>>> MS has been working on a new version of flight simulator>for>>a while now. We all know this to be fact, we have even seen>>screenshots of wet runways and reflections of water etc. >>Which were explicitly stated not to be shots from a new>version of FS, merely what it is known to be possible. FSX may>well show up in February, but I'm tired of hearing those wet>runway shots referred to like they were from a new version of>FS when as far as we know they aren't (no offense). > That's not the point, the point is that MS clearly wanted to show us something and that something was wet runways and reflections in the water. Who cares if it was not actual screenies from in the game? The fact was they were working on the newest version and wanted to "tease" us with new technology in the game. Maybe you should look past those screenshots to what they were trying to tell us eh?[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]AMD 64 4000+|ASUS K8V DELUXE|SAPPHIRE ATI X800XT PE|MUNCHKIN 3200|80 gig SATA|DELL 1905FP 19" LCD|TRACKir PRO|PFC JEPPESEN MOONEY YOKE|CH PRO PEDALS|

>Who exactly is gonna sue 'em? >>If they've dropped a few 'hints' to get speculation fuelled>(and highten interest), there's nothing new in that. It's>called marketing.>>Things get 'delayed' in the FS world, some indefinitely.>Anything from new/enhanced products to support forums, but>it's all 'healthy hype' and keeps the speculators>guessing.....>>When MS really has a new product to announce, believe me we'll>know about it. Until then, wait and see.>>Toni. You think PC GAMER gives a hoot about marketing for flight simulator? Come now it's not like they are the top sellers in the gaming industry. And I do not believe MS would NEED to let US know prior to anyone else why should they? We are a tiny faction of their revenue for any flight sim version and I would venture to guess that Walmart sells more copies to the "general public" than all of flight sim board members combined...[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]AMD 64 4000+|ASUS K8V DELUXE|SAPPHIRE ATI X800XT PE|MUNCHKIN 3200|80 gig SATA|DELL 1905FP 19" LCD|TRACKir PRO|PFC JEPPESEN MOONEY YOKE|CH PRO PEDALS|

Interesting news, but I still think Feb 2006 is miss quote of some sort. Normally big game developers want to announce a product at least six months in advance to start building up the hype.No doubt we can expect to hear something soon on one of the MS blog sites now that the cat is out of the bag so to speak.Bryan

Guys I won't believe this until one of us has the magazine in hand. I visited 'GameSpot.com' and found no mention of FSX (PCGamer's online alter ego). This smells of a hoax to me to get everyone worked up... :-boom I'll be glade when someone has the mag in hand to verify this article. I'm at work now so I won't be able to the mag for myself... (-:

I thought the same thing, so I decided to go to the PCGamer website.www.pcgamer.comYou can see the cover shot. It's there all right.Bryan

>It doesn't look like a significant step forward in>technology. Frankly who cares about AI if you can have>phenomenal 3-rd part free (and real-life) AI these days.>Better graphics? It all depends what it is but is sounds like>major flaws with weather/visibility will still be here, if>they add some eyecandy to the exterior of the aircraft - I>will hardly notice it. They will probably go for 'easy'>improvements and real important ones will wait for 2008+ ;)Believe me or not, but graphics enhancements is what matter the most for majority of buyers. Also, running animals are important too.Most people do not care about 3rd party addons, becausea) they don't know about them,:( they don't want to spend any money on addons which do not come from original game publisher (lack of trust about quality and quantity and just simple marketing) - and even if MS release addon, most people won't buy it if it is some "realistic" aircraft with 400 page manual and 1 hour startup procedure. If it adds "flyable" Moon or Mars then some people might consider it ;)Of course above do not apply to forum readers, as we are considered hardcore.As for beta, yes you can keep all info from beta inside the company, actually it's pretty much common in normal development when companies have high enough budgets to provide proper QA and betatesting process, you get hired as betatester, sign NDA and off you go. You don't talk about what you do or get sued and/or blacklisted in the industry.Journalists sign NDAs too, so they may know more than they are allowed to write about and it's pretty much expected that popular PC game's magazine will concetrate on bells and whistles first, just because it sells the game, not electrical bus or fuel pump pefectly simulated. They live off the advertisements, you know..I'd not count too much on release date as this is common that there are delays, especially when project might not be at RC not to mention gold state, it might be feburary tho if they say so, I wish it to everyone, FS9 is getting old.I have only one hope that FS10 won't be backward compatibile with FS9 and below, as it set some aritfical barriers in utlizing latest technologies.They already added 5.1 sound which was my wish ;).

Hi,I think it will not be released in february, mainly because Flightsim X will most probably be optimised for the new OS "Microsoft Vista". And we all knows also what that means,...yes,..new super computers to every simmer, since the new OS require, at least 2 gig memory, sata-2-HD and at least a 256 MB videocard memory etc. etc...Not to talk about what the new FS will require. :-hahIf you understand swedish,..here is a link about the new OS:http://www.idg.se/ArticlePages/200509/07/2...5932_MD.dbp.asphttp://www.scandicair.com/images/sa_banner.gif"Real men fly with round gauges"[/color]

The only covershot I can see on that link is one with a sceleton. :-hahhttp://www.scandicair.com/images/sa_banner.gif"Real men fly with round gauges"[/color]

Well that's a slap in the face to the community... :-boom Avsim and Flightsim should have been the first to know about this. Where's the timeframe for proper testing before release (unless the information they've been getting from machines like mine is good enough)... :-hmmm Staffen read the articles listed on the cover...Guys this sounds like a mess in the making...

Taildragger, a blogger from the FS team, mentions several times going to the CES show in Vegas. http://blogs.msdn.com/tdragger/default.aspx The show is opening on January 5th. Now he may be there for the fun of it, or on other MS business, or perhaps there will be a new FS product announced. I sure don't know, but it is fun to speculate about.Tony=http://www.flightsim-bevs.com]

http://www.pcgamer.com/inthisissue.htmlleft side of the cover.As Randy Smith said, PC Gamer has to have the info correctly....in fact, the article even mention it in a splash graphic that this is a first exclusive......PC Gamer just doesn't publish bogus info or release dates. So as a betting man, I'd wager that this info is correct and we'll all be hearing big stuff very soon.Randy

I hope the next version of FS is around the corner :-jumpy

Well that's a slap in the face to the community... Avsim and Flightsim should have been the first to know about this.You do realize that this community is a small % of the total market for this game, right? We're an important segment, but the "slap in the face" drama is exaggerating.Where's the timeframe for proper testing before release (unless the information they've been getting from machines like mine is good enough)...Maybe testing is already underway and *gasp* there's an NDA? :-roll Your allegations that they're somehow making a mess when you possess so little information boggles the mind. We just don't know, no need to make a soap opera out of it. Considering their track record, I doubt they'll mess it up too bad.Daniel P.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpgMember of SJU Photography. [A HREF=http://www.jetphotos.net/showphotos.php?userid=9004]Click Here[/A] to view my aircraft photos at JetPhotos.Net!The official psychotic AA painter. :)

It could be there is a coordinated effort at anannouncement. Keep in mind that lead time for a magazine is weeks, and they may not have expected folks to be seeing this yet. As I mention in another post, the CES show is next week and we know at least one FS team member will be there. It could be they plan on announcing everything at the same time next week, and the magazine just got out a little early.Assuming a new version is just around the corner, we don't know how long it has been in testing.Anyway, I'm not going to get too excited either way just yet. I will be checking the forum every chance I get. :)Tony=http://www.flightsim-bevs.com]

Indeed. Why should they give the hardcore simmers a heads up? We'll be buying the next version, whether Avsim or Flightsim.com get first word of it or not. MS will be going for that average gamer who doesn't add to his program with addons, and will be looking for reasons to buy the next version.