TransGaming Shows Latest Linux Gaming Solution

Author: by Andrew Wilson, Simon Carless

Toronto, Canada-based TransGaming Technologies has announced the latest demo release for its Linux-based Windows game emulator software, Cedega. This demo will be available on the company's official site from now until November 15th, 2004, and allows hundreds of top PC games to run on the Linux operating system, including: World Of Warcraft, Battlefield 1942, City Of Heroes, Far Cry, Hitman: Contracts and DOOM 3. Vikas Gupta, Co-CEO & President of TransGaming Technologies, commented: "The Linux operating system is becoming more pervasive globally and its proliferation is fueled by the broader availability of a range of applications. Consumers rank the ability to play video games on their desktop as one of the top 3 important reasons for the adoption of Linux. TransGaming is the only company in the world that gives users access to hundreds of the top video games on Linux." Featuring an extensive list of supported titles, the Cedega software loads a game's binary into memory on a Linux-based system. The software then links to the code that provides implementation of the Win32 APIs the title uses. Transgaming seems to be positioning itself as a more general 'software portability' creator, also mentioning in the press release that it is a registered Microsoft Xbox developer and a licensed Sony PlayStation 2 developer. In recent years, Linux advocates have been split between advocating relatively niche-selling Linux-native versions of applications, or pointing to applications such as WineX and its sequel, Cedega. These applications take a mass of Windows-compatible game CD-ROMs onto Linux via emulation, but offer some compatibility/speed problems, and de-emphasize the importance of Linux as a stand-alone game platform.