[Gllug] [OT] Game playing influencing linux adoption

[Justin Perreault]

On Thu, 2005-11-17 at 07:05 +0000, Henry Gilbert wrote:
> This is great. The guy now is very interested in Linux; asking about
> DVD playing. Setting up a work environment, etc. Never thought that
> something like a game would inspire more interest in Linux itself.
> Which is why I believe the only thing holding many youngster from
> moving across - is games. The day we get most major titles running
> natively on Linux - that day, the Desktop war is over.
> 
> Companies should sponsor the Linux gaming Industries. Even with
> prizes: Linux Game of the Year.
> 
> Here is a nice free game based on Tribes:
> http://www.legendsthegame.net/

I have always strongly believed that providing a toy like environment
will encourage users to adopt Linux. 

People (the masses) do not want to use Windows however, they do not want
to use Linux either. They want to do their work and get away from the
machine and will gladly do their work on a machine that seems familiar
rather than face the unknown.

Games provide a powerful introduction for many reasons, one of these
reasons which I believe to be key is the challenge/reward nature of
games. I know some on this list delight at the thought of getting that
app or piece of hardware working just right and the sense of
accomplishment that comes with it. 

However, there are more users for which such a feat is far removed from
what they believe they can do (on a computer). This belief causes stress
and leads the potential user back to what they are already familiar
with. Enter the fast rewards from games.

By exposing users to non-critical tasks, such as games, a potential new
user can get the mini-euphoria which comes from achieving a small task.
These tasks can be as small as using the pointing device to click on
part of the screen which reveals that the users guess was correct, such
as from playing kmines. 

This will lead to achievements being associated with the system the user
experienced them on and lead the user to feel that they can do other
tasks with less risk than they originally felt. 

Because of this belief I have recently started supporting the Linux Live
Game Project:

http://tuxgamers.altervista.org/llgp.php?tg_lang=en

I can envision booting a system that is so stripped down that not one
byte of data is loaded that is not needed to run the game of choice. I
expect this would benefit high graphic games such as Doom/Quake the most
and there would be an almost dedicated device feel of such a system. Of
course there would not be the associated cost of purchasing said
dedicated system.

There is a project similar to LLGP that I am aware of in the form of
Games Knoppix:

http://games-knoppix.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/

I am hoping that by increasing awareness in these projects they will get
more support.


-- 
Justin Perreault

Better questions lead to better answers-
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

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