wow. those are some hopelessly hopeless specs

not that i've ever completed a project, but i've often thought it wouldn't be too hard to make a game with some nice adjustable effects and nice details for the people who want to use their pc as a heater, and then a "crap-mode" with details that a really crappy (which is way too common) pc can handle easily, perhaps using a 2-3 year old laptop with integrated graphics as a standard.

of course, some things aren't as scalable, like physics simulation that's integral to the gameplay. if your application is physics intense, no need to accommodate for that much rubbish.

julz