There will be no crossplatform gaming. Rahul Sood, the founder of Voodoo PC wrote Console Gamers Get Killed against PC Gamers and details what happened with crossplatform gaming. Shadowrun, the first crossplatform game was dumbed down for the PC and console guys got autoaim. There have a couple of different crossplatform games, but as a whole, it has been a failure and as such, is not being pushed anymore.With Flight being a PC exclusive, we will not see it. We may see gamer scores, then again we may not. As yet, we do not know what MS has in store for Flight and everything people can think of is speculation. We already have in game messaging with Xfire, Steam and Impulse. GFWL is just another way of doing so. We have had gamer related friends lists since MPlayer at least and continued when Gamespy Arcade bought MPlayer. Even Ubi created a game service with friends lists and chat years ago. GFWL does not necessarily mean that Flight will be dumbed down or that add-ons will be available only through the Live Marketplace. Matter of fact, I see Flight failing if they kept add-ons to just the Live Marketplace. 3rd party developers might not want to share their meager profits with MS thus limiting how far Flight could be expanded outside of freeware, which MS most likely will not host on Live Market (no way to make money on it). Only time will tell what will or will not happen.

Well look at this way... if there is a LIVE market with real DRM that protects both the user and developers, then I'm sure the addon companies would be happy to pay a fraction of the cost to what they lose in piracy to Microsoft. Better them than the theif right?

I don't think GFWL is as much as DRM or rather incorporates it like Ubi's OSP, or even Steam, but it is possible. If it is a DRM, that itself could be a reason for boycotting the game as a whole. Ubisoft recently posted it's last quarter reports and it's PC game sales dropped 13% compared to the same quarter the year before. Much of this is due to the use of 24/7 DRM that required a constant connection to servers at Ubi. That is a big drop in sales. Having such DRM is a double edged sword. Although Steam is a forum of DRM, it does allow for playing offline as opposed to OSP (Online Services Platform) that requires a constant connection and will drop one out of game if your connection stumbles. I don't know of to many people who want to buy a game that will not let them play offline, even FS does as much in that one does not need to download real weather in order to play.Still, it is too early to tell if MS will require a constant connection or if mods (add-ons) will be allowed and if they have to be sold through the Live Marketplace only.

Wonder how this online Live thing is goiung to work with Vatsim and its associated client platforms such as SB4 and FSINN.....

This quote (supposedly from a MS spokesman)..."With “Microsoft Flight” we’re approaching the flight simulation genre from the ground up, with the focus on the universal appeal of the experience of Flight. We believe the simplicity of “Microsoft Flight” perfectly captures that vision while welcoming the millions of existing Flight Simulator fans."...didn't really make me happy... It's copied from this blog:http://techhaze.com/2010/08/microsoft-flight-what-to-expect/It gives me the idea this will be an arcade game in which you can 'simply' fly, probably using an Xbox controller (although they tried to trick us into that too with FSX), and certainly not a sim that offers you the whole world to navigate around as you would in real life. I really hope MS will give us some REAL news soon!EDIT:Never mind: on another forum someone explained to me that 'the simplicity' has to do with the NAME of the game and not the game itself. :(

Games for Windows will be free but require ... broadband internet ...

This can mean:

• You need broadband to use just the Games for Windows Live elements.~or~
• You need broadband to use the entire game.

Which seems more logical?

Updates and addons … only found on the Games for Windows – LIVE Marketplace ...

This can mean:

• Games for Windows Live will be one of several channels to receive add-ons, and some of those add-ons will be exclusive to the Games for Windows Live marketplace. ~or~
• Games for Windows Live will be the only channel to receive add-ons, with 3rd party sales and/or installation methods not allowed.

Which seems more logical?I wonder if the Microsoft marketing teams knew that every syllable of every sentence in their press release would be chewed apart by all of us like a pack of wolverines, looking for any reason to be hopeful, skeptical, fearful, or elated. :)

I see this "flight" as a good thing for us simmers if it turns out to be what i think it is. A game for casual players, but at the same time leaves plenty of room for hardcore simmers and addon developers. Bringing in the casual gamers is only a good thing for us all, alot more copies sold, and more will get interest in flightsimming, much bigger market for addons of all kinds. I will stay positive for now, no reason not to be. Bring it on.

(First post on this topic -- I had a lot to say, but I thought I'd better not).I heartily agree! Some positive thinking and moderation is exactly what we need.For what it's worth, I met a friend at camp last July whose dad is very high up at MS [he fixes the POTUS's (Pres.) PCs... that tell you anything?]. He told me several things:1.) MSFS is not dead -- check!2.) It's going to be PC exclusive -- check!

This can mean:

• You need broadband to use just the Games for Windows Live elements.~or~
• You need broadband to use the entire game.

Which seems more logical?This can mean:

• Games for Windows Live will be one of several channels to receive add-ons, and some of those add-ons will be exclusive to the Games for Windows Live marketplace. ~or~
• Games for Windows Live will be the only channel to receive add-ons, with 3rd party sales and/or installation methods not allowed.

Which seems more logical?I wonder if the Microsoft marketing teams knew that every syllable of every sentence in their press release would be chewed apart by all of us like a pack of wolverines, looking for any reason to be hopeful, skeptical, fearful, or elated. :)

You took the words right out of my mouth (and saved me a lot of thinking and rewriting, LOL) -- thanks! :)

I am really excited about the new upcoming sim. Although we know little about it currently, it still is a step in the right direction. Someone has noticed that there are tons of people who are interested in this type of software. On another note, I have come from a different forum, through an inadvertent suggestion. I would like to say that this forum is very professional and all the members seem to be very friendly. Thanks for that.

It rare when a product is deemed a failure before any code is written. Well, maybe not rare. But it's interesting to read.

I think some fears may be confirmed gentlemen.I just found this whilst hacking into microsofts servers in order to find out more info... :(

:(

... ...

I just found this whilst hacking into microsofts servers in order to find out more info... :(

Must be a photoshopped image. The real image would have slots to place the $.25 into so that the Live features became available... :(

Must be a photoshopped image. The real image would have slots to place the $.25 into so that the Live features became available... :(

:(