Or, putting it another way - WHO CARES ?!?!?!?!Now, getting less emotional, the point that many have made (L. Adamson, Geof A., others), is that FS200x provides enough "reality"to allow real and virtual pilots to test, experiment, and experiencesimilar scenarios to real world aircraft flying. I do not thinkthis can be debated.There is SO much to what FS2002/FS9 offers - whether it be VFR/IFRflying, topology viewing, ATC "basics", etc. that some aspectsare very real, and others are less so.Will FS2002/FS9 help you learn some basic (and in some casesadvanced) flying techniques? ABSOLUTELY!!!Should FS2004/FS9 be used as the defacto standard for real worldflight training, aircraft behavior, flight dyamics, etc.?Probably not a good idea.For me, FS2002/FS9 (and intially when I began with the Fly! series)have taught me a GREAT more about flying than simply reading abouthow to fly planes from a text book. Heck, Rod Machado's writingfrom both FS2002/FS9 are worth the price of this product.Each day, FS2002/FS9 is inching me further along to take realflying lessons. Something I'd not consider until using a flightsimulator.I'm having fun!JerryG

Regardless of what you call it, if you don't pretend it will not work.

Don't you think that maybe "Microsoft Flight Simulator" sounds a bit better from a marketing perspecive than "Microsoft Flight Game"? And "As Real as it Gets"...Average Joe walks into the shop and sees that line and thinks "Wow, I've always wanted to feel what it's like to fly, an this is as real as it gets!". Also note that FS is by default installed into "Microsoft Games", not "Microsoft Simulators"."It's not a game because it doesn't have a plot". There are many games that don't have a plot, especially racing games and sports games, as well as some roleplaying games.The one who said "It's a game that belongs to the simulator genre" pretty much summed it up.Racing games like Nascar etc. also belong to this genre. Now if you were a Nascar driver, would you use a Papyrys Nascar game to practice racing?

Behold...my game.Friends won't fly it without me...

Hi, I was looking for some scenery answers when I ran into this topic.I am a commercial pilot running for my ATP certificate.Is FS a game? My personal answer and opinion is yes as long as you use it as a simple game.My first contact with FS was when there weren

I'm a skateboarder and its kinda funny when people ask me if I like football or something like that because I say no I'm into sports. Then they wonder how I can be into sports and not like football, baseball, etc... I tell them those are games and things like skating, surfing, etc are sports. That when you hear he plays for, or theres points involved its a games just like chess. That their favorite players is not an athlete but a player. An athlete is a skater or snowboarder, etc. Yes those football players might have athletic abilities but they are still a player. You never hear someone say lets go play skateboarding but whats the point of footballing without keeping score. A player is like a pawn piece that can be traded or benched or whatever. An athlete is one who has talent.So in my eyes flight sim or simmers are not a game or gamers. A simmers does it for enjoyment only and can be talented in doing it. Let they take it serious or casual it is still for the fun and enjoyment and nothing to do with being better than another or others via points or score. Flight sim is simply a virtual reality.NP

Yes, then I could better memorize the Track...

Excellent reply/statement (#34) !!L.Adamson