I'm not sure whether this a compliment towards FSX or not but I gotta tell you: the game is is a big hit with my 6 year old son. He used to watch me play FS9 sometimes and flew occasionally but really never got into the simulator. With FSX and the narrated missions, FSX is all he wants to play. He already learned how to take-off and land the ultralight. He loves the fact that he can progress from mission to mission, and he gets the green check marks. So, even though Microsoft may have dissapointed the hard-core simmers, I think they may have hit a home-run with kids. And which hard-core simmer would not want their children to catch the aviation bug, right?Furthermore, my son wants me to play with him on the more difficult missions where I am the co-pilot and help him with the switches, etc. So, if you want to spend some quality time with your child(ren), FSX may be the answer. Missions that we may find corny (find baby elephant) are "soo cool" with kids.Finally, the Area 51 mission was the best. We flew it last night. I will not give any spoilers but we totally loved the idea (even though it scared my son a bit initially ;-)So, maybe we, the hard-core simmers should stick with FS9 for a while, and let our children explore FSX.

:) :)I started the below business because my son's first grade class had so much fun using and learning with FS9.I can't wait to implement FSX - sounds like the mission thing will definitely help with the learning. I had a class today with some 9 year olds, and one of them wasn't so hot on the class content, he just wanted to fly. I bet doing something with rewards would be a big motivator. I already do a logbook thing, but that's a check mark at the end of class. Check marks throughout a lesson would be a big help.I don't mind so much that he was more interested in flying than the content I was teaching for the class, I think kids reach maturity and learning in different ways and at different times, and, as long as they are there, I think it's great. But I do feel a responsibility to teach a little bit of something/class.Now if I could just get all those adults who tell me they want to sign up to actually sign up :)Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

great! looks like FSX is more appealling for kids than adults!

I wouldn't say that. I think it's mostly a matter of inertia in starting any program. I'm sure you are aware of how difficult it is to get adults to do anything, especially when hockey and other sports programs interfere with their free time. It's hard enough finding one free night, let alone one in five consecutive weeks. But if I can get a few to sign up, I'm betting they'll start coming out of the woodwork.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

My dad and I used to do the same thing with FS98 and FS5.0 :)We'd fly the 737 out of oakland, CA I think it was, and i'd fly and he'd run the nav and comm stuff :):) :) :)That was about 13+ years ago though :)