Portal - Released for Steam on Linux

Linux gaming is slowly making strides to become more mainstream. Valve opened the public BETA, Steam for Linux, back in late 2012 which has brought many titles to the Linux gaming platform. There has even been a Humble Bundle which featured many Linux titles and now Valve has released their popular puzzle game, Portal, to run natively within Linux. I have read that Portal 2 is coming to Linux soon as well.

Portal originally came out in 2007 for the PC and Xbox 360. It was later released for Playstation 3 as well as the OS X Operating System. It is of the First Person Puzzle/Platformer genre. It involves the creation of "portals", using a portal gun, to move yourself and possibly objects around a level so that you can get to the exit. It requires some real brain power at times which is what puzzle games are made for. Thinking outside the box will allow you to excel while playing Portal.
It is available thru Steam for Linux now for only $9.99 USD. I happily paid the money and am already enjoying the game thoroughly. I am playing it on Xubuntu 12.04.2 64bit version with an Nvidia 8400GS ando only 2GB of DDRII Ram. The game doesn't require too beefy of a machine as you can see by my computer's specifications. My CPU is only an E4300, 1.8Ghz Core2Duo so I can assure you that you don't need much to enjoy the game. Are you going to purchase the game for Linux and show your support for Linux Gaming?

-Ubu out

Steam for Linux Celebration Sale - 50% to 75% Off

Steam is having a huge Sale in Celebration for Steam for Linux. Linux game titles are from 50% all the way up to 80% off. Despite the sale stating it was as high as 75% off, I saw Serious Sam 3 BFE for 80% off, which brings it down to a mere $7.99 which is normally a $39.99 game.

There are now 100 items within Steam's Linux section. I am very excited about this. Here is just some of the games on sale;
Intrusion 2 = 66% off brings it to $3.50
Serious Sam 3 BFE = 80% off brings it to $7.99
4th Year Anniversary World of Goo = 75% off brings it to $2.49
Trine 2 = 75% off brings it to $3.74
Half Life = 75% off brings it to $2.49
Counter Strike Source = 75% off brings it to $4.99
Bastion = 75% off brings it to $3.74
Amnesia = 75% off brings it to $5.00

This is an awesome sale and I picked up Intrusion 2 and Bastion for a mere $7.24. What will you be picking up?

-Ubu out

Valve to release Linux powered SteamBox, dubbed 'Piston'

Valve has kept pretty quiet regarding a console in development. There has been rumors for a while now that Valve will integrate it's digital platform Steam into a console-like piece of hardware.

In December 29th of 2012, German site Golem.de claims they attended a conference where Ben Krasnow, a Valve electronics engineer, gave a talk on the company's plans for the console. I used Google Translate to understand some of the article;

The Valve developed PC-game-console Steam Box will seemingly be based on Linux, not Windows. And it's not the only exciting hardware project, that Valve will present in 2013.
It doesn't come off as a huge surprise, considering that Valve-boss Gabe Newell views Windows 8 as a catastrophe: Steam Box will not be based on Windows, but on Linux instead. This was confirmed by Ben Krasnow, one of Valve's hardware developers,
But according to him, there's more than just the introduction of the Steam Box: "the hardware lab has some secret projects that will be released in 2013. We have a good group of electronic- and mechanical-engineers and we are glad to build some really cool things", says Krasnow. In summer of 2012 Valve's higher up critised a frustrating lack of innovation in the area of computer hardware - in a job offer. In that they also wrote: ".....we want to change this."

Image Source: Polygon

Image Source: Polygon

Basically the key points are that; Valve's Steambox is scheduled to come out this year and it will run Linux at its core. So what version of Linux will it run? Given how closely Canonical and Valve have worked together over the last 12 months, and that Canonical has a vested commitment to Ubuntu as a platform, the logical choice would be Ubuntu. Ubuntu can be run free of a GUI but would also free Valve from the duties of distribution maintenance.

A prototype is actually being revealed at CES 2013 (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is being dubbed, "Piston". Valve has teamed up with hardware vendor Xi3 to build the miniature modular PC.

Are you excited for this console or will you be keeping an eye out for the newer Xbox or Playstation models?

--Ubu out

Steam for Linux BETA now open to public

On December 13th I mentioned that the BETA Steam for Linux was going to be opening up to the public, well now it's official.

Steam for Linux BETA requires Ubuntu 12.04 or higher. Over time, the client will be available for other Linux distro's as well.

Current users will need to update their application, while new users can download from the Steam Linux website.

-Ubu out

Steam for Linux finally opening up the BETA

Steam for Linux is finally opening up the BETA to the public next week after a short month+ long limited BETA.

Valve is stating that the stability of the client is allowing them to open up the BETA to more users. In a message they wrote to the closed Steam for Linux Mailing List they state, "The Open BETA will be available to the public and will increase the current population from 80K to a higher number."

System requirements for some Linux games are now being listed within the Steam Store.
Game developers are being encouraged to submit their "minimum" and "recommended" System Requirements to Valve for publishing 'ASAP'. Below is a list of just some of the titles that are available for Linux currently;
     -Amnesia
     -Dynamite Jack
     -Eversion
     -iBomber Attack
     -Killing Floor
     -Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45
     -Serious Sam 3: BFE (I already purchased this one for a mere $9.99)
     -Sword & Sworcery
     -The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles
     -World of Goo

I am very excited to see Steam come to Linux which will only make Linux gaming increase as a whole

-Ubu out