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5 years ago
Feature: Simulation & wargame blather
Dovetail Games' vision and mission statements are remarkably similar to The Flare Path's. Replace “company” with “column”, “hobbies” with “articles”, and “delight and retain customers” with “debag and retrain readers” and they're pretty much identical. Whether we see eye to eye on flight simulation matters remains to be seen. I was rather hoping that this week's word slab would serve as a Rosetta Stone to…
Microsoft are shutting down Microsoft Flight in October, they announced only last week It's a sad, small death for what was once of The Big Names in PC gaming. Well, sort of. This week brings news that as Microsoft Flight prepares to fly off into the sunset, Microsoft's fly 'em ups will live on in an unexpected way. Train Simulator creators Dovetail Games have licensed…
Feature: Simulation & wargame blather
Blimey! What a week! Not only did Harris, the Flare Path quartermaster, pick up twenty thousand exclamation marks dirt cheap at a local fire sale, the world of flight simulation was rocked by a trio of 2000lb news Paveways!!! We literally can't move for !s in the office at present! I'm actually thinking of taking a saw to some of them! Extra full stops and…
6 years ago
Feature: Simulation & wargame blather
First-time readers of Flare Path, before you go any further, be aware that the following may contain references to obscure 1920s RAF biplanes. The writer will probably assume you find tankettes, midget submarines, and Welbikes inherently charming. At some point in the text he'll almost certainly use the phrase “almost certainly” and the words 'tad' and 'Panzer' (Or, if the column is looking a tad short,…
7 years ago
Feature: Simulation & wargame news
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…
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…
Feature: Up, Up And A Way To Monetise The Game
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…
Feature: Simulation & wargame news
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…
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.…
Feature: Cockpit Chatter
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…
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…
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.
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…
9 years ago
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…
