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Strelich · 03-23-2009, 01:03 PM

The idea has been brought about before, and I would tend to agree. Years ago, a F-16 flight simulation was released called Back to Baghdad which I think originally had a list price around $100, when many flight sims went for no more than $40. In general, if someone pays $120 for a 6DOF TrackIR system and certainly back when Thrustmaster made F-16 throttle quads and joystick combos approaching $400 for the set, people would pay to support their genre. Fortunately Eagle Dynamics (Black Shark) after Ubisoft dropped them went with a web distribution model and will publish boxed copies next month, but at they're nominally in control rather than the publisher. "When it's done" is the release date I want to see for sims.

Even the Steel Beasts Pro editions cost over $100, which is certainly fair given they get more money through their military simulation contracts. That company is essentially a homegrown operation and needs more to offset costs compared to Bohemia Interactive (Operation Flashpoint/ArmA/Arma 2) and Eagle Dynamics (Ka-50, LOMAC) who also are contracted by the military.

I still think the big problem is that publishers have wildly unrealistic expectations of how much a game should sell. (EA would be an extreme case, being disappointed that such and such didn't sell five million units). While understandable they want to reap on their investment, pulling back on the development cycle and pushing it out by the holiday season has made a poor showing to the potential of flight sims. Too many stories to count on how feature creep and pushing out unfinished games has knocked the genre.

Ubisoft was one of the last publishers to still have a focus on sims, and I'm forever grateful to their publishing Silent Hunter 3,4, and the rumored 5 from their Romanian studio, Il-2 and it's successors, Lock On, and so on. It's not likely a choice they would make given market realities, but for a simulation like this, I would happily pay twice as much and possibly more.

In a credit to the most ardent supporters, they've bought every release of Black Shark so far, the Russian in October, the English version in December, and again when the boxed localized versions come out. This is even knowing that there is little difference between them, but to help the company.

They do have plans to continue making study sims 'every nine months', though a look at ED's development cycles, doubling that would be a safe bet. Sometime next year will be the A-10C, then the AH-64A, and possibly redoing the Su-25/Su-25T. I'll buy them all, twice if I have the money to spare.

03-23-2009, 01:03 PM	#7 (permalink)
Strelich occasional iconoclast Location: Flushing, MI	The idea has been brought about before, and I would tend to agree. Years ago, a F-16 flight simulation was released called Back to Baghdad which I think originally had a list price around $100, when many flight sims went for no more than $40. In general, if someone pays $120 for a 6DOF TrackIR system and certainly back when Thrustmaster made F-16 throttle quads and joystick combos approaching $400 for the set, people would pay to support their genre. Fortunately Eagle Dynamics (Black Shark) after Ubisoft dropped them went with a web distribution model and will publish boxed copies next month, but at they're nominally in control rather than the publisher. "When it's done" is the release date I want to see for sims. Even the Steel Beasts Pro editions cost over $100, which is certainly fair given they get more money through their military simulation contracts. That company is essentially a homegrown operation and needs more to offset costs compared to Bohemia Interactive (Operation Flashpoint/ArmA/Arma 2) and Eagle Dynamics (Ka-50, LOMAC) who also are contracted by the military. I still think the big problem is that publishers have wildly unrealistic expectations of how much a game should sell. (EA would be an extreme case, being disappointed that such and such didn't sell five million units). While understandable they want to reap on their investment, pulling back on the development cycle and pushing it out by the holiday season has made a poor showing to the potential of flight sims. Too many stories to count on how feature creep and pushing out unfinished games has knocked the genre. Ubisoft was one of the last publishers to still have a focus on sims, and I'm forever grateful to their publishing Silent Hunter 3,4, and the rumored 5 from their Romanian studio, Il-2 and it's successors, Lock On, and so on. It's not likely a choice they would make given market realities, but for a simulation like this, I would happily pay twice as much and possibly more. In a credit to the most ardent supporters, they've bought every release of Black Shark so far, the Russian in October, the English version in December, and again when the boxed localized versions come out. This is even knowing that there is little difference between them, but to help the company. They do have plans to continue making study sims 'every nine months', though a look at ED's development cycles, doubling that would be a safe bet. Sometime next year will be the A-10C, then the AH-64A, and possibly redoing the Su-25/Su-25T. I'll buy them all, twice if I have the money to spare. __________________ ----- Monty this seems strange to me. The movies had that movie thing, but nonsense has a welcome ring and heroes don't come easy.