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The godfather of Linux, Linus Torvalds, may think that NVIDIA is “the worst,” but Valve respectfully disagrees. The company has been working closely with the manufacturer, as well as AMD and Intel, to boost performance of its hardware under the open source OS. The developer clearly has an interest in getting the best from those companies as it works to port Left 4 Dead 2 and Steam to Linux. That close partnership is already bearing impressive fruit as Valve claims its co-op zombie shooter now performs better on Ubuntu than it does under Windows 7 using a GeForce GTX 680. The first Open GL Linux version managed a measly six frames per second, while the Direct X powered Microsoft one was topping 270. Only a few months later, and Left 4 Dead 2 is hitting 315fps on the 32-bit version of Precise Pangolin, outperforming even the Open GL Windows port which sits at 305fps. Of course, it’s relatively well established that Ubuntu has lower overhead and running Direct X only compounds the issue, though, its unparalleled driver support can’t be denied. While it’s not completely fair to compare performance on a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit one, Valve is proving that gaming on Linux need not be some proof-of-concept exercise. Linus can flip NVIDIA the bird all he wants but, through its work with Valve, it may be doing more to bring Linux to the mainstream than anyone previously has.

Filed under: Gaming

Valve says NVIDIA’s the best, Steam and Left 4 Dead for Linux coming along nicely originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steam for Linux has been in the works for quite a while now, although it was only recently that Valve launched a dedicated blog where the detailed its progress. If you’re wondering what’s with the sudden increase in effort in creating Steam for Linux, well according to Valve’s boss, Gabe Newell, Steam for Linux is considered to be a “hedging strategy” in the event that the upcoming Windows 8 does not take off the way that Microsoft originally intended (think Vista). Speaking at an industry dinner in Seattle last night, Newell was quoted as saying:

“The big problem that is holding back Linux is games. People don’t realize how critical games are in driving consumer purchasing behavior […]

We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. It’s a hedging strategy. I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.”

Whether you agree with Newell’s sentiments on Windows 8 or not, Steam for Windows and Mac is still going strong and the eventual port to Linux is probably going to welcome by many Linux gamers around the world.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Valve documents Steam for Linux via new blog, Steam for Linux Caught on Video [Leak],

This week at the video game conference known as Casual Connect, Valve head Gabe Newell has taken out the knives and cut up a nice clean slice of Microsoft with heavily negative comments on their next big operating system Windows 8. Newell’s Valve and Steam create a video game environment in which people can download games and keep their accounts with access to those games in the cloud. Newell is currently working to bring big-name games that otherwise would only have been for Windows and OS X machines to Linux in the meantime.

With Newell speaking so negatively about Windows 8 it seems almost inevitable that he’s got a back-up plan set in motion. As it turns out, his move with Steam toward Linux as an operating system of interest is “a hedging strategy” as he describes it. His predictions about Windows 8 certainly don’t place him in the favor of Microsoft on the whole, though their having their own gaming portal too never really added up to a great relationship between the companies in the first place.

“[Windows 8] is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. We’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. … It will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.” – Newell

This move adds to Newell’s comments that without the open nature of the PC in general, Valve would never have been able to exist. Speaking on the controlled nature of Microsoft’s own Xbox LIVE integration and built-in Windows Store, Newell noted that there’s always a “strong temptation” to close a platform because of the profits that can be gained. Developers, he noted, “look at what they can accomplish when they limit the competitors’ access to the platform, and they say ‘That’s really exciting.’”

Stick around as Newell and his massively popular gaming portal Valve continue to attempt to shape the future of computing on a gaming tip.

[via AllThingsD]

Gabe Newell of Valve: Windows 8 “a catastrophe” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This is it, folks. The Steam Summer Sale has entered its eleventh and final day, so in less than 24 hours, it’ll be time to say goodbye. While that will likely be a relief for most Steam users, there are some tempting featured deals on offer for those who haven’t purchased quite enough yet. As always, there are also flash deals and community choice deals up for grabs, so even though we’ve entered the final hours of the event, there are still plenty of sales to take advantage of before things wrap up entirely.

All of today’s featured deals are a whopping 75% off, with indie gem Bastion at $3.74, Space Pirates and Zombies at $2.49, Football Manager 2012 at $7.49, and Splinter Cell: Conviction at $4.99. Indie Bundle XI – which features Hydrophobia: Prophecy, ORION: Dinosaur Beatdown, Star Ruler, Waveform, and World of Goo – is down to $9.99, while the Double Fine Bundle brings Psychonauts, Stacking, and Costume Quest together for $7.49. BioShock, Operation Flashpoint: Red River, and Jagged Alliance: Back in Action round out today’s featured deals, with BioShock looking especially good at $4.99.

At the time of this writing, Just Cause 2 is $3.74 as the community choice deal. Legend of Grimrock (which we highly recommend) is $5.99 for the next three hours as a flash deal, while other flash deals include Modern Warfare 3 for $29.99 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations for $13.59. You’ll need act quick though, because all of those deals are ending in just a few hours.

It’s been a pretty exciting ride, but we have to admit that we’ll be thankful for an opportunity to put our wallets away and give our credit cards a much-needed rest. It won’t be long before we’re back at it again, however, as this means that the inevitable Steam Holiday Sale is now just five short months away. What did you pick up during the Steam Summer Sale this year? Leave us a comment detailing your haul below!

Steam Summer Sale enters final day is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If bits of launcher script, photographic evidence and a short video weren’t enough to convince you Valve was porting Steam to Linux, maybe you’ll take it directly from the horse’s mouth: Steam is coming to Ubuntu 12.04. Sick, perhaps, of denying the project, Valve has created a Linux blog to document its efforts — outlining its history with the open-source OS and making its goals public. The plan is simple: get Steam ported to Linux with full functionality, optimize Left 4 Dead to run at a respectable clip with OpenGL and port additional Valve titles. The team is also asking for feedback, and hope to leverage the ideas of the community. Eager to put in your two cents? Check out the blog at the source link below.

[Thanks, Andrew]

Valve launches Linux blog, officially announces Steam for Ubuntu originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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