Microsoft Flight to Retake the Skies

August 18, 2010 By Geoff Duncan

Microsoft Flight will be coming soon to Windows, re-invigorating Microsoft oldest - and possibly most-loved - gaming franchise.

As part of Microsoft’s announcement announcing that Windows Phone 7 will tie in deeply with its existing Xbox Live gaming service, the software giant also announced the return of a legend: the company is developing Microsoft Flight for Windows, a rebirth of its classic Flight Simulator.

Microsoft offered few details about flight, but the choice of the Sopwith Camel to tease the title is not an accident: even in its earliest days, Flight Simulator aimed to provide a realistic representation of controlling real aircraft in real environments. The Sopwith Camel was one of the titles early (and perpetual) planes. The company says Microsoft Flight is in early development stages and would soon enter internal testing, but no details were offered as to when Flight might take wing at retailers. However, Flight will apparently have a component that ties in with Windows Live, holding out the tantalizing possibility of multi-player flights…and dogfights. Microsoft said the game will also have new elements to make it easier for Flight Sim newbies to get started.

The first version of Microsoft Flight Simulator was released in 1982—that makes it older than Windows—with the last full release coming in 2006 in the form of Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Flight Simulator was discontinued last year when Microsoft announced its first-ever layoffs.

Showing 13 comments

N300DC at 1:04am 2nd April 2011 Gosh darn it.. And i have just upgraded my system to run fsx at 60fps. New fs means better graphics, worse system requirements. More money. Darn it. Lol. Guess fsx and ivao will be stuck with me for a while longer lol
Evan at 5:47pm 18th October 2010 Hopefully they will have indented runways, not flat, because in the real world there is no such thing as a perfectly flat runway... definitely better frames, and better default planes too.
Reaper at 3:12am 28th September 2010 Sorry it was meant to read "Viable release"
Reaper at 3:10am 28th September 2010 I have to agree. Without those fundamental necessities it just won't be a iable release. I doubt many people will pay to fly online. It needs to retain the true INDEPENDENT server capability so anyone with the game can host a server and not have to go through the Microsoft network. "Frame rates, frame rates, frame rates" ..........Definitely needs to have better FPS than. It was a major FAIL on Microsoft's part with FSX
Jeff at 3:18am 11th September 2010 This next generation of sim will only be welcome to the experienced and dedicated sim pilot if it has the following coordinates..Nothing more...nothing less, I guarantee it. --Jeff of simsamurai-dot-net #1--Affordability and low..low monthly fee like $5.00 low. #2--World LOD greater than 13 for the entire planet. #3--better autogen than payware. #4--Weather, water and sky textures as great as R.E.X. #5--Willing participation and or compatability with existing ATC server services like IVAO and VATSIM. #6--Pilot should retain ability to control, mod, manipulate and install 3rd party aircraft, liveries, gauges, and panels. #7--It should allow pilot to use all existing FSX aircraft, gauges and panels. #8--It Should have native widescreen format and ability to use unlimited amount of monitors for panoramic effects such as the ability to use two matrox boxes for 6 displays and still have other monitors for flight instruments. #9--Frame rates, frame rates, frame rates. #10--Its a tall order. I don't see it happening. I smell epic fail.
1. SJE at 8:27am 20th October 2010 You couldn't have said it better...I completely agree.
Jeff at 3:18am 11th September 2010 This new version could be the ultimate realization of flight simulator or it could be quickly doomed to fail only after swindling cash from the mouths of babes who know not of the much greater realm of FS.
Allen at 1:15am 22nd August 2010 "Sopwith Camel" Where? I've watched the teaser video and there is no Sopwith Camel to be seen anywhere in the video.
1. sam at 8:40am 11th February 2011 Right on, Allen. I took it as a clue when the misnomer ocurred and couldn't stomach reading on.
leigh at 7:31pm 19th August 2010 Yevin, "Inept" when it comes to user interface. What actual data do you base that opinion on? There are plenty of examples of Silverlight and XDA using the accelerometer. I'm sure it could be used if one wanted, but what about when you're walking along or riding in the back of a car? Do you want the plane to react to the car's momentum or your own? I think it is you that is inept at user interface, and you don't understand physics all too well either.
LDS at 12:04am 19th August 2010 Multiplayer flights have been available for ages in Flight Simulator. IVAO and VATSIM networks offer fully realistic flight environments. Live will just nail people down to a proprietary network were they will need to pay to fly. And a lot of simmers were "socializing" on their own networks far before "Internet for Dummies", aka Facebook, was even dreamt of.
Yevin at 11:36pm 18th August 2010 I don't think Microsoft will do all that well with games on Windows Phone 7. Microsoft just does not understand User Interface. In fact, Microsoft is inept when it comes to User Interface. Microsoft is just porting these games over, but not totally rebuilding them for an interface more suited to a portable device. The obvious thing with this Flight app would be to slightly tilt the phone to control the bank of the plane. Pitch could be the same. However, it seems Microsoft will take the lazy way out and just translate the older control interfaces to the new touch interface, so users will end up doing finger swipes and whatnot to control the aircraft. Not as good.
Joe at 3:42pm 18th August 2010 That may have been true of past iterations of the venerable MFS but this new one actually shows the Stearman biplane which then became the Boeing Model 75 Stearman or as it is also widely known the PT-17 Kaydet. The PT-17(USAAF) saw widespread use as a trainer with flying schools in the years leading up to the second world war and was used by both the army and navy(NS and N2S) as a primary trainer before and during the war prior to transitioning aviation cadets to the more advanced AT-6s and SNJs of the army and navy respectively. The plane has seen service the world over and has been given its many names in accordance to its user's wishes or chronological model designation.