MS Flight Simulator

[Regalk]

The publisher removes the World Trade Center from its upcoming civilian flight sim in light of the recent terrorist attacks in the US.
According to MS, the only change being made to the game is the removal of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in Tuesday's terrorist attacks. The complex will be replaced by open space. No changes to the game's collision detection system will be made. Microsoft will also release a patch next week for previous Flight Simulator games that will remove part of the video introduction to the game that refers to an airplane colliding with a skyscraper.

As usual another RETROACTIVE change. Why the heck can't we be a more proactive. Sometimes I think the quest to make big profits overshadows the fundamentals - simple basic things. We are indeed living in a fool's paradise.

Just a thought for today - so don't bother to respond

 

[WHipLAsh13]

Again I state, if the WTC disaster hadn't happen you don't make this post or give 2 dinks. Only an evil, sinister and already crazy mind would ever think of crashing a plane into the WTC for real. Why dont we just ban all games. I am suprised no one has made any comments on Counter Strike, and how all servers should be shut down since it simulates terrorist activity. I live here in NY and have lost loved ones just like most here but lets place the blame in the form of an ass whooping where it lies BIN LADEN.

 

[corkyg]

>>>Again I state, if the WTC disaster hadn't happen you don't make this post or give 2 dinks. Only an evil, sinister and already crazy mind would ever think of crashing a plane into the WTC for real. Why dont we just ban all games.<<<

A valid point . . . however, the M$ Flight simulator referred to has all of the exact cockpits and controls for Beoing 757s and other actual aircraft. It is a perfect tool for practicing a mission and that "game" is all a suicidal terrorist needs to learn to control an aircarfty already in flight. The actual flight training they had was rudimentary, but by using those "games," they had the tools to get the job done.

Ban all games? Not really . . . just those that train people to react and kill in certain situations when exposed to certain stimulii. When I retired from the Army, we learned by careful study that the best way to train young people to become combat warriors was by use of video games. That study led to the development of combat simulation games and weapons simulators. The proof of that theory came to fruition in Desert Storm.

The problem is that most gamers are rational people. But there are many irrational and unstable people who those games have an effect on. The essence of combat training is reaction to stimulii. When you play something like "Duke Nukem" you are actually training yourself to react quickly with deadly force.

There is the dilemma. How can we mollify this effect and still keep gamers happy? As for the relevance of this thread . . . it relates to the use of computer-driven simulators for hardware necessary to impose a lethal effect. They problem is, that does indeed result in training.

Hardware simulation by computer is a valid and useful tool, but let's think about what hardware we need to train people to use.

 

[crisscross]

are Flight Simulators realistic enough to actually help you prefect the art of flying?? I play Need For Speed but it didn't help my driving skills..

 

[corkyg]

Microsoft Flight Simulator is . . . especially if you use the simulator control yoke.

 

[Sporko]

If we start making decisions based on what the exceptional, twisted, evil-minded might do then we will soon find ways to restrict and ban practically anything.

 

[wildwildwes]

Really, I don't think this $30 game will give you the training necessary to fly a big jet like the 767. Besides, I have heard early reports that the pilots involved were taught professionally just like real commercial pilots.

Lets stop blaming things on video games. Before this week, MS flight simulator would have been one of the most unlikely candidates for censorship.

 

[corkyg]

No, the pilot of the plane that hit the Pentagon took a few hours here in Tucson and Scottsdale . . . was a bad student, and really was not an accomplished pilot. All he had to do was steer a flying plane . . . that involved turning off the autopilot and guiding it. He couldn't find his primary target - the White House, and ended up aborting into the Pentagon. He didn't have to know how to land or take off . . . just steer the damn thing.

Don't get defensive about video games when the evidence and facts concerning them are actually rock solid . . . they are the best training devices around for teaching.

The time has come to thoughtfully consider what they should be allowed to teach . . . a game for you is a pre-planned murder to someone else.

The guy that hit WTC Tower 2 almost missed it . . . he didn't allow quite enough turning radius for the size of the plane . . . but it was close enouigh . . .

 

[BFG10K]

I don't believe that people are blaming combat flight simulator for the crash. :Q

If you go down that path you'll have to remove electricity, metal and fire. After all, just think how many people have been electrocuted, cut or burned. It's absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Workin']

<sarcasm> I think everything should be designed so that a 3-year old couldn't hurt himself with it, the most demented mind couldn't imagine a way to cause harm with it, and even the most delicate of constitution and sensibilities couldn't conceivably be offended by it. We could apply this rule to books, movies, video games, and speech, both public and private.</sarcasm>

It always amazes me how whenever something bad happens people are so willing to trade huge freedoms for small gains in perceived security.

The way some people carry on about video games you'd thing a loaded gun and psycosis-inducing drugs came packaged with each one!

 

[HotWire]

You think if the game itself taught them everything they needed to know to fly that plane they would have spent thousands to go to that florida flight training school?? I don't think so.......and as far as counterstrike goes lets not confuse games with real life situations they are two different animals

 

[SpecialEd]

NBC interviewed several flight instructors and asked them to try out MS Flight simulator.. They all agreed that the game was not realistic enough to replace actual flight training.
However they did say one could familiarize themselves with they cockpit layout and find global coordinates. But what can you do.. ban the sales of globes and atlases...

 

[tkdkid]

The video undoubtedly was trying to make a point about the game's difficulty. It is only after the tragedy that it could be thought that the plane was perhaps purposely flown into the building. Don't let the terrorists affect your thinking so much...that's what they wanted to do.

 

[BFG10K]

They all agreed that the game was not realistic enough to replace actual flight training

Regardless of how realistic it was, it's plain stupid to blame the game for the terrorist attacks. After all, the game wasn't flying the planes which rammed into the towers.

 

[corkyg]

No one has blamed the game for anything. If anything, MSFS could only reinforce other training. But, training is cumulative and and video games are highly effective as training devices. I see no thoughts or ideas here about banning or controlling anything . . . simply pointing out the need to make intelligent observations that relate to cause and effect.

One of the main objectives of training is to create rapid or automatic reaction to a given stimulus or situation without having to stop and think about it.