Microsoft's free flight sim hits the clouds
Wing wing situation?
Microsoft's latest flight simulator officially took off this week, with aircraft enthusiasts and anyone else who wants to take to the skies able to download and play the game free of charge.
The latest version of this venerable MS product, now simply dubbed Flight, touches down with a configurable control system so that beginners can get flying quickly, while experienced pilots can opt for a more challenging setup.
While the free version comes with the ability to fly the carbon fibre monoplane ICON A5 over various Hawaiian islands, additional models are available at a cost.
These include a North American P-51 Mustang, a Maule M-7-260C and a Vans RV-6A.
A Boeing Stearman is also on offer, although those who sign into their Games for Windows Live account will receive it free, along with supplementary missions, Achievements and an Online Pilot Profile.
A Hawaiian Adventure pack is currently available for 1600 Microsoft Points, which unlocks an even greater number of islands, challenges and missions, as well as the Vans RV-6A.
Further packs are set to follow. If you're ready to take to the cockpit, then download Microsoft Flight free from the website.
If you fancy splashing out for the ultimate experience, why not give the OVO-4 Home Flight Simulator setup a go?
COMMENTS
There is also this....
.... which is very good.
And free.
http://www.flightgear.org/
FlightGear is an open-source flight simulator. It supports a variety of popular platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) and is developed by skilled volunteers from around the world. Source code for the entire project is available and licensed under the GNU General Public License.
Cheerio.
Re: There is also this....
How on earth did your post deserve a thumbs down????
DLC is where it's at
When I start Steam there is this wretched game called RailWorks which every bloody week seems to feature in the new DLC list because it is constantly releasing new trains or trakcs. How much do you think one of these trains costs? A pound? Maybe a couple of quid?
No, fourteen quid upwards is the answer. Some trains are thirty quid. Tracks can cost thirty quid or more. Clearly there are enough sad people out there who would pay £14-30 for a virtual choo choo train that they can make money from it.
I expect someone in Microsoft sat up and took notice of this. MS Flight Sim has always been content driven and there has always been a lot of 3rd party content for it - scenery, aircraft packs, airports, etc. Microsoft has decided to monetize the service and draw all the content into their online DLC and payment system. It'll probably be cheaper than RailWorks but it's the same sort of model.
It is surprising that any content driven game should cost money really. Look at games like Guitar Hero, Forza, Gran Turismo, Buzz, Singstar etc. It's the content that makes these games fun so why not give the runtime away for nothing with some free content. The free download would entice a lot more people to try the game and they'd make a lot of sales from people buying content packs.
Expensive
Once you start to add in all the extra downloads in (priced in Microsoft moon points) it starts to look expensive compared to Flight Sim X Gold which can be picked up for 20 quid with all the bells and whistles, loads of planes and more scenery than you'll ever be able to view. (in fact you can get it much cheaper than that, but I'm using the Amazon pricing).
In fact with all the extras if you bough Flight Sim X instead you'll still have enough change to buy a load of cool extras such as the UK scenery packs.
If Microsoft think a free game with DLC is the way to go then fine, but I'd argue that the pricing for the extras is rather high.
