Back from the dead

Ironically, Ariane and Papa Tango's products in the past have been pretty good, and indeed, often groundbreaking; their FS9 737NG was really very good indeed, with some features that rivalled the FS9 737NG from PMDG, such as window icing and rain and very cool cockpit lighting, similarly, they were the first major developer to get an NG out for FSX, and that too is pretty good. So they have in the past been quite legitimate in claiming some firsts, however, a VSD for FS is not one of them, although I'm sure it's probably a pretty good bit of programming, because as I say, their products are normally quite cool.

But, what is not so good is both their registration method for their products and their pricing policy, registration was about as convoluted as it could be, and I presume still is, although if not, then that would be a good thing. In a similar vein, the cost of their add-ons, again was very convoluted, with you having to pay quite a lot for adding variants to their base packages, including having to pay for liveries (I know some other developers sell livery packages, for example Just Flight, but they're never that pricey and they don't get uppity about people doing their own repaints and making those available gratis). By way of example, I paid 89 Euros for the Ariane 737-900ER for FSX way back in 2009 (that was the product I did and Avsim review with). Now, these days people are kind of getting their heads around FS add-ons costing that kind of cash, but back in 2009, paying the best part of a hundred quid for literally one aeroplane with not even different engine variations unless one paid more, was more than a little steep.

Of course nobody forces anyone to buy any FS add on, so complaining about the cost is never what I would do, but observing that something is pricey, is anyone's right. That said, there's no denying the fact that Ariane, having got their FSX NG out a long time before any other developer managed it, did to some extent allow them to dictate a high price to any simmer who really wanted a good NG for their sim. But these days, by way of comparison, I would contend that iFly's 737NG is every bit as good if not better than that Ariane 737-900ER which I reviewed, and in the iFly package, you get the entire range of 737NGs and BBJs for a grand total of 55 Dollars. Not only that, I would say that the iFly NG in many ways rivals PMDG's 737 NG, which, is also cheaper now than Ariane's was back then. Although I think it is fair to say that these days, a good as iFly NG is,=, PMDG's 737NG is undeniably the best one you can get for FS.

Of course it remains to be seen what Ariane will charge for an FSX 737 NEO, but it's my guess that they will be hoping to get the first shot in so to speak, by getting one up for sale before any other major developer does it, wishing as it were, to repeat history as they did with selling their NGs for FS9 and FSX in large numbers because they were the only choice. If they do get a NEO out first, doubtless it will be pretty good, but I daresay they would be hoping to charge a lot for it by virtue of it being the only one available.

Thus, if anyone reading this finds themselves tempted to buy an Ariane 737, I would say that you will undeniably end up with a decent FS 737, but there are many cheaper and better options out there these days. But if it ends up being tempting to get a 737 NEO from Ariane because they got one out first, likewise it will probably be decent enough, though your wallet will undoubtedly be better off by seeing you driving a PMDG or iFly NG around and waiting for one of those other developers to put out a NEO, as they no doubt eventually will.

FSL's pricing of their A320 (think that one cost me about 130 quid, again, my choice, so no whining from me, cos I really wanted it, and that thing really is groundbreaking), is gonna be like pouring petrol on a fire to Ariane when it comes to creating a precedent for pricing something which no other developer has for sale, so lord alone knows how much they'd charge for having the only 737 NEO out there! Expect Ariane's pricing of something like that to go up like their namesake, i.e. a skyrocket. But...

Most simmers know that Ariane have not always been liked, largely because they don't exactly do their best to make people fall in love with them. Indeed they have occasionally gone out of their way to rub the flight sim community up the wrong way (see the repaint fiasco of a few years back for a good example of that). But what I've never understood, is why they favour such a belligerent stance when it clearly does them no favours in terms of gaining potential customers. They have decent products, and if their pricing and registration methods were tweaked a bit, I'd have no hesitation in recommending their stuff, as I'm sure would other people, because they are, when it comes right down to it, pretty good, even occasionally groundbreaking.

So maybe they can change, maybe they will; I hope so, because unlike a leopard, people - and companies - actually can change their metaphorical spots, but until we know for sure that they've decided it's time to 'come to jeezus' so to speak, I would echo that caveat emptor of others, and not hold my breath awaiting a change from them.