SuiPlay0x1: Web3 Scam or Gaming Revolution?
This week we've had some huge news! From a new Linux gaming handheld, to yet another bump in the desktop Linux market share. Let's go over all of it today. That's right, it's Linux gaming news time.
PlayTron lives down to my expectations
You might recall the announcement of Playtron from a few weeks back. You know, this hideous lunchable of a handheld?
Well, they also announced an operating system to go with it. It's based on Linux and it will be made available to "laptops & PCs, TVs, XR, and in Car[s]" in the coming years. These claims are certainly making my techbro sense tingle. However, they did also mention that we'd be seeing the first Playtron hand held PCs coming soon.
And now we've seen the first of the Playtron handhelds. This chud. It's called the SuiPlay0x1… or if you know anything about programming, the 0x at the beginning just means that it's hexadecimal. And 0x1 is literally just 1. So this is the SuiPlay1.
It looks like the Wutang controller. Everything about this design bothers me. Like… these thumbsticks are deeply unsettling. The face buttons seem like they're both entirely too stiff and way too sensitive… like those little rubber poppers we played with as kids. The shoulder buttons look nearly impossible to use… and this D-pad is giving me the jibblies.
So yeah, while it looks like a polished turd… it's the other details that have me convinced this thing is an actual pile of shit. First: it's being touted as "Web3". I naively thought we were over the Web3 grift. But apparently not.
Look, if it's crypto, it's a scam as far as I'm concerned.
And given the fact that Playtron already had my spidey senses tingling and their first device has "native Sui blockchain integration," I've got half a mind to write off the whole endeavor as a scam.
But I'd like to know what you think. Like, for real… does this device that announced its blockchain integration before its actual hardware specs have you all frothed up? Leave me a comment below.
Lutris is now shipping with an exciting new feature. umu or the Universal Linux Wine Game Launcher. I'm not sure how umu relates to Universal Linux Wine Game Launcher, but I digress.
umu is an exciting project that decouples Proton from Steam and allows alternative launchers like Heroic Games Launcher, Bottles, and Lutris to properly run games using Proton.
According to the project's official GitHub, "It is essentially a copy of the Steam Linux Runtime/Steam Runtime Tools, that Valve uses for proton, with some modifications made so that it can be used outside of Steam."
As of Lutris version 0.5.17, umu is the only way to utilize Proton, though do note that it's marked as experimental and may come with some bugs.
This update also brings with it some other updates and fixes including a simplified GPU selector and they've also added some new runners.
So, remember last week how we talked about the Citra fork Lemonade? Well, this week there was another Citra fork and they've made their way to Flathub!
Lime3DS—which I think is a better name than Lemonade—just saw a new release (version 2107) and it has a few interesting upgrades. First, the Android version saw major stability improvements for Vulkan as well as button overlay options. We also have SPIR-V optimizations enabled which allows for smaller compiled Vulkan shaders and fixes for some system defaults.
The devs are also looking for help debugging their emulator on ARM-based Macs. So if you have debugging experience and an M-series Mac, head over to their GitHub with the link below and volunteer!
Linux market share has hit another all-time high. So what is it? 10? 15? 20 percent? No. It's 4.05%
Now, I know a lot of folks will hear 4% and the Microsoft memes will kick in:
"4 percent is nothing. I'll be over here using my real operating system."
But keep in mind these three crucial points.
Number 1: This is desktop Linux usage. This number doesn't include ChromeOS. If it did, it would be a 6.32%.
Number 2: Linux runs the entire world. Everything. Virtually every web server, more than 80% of smartphones, and practically all infrastructure runs on Linux.
Number 3: This 4%? Well, just last year it was only at 2.9%. GamingOnLinux has a handy line graph that shows the recent explosion of growth since 2009. It's important to recognize just how striking this upward trend is and how it shows no sign of slowing down.
My conclusion: It's only a matter of time until it runs your Desktop, too.
First the ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
We're in that "fight you" stage.
-- Chapters --
00:00 Teaser
00:15 SuiPlay0x1: a PlayTronOS-based Handheld with Web3 for some reason
03:10 Lutris v0.5.17 release includes umu
04:24 New 3DS Emulator: Lime3DS
05:10 My Designs
05:50 Linux market share hits new high