simulation
News
The Sims 3 Given New, Later Release Date
7:20AM Mike Fahey | Virtual residents of the last version of EA’s popular life simulation get a stay of execution today, as the company officially pushes the release of The Sims 3 to June. More »
Culture
US Airways Hudson Crash Recreated In Flight Sim
7:40AM Michael McWhertor | Bad-ass US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger recently completed the first successful water landing of a commercial aircraft in 45 years, touching down on the Hudson River. Now, you can relive the magic, via flight sim. More »
America’s Army Devs Create Virtual Peace
8:20AM Stuart Houghton | Virtual Heroes – the developers behind the America’s Army military simulator – have turned their hand to more socially useful, less killing-y areas with humanitarian aid simulator Virtual Peace.
UK Military Investigating Smelly Games
8:20AM Stuart Houghton | You know who likes the smell of victory in the morning? The British Army, that’s who – and now the Ministry Of Defence is pumping research pounds into creating a Virtual Battlefield complete with Virtual Smells so soldiers can sample that smell – alongside the bouquet of bullets, the whiff of weaponry and the perfume of the paramilitary – without having to step into harm’s way. More »Midnight Club LA and the Arcade-Sim Racing Balance
12:57PM Seamus Byrne | I’ve been playing some Midnight Club LA over the past few days and it’s had me thinking about the racer debate of sim versus arcade driving and tuning styles. Unless you are a Gran Turismo or Forza, at some point you are making a choice to plant yourself on a scale somewhere between the extremes (placing the likes of Daytona firmly up the arcade end of the spectrum — zero car tuning or choice, just slam peddles pedals and steer like hell).
Ignoring the frustrations of AI that almost never crashes, and certainly never makes a wrong turn (I largely agree with the US review, though more weight given to the ‘love’ column — really enjoying the game, but it can get frustrating when a single mistake can often cost you a race), it is clear that Rockstar has targeted a very balanced position in the arcade-sim spectrum. Tuning vehicles is quite easy, but as funds trickle into your garage you do want to carefully choose which upgrades to buy and when to buy them — getting the right performance enhancement with that spare $600 can definitely help win your next race when the competition is tough. But you can also auto upgrade and leave the next choice up to the system.
The best part of what MC LA has achieved is that you can feel the difference in vehicles when you drive them, and that is something that has often only been found in the sims. The tweaks may be simple, but you can appreciate that you have upgraded the car you are driving, and that is where you actually feel rewarded.
Any racing fans out there with their preferred position on the curve? If the tuning system is ‘dumbed down’, would you prefer it wasn’t there at all? Or are true racing sims dead to you? More » Concept Car Designed For GT5 Prologue Driveable In Paris
9:55AM Seamus Byrne | GTbyCITROËN has been unveiled at the Paris Motor Show, and it’s an interesting spot of marketing fun. Citroen partnered with Kazunori Yamauchi from Polyphony Digital to design an ultimate fuel cell concept car, and then engineered the beast as a driveable concept vehicle for the Motor Show. The car is now available as a downloadable addition to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue so anyone can take it for a spin. Naturally, they claim the car’s in-game and on-road performance are true to form, but how many of us will get the chance to test that theory? Full release after the jump. More » 
iPhone Gets First Flight Simulator
8:20AM Stuart Houghton | Laminar Research has released an iPhone version of its well regarded Flight Sim X-Plane 9. X-Plane 9 is a cross-platform (Windows, Mac OSX and Linux) flight sim that uses blade element theory to model flight characteristics in real time. Although the iPhone release is scaled down (it weighs in at 6.2MB, the desktop version is around 25 GB), Laminar claim that the physics engine is intact with around 95% the accuracy of the full version. Control uses the accelerometer (the iPhone essentially becomes a flight yoke) and some onscreen buttons within the in-game HUD. Flight Simulator ‘X-Plane 9′ from Laminar Research More »
The Ultimate In Horseriding Simulation
6:30PM Luke Plunkett | Got $US 10,000 handy? Love horse-riding? Hate horses? Well is this the deal for you. This is the Ridemaster, perhaps the most overblown horse-riding adventure we’ve seen this side of Barbie Horse Adventures. For your 10gs you get a fake horse (which is full of sensors, so you can kick it for being stubborn) and a TV display, but sadly, no jodpers. You’ll have to get those on your own. Vid’s after the link, for anyone who enjoyed watching Flynn ride a witch’s broomstick and wants to see it taken to the next level. Ridemaster Pro Horseriding Simulator Is Just Sad [Giz AU] More »
