> So, I'm sure that many other Linux users have had the same dilemma and
> have hopefully found a happy medium.  I would like to hear any ideas you
> have and what solution others have come up with.

I've run across the same problem too, and have basically stopped trying
to run Windoze games on my two machines (a poopy laptop running Mandrake
and an old Slackware server), but have simply convinced my friends, who,
while lacking patience to use Linux themselves, have deep enough pockets
to shell out money for what I suggest are the "necessities" of a desktop
PC, including the latest ATI Radeon accelerator cards, since, after all,
they don't want a card that will be "outdated" by next year.  After
this, they're still running Windoze, but as a consequence, need you to
fix their rig frequently.  After you're done, they let you play the
latest games on their superior hardware.  Thus giving everyone their
fix.

-- 
// David Huerta
// Insert creative sig here.