FLIGHT News Update

[hasegawa]

PRESS RELEASE

January 4th, 2012 – Microsoft Flight Takes to the Skies
Today, Microsoft Studios premiered Microsoft Flight, a PC game that lets players jump into the challenge, fun, and freedom of flight. Microsoft Flight will be PRESS RELEASE

January 4th, 2012 – Microsoft Flight Takes to the Skies
Today, Microsoft Studios premiered Microsoft Flight, a PC game that lets players jump into the challenge, fun, and freedom of flight. Microsoft Flight will be available as a free download this spring, giving players the freedom to fly the skies over the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii, complete a variety of exciting missions, test their skills in flying challenges, or find hidden aerocaches on the island.

In Microsoft Flight, players view the world from above in a visually stunning and realistic representation of the earth, complete with region-specific weather patterns, foliage, terrain and landmarks. Players can choose to take the helm using highly rendered, accurate cockpits and authentic piloting procedures, or simply use their mouse and keyboard to control the plane in an exterior view. More experienced players can tailor the flight controls to match their skill level, making Microsoft Flight easy for beginners while still challenging for the most accomplished PC pilots.

“Many people dream of flying, but few have the chance to experience the fun of exploring the world from above. Microsoft Flight provides players the opportunity to explore that curiosity and interest,â€￾ said Joshua Howard, executive producer of Microsoft Flight. “Aviation can be incredibly technical, but we’ve taken great care to build an experience that makes taking to the skies thrilling and accessible for everyone.â€￾

Start Exploring For Free

After downloading Microsoft Flight for free, players can jump into hours of exciting gameplay on the Big Island of Hawaii.

In addition, players who sign in to their Games for Windows – LIVE account automatically receive additional free content, including the legendary Boeing Stearman plane, supplementary missions, and access to Achievements and an Online Pilot Profile. Those looking to deepen their experience can purchase and download additional content that adds new aircraft, regions and customization options. The frequently released new content for Microsoft Flight includes daily aerocache challenges and updates that make every flight unique and fun.

Be the First to Fly the Definitive Light Sport Aircraft ICON A5

Microsoft Studios worked with the personal aeroplane manufacturing team at ICON Aircraft to give aviation fans the exclusive opportunity to fly the all-new ICON A5 before real-world production starts at the end of 2012. Designed by the world-class aeronautical engineers behind the Voyager spaceship, X-Prize winning SpaceShipOne, and Virgin Galatic’s SpaceShipTwo, the ICON A5 is the “jet ski for the skies,â€￾ a high-wing amphibious monoplane with a carbon fiber airframe and a comfortable, automobile-inspired cockpit with space for two. The ICON A5 will be the first aircraft available to players for free in Microsoft Flight.

“ICON Aircraft and Microsoft Flight both share the goal of making the fun of flying accessible to everyone who’s ever dreamed about it. ICON does this by fusing world-class product design with the very best engineering, and Microsoft by combining the excitement of a great gaming experience with the authenticity of a top notch flight simulator,â€￾ said ICON Aircraft CEO Kirk Hawkins.


In Microsoft Flight, players view the world from above in a visually stunning and realistic representation of the earth, complete with region-specific weather patterns, foliage, terrain and landmarks. Players can choose to take the helm using highly rendered, accurate cockpits and authentic piloting procedures, or simply use their mouse and keyboard to control the plane in an exterior view. More experienced players can tailor the flight controls to match their skill level, making Microsoft Flight easy for beginners while still challenging for the most accomplished PC pilots.

“Many people dream of flying, but few have the chance to experience the fun of exploring the world from above. Microsoft Flight provides players the opportunity to explore that curiosity and interest,â€￾ said Joshua Howard, executive producer of Microsoft Flight. “Aviation can be incredibly technical, but we’ve taken great care to build an experience that makes taking to the skies thrilling and accessible for everyone.â€￾

Start Exploring For Free

After downloading Microsoft Flight for free, players can jump into hours of exciting gameplay on the Big Island of Hawaii.

In addition, players who sign in to their Games for Windows – LIVE account automatically receive additional free content, including the legendary Boeing Stearman plane, supplementary missions, and access to Achievements and an Online Pilot Profile. Those looking to deepen their experience can purchase and download additional content that adds new aircraft, regions and customization options. The frequently released new content for Microsoft Flight includes daily aerocache challenges and updates that make every flight unique and fun.

Be the First to Fly the Definitive Light Sport Aircraft ICON A5

Microsoft Studios worked with the personal aeroplane manufacturing team at ICON Aircraft to give aviation fans the exclusive opportunity to fly the all-new ICON A5 before real-world production starts at the end of 2012. Designed by the world-class aeronautical engineers behind the Voyager spaceship, X-Prize winning SpaceShipOne, and Virgin Galatic’s SpaceShipTwo, the ICON A5 is the “jet ski for the skies,â€￾ a high-wing amphibious monoplane with a carbon fiber airframe and a comfortable, automobile-inspired cockpit with space for two. The ICON A5 will be the first aircraft available to players for free in Microsoft Flight.

“ICON Aircraft and Microsoft Flight both share the goal of making the fun of flying accessible to everyone who’s ever dreamed about it. ICON does this by fusing world-class product design with the very best engineering, and Microsoft by combining the excitement of a great gaming experience with the authenticity of a top notch flight simulator,â€￾ said ICON Aircraft CEO Kirk Hawkins.


We in Germany and Austria disscus at the meantime the politics from Microsoft and the feeling in the forums is clear... "Flight" is dead.

Why?

"available as a free download this spring, giving players the freedom to fly the skies over the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii, complete a variety of exciting missions, test their skills in flying challenges, or find hidden aerocaches on the island."

So what?

One for us in Europe not very interesting island... all the pieces of landscape that is for us from interest... buying for a lot of money exclusively from Microsoft? No ORBX, no FSDT, no Godzone, no VLC ...? No longer aircraft from PMDG, flight1.com Nemeth Design, Aerosoft ... ?

Many of us in Germany see Prepare 3D as one version for the future and the second may be X-Plane 10, if Austin does something, that the Landscape is not so uniform, City´s have more individual buildings and not autogen at all and passable aircraft are needed.... but not at the moment.

Meanwhile we forget Microsoft "Flight" and use FSX... and all the addons we have... that makes FSX unique for every virtual pilot.

No, Microsoft has shooting itself in the feet and crippled itself.

[SeanTK]

Looks like I'll be sticking with the realism and versatility that FSX provides for me. I will also be keeping my eye on this company's product:
http://www.aeroflyfs.com/index.php/en/

[GlennAV8R]

If Microsofts only income from this is from add-ons, I would guess that no 3rd party addons will be allowed.

[Timmo]

QUOTE (GlennAV8R @ Jan 5 2012,8:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If Microsofts only income from this is from add-ons, I would guess that no 3rd party addons will be allowed.

It may be as I thought which is: Microsoft becomes a major player in the 'Addon' market and charges a fee for developers to have their addons hosted. This ensures income throughout the sims life cycle.

Financially, it makes sense as with previous versions of FS, Microsoft had spent this large sum of money to develop the sim, then sell it for $100 dollars and that was their revenue. Nothing more after selling the software. When a lot of FS users spend many times that initial purchase price on addons, it makes sense to want to get in on that action!
It also addresses the issue that most FS users face- Most don't spend a lot of time in the rest of the virtual world, they spend it in their own 'corner of the globe' and want that corner to be high fidelity.

So, it's different to what we are used to for sure, but I don't think it will mean Flight is a failure. It does represent some major changes for addon makers so we will have to see how that pans out.

[Ian Warren]

Had a look at the posting and yawned ... The Big Island of Hawaii ? yeah yeah same size of Australia , wait till orbx get there hands on this one

[lowflier]

Hmmm, If I wanted to be playing a "Flying Game" I would have stuck to Ace Combat 6 on Xbox 360. The reason I love FSX is it's sheer versatility and abundant upgrades tweaks and customisations. Although I wouldn't mind this shift in direction if it were "The Whole Big Island(s) of New Zealand" But sadly I just don't see FLIGHT cutting my mustard.

[Kelvinr]

This says it all. What a disappointment for the real enthusiasts and real world pilots.

http://flyawaysimulation.com/news/4317/mic...rosoft-studios/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397774,00.asp

PS. sorry admin, i was supposed to reply to the thread not create a new topic. you can move if you feel the need to :-). This is really quite a sad day as an enthusiast flight simmer.

[raddragon]

After the announcement of t being a “Live titleâ€￾ I had my reservations. What they have outlined today is a big disappointment!

A little of me was hoping they would pick up their game and provide an offering that was better than FSX. How did they get this so wrong?

After launch we are going to be waiting years for decent add-ons. I doubt it will launch with a PMDG NGX quality 737.

What happens with all my current add-ons? I didnt move to FSX until last year and have spent hundreds on add-ons.

I'm going to explore xPlane 10 as an alternative and stick with FSX in the interim.

[Kelvinr]

QUOTE (lowflier @ Jan 5 2012,9:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmm, If I wanted to be playing a "Flying Game" I would have stuck to Ace Combat 6 on Xbox 360. The reason I love FSX is it's sheer versatility and abundant upgrades tweaks and customisations. Although I wouldn't mind this shift in direction if it were "The Whole Big Island(s) of New Zealand" But sadly I just don't see FLIGHT cutting my mustard.

Totally agree. What a piece of S^$%# !!

[leow5263]

From looking at the trailer it looks to me like its an arcade game, but i guess we will have to wait and see

[goingboeing]

while im a little (ok a lot) dissapointed at the limited scenery of hawaii I feel that FSX is still an amazing simulator with plenty of development left up it's sleeve.

With the likes of a certain oz developer and the myriad of extremely talented NZ creators for scenery and the likes of PMDG etc for aircraft I certainly am not bored with FSX, in fact I use it regularly for real world instrument currency. I feel that from the above press release that Flight will be more arcadey or a fun flying simulator using realistic graphics and physics which isn't neccessarily a bad thing.

Ill stick with FSX at the mo and I hope that Microsoft hasn't burnt all the loyal Flightsim fans out there.

[Jamessx]

Is this a joke or something as at the start of there video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xJImWUdA-E the rating states "Crude Humor" ????

Jamessx

[Nzeddy]

FSX and Prepar3D V2.

[Ian Warren]

When you think about it , always been mentioned FSX has a lotta years in it .. only starting to scratch the surface now with scenery addons , the choice off aircraft , well the lessons you still can learn , no big loss .

[Kelvinr]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Jan 5 2012,11:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When you think about it , always been mentioned FSX has a lotta years in it .. only starting to scratch the surface now with scenery addons , the choice off aircraft , well the lessons you still can learn , no big loss .

I agree Ian, look at what PMDG brought to the table.

[dart15]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Jan 5 2012,11:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When you think about it , always been mentioned FSX has a lotta years in it .. only starting to scratch the surface now with scenery addons , the choice off aircraft , well the lessons you still can learn , no big loss .

Well I guess that's the bigger question isnt it! Does it?

From MS's perspective this is a good move. Whether we like to acknowledge it or not the enthusiast FS community is a small one (relatively speaking). There is a far bigger (games) market out there so, commercially (for MS), this is a no-brainer. Good luck to them.

But what does this mean for FSX? It may have further potential but technically it is has limitations. If MS decides to simply abandon FSX at some point and wont release the IP, the FSX community will inevitably shrink through attrition - and with that will go all future third-party add-ons (payware) because there will be no economic return. Enthusiast provided freeware (some of it of very good quality) will of course always be there but the commercial high quality development and customisations that we have all come to expect and love will simply not be there. Has anyone seen anything from MS about ongoing commitment to FSX? Perhaps what may emmerge from this in the longer term is the player-community taking over responsibility for development of FSX ala Falcon 4 but for that to happen MS has to play ball!

Long reign FSX!!!!!!

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (dart15 @ Jan 5 2012,1:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well I guess that's the bigger question isnt it! Does it?

Long reign FSX!!!!!!

I'm sure it will , now that,s a no-brainer ... good thing is and i have mentioned years ago , gives people the chance to catch up hardware wise so to speak .

[deaneb]

Its a bit of a slap in the face from MS after all those years we've supported them. Their FS genre has always been their biggest selling title, with the lowest advertising budget! Now they produce Flight which supposedly utilises a better graphics engine etc, but their is no support for 3rd party add-ons? Talk about a tease. Hopefully this first release is simply a kind of trial and then things will expand from there. Otherwise their new slogan should be "As real as it gets - but only in Hawaii"

[Adamski]

QUOTE (Timmo @ Jan 5 2012,8:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Financially, it makes sense as with previous versions of FS, Microsoft had spent this large sum of money to develop the sim, then sell it for $100 dollars and that was their revenue. Nothing more after selling the software. When a lot of FS users spend many times that initial purchase price on addons, it makes sense to want to get in on that action!

Well ... if MS had actually *finished* the product themselves, rather than have other people do it for them, then maybe they would have had more revenue! I shudder to think how much I've spent on FSX over the years.

Let's face it, FSX with default scenery and default aircraft is pretty *basic*. There's so much programming talent out there (A2A, PMDG, ORBX) ... all MS had to do was employ them! MS just wanted wanted to make a quick buck. When you consider the sheer scale of the simming community that's supported so many add-on developers (even in the face of massive piracy) then you have to admit it was a mega gaffe by MS - totally under-estimated the market.

That said, what MS *did* produce (and I'm thankful for) is a relatively versatile/open-ended platform that allows all these add-ons to happen ... and some of the [core] coding is brilliant (the weather engine I like in particular).

QUOTE (deaneb @ Jan 5 2012,1:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Talk about a tease. Hopefully this first release is simply a kind of trial and then things will expand from there.

I agree. I think this release *is* just that ... a tease ... and that the full-blown product will follow. Or is that wishful thinking?

[Charl]

Hardcore Simmer here…

What did everyone expect - that MS would go and recreate the FSX era of truly buggy software, broken promises and rampant piracy?
(And one that locked them out of an entire follow-on industry!)

The business case for Flight is Rock Solid, provided the base package is sound.
You have to believe that it must be, otherwise they will be giving away 5 years’ work and not selling anything afterward.

Selling the addons through an Apple-type store is possibly also the best way to curb piracy, presumably with a per-machine online license.
With a bit of luck, even after MS takes their cut, addon prices might be lower because less gets stolen!
And, if the Apple philosophy is followed in the addon QC area, stuff will just install itself and run properly, which might be quite a nice feature, too!

I might – just – be tempted to download a freebie Flight for a looksie.
And, if some smart developer created a brilliant all-of-NZ addon, I could be tempted to buy it to expand the experience.
But it would have to be seriously better than anything we’ve seen; not an impossibility if you look at previous MS base pack vs later addon quality.

And FS9 would have to die first.
It didn’t die yesterday, that’s for sure: 500MB of sublime photoreal Ukraine scenery, custom buildings and autogen found its way onto my HDD.


(Can't resist the screen, sorry!)

I imagine the luddites in FSX will be having the same thoughts too. So the FS market is ever more fragmented…

Flight’s model is the only way to broaden the simming base.
Good on them, and good luck.