So for a long time now we've been going on about the inadequacies of the iMac when it comes to 3D gaming. The revision A models have an ATI RAGE II+ accelerator, which is pretty much hopeless. The revision B iMacs are a big step forward, as they have a RAGE Pro chip and extra texture memory-- pretty cool, but not quite as fast as a Voodoo card, let alone a Voodoo 2. The rumored "C2" iMac models due sometime in the middle of next year are rumored to include a RAGE 128, which will absolutely scream. It's a good progression; it shows that Apple's serious when it comes to gaming, and that the higher-ups are aware of how important games are to a family buying a home computer.

Unfortunately, the forward-thinking C2 doesn't help those existing iMac owners who want to play Unreal in all its 3D-accelerated, texture-smoothed glory; the RAGE chip in the iMac is soldered to the motherboard and is not replaceable with a faster model, and the iMac has no PCI slots, so buying a separate 3D accelerator card isn't an option either. But you may remember way back when the details of the iMac's undocumented PCI-based "Perch" slot first emerged, we postulated that it might be possible for some enterprising graphics card manufacturer to create an iMac-only 3D accelerator. And when the details of the iMac's internal video port (into which the built-in display is connected, via a standard Mac monitor cable) came out, we were sure that such a thing was possible. Good news! According to MacCentral, Micro Conversions agreed with us, and they're about to release a gaming accelerator for the iMac. And it's not even a Voodoo card-- it's Voodoo 2, through and through, which offers staggering performance in the most resource-hungry 3D games today. Start saving up, kiddies, because in a month, $199 will get you an iMac Game Wizard.

Yes, installing an iMac Game Wizard will void your iMac's warranty, but it's a small price to pay to behead those Skaarj the way they were meant to be beheaded. By the way, those of you who recall us lambasting Micro Conversions for pricing their Voodoo 2 products right out of the market, there's some good news there, as well: effective immediately, the 12MB Game Wizard drops in price from $349 to $199. That's a much more realistic price point-- though PC versions of the Voodoo 2 cost less than half that. Still, we Mac users are still accustomed to paying more for less when it comes to certain peripherals. We suppose it's the karmic payback for paying less for more when we buy our Macs.