Well this is the good news first: Transgaming Technologies - a Canada based company - is developing an API called WineX that ensures compatibility of DirectX 8 games in a Linux environment. WineX does not perform like an emulator it rather functions as a translation software for API calls. The first game to be succesfully ported was Max Payne by Remedy Entertainment. Still not working a 100% yet TransGaming's CEO and CTO Gavriel State is very enthusiastic about the latest WineX developments: "We're very excited about these advances and the ability for a game the calibre of Max Payne to function on Linux, " he said. "While the game isn't 100 percent yet, these developments demonstrate how rapidly our team is able to add support for new multimedia APIs. As we refine our technology, gamers can expect to be able to play more and more top-rated games on Linux." Read more...

Noteworthy is that TransGaming's engineering team worked independently of the game developers themselves and with no input from Remedy Entertainment nor any access to the Max Payne source code. The bad news is that all this effort of TransGaming will not come for free. TransGaming's plans are to extend WineX as subscription based service. WineX is already available for download - without Max Pyne support. The source code comes for free. Monthly subsription fee is $5 and if you want to vote which game is worked on next to support TransGaming's software you will need to pay $10. You decide...