Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Gold Edition From Microsoft

Product Details

Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Gold Edition From Microsoft List Price: $39.99 Price: $29.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 47 new or used available from $24.00 Average customer review:

Product Description

Flight Acceleration X-pack enables gamers to play head to head against their friends or others in exciting racing missions, in addition to 20 new missions and new content.  Looks better than ever with enhanced DX10 graphics!

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #301 in Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Model: EGC-00001
• Released on: 2008-09-23
• ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP
• Format: DVD-ROM
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.10" h x 5.30" w x 7.50" l, .45 pounds

Features

• Choose from more than 80 missions that will show you the world with fun assignments from around the globe
• Race alone or against friends online
• Experience the day change from afternoon sun to evening dusk while flying at 32,000 feet
• Keep track of how you¿ve done on each mission and improve your skill levels until your ready for the next challenge
• Fly from your local airport during the winter and then experience the change as you fly from the same airport in summer

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Customer Reviews

Well-refined leader of the genre Flight simulation for your PC just doesn't get any better than this. Microsoft has been at this for a long time, and they make it better with every release. A few things seasoned flight simmers will know that new users will certainly WANT to know are: The system requirements to really make this software work well are dauntingly advanced. You'll need something approaching a top-level gaming machine, with a huge video card, to get the full benefit of the entire visual, audible, advanced controls experience. Got a laptop you think is pretty smokin'? Forget it. Microsoft follows every release of this product with massive service packs you must download and install, and each one takes a huge chunk out of your hard drive. Be prepared with LOTS of disk space. This particular release (meaning, the "Gold Edition") includes service packs one and two, so you won't need to download them. An internet connection is required to register the product. A note to real pilots (I am also a pilot): Keep in mind that this is a $30 product for a home computer, not a Flight Safety training machine. The flight model is basic and stable, and is not intended to simulate extreme attitudes and emergency procedures. If you're looking for a realistic spin trainer, or a procedural instrument trainer there are expensive add-ons that will get you CLOSE, but you should generally be looking elsewhere. Bottom line is that this is, hands down, the best of the lot, but you really DO need vast hardware resources to run it. If you own those resources, be prepared for a real-time, audio-visual feast. Dumbed down to dumb As a Pilot, I bought this version because it included the G-1000 glass cockpit. The G-1000 simulator from Garmin is $119, FSX was only $34.95. So, overall, I got what I wanted. I was very dissapointed that MS decided to dumb down the flight physics even more than in FS9. Lot's of silly things too: For example, the left turning tendency is pronounced in a single engine propellor aircraft. This is caused by Torque, P-Factor, Gyroscopic precession and slipstream. Why do the 2 and 4 engine Commercial Jets in FSX also require heavy right rudder on take-off? They are immune to these forces. (They don't have props!) Stalls are so subtle and gentle as to be pointless, FSX wings never drop and full recovery is possible without relieving back pressure on the stick. FSX Planes will not spin, even when forced into cross-controlled flight. It's impossible to get the spin started and spin recovery; one of the most important basic flight skills to master, is impossible to properly simulate in FSX. Forward slips don't work properly and the glide ratios (at least for 172's) are ridiculously exaggerated (maybe I'm flying really "dirty" planes in real life?). I was also disappointed that there are no physics included to simulate the F-16 breaking the sound barrier. :( It's great for learning instrumentation and navigation, but as a simulation of flight; it is pretty useless. The things this simulator lets you get away with (Yes, on Full Realism) would kill you several times per day in a real aircraft. Graphics are good, but not the quantum leap you would expect from FS9-FSX (I'm running a quad core i7 940 at 2.93ghz, 6mb ram and a nVidia GTX-260 and have pretty much everything set to medium. Even set that low, NYC can knock me down to 6 FPS. Buy it for fun, or to experiment with cockpit instumentation (it's really good for that, especially for student pilots training in G-1000 equipped aircraft), but don't fool yourself into believing that it is as Real As It Gets, because it flys like a video game. First time for Flight Simulator [Played Three Days Straight] Fun once you've downloaded the three disks. There are over 5,000 Airports, 30 planes plus three if you buy The Gold Version, and Loads of Missions to fly. My Favorite Feature is Free Play. You can take off from your Hometown Airport or any other and vist landmarks like The Egyption Pyramids, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Niagra Falls. You can download any plane you want online like UFO's, Futureristic Fliying Cars, and my favorite, a Thunder Bird version F-16. I love this game. Make sure you buy a controler like A Saitek X52 joystick and throttle. This game is unplay able witout one.