i figured out the problem. it has to do with the video card. if you have an ATI card you just wasted 60 bucks. it only likes cards from geforce. so you can get the geforce 7800 gtx and waste 700 smackers just for one game or you can get a nvidia geforce 4 for about 60 bucks and it runs great except you have to keep the graphics level low cause its going to lag. or get it for the xbox