Well, flight simulation technically includes the Ace Combat series that WERE for the PS2, and the only reason, really, why I bought a PS2 was for those series.  At the time, no other console offered game play like that...  Well, they (Bandai/Namco) jumped platforms because of development problems (coding) with the PS3, a reason a lot of companies jumped on the 360 band-wagon quite early. 

Lethal Skies was a nice one too, one of the MOST realistic ones due to actual "stores" sizes and limits of a fighter jet.  If you ran out, you had to go back, refuel and reequip.  I quit with AC5 because it was practically the same as 4, just different items and scenery...  I was disappointed  with that, big-time.

As a note though; there have been no flight Sims for any game console like the ones for PCs, just FLIGHT sims, no combat or objectives that mean anything.  If you want a REAL nice Ace Combat simulator, then you need to buy a 360, because Ace Combat 6 for XB360 is fan-freeking-tastic.   Even Sega had the F-16 Strike Eagle game (something like that), that I played for hours and hours...   I liked that it (your planes computer) vocally warned you which incoming missile was approaching (Atoll, Sam) too bad they don't put ALL the cool stuff from each game into a nice one like AC6.

I believe Tom Clancy has a aerial combat game in the works.

H.A.W.X.   Late September this year.

hopefully it will be good but personally i dont expect it

NapoleonMikey wrote:

but ace combat can not be considered a flight simulator it is in the arcade category. if they were to bring X plane to PS3 it would be really kool. and if they were to never bring Ace combat back to the PS3 i would like to see ubisoft develop a new Lock on: Modern air combat simulator. only problem i see with this is by how dificult the learning curve for the original was it turned alot of people off that were looking for a quick hop in the jet and shoot stuff down game. there games require you to have to learn how to operate the radar how to operate the fire control system how to work the avionics. lets just say it would take a good week of studying before the average gamer would even have a chance of being somewhat able at the sim.

Really?  Have you ever been, well IN a REAL flight simulator?  I would bet 100% NOT.  Also, how do you think pilots in general, and our military fighter pilots are trained?  With Microsoft Flight Simulator X?  Umm, that's a HUGE NO!!   In fact, the USAF flight/aerial combat simulator graphics are not as good as a game console, like AC6.  In fact, Ace Combat is an "Aerial Combat Simulator", with the only difference being (besides the obvious FAKE scenarios), you are not in a metal enclosure, and it's not simulating hits, rolls, dives, and inverted dives, and general feedback that YOU CAN FEEL.   

The HUD in an F16 and some other jets is like old Vector Line graphics, and that's all you need up there.  What you see in from AC4 to AC6, is better graphics than an actual HUD in the cockpit of a 12 million dollar jet fighter, yeah go figure.  Also, the tracking systems are not as advanced either, well, because the fighter jets don't have 3 and 8 core processors, THOUGH THEY SHOULD!  The interlocking between RADAR, and the computer system for tracking and identification is the bottleneck, so no matter how fast the tracking and identifier system is?  The radar has to be working fast, and accurately. That's another reason, while in heavy land and air assaults, they use the AWACS planes to feed them more accurate targeting information.

Well, the games today use ALL the resources our military has to make the experience as real as possible, except the having 50+ missiles deal...   That's why, if you want as real as possible, then Lethal Skies is the game...

So, AC4 and all those COOL games not being Simulators?  You're quite wrong...  If you were to build a cockpit around your TV, with the hydraulics to simulate everything else, you would have one of THE BEST simulators on the planet, even better than what the government has.

OK, also, like first person shooters?  How so you think police officers are trained NOW days?   With a 10 foot wide or better projection video of the same stuff, when it used to be drop, pop, and pull targets on a range, AND, they still use that stuff today.   So, if you are playing a game where you're a cop, shooting people, what makes it NOT a simulation?  Why, because you're not going to get the JOB when you're done?  No, it is a simulation.  With drop, pull, and pop up targets, they are slower than the instant display on a screen, so the VIDEO ones make them faster, and more reliable.  BECAUSE, they can identify quicker.  SO, when in real life, the person doesn't POP up instantly, they move into view, or duck up, and so on, which is still going to be slower than something popping up on a video screen for you to shoot or NOT shoot at.

They are simulators or people wouldn't play them.

Now, games like WarHawk, and 3rd person view are NOT simulators, they are arcade games, like Blazing Angels...  However, the ace combat series are THE CLOSEST a civilian will ever get to the real thing...

What about games like Ghost Recon, and just recently COD4?  When you're on the C130 Gunship?  THAT is the REAL DEAL there dude, besides how fast you can switch guns, and feel them kicking back.  These games are made to TRAIN soldiers of a different caliber, not the typical grunt.  I would seriously ask you to rethink your position, because they are simulators of one kind or another.  Most first person games are to a certain extent.  They test your ability to fight, identify targets from friendly, and ability to think fast and not get confused and get shot.

NapoleonMikey wrote:

so what are we betting? if your 100% sure then im sure you wouldnt mind putting up some cash.

but actualy you would be dead wrong. last time i was in dallas (a few months ago) up at the southwest HQ i got to try out there 737 simulator. my father is an employee of Southwest and i work at KMCO as a PA so i have an airport id to let me go to all restricted areas at any airport governed by TSA. the thing is really kool and i couldn't believe how much i learned from FS X and FS 9 helped me out. i actualy managed to land a 737 with out damaging it.  and these are the same simulators that they train there FO's on.  by far one of the coolest experiences ever.

and i would hate to tell you that lethal skies is far from realistic. first off it doesnt simulate any of the stresses on the aircraft that would cause a plane to literally break apart or at the minimum stall out and cause a spin. the only time you stall in that game is when your airspeed drops to low. if you were to do half the maneuvers you see people pulling in AC most people would black out first or they would destroy there hydraulic systems. the only plane in that game that is represented right would be the F/A 22 whos fly by wire system will not let the aircraft overstress. and no i never said that the AF uses Flight Simulator to train there pilots i said that private flight schools do and yes this is a fact i sugest you go find a private pilot licenses school and check out there facility's i guarantee you they have ground training courses that use either FSX or x plane. even embry riddle that biggest flight school in the US uses x plane for there ground course simulations for single engine and multi engine courses.

I already pointed out the obvious, with the metal can around you. Lethal Skies is as realistic due to the actual limitations of weapons "stores" each plane can carry, and fuel.   I think, you think I meant it is the most realistic simulator on earth, you may want to READ the post again, and more carefully I might ad....

secondly the armament issue with AC. really who the hell thought that one up. some of those planes cant even equip some of the armaments that they have them equiping. in connection with this it dosnt simulate any of the things a pilot actualy needs to do to track a traget such as setting up his radar to the correct settings or or manually selecting the target he is going to engage from his list his computer gives him. also your able to switch between ground targets and air targets seamlessly. big no no. you would end up spending a minute or 2 setting up your radar and fire system to be able to switch to ground targets and theres only a handfull of aircraft in the world that can do that. thus including and aircraft with the designation F/A (ie the F/A-18 and F/A-22) the standard F15 or standard F16 cant. they must be set up on the ground before hand to deal with ground targets or air targets.  if you want a good look at how this is done i sugest you go play either Falcon 4.0 or Lock On: Modern Air Combat. both of those simulators require the pilot to know how to navigate his menus and radar.

You have to track and set targeting with Maverick (The pilot selects a target on the viewing screen, then locks the missile to the target, and fire.) and Toe (these are steerable by the pilot from the viewscreen..  The sidewinder, and other AMRAM missiles they go after the locked target you chose, which are all being tracked, which you can alternate.  You may wish to argue till you're blue in the face, but the games like that are as realistic as your are going to get for a CIVILIAN.   You still need to know what you're looking at with AC series, and switch radar range, and switch to a PRIMARY labeled "TGT" rather than shoot everything you can lock on to.  Nope, they are pretty close as you can get.  Without all the intricate buttons and stuff, you can't ever get the REAL deal.  But I am willing to bet that if you were in a room with one of these games, and you were being tested by a military entity, you would be being judged, and the best person would move on. 

I also stated the obvious with the fake scenarios, on your point about armament


and for that last statement of AC is the closet a person will ever get to the real thing i sugest you go pick up or download a copy of fighting falcon 4.0 or Lock On modern air combat. just give it a go and if you can even figure out how to start the engines on the aircraft i would be surprised let alone figure out how to track a target.

[b]I have played games of a similar nature on a PC, and locking on to the engines is just locking on to the HEAT source.

oh and one last thing the tracking system in some of those planes is as advance as what it shows in AC such as targeting and fireing on 4 diferent targets at once but this is only available in generation 4 fighters and up. first aircraft that could do it was the F-14 tomcat with its phoenix missile system. it could fire on 4 targets simultanously at ranges up to 100 miles away.

Never brought that up, the multi-targeting, and I know that, so you have just proved some more of my post by acknowledging that.


lock on game play footage
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SheTcEoKx0Q

notice that he actualy has to track targets and select targets mess with hiw radar select waepons not just auto lock on and fire.

In any case, it's pretty nice, and I like how they work.  There is more to it in the cock-pit, but the VG versions do not have all the items needed to do a lot of the manual work.   The entire process can be AUTOMATED in our fighters, with you still being able to SELECT a target.

Some commercial pilot training facilities have started using FS X now but only at the low end of the training.