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Linux gaming refers to playing and developing video games for the Linux operating system, involving a Linux kernel–based operating system, often used for all computing tasks like surfing the web, office applications, desktop publishing, but also for gaming. == History == Linux gaming started largely as an extension of the already present Unix gaming scene, with both systems sharing many similar titles. These games were either mostly original or clones of arcade games and text adventures. A notable example of this was the so-called "BSD Games", a collection of interactive fiction titles.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ghost of Fun Time's Past )〕 The free software and open source methodologies which spawned the development of the operating system in general also spawned the creation of various early free games. Popular early titles included ''NetHack, Netrek, XBill, XEvil, xbattle, Xconq'' and ''XPilot''. As the operating system itself grew and expanded, the amount of free and open source games also increased in scale and complexity. The beginning of Linux as a gaming platform for commercial video games is widely credited to have begun in 1994 when Dave D. Taylor ported the game ''Doom'' in his spare time to Linux as well as many other systems.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 DOOM )〕 From there he would also help found the development studio ''Crack dot Com'', which released the video game'' Abuse'', with the game's Linux port even being published by Linux vendor Red Hat.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=So Long, Crack.com )〕 id Software, the original developers of ''Doom'', also continued to release their products for Linux. Their game ''Quake'' was ported to Linux in 1996, once again by Dave D. Taylor working in his free time.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title='Dave Taylor Interview - game developer' )〕 Later id products continued to be ported by David Kirsch and Timothee Besset respectively, a practice that continued until the studio's acquisition by Zenimax Media in 2009. In 1995 DUX Software contracted Don Hopkins to port ''SimCity'' to Linux. Other early commercial Linux games included ''Hopkins FBI'', an adventure game released in 1998 by MP Entertainment,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Websites And Resources – The Linux Gamers' HOWTO )〕 and ''Inner Worlds'' in 1996, which was released for and mostly developed on Linux. In 1998, two programmers from Origin ported ''Ultima Online'' to Linux. On November 9, 1998 a new software firm called Loki Software was founded by Scott Draeker, a former lawyer who became interested in porting games to Linux after being introduced to the system through his work as a software licensing attorney.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Interview: Scott Draeker and Sam Latinga, Loki Entertainment )〕 Loki, although a commercial failure, is credited with the birth of the modern Linux game industry. Loki developed several free software tools, such as the Loki installer (also known as Loki Setup), and supported the development of the Simple DirectMedia Layer, as well as starting the OpenAL audio library project. These are still often credited as being the cornerstones of Linux game development. They were also responsible for bringing nineteen high profile games to the platform before its closure in 2002. Loki's initial success also attracted other firms to invest in the Linux gaming market, such as Tribsoft, Hyperion Entertainment, Macmillan Digital Publishing USA, Xatrix Entertainment Philos Laboratories, and Vicarious Visions. During this time Michael Simms founded Tux Games, one of the first online Linux game retailers. In 2001 - 2003, we can observe that several well-known indie game companies e.g. CipSoft, Chronic Logic, Illwinter Game Design, Introversion Software, and S2 Games started to publish games for Linux, and they are exceptions who successfully have ported or sold games to Linux for such a long period of the time. After Loki's closure, the Linux game market experienced some changes. Although some new firms, such as Linux Game Publishing and RuneSoft, would largely continue the role of a standard porting house, the focus began to change with Linux game proponents encouraging game developers to port their game products themselves or through individual contractors. Influential to this was Ryan C. Gordon, a former Loki employee who would over the next decade port several game titles to multiple platforms, including Linux. Around this time many companies, starting with id Software, also began to release legacy source code leading to a proliferation of source ports of older games to Linux and other systems. This also helped expand the already existing free and open source gaming scene, especially with regards to the creation of free first person shooters. The Linux gaming market also started to experience some growth towards the end of the decade with the rise of independent video game development, with many "indie" developers favouring support for multiple platforms. The Humble Indie Bundle initiatives helped to formally demonstrate this trend, with Linux users representing a sizable population of their purchase base, as well as consistently being the most financially generous in terms of actual money spent. The release of a Linux version of Desura, a digital distribution platform with a primary focus on small independent developers, was also heralded by several commentators as an important step to greater acknowledgement of Linux as a gaming platform.〔 In 2009, the small indie game company Entourev LLC published Voltley to Linux which is the first commercial exclusive game for this operating system. In the same year, LGP released Shadowgrounds which was the first commercial game for Linux using the Nvidia PhysX middleware. In July 2012, game developer and content distributor Valve Software announced a port of their Source engine for Linux as well as stating their intention to release their Steam digital distribution service for Linux. The potential availability of a Linux Steam client has already attracted other developers to consider porting their titles to Linux, including previously Mac OS only porting houses such as Aspyr Media and Feral Interactive. In November 2012, Unity Technologies ported their Unity engine and game creation system to Linux starting with version 4. All of the games created with the Unity engine can now be ported to Linux easily. In September 2013 Valve announced that they were releasing a gaming oriented Linux based operating system called ''SteamOS'' with Valve saying they had "come to the conclusion that the environment best suited to delivering value to customers is an operating system built around Steam itself." In March 2014 GOG.com announced they would begin to support Linux titles on their DRM free store starting the same year, after previously stating they would not be able to due to too many distributions. GOG.com began their initial roll out on July 24, 2014 by offering 50 Linux supporting titles, including several new to the platform. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Linux gaming」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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