What does "3D accelerated, supporting hardware Pixel shader" mean?!?

I bought a Meet the Robinsons PC game earlier, but when I loaded it into my CPU it failed to initialize, maybe because I missed out on the part that said onboard or built-in video cards were not supported by the game- sheesh T_T ... So now, I'm stuck with an unplayable game... and my Dad doesn't want to buy a video card- But I will :P ... Can someone help me with my problem- because for all I know, it's not the video card that's the matter, it could be something else. THANKS SO MUCH! Any useful help is appreciated.



EXTRA INFO:

My present video card is NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200.

Graphics Card Information:

Video BIOS version: 4.34.20.87

IRQ: 16

Bus: AGP 8X

Memory: 128 MB

ForceWare version: 94.24

TV Encoder Type: Integrated (MV)





THE GAME'S REQUIREMENTS ARE:

Operating System: Windows XP

CPU: Pentium 4 class or Athlon XP 1.4 Ghz. or greater

RAM: 256 MB

Disc Drive: DVD-ROM Drive

Hard Drive: 2.5 GB disk available

Video Card: 3D accelerated, supporting hardware Pixel shader

Sound Card: 16-bit DirectX 9 compatible

Input Devices: Mouse , Keyboard



(I think this link will be VERY USEFUL too... http://www.nvidia.com/object/GeForce_3D_Vision_3D_Games.html)





Another thing is that I can't tell whether the CD's the problem or my video card- since it doesn't even want to load on my computer!!! If it was the video card, then I would be expecting a pop-up of the game menu on the desktop at least- and warn me that my computer's compatible or not- but nothing comes out on the screen at all! :( Should I have the game exchanged, buy a new video card, or get a laptop??? :( HELP... I really want to play the game!!! :((





(And if it's the Pixel card that's the problem...)

If ever I need to buy a Pixel shader card, can you recommend one that best suits particularly the requirements of this game? Thanks again. Ü|||A 3D accelerated video card is a video card that has the ability to process 3D graphics. Video cards and integrated graphics have had the ability to process 3D graphics for many years so it shouldn't be a concern for most people.



The part about supporting pixel shading is referring to a technology in video cards that provides the ability to render different lighting effects. Video cards in general have had pixel shading support for several years as well. Integrated graphics, however, did not have pixel shading support for as long as video cards.



Your GeForce 5200 video card meets the video card requirement because it is a 3D accelerated video card and has pixel shading support. Your problem seems to lie elsewhere.|||I have the same problem, actually.

I hope you find an answer.|||3D Acclerated simply means a dedicated physical graphics card, not an onboard graphics.



A pixel shader is a shader program executed by graphics processing unit. It adds 3D shading and lighting effects to pixels in an image.



Judging by the requirements, it must be a pretty old game. These graphics card support AGP 8X:



Gigabyte GV-R13128D (Radeon X1300)

Gigabyte GV-N68U256D (GeForce 6800 Ultra)