the budgets for expensive Hollywood movies. Most people evaluating the EVO console point out that there isn't a healthy ecosystem of game developers for Linux.

It's not true, though, that there are no Linux games at all. There are many. This post evaluates three first-person shooter games for Linux, and there are many other titles.

More importantly, the current hottest gaming console of all--the Nintendo Wii--proves that an imaginative console with relatively few imaginative game titles can become hot with consumers. Most early adopters of the Wii platform were amazed and content with games such as tennis, bowling, and golf. The physics of the platform dazzled, and hardly anyone complained that there were only a few game titles.

I don't think the EVO is anywhere near what the Wii is in terms of creativity and imagination. But nearly everyone was betting on the PlayStation 3 to dominate when the Wii came out, and the exact opposite thing happened. It looks to me like the ultimate Linux gaming console isn't upon us, but let's not write off the whole idea that one can ever succeed. What's needed is a very, very creative approach to making just a few imaginative games appealing.


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5 Comments
 

com on man...this is a joke right? They need to get a better processor (like a cell processor or somthing) to even have a chance in the gaming market.


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It at least give more options then ps3, xbox, or wii


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... there already are 4 *nix powered gaming consoles on the market. The Playstation2 explicitly uses a Linux kernel from the 2.4 branch rolled against MIPS. The Playstation 3 uses a Linux kernel from the 2.6 branch rolled against PowerPC. Both the Gamecube and the Wii use a *nix platform developed by IBM and Nintendo, and reportedly the current shipping Wii development kits are using a Linux kernel from the 2.6 kernel branch (granted, that report is unconfirmed). So... yeah. Linux gaming consoles do work. On a spectacular level. There's just the slight problem that neither Sony never has gotten it's head around that promoting itself as a Linux Home computer could have helped smash the Xbox 360 into dust, and Nintendo isn't exactly known for being talkative either.


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i will be lucking forward to it but what will make the consumers bye it one reasone the wii was successful was becouse it was cheap what will Evo have that Xbox 360, ps3 and wii won,t have


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Aren't PS2 and PS3 are LINUX consoles? Only other way to get a LINUX gaming console popular is to make the whole design open source. This method seems to be getting popular in other hardware designs and I cannot see why it cannot be adopted in a gaming console.


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