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TUAW Review: X-Plane 9 for iPhone / iPod touch
Flight simulator applications are not only great entertainment, but a good way for would-be pilots to hone their skills without burning fuel or booking time in a "real" flight simulator. X-Plane 9 from Laminar Research is currently the most impressive flight simulator for Mac, with hundreds of different types of planes, thousands of airports, and very realistic weather.Laminar Research recently ported X-Plane 9 to the iPhone and iPod touch (click opens iTunes). While it doesn't have the extensive feature set of the Mac version, X-Plane 9 for iPhone and iPod touch is an impressive effort that shows off the sheer power of the iPhone and iPod touch both computationally and graphically. The app is a slender 7 MB and as you'd guess, you're giving up a bit of the Mac version's capabilities with the iPhone port. Instead of the entire world, you now have a 1,600 square mile area centered near Innsbruck, Austria to fly around in. There's only one airport, four aircraft types, less accuracy in terms of the flight models, no cities to fly over, and no navigation aids such as VORs. Is X-Plane 9 still a worthy iPhone app? Read on...
Fruit fly flight simulator could smarten up robots
Wondering just how we mere mortals were going to even give a robot enough smarts to completely overtake our societies? Oddly enough, some of that artificial brain power could come from studying the way fruit flies, um, fly. A completely bizarre flight simulator at Caltech actually plays "scenes" that flys react to, and considering that the fly is constantly held, researchers can closely examine how the insect attempts to navigate away from lines, blobs and all manners of incoming obstacles. Those working with the installation suggest that these studies could one day help autonomous robots function better, potentially taking some of the load off of our human workforce. We know, you've got three bold letters and a question mark running through your noggin right now -- just hit the read link to see what it's all about.[Thanks, Dave]
Saitek independent LCD interface boxes for flight sims
At E3 earlier this month, Saitek demoed a peripheral sure to spark the interest of many a flight sim enthusiast. Their product, for now with no name, enables flight simulators to display different, customizable information from the "game" on three separate LCDs. Effectively, the displays emulate a real cockpit, where each bit of information comes from a separate module that is integrated into the dash. The device is scheduled for a fall launch, will cost only $99.99, and will be supported in several flight sims beyond the obvious Flight Simulator X -- we're crossing our fingers for X-Plane support.
HotSeat Chassis' plane and helicopter flight simulators
When we hit up a press event, we're looking for two things (besides free refreshments): unannounced products and unreleased devices that we can get you some hands-on shots of. Well save for the snazzy MX Air that we picked up from Logitech, last night's Digital Life preview in New York was a total bust -- nothing but Foleos and non-working robots as far as the eye could see -- so instead of schmoozing with our colleagues or getting our egos stroked by publicity-happy vendors, we watched uncoordinated journalists attempt to master the controls of HotSeat Chassis' latest immersive simulators. While the company also makes a full line of driving rigs, the demo machines were both of the flying variety: the $6,000 Combat Sim and $7,000+ Heli Sim. The former contraption features two monitors and traditional "dogfight" controls that work with most any software, while the latter offers just a single control stick to help you live out those Airwolf fantasies. If you're interested in checking out gaming equipment that costs more than a used car (and even some new ones), hit the gallery below... %Gallery-4826%
What if ... Flight Simulator on the 360
As part of their Missing in Action series, GameAlmighty is pitching the idea of having Microsoft's Flight Simulator landing on the 360. And, to their credit, the game would pull in a new demographic and could actually work quite well with Xbox Live. Even though we have yet to get our hands on the latest Flight Simulator iteration, GameAlmighty instantly sold us on the game with their ideas for Live features and gameplay. Their ideas include things like creative achievements, co-op gameplay, bookmarking world locations, special flight joystick, and a beefed up leaderboards system. Seriously, Flight Simulator could work AND be entertaining on the 360. So we ask, would you be interested in Microsoft's Flight Simulator if it were to come to the 360?
Today's flight simmiest video: Vulcan - BlackBuck raid test in Falkland/Malvinas flight sim
Anyone else heard anything about this flight sim? It looks PC-based, but it just got us to thinking that we really need to see some flight simulator goodness on the next-gen consoles. I'd even settle for a low-grade graphics version on the Nintendo Wii. Back in our college days, we spent hours and hours flying around in LucasArts' Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, and Wing Commander III, and we want to keep doing it. Build us a good, quality, realistic (and fun) flight simulator, and the masses will come. Is that too much to ask for? In the meantime, enjoy the footage, and pray for something good to come down the pipeline. Our wallets are ready and willing.
Windows Vista delayed until 2007... taking Halo 2 with it?
Microsoft's announced that Windows Vista will be delayed until January of next year for most consumers. Some businesses will get an early crack at the OS this November, however.Other than Vista's touted advantages for gamers (and its enormous technical requirements), we care about a delay because certain games may not release, run, or run "optimally" with anything less than Vista, including Halo 2 for the PC, MS Flight Simulator X, and CryTek's Crysis ("the first DirectX 10-enabled game" for the new OS).Of course, release plans, optimizations, and compatibilities could change from here till the end of 2006, but Microsoft will probably try to support its upcoming OS upgrade with as many titles as it can in the coming year. Vista was supposed to spark a new renaissance in PC gaming after its long and drawn-out development grind. At least corporate testers will get to check out the new version of Minesweeper before Christmas.
MS Flight Simulator X screens are perty
Well, that didn't take long. Bill Gates announced the next version of Flight Simulator last night during his keynote speech at CES and today FSPlanet has some exclusive shots of the game and a FAQ with the developers. Of note: They are "adding a new mission-based element to give fans a more objective driven experience with a sense of progression and skill development." "While Flight Simulator X will not require Windows Vista, it will be optimized for the latest in Windows gaming hardware and fans will get the best experience by running on Windows Vista." "For the first time Flight Simulator will ship on DVD only." "Backwards compatibly with existing 3rd party content is and has always been a priority..." Check out the screens, they look pretty incredible. Maybe that mission-based element will keep some of us from falling asleep at the controls.
CES: MS Flight Simulator X optimized for Vista
During Bill Gates CES keynote last night he used the newest version of Microsoft's seminal Flight Simulator series, simply dubbed Microsoft Flight Simulator X, to show off the graphical capabilities of the next-generation of DirectX and Windows Vista. He said, "You can see the realism of the reflection. And I'm actually going to drive or going to try to drive with my Xbox 360 controller plugged directly into my Windows Vista PC. You can really start to see the smoke from the boat, the independent and kind of live life that you see with the waves, with some of the birds and the trees that you'll start to see." The title promises more realism, more planes, more online connectivity, and more of everything else that flight-sim fans clamor for. It's expected to be on shelves for Holidays 2006.
