What's the saying? "The road to ruin is paved with good intentions?" Though I am not a fellow Alabamian like reporter Dan Whisenhunt, I had my own reasons for hoping the Envizions EVO Linux Game Console would at least -- well, get a better review than it did.

The open source gaming console undoubtedly made a few mistakes long before it shipped its beta version to Whisenhunt for review. I'd dare say the first was calling it a gaming console. It isn't even quite right to call it an early adopter gaming console. Early adopter means, to me anyway, ready for the general public that is willing to accept a more than average amount of bugs, crashes, and temporary glitches -- it doesn't necessarily mean they are all developers. As a computer, I think the EVO console sounds as if it is probably workable. As a game console? Not yet.

Whisenhunt's criticisms were very valid (I certainly felt his pain as he reported them), and in conjunction with his observation that there's been a lot of local advertising for the console, I can't help but thinking this may be a significant step back for Linux gaming.

I have a confession: When I read press releases about Envizions' EVO Smart Console I am unsure if the company is run by self-assured, confident visionaries or if -- well, the situation is actually quite the opposite. I like (love?) the idea of an open source, Linux-powered gaming console. I like the potential it holds, the almost limitless features it could deliver, the creativity it could inspire.

I know that bringing hardware to market is rough, and that sometimes things get bogged down in regulatory processes and unexpected red tape. I know that balancing what you want to sell, what you want to deliver, and what your customers want, expect and request can be tricky. A company needs to hold on to its dreams and ideals -- and it needs to bring in cash in order to make those dreams and ideals happen.

It isn't easy, especially when you're selling something that isn't even at the "early adopter" stage. It's impossible to say if Envizions is going about this in the most logical manner -- it's uncharted territory. This is why Envizion's announcement of a 3-D online community (think Second Life) leaves me feeling even more conflicted about the EVO open source game console than ever.