As I mentioned in my previous posting, I am currently in the process of converting my main desktop from Windows XP to Linux. One of the main things I know I will struggle with (unless I just give up and live with an annoying dual-boot situation) is support for computer games.

In many ways I am sick of PC gaming anyway. Don’t get me wrong: I still love computer games. The only thing I am increasingly annoyed with are the constant upgrades that are required in order to be able to run the latest games, as well as the amount of tweaking that is often necessary to get a game working acceptably using particular hardware (particularly the video card, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro in my case).

Ultimately, I am probably going to give in soon and buy a console, such as a PS2 or an XBox. While the hardware may be lagging behind my desktop, it is at least getting fully utilized as the game developers don’t have to deal with all these compatibility layers and can focus on a specific hardware configuration instead. Overall, the games don’t seem to look too bad.

Another thing that has kept me from switching to a console so far is the type of games, compared to PC games. In the past, I was mostly interested in adventure and RPG games. While I still love those games, in reality I hardly have time for these kinds of games any more, with two kids, a house, and a job. These days, I tend to stick with more action-oriented games, such as first person shooters. I also enjoy playing online (although I don’t do it as often these days), but as far as I am aware there are decent online gaming solutions for the major consoles.

Just ranting, I guess… The bottom line is that lack of game support under Linux may not be a major issue for me going forward. Of course, I have a fairly large amount of games that I would like to be able to continue to play, so it would be nice if I could get those running on Linux in the interim.

I guess it’s time to start doing my research on whether to get a PS2 or an XBox, or even whether to hold off until the next generation of consoles comes out.