Curmudgeon Gamer
20 September 2006
Next-Gen.biz podcast
I was asked to join in the Next-Gen.biz podcast this week. I can't bring myself to listen to the finished product, Next-Gen.biz Podcast Episode #2, but you can and then leave comments here. The producer, Jeremy Williams, made a comment after we finished recording along the lines of "I think it was good to have a bit of disagreement in the podcast". I think everyone looked in my direction at that point, through their respective Skype clients.
Addendum: Ruffin helpfully suggested that I might comment on the anti-Valve comment I made, so I will. Valve's succeeded on the back of a pile of servers being run by the public, and over half of them (for a long time) were GNU/Linux servers running the server that Valve put out for just that purpose. However, they never bothered to port their client to GNU/Linux for those helpful GNU/Linux people to play the game with. It's not that a port was impossible -- we know for sure that a nearly fully functional client was ready to go for MacOS at one point, using OpenGL as you'd use on GNU/Linux. With the advent of Steam you've got a new GNU/Linux server for the Valve games that knows how to talk to the Steam service, but according to Ryan Gordon, that isn't actually a Steam client. They've done the bare minimum to avail themselves of the GNU/Linux community without actually giving that community a game to play. Compared to Epic or id Software, they're parasites. If they ran their own servers, like Xbox Live servers are run by Microsoft, that wouldn't bother me one bit. It is, after all, their game. But asking for my help and then shunning me is too much. See my Linux User's Lament at Curmudgeon Gamer Classic for a longer rant.
Sorry all you freedom lovers, but it appears they don't provide an Ogg Vorbis version, just MP3. You can at least get it through iTunes, a direct-download, and some in-browser player.
Posting has been light. Last night I was looking at topics for the podcast and Tuesday night I was grading like mad. Tonight...tonight...maybe I'll have time to actually play a game. Maybe Sound Voyager and Orbital will come in...
Addendum: Ruffin helpfully suggested that I might comment on the anti-Valve comment I made, so I will. Valve's succeeded on the back of a pile of servers being run by the public, and over half of them (for a long time) were GNU/Linux servers running the server that Valve put out for just that purpose. However, they never bothered to port their client to GNU/Linux for those helpful GNU/Linux people to play the game with. It's not that a port was impossible -- we know for sure that a nearly fully functional client was ready to go for MacOS at one point, using OpenGL as you'd use on GNU/Linux. With the advent of Steam you've got a new GNU/Linux server for the Valve games that knows how to talk to the Steam service, but according to Ryan Gordon, that isn't actually a Steam client. They've done the bare minimum to avail themselves of the GNU/Linux community without actually giving that community a game to play. Compared to Epic or id Software, they're parasites. If they ran their own servers, like Xbox Live servers are run by Microsoft, that wouldn't bother me one bit. It is, after all, their game. But asking for my help and then shunning me is too much. See my Linux User's Lament at Curmudgeon Gamer Classic for a longer rant.
Sorry all you freedom lovers, but it appears they don't provide an Ogg Vorbis version, just MP3. You can at least get it through iTunes, a direct-download, and some in-browser player.
Posting has been light. Last night I was looking at topics for the podcast and Tuesday night I was grading like mad. Tonight...tonight...maybe I'll have time to actually play a game. Maybe Sound Voyager and Orbital will come in...
Labels: linux
--jvm at 06:03
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Comments on this post:
I really enjoyed it. I think they chose good topics to talk about, and although I don't agree with you on some things, it's good hear someone saying what they truly think about the Wii. There's no rule that says everyone must love it.
Thanks, hobo. I'd like another shot at doing the podcast again, esp. if they keep the same "regulars". Knowing how it's done, I'll perhaps be a bit more comfortable.
By jvm, at 20 September, 2006 21:08
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