It was January 2009 when MS pulled the plug on the 2006 sim FSX after 1 million sales.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090126213355/http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/rumor-control/909119209/26756726/microsoft-cuts-slice-xbox-division-fatally-stab-flight-sim.html?tag=rumor-control%3Btitle%3B1

2 minutes ago, Fielder said:

It was January 2009 when MS pulled the plug on the 2006 sim FSX after 1 million sales.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090126213355/http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/rumor-control/909119209/26756726/microsoft-cuts-slice-xbox-division-fatally-stab-flight-sim.html?tag=rumor-control%3Btitle%3B1

 

And??

It should be obvious that ACES Gaming Studios was Microsoft's in-house game developing studio, & like any other public company, Microsoft is responsible to their shareholders (not gamers), & if a department is not performing or if it is not in-line with future business projections or plans, it gets closed down. Common practice really. It's not a case of 'letting gamers down!'. 

On 11/17/2020 at 12:48 PM, Wobbie said:

Lets call the Complex aircraft, instead of 'study level'

I'll start by saying this may vary outside of the U.S., but Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 61.1 defines complex airplanes as the following:

"Complex airplane means an airplane that has a retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable pitch propeller, including airplanes equipped with an engine control system consisting of a digital computer and associated accessories for controlling the engine and propeller, such as a full authority digital engine control; or, in the case of a seaplane, flaps and a controllable pitch propeller, including seaplanes equipped with an engine control system consisting of a digital computer and associated accessories for controlling the engine and propeller, such as a full authority digital engine control."

Note that one of the requirements to be defined as "complex" is a controllable pitch propeller. So here's a question for you. Does a jet qualify as a complex airplane as defined in the US Code of Federal Regulations? (Pssst - say "no")

Though personally I'm not fond of the term "study level" because of the misuse by marketers over the years, I think it makes more sense than "complex" in the context of this discussion. Just my humble opinion, though. 😉

Edited November 18, 20205 yr by snglecoil

Luckily, what we've got is not real, just a bunch of complex pixels.. 

Pity there is no definitive definition of what a study level aircraft actually is. 

 

2 minutes ago, Wobbie said:

Pity there is no definitive definition of what a study level aircraft actually is.

We should come up with one.  How about the justification to charge a 50+% premium because your marketing copy includes the phrase "study level"?

2 hours ago, Fielder said:

It was January 2009 when MS pulled the plug on the 2006 sim FSX after 1 million sales.

 

MS maybe pulled the plug in 2006 because a lot of the world public and gamers didn't get how good a flightsim can be. I think that is changing (imho)

Edited November 19, 20205 yr by icewater5

13 minutes ago, icewater5 said:

MS maybe pulled the plug in 2006 because the world public and gamers didn't get how good a flightsim can be. I think that is now changing (imho)☺️

That and you nearly had to be a certified IT system builder to get the thing to run well enough on that sad vintage 2006 hardware and as the add-ons arrived you needed more and more knowledge, desire to tweak and tweak again, and needed better and better hardware, and that scene never changed to the current day in P3D though it's obvious matured greatlly there.  MSFS is about to arrive on a console and by the time it does it should be more polished than it is today.

1 hour ago, Noel said:

That and you nearly had to be a certified IT system builder to get the thing to run well enough on that sad vintage 2006 hardware and as the add-ons arrived you needed more and more knowledge, desire to tweak and tweak again, and needed better and better hardware,

I hear what you are saying. I last used FS2004 and not being a programmer was not easy,  mainly because i used loads of addons like ATC, planes, FDC and more..

But i persevered and it was really good. Some might have to be a bit patient,  MSFS seems more complex.  We can help each other though and also report problems we find.

Edited November 19, 20205 yr by icewater5