The History Of Flight Simulator Games

Flight simulators are virtual tools that are designed to teach the user how to fly an aircraft without the risk. When you are learning how to fly professionally or for fun, you cannot buckle yourself into a 747 and expect to catch on in a matter of minutes. Flying an aircraft is not like riding a bike; one small mistake can have serious consequences. This is why flight simulator games were created to help teach training pilots how to fly. Learn about the history of flight simulation and see just how much it has advanced over the years.

The first known arcade game to use flight simulation was Jet Rocket. This simulator was released by Sega in 1970 and was designed as a form of entertainment and not training. The game featured a cockpit complete with all of the controls and a basic and stationary landscaping scene on the screen. Players could shoot missiles and explode targets before their eyes.

The advancement of these types of games brought the release of Jet Rocket making way for a whole genre of combat simulator games. The next popular game to hit the arcades was Interceptor made by Taito in 1975. This first-person shooter took flight simulation to a new level and used a joystick so the player could aim at enemy aircraft and disintegrate them in mid-air.

It was not until the 1980s that flight simulator games were made for personal computers. They have remained very popular on personal computers to this day. The first PC game to hit the market was subLOGIC. The subLOGIC game, created by Bruce Artwick, has basic graphics, real world scenery, and a mock control panel. The creator made several different versions of subLOGIC for Mac computers and later for IBM compatible computers. The IBM compatible versions were licensed under Microsoft as Flight Simulator 1.00. The company later released 2.0 and 3.0 versions with more aircraft options and better graphics.

After PC games, came more advanced games for playing consoles in the home. Sega released a flight simulator game in 1987 that was titled After Burner. This combat game used a joystick and was widely popular on the Genesis and later the PlayStation. Super Nintendo also released a game called Pilotwings. This game helped the player earn their pilot license by completing flight lessons that were built into the game.

These types of games may have started out slow but they have graduated into a huge market. They are designed to entertain you and teach you what it feels like to control an actual aircraft. New simulator games have advanced so much that you will really feel like you are controlling a plane. If you choose the right game, you can use controls that are found in actual cockpits and select the weather and time of day you want to fly. You can even fly over your house and see it with satellite technology. The world of flight games will continue to grow.