Microsoft’s longest-running franchise, and one of gaming’s longest running franchises to boot, is back. Kind of. The ‘Simulator’ has been dropped, but Microsoft Flight is due for take-off after four years of being grounded.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a truly classic computer game series, which most people with even a passing interest in PC gaming will have at least heard of, and the vast majority of which will have played.

The program it’s based on is as old as me, having been created as long ago as 1977. By 1982 the program was licensed to Microsoft, and the rest, as they say, is history. That history has seen 12 versions of the game released over the years, starting with Flight Simulator 1.0 and ending with Flight Simulator X in 2006.

Unfortunately, the development team behind the series was affected by Microsoft’s extensive layoffs in 2009, with everyone from ACES being laid off and the studio officially being closed. Thankfully, that isn’t the end of the story or the franchise, with Microsoft recently announcing a new game called Microsoft Flight.

The ‘Simulator’ has obviously been dropped from the name, which suggests a new direction for the series. That new direction being to entice a more mainstream, casual audience into buying the games which will follow. But that could clearly disenfranchise longterm fans of the series who enjoy the simulation side of things.

Few details have yet emerged apart from the name and the fact that a Sopwith Camel will be featured. No release date has yet been set, with the game said to be in the early stages of development. Microsoft Flight will have some form of integration with Windows Live, suggesting a casual multiplayer element.

The fact is there are now other flight simulators such as X-Plane available. So it makes sense for Microsoft to try and tap into a different market. Whether something integral and essential to the series will be lost in the crossover remains to be seen 

Source Vista.Blorge