Microsoft Flight Sim removed from shelves

[Graham]

I agree, even if FS was of benefit to terrorists, and I doubt it, there are so many copies already out there that this move would prove pointless.



G

[Scorpio69]

Seems like a show of sympathy and support. I doubt it's permanent.

[Comage]

What's the point of doing this? It's like saying sorry to somebody you've just killed.

[BBA]

I would think they already have enough copies in circulation if another terrorist needed it he could get it.

I also agree with Scott, training is not the evil...the terrorist are.

[daveleau]

This is an interesting turn. I am very surprised to see this. I saw on one show how you can fly into the WTC in the game, but I do not think that is much reason to take it out of stores. ...interesting...

[CMonster]

Now that just doesn't make sense!

Well, at least there is still "Flight Gear" (opengl required) for Linux, though not nearly as good at present.... maybe that will be pulled too..

..pssst I still have MS flight sim 98 ...just a minute, someone is at the door

[jazzy1000]

why bother ,some time ago i was offered fly for a penny when i brought hidden and dangeous ,so for months now it has collected dust but yestday after lest than a hour i was flying a small twin engine jet towards the w.t.c. and it is possible even with my cheap zykon joyrider pro its ok with the peddles and all that and when i showed my misse's how easy it was once the aircraft was in the air she freaked when i demonstrated , so why ban microsoft flight sim when there is so much other suitible material out there its crazy.:(

[bobcat]

It obviously was not the Terrorists fault for what happened Tuesday. Must have been video games!

Knee jerk reactions....Gotta love them!:mad:

[Sturek]

Microsoft may as well fly a new flag saying "Stupid" on it as Flight Simulator isn't the reason that people lose lives. It seems so convienent whevever there's a problem it is blamed on Video/Computer Games. Columbine: to much Doom did it they say, WTC: Flight Simulator gave these people too much experience they say. These games are for Entertainment not for bad people to go mad. It may help screw up their already screwed up minds but in the long run Video/Computer games play a miniscule roll in all of this. All this can really do is encourage people to get Warez versions of this software.

[Scorpio69]

I think you should wait until you've earned your first 100 billion dollars or so to call Microsoft stupid. They know exactly what they're doing. As I said it is a gesture of sympathy for the victims.

[gyoung]

First of all they are terrorists, do you think they have a problem with

1.) killing someone to get a copy
2.) stealing a copy
3.) just going to a WAREZ site and downloading it for free!

[madfish]

Now don't think I don't care what happen.. I do..
But fight sim is a game..
I owe all the microsoft flight sim's.. {my fav is have 2000 pro } I been wrecking the aircraft in them for a long time now, I've used a 747 and tosted the navy yard at mid-way,nosed dived countless aircraft into the ground. my fav is cork screwing airforce one into moscow..
Does this mean I'm going to go and do this in real life? I don't think so, it's a darn game for crying out loud, I sink my owe ships in 688 attack sub and in Silent hunter too. it's a blast. and they don't fire back to often. call me sick and twisted, I don't care. I was crashing nascar racers berfor bill elliot died, in nascar heat.
I fly Falcon 4.0 online and it's as close to the real thing in a F-16 you can get, better the micro's.. are they going to ban that game?
you vcan learn the fundermentals from a flight sim game, but belive me, it's a total different experence/feeling when you get behind the yoke of a real aircraft, been there and do that . I think it's foolish to have the game pulled... sheese..
Madfish

ya can PM me you thoughts and rants if ya want:cool:

[^hyd^]

IMO I think that all this game would do for a terrorist is allow them to distinguise landmarks from a pilots perspective. (Which they probably could also get from the internet!!) But, this would only work if the landmarks are accurate and up to date. But unfortunatly, before this attack, it sounds like they were up to date.

I've never piloted a plane, or even close to it, but I can't see where it would 'hone' their flying skills. It's gotta be alot different in real life I imagine, no stress of "screwing it up" in a video game for starters. (unless your really into the game!!;) )

...just my two bits, gotta go get groceries now!!

ciao!

[Sturek]

It can be too hard to tell the difference they only flew into the worlds 2 tallest buildings and the pentagon, well it's the only big Pentagon shaped building in DC.

[kenyg]

- Given the scope of the tragedy - I think that Microsoft did the right thing - many people's psyche is damaged right now -

I don't think there's any hidden motive behind it. I'm sure it will re-appear on the shelves after a while.

I agree - flight sim didn't cause it, any more than Quake caused Colembine (sp?). - I just think given what happened this past week - THIS is appropriate.


Ken

[falcompsx]

what next cancel flight schools? the pilots were after all trained in the US(at least a few of them...) this is not a smart move, i sense a coming video game control, similar to gun control. completely and utterly useles... it only hurts law abiding citizens.

[the xenon]

I think this sux, and also its stupid.
This will not prove anything,
even if terrorists will want to "learn" how to fly with flight sim, they would not go and buy it now. There r like thousands of servers where u can download it off. Plus millions of people who already have a copy.
This is the stupidest thing i have ever heard :o

[Sixpac]

IMHO

All I can think of is that Microsoft removed the game (probably temp) as a tribute to those who died in the WTC... but.

Fantasy doesn't equal reality (at least for sane people)...

If those crazy people wan't to fly a 747 or whatever into a building and kill people or destroy valuable property (and they did those crazy crazy people) they would find anyway and I mean ANYWAY possible with or without games that simulate flying aircrafts.

They would of bought a flight sim training booth (which you can buy for under $100,000 and a very good one too) or just learned to fly by going through the regular means of becoming a pilot through instruction schools, which are all over the world.

Sixpac

[AuraEdge]

Flight sims dont kill people, people kill people....

I guess they should recall veggieknives too because they may have used plastic knives in the hijacking.
*shrugz*

[Barney]

I run people over in Grand Theft Auto, kill my own team (or at least try to ;) ) in Operation Flashpoint and shoot counter-terrorists with AK's in Counter-Strike. With the excellent training I have I'm sure I'll make a great terrorist. :rolleyes:

A few games that were set for release in a few weeks have been delayed. The World Trade Center can be seen several times in Metal Gear Solid 2 on PlayStation 2 and will be removed before the game's released. Propeller Arena, a flight combat game for DreamCast has also been delayed.

[Chunky]

So...
There's a plane incident, and they decide to pull MS Flight Sim.

There were terrorists caught on a train, so will we see MS Train Simulator stopped?

Will we see Midtown Madness stopped for excessive car force?

Now, maybe Microsoft should be thinking of the GENERAL CONSUMER, and pull their OS's, until they're sorted out.

(I get FAR MORE crashes with Windows than the Flight Sims..) :D

Chunks

BTW, why does it take an incident like this to make people go to church, or tell people to pray, or the likes?... hmm...

[Comage]

Because people take things for granted during times of peace... sad, ain't it? :(

[krusty the klown]

Pointless gesture, IMO.

Like it's sooooooo difficult to obtain, if you wanted a copy... Errr, anyone seen CMonster?? Last think I heard, he was being taken away in a van ;)

[tangluva]

Originally posted by Sixpac
Fantasy doesn't equal reality (at least for sane people)...

And you're telling me that the guys who were up to causing all these attacks are sane?:rolleyes:

Look, I know the people here who are pissed at this decision most likely know the difference between right and wrong, but there are many others who don't. Honestly, whether or not games causes some type of influence do you want to take a chance at us being attacked again? (Rhetorical question, but answer if you want and elaborate on it.)

[jpivonka]

The games should reappear on the shelves with better airspace control simulation... Enter controlled airspace in violation of the controls, and poof! You have been hit by a Homeland Defense Agency missile!

And cockpit controls should anticipate the installation of electronic security measures preventing incursions into excluded airspaces as well.

There is no reason simulation technology should not anticipate the adoption of effective security and air defense measures. [:|]

[rjjessop]

I agree with M$'s show of sympathy for the victims, so long as it doesn't get out of hand. With games like Quake and every other FPS out there I sincerly doubt that a flight sim of all things would be pulled off the shelf permanently for fear that it could be a terrorist training device.
Sure we can speculate that flight sims have something to do with the training involved, but so what if it is? If these terrorists can get through a US flight school unnoticed, with the FBI looking for them, then what difference does a flight sim make? If video games are truely such a great training device, why don't we send all of the veteran Half-Life gamers into the middle east armed to the teeth and sit back and watch the terrorist gibs fly?
We should look at some of the more likely cause and effect senarios. Afganistan was a US ally during thier war with Russia. We were in the midst of a cold war and were poking our noses where they didn't belong in a political chess game. We then withdrew our support mercilessly as soon as the war ended, leaving them in a pile of rubble, unable to feed thier women and children or the means to rebuild. That would leave me frothing at the mouth! Iraq was an ally when the war between that nation and Iran was in full swing. Once that ended we were all too ready to back out leaving some undoubted resentment in that country as well. Then we smashed them in Desert Storm, stirring the pot further! Some of my best friends are veterans of that war and still have nightmares, and post traumatic stress due to the attrocities that they saw during that mess. One in particular recalls the unarmed, hungry Iranian soldiers that they were ordered to gun down rather than take care of and wakes up screaming, still remembering some of thier faces. You don't think that was noticed by people in the middle east? I do. The closer you look at each situation, and I could go on forever, the more it looks like we should realize that in each situation, we stuck our noses in for our own personal gain. We sought controlled oil prices in the case of Kuwait, carefully hidden behind our 'desire' to help Kuwait defeat thier oppressers. There are wars going on in South America all the time. Do we help them out? Only if it has something to do with the drug trade for the most part. We tend to glance over certain conflicts while we plunge headlong into others. The common denominatior always seems to be about political or financial gain. All told, is there any wonder that there are hard feelings towards us? I am not justifying what the terrorists did, just hoping that we can learn from our own mistakes, even as we punish those involved. Don't blame a video game that had nothing to do with the fact. Look deeper people! Keep an open mind and look for the reasons. I want to go on, but I tend to get out of hand. I sincerely greive for the victims and their families, but it is going to take more than just killing off a few terrorists to ensure that this kind of thing doesn't happen again, and God forbid, on a larger scale. We know how to punish, but we still need to work on how to, love, sympathize, above all, to learn from our own mistakes, no matter how angry we are.

[ralonso]

hhmm... remember that joke about Monopoly being Bill Gates favorite game? I can think one for George Jr. -> Sim City. ;)

[cdwillis]

Microsoft went overboard! It's a flight sim, not a violent, kill-everything-that-moves game. I respect everyones compassion for those who lost friends and family in New York and Washington, but nobody watching the attack would think the attackers learned it all from M$.
One other thing, this year the U.S. has spent over $117,000,000 feeding Afgan refugees from the war and drought in Afganistan. While this nation doesn't always do what it should, no one has any acceptable cause for the contempt in which many hold us!

[jeffpapier]

Seems a pointless exercise now.. Just putting on a show to protect their reputation, I guess.

[prexaspes]

If ya gotta ask why they di it, you don't undersand.

Donate blood, love thine enemy.

[cammobus]

Yeah and maybe MS will modify the game so you can no longer ram US landmarks or in to buildings ?? ......... lmao

[k00lhand]

It appears that the October release of M/Soft FS2002 will now not happen and has been postponed indefinitely! M/Soft are going to remove the graphics of TWC Towers which is understandable. Who knows what else is going to be removed, maybe the whole of Washington DC.

The removal of FS2000 off the shelves does seem an over-reaction it's like closing the gate after the horses have bolted.

What angers me the most is the journalists that that bagged this product for the sake of a sensational story.

Other than board and card games THIS Flight Sim is the most PEACEFULL NONE VIOLENT COMPUTER GAME on the market. There are NO BOMBS, NO GUNS, NO KILLING, just the wonderful sensation of flight and the peaceful feeling of being amongst the clouds travelling and sightseeing countries that one can only dream of visiting if they had the money. I flew out of Paris to Kai Tak, Hong Kong before heading home yesterday and didn't come across anything life threatening other than my ability to land the aircraft safely.

Did you know that there is a Cancer Research program being conducted through Oxford University and so far people have donated free time on their computers to help. To date some 1million computers are involved and the equivelent to 260 years of reasearch time have been acheived. The most of the people who have been involved have been from the FLIGHT SIM COMMUNITY the Virtual Pilots all around the world. This program runs in the background and only uses memory your computer does not use and as we spend many hours flying we are able to donated alot of time .

Just trying to prove that Flight Sims are not EVIL or the people who fly them.

If You are interested in how the FLIGHT SIM COMMUNITY feel aout the recent tragic events and see what we are all about why not visit sites like avsim.com and read the Forums.
G'day Luke.:confused:

[linux_guru]

Maybe Micro$oft should donate a couple of billion $ from their massive profits, for the releif effort, rather than make some pointless token guesture like pulling FlightSim from the shelves. :confused:

[Graham]

There is always the fact that FS is now not accurate, they may be going to remove the WTC towers, perhaps they will replace them with a flag.

G