Virtual PC and games?
Hi. Sorry if this is an old subject: the search function was very limiting.
Let me start off by saying my 800MHz G4 iMac needs to be replaced. It's slow, the hard drive is full, and there are newer, shinier Macs to be had.
I want a new Mac, but I also want to be able to play some of the "newest, hottest" games. Most notably, I would like to get into Final Fantasy XI, but that's only for PS2 and PC. I don't want a PS2 since it would be like paying $250+ for just a couple of games (requiring an HD and network adaptor or something). Plus, the PS2 will have a new brother soon enough.
I don't want to pay good money for a PC, either.
Is it possible to run the PC version of FFXI in Virtual PC, and would it run well enough?
What are your thoughts?
Also, is there a way to play PS2 games on a Mac, like Connectix had for PS1?
Let me start off by saying my 800MHz G4 iMac needs to be replaced. It's slow, the hard drive is full, and there are newer, shinier Macs to be had.
I want a new Mac, but I also want to be able to play some of the "newest, hottest" games. Most notably, I would like to get into Final Fantasy XI, but that's only for PS2 and PC. I don't want a PS2 since it would be like paying $250+ for just a couple of games (requiring an HD and network adaptor or something). Plus, the PS2 will have a new brother soon enough.
I don't want to pay good money for a PC, either.
Is it possible to run the PC version of FFXI in Virtual PC, and would it run well enough?
What are your thoughts?
Also, is there a way to play PS2 games on a Mac, like Connectix had for PS1?
Comments
The answer to your question is NO, buy a PC for gaming. Not sure about the PS2 emulator.
If you need to play Windows games, you would have to buy a windows PC. (or wait for the Mac port, if there is one)
Originally posted by Aquatic
What I don't get is that it DID USED TO. It used to be able to use 3dfx cards. So if it could waaay back then, how come it can't now? There must be a way. Especially now that Microsoft makes it.
The fact is that Virtual PC is still software. When VPC emulates hardware, it emulates hardware at software speeds. There are several ways for a hardware graphics processor to accelerate graphics. For VPC to emulate a graphics processor, it must execute each instruction serially. A dual-processor Mac might be able to split the load between each processor, the fundamental arithmetic problem remains. Think of it this way: GPUs have increased their sophistication at a must faster rate than have CPUs. Therefore, software emulated GPU performance on VPC should be roughly inversely proportional to the hardware acceleration on a real PC. Back when VPC emulated hardware 3D acceleration, GPUs were not nearly sophisticated as they are today. VPC must emulate the lowest common denominator GPU. Otherwise, it would be too slow to be useable.