Hi Mathijs, Been awhile! How are you doing? Kind regards,

Keep in mind the cancelled the successor to FSX at first because sales were not good enough. I actually doubt MS broke even on FSX. What we know of sales data for Germany for example does not lead to the conclusion they could have been very happy. And Germany most likely outsold the USA in sales. The decline of boxed sales of PC games (sorry for that term) in the US and in Asia is what cause MS to reconsider. They closed Aces, they shut down Transim projects. and only when they found ways to do it different, new people etc, did they restart. But FGSX most certainly was not a cash cow. Even FS2004 wasn't and that sold a lot better. The version before that were 'gefundenes fressen' for MS however. Those made serious money. Even when seen next to Office etc.

Phil Taylor suggested here (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ptaylor/archive/2008/06/05/success-of-fsx-and-future-of-the-franchise.aspx) that FSX outsold FS9. I think he showed publicly-available data in that post to reinforce what he probably already knew from internal data. So, "FS2004 sold a lot better" is suspect statement. I can't see how ANY version of MSFS even made a mouse burp compared to MS Office sales, so that is also a tenuous assertion. Like the others, I can't see how Germany would have sold FSX better, it just doesn't seem possible. Of course, in the same post, Phil assures with a high degree of certainty, that FS11 was "guaranteed," which turned out to be false.

Re sales in different countries- I'm sure an expert will chime in, but I wouldn't just assume population no's determine sales in each country. I'd swear there are alot of UK simmers out there! And us Aussies seem very vocal considering out tiny population of approx 22m! I'm the quiet one..Wouldn't it be great to combine the best of all sims, like xplane's flightmodel and fsx looks, with Just Cause's FPS!I wanted Mathijs to buy xplane's flightmodel for AFS. Still time..Actually, the best running game/sim I've seen recently is A10C from Eagle Dynamics. That has some very nicely done clouds and terrain, and a fabulous self-shadowing cockpit to go with a nice, heavy flight model. Just one mean plane though, and I got bored bombing the same old scenery :-)Highly recommended as a diversion, and a good price.

Actually, the best running game/sim I've seen recently is A10C from Eagle Dynamics. That has some very nicely done clouds and terrain, and a fabulous self-shadowing cockpit to go with a nice, heavy flight model. Just one mean plane though, and I got bored bombing the same old scenery :-) Highly recommended as a diversion, and a good price.

+1 DCS A10 and Blackshark both currently on sale (33% off) at Steam for only a couple more days! DCS A10http://store.steampowered.com/app/61010/ DCS Blacksharkhttp://store.steampowered.com/app/61000/

Of course, in the same post, Phil assures with a high degree of certainty, that FS11 was "guaranteed," which turned out to be false.

Well technically, it was not false because Flight can be considered FS11.

Well technically, it was not false because Flight can be considered FS11.

Actually the FS part stands for Flight Simulator as opposed to just plain Flight which dropped the Simulator portion to become the game it always aspired to be.

Actually the FS part stands for Flight Simulator as opposed to just plain Flight which dropped the Simulator portion to become the game it always aspired to be.

"...we want to directly address the concern that by dropping the “Simulator” from the name, we’re dumbing down the experience. Quite the contrary! We’ve developed on the “simulation” aspect for many years and have no intention of losing that legacy."

Microsoft has their take on what dropping the "Simulator" is indicative of and I have mine.

I hope for one MS does not dumb down, or follow any of the rumors that are flying around MS Flight. MS you have built a simulator/game that has brought the joy of flight to many ages. This has even built careers for developers and aviation enthusiast. To take this platform and turn it into a XBOX 360 game "which I own" or something less should be a disgrace to all those involved. I fully understand MS is trying to maximize their dollar and more power to you. I for some reason feel that the powers at be have lost sight of what MS Flight or Simulator could be. The answer is not XBOX compatibility or lets develop this in sections, or buying into the online marketplace ideas. MS needs to improve the virtual world we fly in today. MS capture us by developing a better weather engine, lighting engine, terrain mesh, and water. Why not make this a universal world one to include train simulator and ship simulator? I challenge MS to get those minds of creation working. One day I could be flying to Hawaiian islands from Los Angels and the next conducting a train from Sacramento to Reno. MS I challenge you to recapturing all of us who have lost faith in MS ability and determination to be an industry leader. Bring us back to the days when MS thought FS was "As Real As it Get's". Continue to build and improve the world we fly in and let the outside developers create the advanced airports and aircraft. MS this is more than just a game. This is something that can and will create jobs for all of the amazing developers out there. This could provide a career path for that 10 year old boy or girl. One day you could be sitting on a plane he or she is flying because you gave them the flying bug. Or could just give those who never had the physical or financial ability to take to the skies. For once and with proper direction MS has the ability to make lots of money because that's whats really at stake here right? You taped into this market with FS 2.0 way back in 1982. This has come a long way and could have an even longer life span with some proper decision making. I just hope that MS has not lost the creative minds of yesterday for the tunnel vision I am seeing hints of today. MS if the rumors are true of whats to come you can stop now because I'm pretty sure most of us who have been on-board since FS 2.0 will want nothing to do with it. I still have faith but we as a community of fellow aviation enthusiast, pilots, developers, and dreamers are rapidly losings faith. The only reason MS and the FS titles have lost its financial ability is not because the lack of demand. Its because MS has failed to set and keep some core values and market a product that many people of all ages would be hungry for. Ok my rant is over. If you read this far thanks and hope when you wake up we all can have some true direction into where MS is going.

Amen.

I hope for one MS does not dumb down, or follow any of the rumors that are flying around MS Flight. MS you have built a simulator/game that has brought the joy of flight to many ages. This has even built careers for developers and aviation enthusiast. To take this platform and turn it into a XBOX 360 game "which I own" or something less should be a disgrace to all those involved. I fully understand MS is trying to maximize their dollar and more power to you. I for some reason feel that the powers at be have lost sight of what MS Flight or Simulator could be. The answer is not XBOX compatibility or lets develop this in sections, or buying into the online marketplace ideas. MS needs to improve the virtual world we fly in today. MS capture us by developing a better weather engine, lighting engine, terrain mesh, and water. Why not make this a universal world one to include train simulator and ship simulator? I challenge MS to get those minds of creation working. One day I could be flying to Hawaiian islands from Los Angels and the next conducting a train from Sacramento to Reno. MS I challenge you to recapturing all of us who have lost faith in MS ability and determination to be an industry leader. Bring us back to the days when MS thought FS was "As Real As it Get's". Continue to build and improve the world we fly in and let the outside developers create the advanced airports and aircraft. MS this is more than just a game. This is something that can and will create jobs for all of the amazing developers out there. This could provide a career path for that 10 year old boy or girl. One day you could be sitting on a plane he or she is flying because you gave them the flying bug. Or could just give those who never had the physical or financial ability to take to the skies. For once and with proper direction MS has the ability to make lots of money because that's whats really at stake here right? You taped into this market with FS 2.0 way back in 1982. This has come a long way and could have an even longer life span with some proper decision making. I just hope that MS has not lost the creative minds of yesterday for the tunnel vision I am seeing hints of today. MS if the rumors are true of whats to come you can stop now because I'm pretty sure most of us who have been on-board since FS 2.0 will want nothing to do with it. I still have faith but we as a community of fellow aviation enthusiast, pilots, developers, and dreamers are rapidly losings faith. The only reason MS and the FS titles have lost its financial ability is not because the lack of demand. Its because MS has failed to set and keep some core values and market a product that many people of all ages would be hungry for. Ok my rant is over. If you read this far thanks and hope when you wake up we all can have some true direction into where MS is going.

It sounds like you've been led astray by all the speculations and rumours that have been planted by worried little minds that fear that Flight won't be all that they hope for. We have no official word from MS that indicates that Flight is anything but a flightsim in the tradition of FSX. What we've seen so far actually looks pretty promising, and from what i gather the most significant changes are actually under the hood, with MS stressing that Flight will deliver a great experience without needing a top notch system. This makes sense when you realize that FSX wasn't made with all the power of current videocards in mind.. instead it relies more on the power of the CPU, and even then it doesn't really make use of multicore systems too well. So imagine what FSX would be like if it did make use of current videocards/shaders and multicore processors, 64 bit (better memory management).. i suspect it'd run like a dream, and this is what's being hinted at by MS. I'm not sure what to expect as far as the number of planes and the scope of the available scenery. The fact that they're still using landclass and autogen indicates that the engine is still made for worldwide coverage.. if they just wanted to cover Hawaii they'd be better off using orthophotographic material, but they aren't. We've already seen 3 planes, so i think we can expect at least those planes to be included. The available add-ons will now be centralized and i suppose you can see what's available from within the sim, somehow. This sounds like a good idea to me , because half the time i don't even know what's available for FSX. I do hope that all the usual suspects will develop aircraft and scenery for Flight too, and it'd be silly if MS decided to make Flight a closed system, since it was all the add ons that gave FS sucha long lease of life. So we'll see what happens, but once again, don't let all the attention-seekers and speculators hijack your mind. lol.. it seems sometimes we forget this is just a game, and we take all this entirely too seriously.

Will and payt - good luck with those dreams gents. The coffee is, however, getting cold...

MS this is more than just a game.

Wrong. It is just a game.

Will and payt - good luck with those dreams gents. The coffee is, however, getting cold...

Thanks, i think i'll have Tea instead then :) Anyway, what makes you say that? Concrete facts or whispers in the wind?

We have no official word from MS that indicates that Flight is anything but a flightsim in the tradition of FSX. What we've seen so far actually looks pretty promising, and from what i gather the most significant changes are actually under the hood, with MS stressing that Flight will deliver a great experience without needing a top notch system.

Couldn't agree more, MS have stressed the fact that it will deliver to us wanting the simulator experience and that broadening the audience means bringing the franchise into the modern era, no more, no less. Some say this is just the propaganda machine at work but really, that is nothing more than paranoid ramblings until we have something concrete. I'm a sucker for speculation as much as anyone else but you have to remind yourself that it is nothing but speculation, I have a feeling we wont be let down by MS Flight based purely on what has been shown so far in it's development.