Krusty, the ported games I've used have been installable on any Linux AFAIK, so only one Linux version would need development. The games I played were all shooters so only k/b and mouse support required.
I've stuck with Redhat since ?3 and now on FC7, but I guess the answer to which distro is whatever you're used to. The reason being that if I need to compile from source rather than install an rpm (repository), I know what the paths/switches should be for Fedora because i've done it (many times) before. The process is the same for all distros, although the major players may be easier because 1. there is probably a binary rpm already out there for them and 2. if there isn't, you'll need to do less tweaking to get it to compile.
An exception would be a distro which already comes with all the necessary hardware support (if there is one.)
edit: another key factor for choosing a distro is the amount of support out there for it. If I run into a problem with Fedora, I can almost guarantee that others have too and will have found a solution. With an obscure distro with a userbase of 50, I'm probably on my own...
