Square Enix invests in Linux distribution

The first hardware that will be actually using it is the SuiPlay0x1, a strange looking and sounding web3 / blockchain handheld.

Oh dear.

SuiPlay0X1 runs Playtron's device-agnostic gaming operating system, enabling gamers to play both Web3 and Web2 games across PC and mobile.
GamesBeat have some more details, noting it will have "native Sui blockchain integration via zkLogin and Sui Kiosk SDKs, enabling asset ownership directly connected to a device’s account system for the first time in the gaming industry
What is a web3 game? Something that allows you to grind for NFTs?
- TF2 hats but on a block chain instead of an inventory system.
  Pros:
  In theory you can still sell the item as a collectible even if the game dies (I doubt in practice though)
  In theory it makes it possible for other games to use the same items to make stuff in their games (I doubt this in practice)
  Cons:
  it's a fucking block chain
- Web 3 games are simply ponzi schemes hidden behind a super grindy game. As far as I know, none of these games actually produce anything of value from the labor put into them, so the payouts must come from new money entering the scheme.
- To me, the term "Web3 games" sounds like they're trying to make a knockoff of Cookie Clicker with NFTs.
- yes
- The big thing I've seen for gaming is the idea that you can have tokens not tied to a specific game. Like maybe an achievement gotten in resident evil unlocks a cool skin dead by daylight.
  Or you could implement something like Sword Art Onlines's item/skills system where they attached to a user and not a server, and servers can choose which ones to implement in their version of the game.
  Of course its also possible it could be sold second hand, so maybe you think the Christmas skin of a popular character is stupid and will never wear it, but someone else just missed the event. You could sell/gift it to them, because the entitlement is yours to do whatever you want with it. Maybe you just hate the hell out it so much you offer a ton of cash just lock them all up. Idk this part of it just not my jam tbh
- It's all too common when anti-crypto people don't understand crypto101.
The devs have said in the discord that ceypto features will be totally optional, theyre only there so they could have a partnership with sui
- Totally optional features that come set up by default are not really optional unless they're opt-in from the start. Most users are not savvy enough to figure out how to disable that kind of stuff.
Why, Linux?! It is said that you would destroy the Blockchain, not join it!
- Linux is free and open source software ecosystem. It's like handing people free brushes, canvases and paints - sure, removing the financial hurdles may enable talents otherwise unable to afford indulging their artistic streak, but you also can't really prevent anyone from painting awful bullshit. Best you can do is not give them attention or a platform to advertise their stuff on.
  That's the price of freedom: It also extends to assholes. We can't start walling off Linux, so the best we can do is individually wall them off from our own life and hope enough other people around us do it too.
It looks like the picture in that article is upside down judging by the devices logo on the screen. Are the analog sticks above the d pad and buttons?
Everything about that device confuses me.
But it's got blockchain!
(does that actually still get any vc excited nowadays?)
- Just say its an LLM AI blockchain
- Crypto is past the hype cycle and into the actually useful phase of that phony graph.

At long last, linux with microtransactions

That's pretty cool. Square Enix is one of the better AAA-publishers when it comes to Linux support, they had native ports for Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, Hitman and a bunch more.

I'm not sure about the others, but I'm pretty sure Hitman isn't linux native.
As far as I can find on protondb, neither are Deus Ex or Tomb Raider.
I've never had any issues running those games through Proton though, so that's great.
- Although this game has a Linux-native build available, Steam does not list it as having Linux support. This can happen if a game has an unofficial, unfinished, or unsupported build. You may need to force Steam to enable Proton for the game in order to run properly.
  https://www.protondb.com/app/203160
  Square where early adopters of Linux back when Steam Machines V1 came out commissioning ports for a bunch of their Eidos (western) IPs. And then they stopped support for those ports when Proton came around
- According to Wikipedia, Deus Ex MD, Hitman, Life is Strange 1&2, and the new Tomb Raider trilogy all have native Linux ports.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_Interactive
- That's because the IP rights for those games were sold.
They make you have an internet connection for the pc port of the original ff7....

I’m not really into PC gaming, but the more gaming possibilities you have on Linux, the better it’ll be👍

"There's no login screen, how do I unlock it?"

"It's square enix, they expect you to have a keyblade"

Those of pure enough heart to weild a Keyblade will know how to login - all you need to do is trust your heart, and follow the light!
- "Wait why is that pirate flag glowing?"

Very nice! Kill those windows handhelds 🥳

finally, a Linux distro to kill god.

I was all set to re purchase the original ff7 on steam to play it again on my steam deck. Then I seen that the assholes require an internet connection to run it. My playstation sure as hell didn't have an internet connection. Yo ho ho ho

Additionally, the first Alpha version of PlaytronOS has now been released for those of you who wish to test and give feedback. So far they note it has been tested across the AYANEO 2, ASUS ROG Ally, GPD Win 4 (2023), Lenovo Legion Go, Valve Steam Deck LCD and Valve Steam Deck OLED.

Quite a nice list of tested handhelds.

The title made me think that they would start releasing games for linux :(

The main benefit of web3 "games" is that a dev can make millions from something with PS2 graphics, recycled assets and zero innovation

hah it just gets worse with every word

i'll do my own css framework!

not because it makes sense, but because of godcomplex.

/s

Playtron is all in on Crypto nonsense, so of course SquareEnix is coming along for the ride. I wouldn't get too excited, like most "Web3" things, I expect that this too will flounder and die.

One can only hope.

So…it’s Bazzite?

It's bazzite with a custom UI instead of Steam Big Picture and no desktop mode. Their big claim seems to be that they say that they have solved anti cheat on Linux: the system generates a checksum of the kernel space, the anti cheat then compares this checksum with the one on file. No custom kernel module needed on the part of the anti cheat dev. At least in theory.
- I'm interested in them finding a way to get AC working, but I really dislike this method of doing so. There are a ton of kernel variations, so this would really only work on specific distros and devices. This becoming standard would likely mean being unable to use optimized kernels, different schedulers, and other kernel modules like the ZFS drivers.
- I'm having a hard time understanding how this would work. udev will load kernel modules depending on your hardware, and these modules run in kernel space. Is there an assumption that a kernel module can't cheat? Or do they have a checksum for each possible kernel module that can be loaded?
  Also, how do they read the kernel space code? Userspace can't do this afaik. Do they load a custom kernel module to do this? Who says it can't just be replaced with a module that returns the "right" checksum?
- Desktop mode is coming, its just not implemented yet
- I was discussing this a few months back; an immutable fs is way more secure for gaming compared to Windows.
Aeon

Cool can they give up on blockchain games now?

Hahahaha NO

Finally! Some competition with Steam OS! Hopefully only good things will come out of this!

Introducing distro-specific Epic exclusives.
- :")

Later gets bought by ______ when ?

It sure is easy to grift squeenix out of their money nowadays, eh? I think I'll start some new blockchain project, market it to whoever's their CEO, get rich and get out.

Dayum letsgooooooo

nice!

Gaming on Linux will never be easy but as long as it goes forward any good news are welcome.

I know a bunch of people that own Steam Decks, know nothing about Linux, and have no idea that their games are running on it. I'd say it's pretty easy now.
Why would it never be easy? There's no fundamental reason for why it can't work as well as on windows, or any other operating system
- I don't get all this "gaming on Linux is hard" non-sense. All I have to do is set a specific flag on Steam and click play. That's it. One step, and 99% of my library just works, sometimes better than on Windows.
  If it isn't on Steam, I search for it on Lutris and Lutris installs it for me, and I click play. And more often than not, it just works.
  Hell, the mother fuckers that make Final Fantasy XIV's quick launcher made that shit a flatpak! And it's so fucking seemless, not a soul would know that game isn't a native Linux game!
  Where's the difficulty?