A new article from Macworld's Game Room examines Parallels 3's usefulness to gamers. The recently released version of the Windows virtualization software adds 3D graphics support to the mix, giving gamers the chance to play some games without having to reboot their computers.

Where the software ran into show-stopping trouble was with games that require DirectX 9.0-based graphics, such as The Sims 2 ( natively) and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Those games won’t work at all; for that, you need Boot Camp.

The is one of the best places to get information about how Parallels 3.0 works with games, by the way. Checking the Mac forum for Windows and entering “games” in the search field will yield hundreds of messages from Parallels users who have traded tales of getting games to work and provided some estimate of performance. Some have even developed elaborate workarounds to get some newer games working.

Games that rely on OpenGL directly, instead—including recent games based on the Doom 3 engine—have an easier time running. My colleague Rob Griffiths and I were both surprised to see Prey, the first person shooter, running pretty well inside of Parallels. But the game uses a modified version of Id Software’s Doom 3 engine, so we shouldn’t have been that surprised.

A Gamer's Look At Parallels 3

Parallels Desktop

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