Maybe Flight should have been released for Xbox first?

[vonBobo]

I think this release would have been viewed completely differently, and MS wouldn't have gotten as much heat from the simmer crowd.

[Thom_D]

I think that, and this is just my opinion, if MS had pushed MSF out for Xbox before they released if for PC, there would have been a huge hew and cry from the traditional Flight Simmers at having been abandoned. We tend to be a pretty vocal group and don't hold back when we feel slighted.

I am just tickled that they offered the basic game for free so people can get a feel for this new itteration and see if they want to continue with it or not without having to spend forty or fifty bucks up front to find out they don't like it. Very smart of them to provide a fully functional demo that will draw in those that like it to spend a few bucks here and there (This is the new paradigm for games anyway).

[loki]

Very smart of them to provide a fully functional demo that will draw in those that like it to spend a few bucks here and there (This is the new paradigm for games anyway).

It's not entirely new. Shareware games 20 years ago were giving away the base game and a few levels for free. To get the full version, and any expansions, you had to pay.

[vonBobo]

Personally, I felt abandoned anyway, and by launching on PC they just confused the matter and didn't do a single thing to calm the fears of simmers. At least launching it for xbox would have set the stage for exactly what Flight is, and is going to be. No speculation.

It's difficult for me to visualize exactly what MS expects out of the simmers anyhow. I feel like MS feels no loyalty towards us (we spend only a fraction of our FS budget towards MS), but they still felt like dangling a carrot in front of us to take a shot at our FS budget anyway. Best case scenario, I feel like they built this game for consoles, and whatever money they could get out of the sim crowd is just extra gravy.

Anyway, I really do feel like this is a fantastic title for the day dreaming pilots existing in the console world. Only time will tell if there are enough console kids that are willing to shelve CoD titles and go grab caches instead.