FlightSim
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Retired Boeing 737 repurposed as garage-kept flight simulator (video)
A fresh concept it's not, but a fresh look? Yeah, we'll take that. California resident, air traffic controller, pilot and all-around gentleman James Price has converted the actual nose of a 1969 Boeing 737 into his own personal flight simulator. According to the man himself, he "gutted" the bird, installed "all new" parts, slid it into his garage and... well, took a few minutes to show it to the world. While pretty much any flight sim owner would claim that his or hers was "just like the real thing," it's hard to deny that fact with this one. We're told that it took some three years to complete, and the end result leaves no doubt of James' toiling. Head on past the break for the vid.
Universal Motion Simulator: real enough to evoke panic (video)
A fighter sim just isn't realistic unless it makes you throw up and scream for your mother, which is why the sadistic folks at Australia's Deakin University created the Universal Motion Simulator. It's a barebones cockpit attached to the end of a seven-meter robotic arm that can pull up to six Gs -- indeed it's uncomfortable enough to mimic external disturbances, mechanical failures and crash scenarios as well as normal flying. The system also monitors a pilot's brainwaves, pulse and other bodily functions to discover if they have necessary nerve. Check out the video after the break and then imagine combining it with a 360-degree viewing dome for utter perfection.
Flight sim bubble offers 360-degree view, makes earth seem round
You've got the yoke, you've got the ridiculously over-priced gaming chair, so now all you need is Barco's 360-degree display dome. It uses 13 separate projectors to create a hi-def simulacrum of paradise inside a 3.4-meter acrylic sphere. The pilot sits in the middle, suddenly remembers why he took up aviation, and then connects with up to seven other bubbles to practice complicated squadron missions. More desperately inviting pics after the break.
Saitek flight gear replicates Cessna 172 Skyhawk, lets you simulate lazy Sunday flyovers
Sure, some flight-sim junkies want to imagine themselves dogfighting with an F-16, afterburners screaming as they climb into the sky. But for virtual pilots less interested in white-knuckle air warfare, Mad Catz has unveiled a product line based on that ubiquitous trainer, the Cessna 172 Skyhawk. The company's Saitek brand now offers a Yoke ($200), Trim Wheel ($50), and Rudder Pedals ($210), all officially licensed from the airplane manufacturer. Buy them all together and you'll receive a free Flight Switch Panel, thereby completing your cockpit ensemble. Remember, though: you're in this for the pure, majestic joy of simulated flight. It's not a competition, so don't let this guy and his $300,000 flight simulator get under your skin. Cool?
Gaming gets immersive thanks to union of pico projector and eye tracking camera (video)
Although in the earliest stages of development, this virtual reality gaming rig already looks pretty intriguing. Engineered by clever kids at the University of Texas at Austin, it hot-wires an eye tracking camera to a motorised pico projector with the result that the player literally can't take their eyes off the screen. Wherever they look, that is where their view of the gaming world is projected. The rig makes most sense in a first-person shooter, although the students have also tried it in a flight simulator where the player uses their head to roll and pitch the aircraft. Yes, it looks rather similar to the Microvision PicoP laser projection gun we wielded at CES, but there's a key difference: the player does not need to hold anything or have anything attached to their body. This unencumbered Kinect-esque approach could potentially allow a greater sense of freedom -- except that, for it to work, the player is forced to sit directly in front of the eye tracker. Find a way to fix this, dear Longhorns, and you could be onto something. Video after the break.
Thrustmaster shipping HOTAS Warthog flight controller this month for $500
Already got a tween of your own begging and pleading for a decent gaming joystick from Santa? It's a common issue, or so we hear. Thrustmaster's HOTAS Warthog is probably one of the nicest around, and it looks as if it'll be landing on American doormats in plenty of time to procure a sufficient amount of wrapping paper. The ultimate flight sim stick will start shipping out by the end of this month for a wallet-melting $499.99, but thankfully for you, we were able to put together a lengthy list of impressions during a hands-on session back at E3. And hey, if this one ends up out of reach, at least you've always got Solipskier.
Saitek keeps flight simulation alive with new gear, no word on robot air hostesses
Microsoft may have axed its Flight Simulator franchise a little while back, but it appears that there are still enough virtual pilots out there to keep Mad Catz abuzz with making new apparatus. In fact, the notoriously expensive Saitek Pro Flight range will be seeing an addition of three new products in October. First we have the self-explanatory Backlit Information Panel, which could probably double as a pricey mood light if you have $149.00 / £129.99 / €149.99 to spare. Next up is the identically-priced Throttle, Pitch and Mixture System box that's supposed to replicate the controls found on the Cessna, Piper and Money Bravo light aircrafts. If these two modules fail to drain your piggy bank, you could always fork out another $199.99 / £179.99 / €199.99 for the F16 / F35-inspired, die-cast alloy Combat Rudder Pedals. Bundle these with the other Saitek hardware and you might get close to having the full cockpit.
Thrustmaster unveils its perfect replica HOTAS Warthog flight controller, we go hands-on (video)
Flight sim aficionados tend to be a fanatical bunch. It isn't good enough if it isn't as realistic as humanly possible, and as technology improves more and more things get more and more possible. It's now been 10 years since Thrustmaster released its iconic HOTAS Cougar, a near-perfect replica of the F-16's Hands On Throttle and Stick, and now the company is following up with an even more realistic version for a very different sort of aircraft: the ground-pounding A-10C Warthog. It's as close as you can get to the real thing without getting commissioned, and we took it for a test-flight. Click on through for our impressions and some impressive footage of the thing in action. %Gallery-95393%
Mad Catz courts Xbox 360 dogfighters with pricy F.L.Y. 9 flightstick
Yo, Mad Catz. We both know there aren't a lot of good flight sims on the Xbox 360, but that's no excuse for releasing a bargain-budget stick like the Aviator as your first foray into the console space. It doesn't do Saitek's reputation justice, and fliers like us won't stand for it. We want something a little more substantial. Something like your fancy Cyborg X flight stick for PC... What's that, you say? You've done it? Fan-tastic. With nearly all the bells and whistles of the original stick but added buttons, a removable lap rest and completely wireless functionality, the Cyborg F.L.Y. 9 looks like just the stick to strafe our Xbox 360 budget this spring for $100. But hey, that's not cool -- what's with doubling the original Cyborg X's $50 price? Press release after the break.
First Look: Get airborne with Aera for iPhone
Aera is a new flight game [iTunes store] from iChromo with beautifully rendered graphics and some challenging game-play. I wouldn't exactly call it a flight simulator, as your control of the aircraft is limited. You can't bank left or right, but you do control your up and down pitch. The game is priced at US$2.99 for the iPhone and iPod touch. Think of Aera as a 2D shooter with exceptionally good graphics and addictive missions that can draw you deeply into the game. There are several different mission types. In some, you collect points by flying the plane into floating objects, and in others you need to avoid those floating objects. There are also missions where you have to do both, as well as dogfights and aerobatic flights. Because the controls do not work in the way other flight games work, it's helpful to go through the quick in-game tutorial so you know how the game works. If you try to exit the tutorial and just start playing, you'll be brought back to the tutorial until you have finished it. It really is necessary, because you'll never be able to fly successfully without going through it. The game also features multiplayer options for other owners of the sim who are on the same wireless network. Aera also features video replay, allowing you to watch yourself crash and burn.
iGaming news: LineRider and X-Plane
A couple of new games from the wider world have hit the App Store, and fans of both should be excited: LineRider brings an online sensation to the touchable side, and X-Plane brings flight simulation street cred to iPhone and iPod touch users.LineRider (store link) started out as a simple, no-frills sledding Flash game from a Czech Slovenian student and has exploded into an online phenom -- the current version runs in MS Silverlight, and it has spawned over 11,000 videos of courses (including a couple of McDonald's advertisments) and forthcoming versions for the Wii and PC. The iPhone version features the same basic gameplay as the online flavor (build a track, release the sled, crash and burn) along with a course-sharing option to let your friends download your creations. LineRider is $2.99US.At the other end of the gaming spectrum, Laminar Research's X-Plane flight sim has long been acclaimed for its accuracy and flexibility. Now the experience of X-Plane 9 (store link)has been squeezed into your pants with the iPhone version. The portable X-Plane lets you fly four different aircraft around the game's demo area (the skies above Innsbruck, Austria) using the device accelerometer to control your flight, or onscreen touch controls if you prefer. The quote from Laminar on the iTunes store page is illuminating:We here at Laminar Research are still a bit shell-shocked at how powerful this little device is, and how much power in flight simulation can be stuffed into it...That bodes well for future sim development. X-Plane is $9.99US.Thanks to everyone who sent these in.
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.
Fly into landmarks with Google Maps flight sim
Since Google released its Google Maps API to the public, budding game designers have used it to place everything from golf to Carmen Sandiego style terrorist foiling over satellite images of the world. Now we can add a Flash-based flight simulator to that list. Goggles lets you fly a crude, 3D plane over a selection of major cities from around the world (and the solar system -- you can also fly over sections of the moon and Mars).There's no explicit goal, but you can fire cartoony circular bullets at the ground to leave temporary black pockmarks on the landscape. You can also crash your plane into famous landmarks, a feature sure to draw the ire of conservatives who will say the game is training a new generation of terrorists to destroy our very way of life. Our only real complaint is that the plane can't go very fast or zoom out very high, which limits how quickly you can find your favorite landmark to destroy. Here's hoping for a version 2.[Via Jay is Games]
