Simulation & wargame news
By Tim Stone on July 27th, 2012.
Nobody knows for sure why the Hawaiian Giant Booby (Microsofta Flightus) died out. Some say its nest sites were invaded by shipwrecked rats. Others suggest Polynesian cloak-makers hunted it to extinction. A few believe the bird’s demise was directly linked to its unusual habit of aero-ovulation. Me, I’m a subscriber to the ‘Fatally flawed DLC’ theory. MS released the wrong add-ons at the wrong times at the wrong prices. Read the rest of this entry »
By Adam Smith on July 26th, 2012.
Rumours that Microsoft’s Vancouver studio had been completely shut down were swirling around the internet this morning, but in a statement to Gamespot, the company has specified that the studio will survive despite cuts. One of the projects that will cease, however, is Microsoft Flight, which means Tim Stone’s desire for “jets, smuggling, and air-sea rescues…via DLC” is likely to be forever unfulfilled, at least in this game. The free to play title seemed to have been designed as an expanding world but there will be no growth now. Our thoughts are with those whose jobs are affected, on this and other projects. Statement below.
Up, Up And A Way To Monetise The Game
By Tim Stone on March 7th, 2012.
Here at Rock and Paper and Shotgun we are committed to free-to-read Wot I Thinks. The following assessment of Microsoft’s new gunless flight sim can be read as many times as you like for absolutely no fee:
“Microsoft Flight is jolly good, all things considered.”
Enjoy that? Want more? You’ll be pleased to hear that this WIT can be extended in numerous exciting and affordable ways.
Simulation & wargame news
By Tim Stone on March 2nd, 2012.
Mother Nature is up to something. In my neck-of-the-woods cuckoo pint and dog’s mercury have begun appearing amongst the leaf litter. The bare treetops are abuzz with avian Morse code. If I didn’t know better I’d say a Big Push was in the offing. Gaia is going to try another assault with her Elite Photosynthesizers. It’s as if she doesn’t remember how it ended last year. How it ends every year.
If war should come, you won’t find me anywhere near bursting buds or strafing butterflies. I’ll be ensconced in my Hans Christian Anderson shelter preparing pieces like this week’s GIANTS interview and Microsoft Flight report. Read the rest of this entry »
By Craig Pearson on February 7th, 2012.
Just like Holly Genarro’s plane had to circle the airport at Dulles Airport in the 1990 classic Die Hard 2: Rudder Me This, Microsoft’s free-to-play air-to-plane sim Flight is still up in the air. But fret not, fokkers, for Microsoft will be getting all John McLaine on its crew section, and exploding a planeful of terrorists to create runway lights on the 29th of February. That’s when everyone will be touching down on the crunchy snow and into Bruce Willis’s comforting embrace. Er, and the game’s out.
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Cockpit Chatter
By Tim Stone on January 25th, 2012.
Pressing the ‘SUBMIT’ button on the Microsoft Flight beta application page does one of two things. if you’re lucky it propels your application down PTT tube ‘A’ – a trans-global conduit that terminates just above the desk of Merlin Packard, the MS Flight beta manager. If you’re unlucky it sends your missive down PTT tube ‘B’ – a trans-global conduit that terminates just above the maw of Kīlauea, Hawaii’s most energetic lava vent. Unfortunately, my application seems to have ended-up in the volcano. Deprived of first-hand Flight experience I’ve been forced to fact-gather by quizzing the developer. Descend ten thousand micrometers to see the result of that quizzing.
By John Walker on January 9th, 2012.
After over 340 years in development, there’s finally a trailer for Microsoft Flight. It’s the reboot of the previously defunct Flight Simulator series, beginning stuck on the islands of Hawaii, but coming out for free. The trailer doesn’t really emphasise the hardcore side of the game at all, so those hoping to find out if it’ll meet their MSFS needs will have to wait a bit longer.
By John Walker on January 4th, 2012.
Remember when Microsoft closed ACES, the studio that makes Microsoft Flight Simulator, and everyone sighed and looked at their shoes and wondered if Steve Ballmer grew stronger with every studio the behemoth destroyed? That was 2009. In Spring 2012 the new Microsoft Flight will be released, and it will be a download, and it will be free.
By Alec Meer on December 2nd, 2011.
Microsoft Flight Simulator was dead for a while, but it’s due to return with one less word next year. Microsoft Flight is the name for the rebooted grandaddy of stately, faithfully-recreated aeorplanes, presumably because someone in marketing decided ‘Simulator’ didn’t sound suitably lifestyle. Microsoft Game Studios have been quietly documenting MSF’s progress over on their website for a while now, but they’ve just announced plans to open the bomb bay doors to interested beta testers next month. That all happens here.
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By Kieron Gillen on August 17th, 2010.
It was a sad loss of a genuinely decades-old-franchise when Microsoft seemed to abandon Microsoft Flight Simulator. However, as part of its three-pronged PC-offensive announced at Gamescom, they’ve brought back an internally-developed PC-Exclusive Microsoft Flight. Very few more details on its sparse page. Few bits from the press release which stand out include the desire to “Welcoming everyone, including long-time fans, to experience the magic of flight” – which brings to mind Tim’s feature on the descent of the Flight Sim – and talking about a shared, social experience. The very short teaser follows…
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