The Linux Gaming Issue - Le vin

Within the last episode I gave you an idea what I (currently) think about gaming on Linux. So the next few will actually try to describe why I'm thinking that way.
By the way, it is possible that I'll finish The Issue soonest at Sunday, since I got some special stuff I may grab up (not sure though).

Anyway, let's take a look at Cedega/WineX/Transgaming's wine with licensed stuff and special focus on Linux gaming. The default solution for emulating Windows games to be played on Linux.
My personal opinion is that it might be better to use any Windows (however you got it) and use it for gaming instead of subscribe to Cedega. I don't think that Cedega/wine is bad software, I just don't get the point of emulation (though wine is not an emulator ;-)) with somtimes happening performance loss and restriction to commonly wanted games (which are sometimes not the most enteraining). Though if you doesn't have the possability to get an Windows installed, Cedega/Wine is a really great option.
About the performance issue click here
Short summary:
Cedega is actually having a sometimes evilish performance loss compared with a Win XP and it's even not faster than a native Linux port. So why pay for this? Yeah it's not very comfortable to reboot the machine when you wanna play some cool games. But it's cheaper, and also better performing. Whether it makes sense for you is your own decision.

Usability
In latest Cedega (5) the cedega core (formerly known as winex) and the frontend Point2Play got merged and therefore version 5 got increased usablity (though I think transparency has been lost there).
One deficit I have to tell is the mounting and unmounting of CD's/DVD's. Most current distributions (focused on usability) don't force a user to know what mounting/umounting means or what it does, therefore a lot of very "normal" users might be a bit confused at first, but this actually just a mather of time.
Actually I have to admit that Cedega's usability seems to be quite good (for an emulator ;-))

But this good usability doesn't change the fact that cedega might not be interessting for most people, since I have to aggree with any Windows user who says "Why paying for Cedega when I can get WinXP for a fixed price, or maybe a pirated copy" (yeah even this is an option, though I don't suggest to use it - MS developers are still developers with family and all).
Cedega does a great job in bringing awesome games, which are limited to Windows, to the free OS, although I don't think there's a major reason why one should actually _have to_ emulate a game to get it run on Linux.

So what do I get for my 5 EUR per month?
Cedega
Not being able to play any game with any version
Less performance compared with native version or Windows
A cool GTK (dunno if that is 2 at all) interface
Good usability
And working ALSA support (I also think dmix works with >=5)

Cedega is a really good emulator, though it's not the perfect solution, and actually an even worse solution if you think Linux should be used for everything, everytime, everywhere (like I do). And the better way howto play games on Linux will be reviewed

tomorrow on the geared apachelog: The Linux Gaming Issue - Patriot