Entry #6- Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Preliminary Elements:

Title: Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: 2006
Game Type: Flight Simulator

Game Summary:  Microsoft Flight Simulator is seemingly one of the most accurate and intricate flight simulators available today, at least from a purely gaming perspective.  Upon starting, the gamer is immediately thrust into the world of flight and given multiple planes or a helicopter to choose from the menu.  Once the aircraft and location are chosen, the gamer is confronted by a cockpit with many dials, levers and buttons.  The game designers have thought of everything and the gamer rapidly discovers that simply increasing the throttle to full power and pulling back on the wheel won't make for a very long flight.  This game forces the gamer to develop a basic understanding of flight as the gamer must think like real life pilots to successfully navigate around the friendly skies.  Microsoft Flight Simulator offers both the ability to choose the plane and location and fly where ever the gamer chooses or to complete various missions.  Ultimately, once a gamer masters this simulator, I wouldn't doubt that the gamer would feel slightly more comfortable than the average novice in an actual cockpit.


Educational Value:  I see significant educational value throughout Microsoft Flight Simulator.  First off, the game is rated E for Everyone so there is no concern about violence, vulgarity or other inappropriate elements increasingly found in games today.  Second, I think this game can be a great teaching tool for so many different areas.  A social studies class can study geography, maps and navigation as they develop flight plans to fly from city to city.  A physics class can calculate plane movements and lift based on airspeed and other relevant factors.  A third class can use it as a teaching tool for following and comprehension of instructions.  It is a very fun and engaging game that will likely appeal to a large cross-section of students and I think that it's introduction in the classroom could be very beneficial to all.  


Opinion:  I really enjoyed playing Microsoft Flight Simulator.  While it was a little frustrating at first, once I began to concentrate and understand the various factors involved, I was finding myself striving for success as I attempted to fly from LAX to San Diego.  Takeoff was far more challenging than I anticipated (didn't really understand the flaps at first) and landing was very difficult as well.  I think it was the intricacies of the game that so attracted me to it.  I loved how this simulator made me feel that I was actually flying a plane.  While I tried it for the diary, I found myself less concerned with evaluation and more concerned with not stalling on takeoff.  Gameplay is very difficult but I think that adds to the realism of the game.  The only thing I was not overly impressed with was the amount of memory that the game consumed and required.  While my computer is by no means old, the game ran slower than I would have liked.  While I think there may be some incentives and awards for successful completion of missions, in my mind the real incentive and reward was learning and executing proper flight techniques.  I'm so glad I played this game and I hope to return to it in the future.