Aiming and hitting are two different things ! Vista.... I rest my case.

Edited January 10, 201214 yr by Toys_R_Us

Aiming and hitting are two different things ! Vista.... I rest my case.

Let me repeat:It certainly does not mean that Games for Windows Live for PC does not exist nor a title called Flight for that Platform.I'm confident that they do indeed know what their target is and are busy with the business of making it a reality over the long term.In any event you will need to accept the facts of the matter over time...and oh by the way Vista was the mother of Win7 if I recall.

FSX alledgedly sold over 1 million copies of FSX in the US alone, so for a niche product I consider that pretty fantastic!

Flight was 'alledgedly' supposed to be more than it turned out to be. You'd think after all this we'd stop believing everything MS reports instead of looking at what thier doing as a responce to the last versions success and/or failure. To add further to this where did Microsoft 'alledgedly' report this? Finally if sales were so good (and we all know MS is after sales) why regress to a game like Flight and totally ruin the franchise as if to say what was there wasn't good enough? I don't go by what people say I go by what they do and appartently profit was not in Flight Simulator's favor hense MS fealt they needed a new direction.

Edited January 10, 201214 yr by Dillon

From what I've observed over the years I've been using MSFS (started with FS4!), the largest segment of the FS market are not interested in detailed simulations like the PMDG series or A2A's accusim series. They are mostly interested in the external model, its livery and other eye candy. You only have to look on YouTube, doing a search like "The Ten Best Aircraft for FSX" and see what comes come up at the top. You won't see any realistic simulations there, or panels even. If you see an interior, it will be the passenger cabin. The focus is very much on the external model. Few are interested in how it flies, or what systems and avionics are simulated.Microsoft have targeted that audience spot-on with Flight. Do not under-estimate Microsoft. Flight even has a built in walkthrough camera, so you can walk around on the apron (and possibly in passenger cabins?). I shan't be surprised if they start creating airport terminals you can walk around in, buy café latte, then let you take a bus ride from the terminal to the aircraft.I don't belong to that market segment, and I think many of those bemoaning Flight don't belong to it either. In contrast to that market segment, there's a much smaller segment who use these sims either as a training aid or are simply simulator fanatics. I wouldn't expect that to number more than 20,000 people.I wouldn't be surprised if MS deliberately split the community into these two groups, by allowing LM to develop the simulator aspect and handful of nerds like me, while MS take care of the mass market - the livery fans.I'm willing to bet that Flight will be a moderate success. The only problem for MS I think will result from their locking down the add-on side of things - because it's imposing restrictions where traditionally there weren't any.

Edited January 10, 201214 yr by JasonD210

Flight was 'alledgedly' supposed to be more than it turned out to be. To add further to this where did Microsoft 'alledgedly' report this. Finally if sales were so good (and we all know MS is after sales) why regress to a game like Flight and totally ruin the franchise as if to say what was there wasn't good enough? I don't go by what people say I go by what they do and appartently profit was not in Flight Simulator's favor hense MS fealt they needed a new direction.

Don't be so lazy. Use google:http://www.gamespot.com/news/6203585.htmlConsidering that by 2000 21 million copies of flight simulator had been sold, I'm sure worldwide sales of FSX must have been more than two million.

It seems difficult for folks who "think and believe that they are a majority" to accept the fact that they are indeed a "minority".That is why the thread title is interesting. MS does indeed go where the money is... :(

MS is a lot of things to a lot of people but accusing them of not "knowing their target market" is to to state that you know very little about them and their goals.... :(

Microsoft is totally in tune with their target market as has been illustrated with such products as:Windows Vista - FailWindows Phone 7 - FailWindows Mobile 6 - FailWindows Home Server - FailWindows small business phone system - FailMicrosoft Kin - FailMicrosoft Zune - FailWIndows Marketplace for Mobile - FailPurchasing Skype for $3.5 billion - FailWith such a great track record how can anyone accuse Microsoft of totally not understanding their target market with Flight? I'm certain that we will undoubtedly be able to place Flight up there on the list of legendary Microsoft products as Microsoft BoB, Windows ME, Internet Explorer 6 and the Office XP Paperclip very soon due to Microsoft's extensive market research on the demographic of civilian aviation simulators / games.

Microsoft is totally in tune with their target market as has been illustrated with such products as:Windows Vista - FailWindows Phone 7 - FailWindows Mobile 6 - FailWindows Home Server - FailWindows small business phone system - FailMicrosoft Kin - FailMicrosoft Zune - FailWIndows Marketplace for Mobile - FailPurchasing Skype for $3.5 billion - FailWith such a great track record how can anyone accuse Microsoft of totally not understanding their target market with Flight? I'm certain that we will undoubtedly be able to place Flight up there on the list of legendary Microsoft products as Microsoft BoB, Windows ME, Internet Explorer 6 and the Office XP Paperclip very soon due to Microsoft's extensive market research on the demographic of civilian aviation simulators / games.

Mike, reread my post from above....

Of course. Note that I did not state that MS bats 100% or even 99%.What I refer to is known as Xbox Live for Consoles and Games for Widows Live for PC.Those franchises generate a ton of cash and MS appears to be "on track" to generating even more...

Are you saying that the two gaming franchises I noted are a losing proposition for MS?

Someone needs to be at the helm that's an actual pilot. It's like the struggle many have working in IT where you have managers making decisions not knowning a thing about IT.

Paul Lange (PC12) is the Lead Product Manager for Flight, and is an actual pilot, as are several others on the Flight team. It hasn't seemed to make all that much difference, eh?

Making money is part of a business, but sacrificing certain things about Flight to make even more money is called greed.I wish people wouldn't do things for money as their goal, but rather they enjoy doing it. You'd still make money, but you'd also make a good product as well. It's really sad that some people only work for money and not for other things.Microsoft might not have made as much money with FSX, but they are still pulling in profits from other software they make.

Edited January 10, 201214 yr by magnetite

To put flight simulation into context, Microsoft reported that between FYs 2010 and 2011 the Xbox 360 platform revenue GREW by $2.7 billion. How many extra copies of FSX would have to be sold in that year to achieve that?That's where the money is!

To put flight simulation into context, Microsoft reported that between FYs 2010 and 2011 the Xbox 360 platform revenue GREW by $2.7 billion. How many extra copies of FSX would have to be sold in that year to achieve that?That's where the money is!

Until folks see and understand they will continue to find fault and attempt to disprove facts...

Please explain this statement?

Sorry, must have posted in my own sort of shorthand...MGH posted the facts that Xbox 360 Platform revenue grew by 2.7 Billion dollars during the time frame listed.Until folks see and understand WHY MS is leveraging the XBox Live and Games for Windows Live franchises they will of course find fault with MS decisions regarding Flight and even attempt to disprove facts regarding Gaming Franchise profitablity.

Sorry, must have posted in my own sort of shorthand...MGH posted the facts that Xbox 360 Platform revenue grew by 2.7 Billion dollars during the time frame listed.Until folks see and understand WHY MS is leveraging the XBox Live and Games for Windows Live franchises they will of course find fault with MS decisions regarding Flight and even attempt to disprove facts regarding Gaming Franchise profitablity.

We know why MS is doing Flight, as you stated. We don't have to be happy about it.However, it is my view that in 5 years we'll be wishing for a game as complex as Flight seems to be today, because by then the industry will be finding more profit in remaking Pac Man and Space Invaders - like games. This trend has already started with games like Bejeweled.

However, it is my view that in 5 years we'll be wishing for a game as complex as Flight seems to be today, because by then the industry will be finding more profit in remaking Pac Man and Space Invaders - like games. This trend has already started with games like Bejeweled.

It's all signs of our devolution into Idiocracy...