All I got out of Flight Simulator was the knowledge id probably never make a pilot. Combat Flight simulator, on the other hand, was awsome | |
I loved flight sim. Playing online was really neat. We'd collectively set up destinations in our F-16s and fly in formation. Fun stuff. If only X-Plane had such stunning visuals. | |
I miss MS Space Simulator. Same thing, no gravity. But IMHO the Flight Simulator line of games, hobbyist-accurate or not, could have benefited from some action. Its ending is of minimal impact to my life. Them discontinuing the Mechwarrior games on the other hand... | |
I never liked flight simulator, the planes didn't expload, at least in the 95 version. | |
I hope these reports come out to be false. I really love the Flight Sim franchise! | |
This. hell the first MS Flight Sim had a WWI dogfighting sim built into it. And I too am pissed that there is no Mechwarrior 5 yet. Or a new Mech Assault (at least the rights got taken back by some of the creators...yet they've done nothing with it) | |
I...It...They... Now who am I going to go to to get my modern era flight sim fix? | |
meh, i was't really into the whole fly a plane in a game thing, its far more fun in a game wherein you do more than circle around for several hours. | |
http://www.mechlivinglegends.net/ Just thought I'd throw that out there. it's already in beta testing too. | |
Combat flight simulator one was the first on line game I played. Such fond fond memories... | |
For any who ever played it, ID4 (Independence Day) was perhaps the best combat flight sim for multiplayer. Simplistic, fun, and had both the A10 Warthog and the F117 Nighthawk. | |
They....they can't do this! I love that game. How could you..? Noooo... So on, so forth. | |
Nooooooo; I had such great memories with Flight Simulator. My favourite thing to do was to go into space by holding a button (I believe it was F2 but most likely not) and then nose diving down into a tree. | |
Yeah that's true I forgot about this. | |
i am going to miss flight simulator, but i wont miss microsoft when they are gone in a couple of years!!! | |
No! Flight sim got me into gaming. In FSX, my favourite part was turning off the seatbelt sign and doing a barrel roll. (Yes, it can be done.) | |
Never played much Flight Sim. Was still in elementary school the first time, and I couldn't even start the plane. When I got my friend to start and take off for me, I quickly got bored and flew smack into some buildings. Too bad for the community, though, if Flight Sim really has passed away. | |
Extra Punctuation
MovieBob: Intermission
Experienced Points
First Person
Exploding Barrels
Miracle of Sound: Encore
Special Attack
Loading Time
Backchat
Drinking Games
Escape to the Movies
Escapecraft
Escapist News Wrap - Premium
Escapist Podcast
Feed Dump
GinxTV
Jimquisition
LoadingReadyRun
Mahalo
Meatbag and Co
Media Sandwich
Miracle of Sound
No Right Answer
Pro-Gamer Gauntlet
Reviews
Space Janitors
Tales from the Table
The Big Picture
The Escapist Presents
The Retro Show
Trailers
Unskippable
Zero Punctuation
Max Payne 3 Review
Company of Heroes 2
XCOM Enemy Unknown
Black Ops 2
Diablo 3 Review
TERA Review
Firefall Beta Preview
Starhawk Review
Critical Miss
Name Game
The Death of Microsoft Flight Simulator
The future of Microsoft's decades-old Flight Simulator series is uncertain after reports that the entirety of the Fight Simulator staff has been laid off.
Flight Simulator was one of the first games I ever played. All I remember is thinking "cool, planes" and then being really, really, really confused. Though I doubt I'll ever earn my pilot's wings in Flight Simulator, I've always admired the series and its passionate community of hobbyists. I have respect for my elders, and Flight Simulator is older than me: having been in continual development since 1982, it's technically Microsoft's oldest product for the PC and likely the longest-running franchise in the games industry as a whole.
Which makes it all the more bizarre to think that Flight Simulator may be no more after reports that Microsoft has laid off a good portion of the staff ACES, the studio responsible for the series, including the entirety of the Flight Simulator team. "Hundreds of thousands of people just had their hobby put on hold," Steve Lacey, a software developer at Google, wrote on his blog.
Twitter updates from associates of the Flight Simulator team are saying that the layoffs took place yesterday. The cuts come as part of a planned 5,000 layoffs at Microsoft, the first wave of which is reportedly centered around Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division and comprised of 1,400 job cuts. In addition to ACES, Microsoft also slashed 30 percent of its game testers team, according to VentureBeat. And the shakedown seems to be far from over. "Also, next week, the game group is expected to undergo a management restructuring," VentureBeat wrote.
Fans might take heart, however, that the death of Flight Simulator isn't completely set in stone. Boomtown contacted Microsoft for confirmation of the layoffs, and, after receiving a "no comment" response, received an email: "We can say that you should expect us to continue to invest in enabling great LIVE experiences on Windows, including flying games, but we have nothing specific to announce."
Permalink