Fans of Microsoft Flight Simulator are all gathering today to hold hands and weep – the franchise, previously pronounced dead last year, will be resurrected in the form of Microsoft Flight. Though, while some weep with joy, others may be weeping for an entirely different reason.
“Microsoft Flight will bring a new perspective to the long-standing genre,” raps the press release, “welcoming everyone, including long-time fans, to experience the magic of flight.” Magic, huh? I almost thought this was an Apple product for a moment.
‘Everyone’ is a very telling word, here. Previous incarnations of Flight Simulator are notoriously difficult for the layman to comprehend, let alone operate. Geared towards actual pilots and flight enthusiasts, the franchise had always championed realism and an accurate flight experience. So to say ‘everyone’ (and to drop Simulator from the title altogether) would seem to indicate a decidedly casual approach to the resurrection of Microsoft’s oldest product (it’s beating Windows by three years). The Farmvillification of Flight Simulator? Could be – we’ll have to sit tight and… I dunno, sing, until more details are revealed.
I, personally, would like to continue to see a full-on simulation mode. My lack of flight knowledge and the subsequent, inevitable misadventure of slamming a plane into a mountain, secluded lake, or populated urban centre – frantically and randomly flipping switches all the while – was an endless source of classy, high-brow comedy as a child. And so should it continue to be.
It is just me, or is that a (near) topless woman on the splash page for the URL shown in the video clip?
I have Flight Simulator 98. Always wanted to fly the boeing but never really figured out how. I could never get it off the ground. Fun to try, though.