I still think there will be another PC version.The Usage tracking program was clearly aimed at the flightsimming community. It was announced on the main FS sites, so most people taking part will be the more involved users (as opposed to a more casual, console-type audience) that have found their way here, and so Microsoft will probably find that most are using add-ons, and that extendability is an important issue. As if they didn't know already! Anyone can see that high resolution is crucial too...Microsoft is in the business of selling operating systems. Flight Simulator is an operating system for flight simulation. A growing market for add-ons, both software and hardware, is evidence that there is a sizeble target group outthere, willing to keep investing in new add-ons, better hardware, and...a new FS!So, in all likelyhood there WILL be an FS-X; but I'm pretty sure of a new PC incarnation as well. Now if the console version starts outselling the PC version, THEN we'll be in trouble!

I don

LOL, no. I have little doubt that there will be an X-box version. However, I also have no doubt that it will be "FS-lite" for the console crowd. There is no market for any sort of "hardcore" flight simulation in the console world. If they do release FS-X and it's anything close to what it already is for the PC it will fail miserably. It just won't sell. It will be difficult to control with a gamepad and historically console users don't go in much for peripherals. Most simply won't be willing to go out and buy a joystick and rudder pedals. It certainly won't have any of the really great add-ons we have so it's going to be of little interest to "us." There will be another iterations of FS for the PC. Not only is it a money maker, but it's a "prestige" title. It has historical significance and that does mean something even to "bad ol' M$."

For controllers please see "USB" in the specs above.Simpit

IF FS moves to the Xbox, ill be moving to X-Plane.I love my Xbox, but its a console, and I use it as a console.Games like Project Gotham and dead or alive are whats its for IMHO not FS. Ive got over 50 games for it and I hardly ever play it, nothing beats FS. Now if FS was to move to the Xbox id give up on FS, it dosent seem right. I mean what about stuff like FSUIPC WIDEFS, Active SKY. It will be too long to late before we get back what we lose. IF MS decide that they will just ignor the addon scene then they are making a grave mistake.Less we forget that the X-BOX SDK is not easy to get and highly costly.Jason

>IF FS moves to the Xbox, ill be moving to X-Plane.:-hah :-hah :-hah LOL Jason, great title!Best,Martijn

If that's where the market is, that's where it goes...Remember the maybe 25000 people in the highend addon market are a very small percentage of total users, 1, maybe 2 percent at most.Loosing those (who are also the worst customers when it comes to support demands, and thus the most expensive for the company) if that results in the sale of several hundred thousand more XBox units, ya bet Microsoft will do it.I know I would...

DOES THE flight Simulator X really means its the Simulator version 10.You know...after Version 9, version X (ten).hmmmm.......

Maybe it wont be too bad ? Here are some facts about the new Xbox 360 I found out...CPU with 3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each.Custom ATI GPU unit based on ATI's next generation chip, running at 500MHz and features 48 shader units.Games optimized for 16:9 aspect ratio, HD Output (720p and 1080i); multichannel surround sound output.Detachable and upgradeable hard drive to download new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins, community-created content.USB 2.0 ports to plug in wired game controllers that are also common for Windows PCs.I'm still pretty sure though MS will create a PC version...E3 is comming up, we might hear some info then...

It really doesn't matter that they can get controllers. The point is, almost nobody will. Other than different versions of the gamepads themselves, the market for add-on controllers for consoles is extremely small. A "realistic" console version of FS would pretty much require that people go out and buy at least a joystick. Most just won't. And when word spreads (which it quickly will) that the sim is almost "unplayable" with the gamepad, sales will slow to a crawl. What likely will happen is what almost always happens when any deep PC sim gets a console version - the console version will be a simpler, less complete, and feature-limited version of the PC sim.

Why hasn t anyone pointed out this thing yet : "Microsoft is the official sponsor of IFC 2005, and we can announce that there will be one or two big surprises in store that you just can't afford to miss."Everybody is elaborating theories from every single piece of unofficial information coming from nowhere but nobody talks about big news like this one is (though we dont know what is going to be the surprise).Funny thing!

Please explain "IFC 2005". I've Googled this but can't find anything that seems to be in context with flight simulation or console games.Thanks!DougEdit: Before Awais posted the link I decided to add "Microsoft" to "IFC 2005" for the search and found it right away :) (DOH!)Thanks!Dell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB)2GB DDR SDRAM74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) & 120GB SATA (D: )256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 5.3)Audigy 2 ZS SoundMS Force Feedback 2WindowsXP Pro (SP2)DirectX 9.0c

http://www.ifcblackpool.com/Int'l Flightsim Convention

Yeah Awais named it!So THAT is something we can trust...Plus you can browse their forum and find interesting "official" rumors if I dare say;)

Hello All,Well, I for one believe as long as we have other games for the PC, we will have Flight sim for the PC. Simply put, I think that FS, in a much more limited version will hit XBox, but Flight Simulator, as we know it today with all its improvements which are planned, will continue on.Should XBox be the only format for Flight Simulation in the future, well, then I guess I'll stick with 2004 until the day I cash in my chips -- which at my age, probably will be another 10 or 15 years, if I'm lucky.Don't fret kids, as long as other games are made for PC, so will FS.Best to all,Clayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"