Microsoft's Flight Simulator has seemingly been around forever, and for many, resides in the PC gaming Hall of Fame along with DOOM, Quake, X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter, Descent, Diablo, EverQuest and numerous other classics. The first version hit store shelves way back in 1982 while Flight Simulator X brought the series to a close in 2006. However Microsoft refused to let the concept die and announced a reboot of sorts in August 2010 with the upcoming launch of Microsoft Flight (opens in new tab).
"With Microsoft Flight we're approaching the virtual flight genre from the ground up, with the focus on the universal appeal of the experience of Flight," the company said. "We believe the simplicity of Microsoft Flight perfectly captures that vision while welcoming the millions of existing Flight Simulator fans. The new Microsoft Flight retains the full fidelity simulation longtime fans have come to expect while offering all players a whole new look and feel, a wide range of new game play and challenges, persistent experiences and social connectivity."
According to Microsoft, the company is now accepting applications for the Flight beta program taking to the skies in January 2012. To enter, interested gamers can head here via Microsoft Connect (opens in new tab), but there's a catch: a nondisclosure agreement means you can't take photos, videos or audios of the software, nor can you post such items anywhere online. Information obtained about the game cannot be disclosed, nor can the client be hacked or copied for distribution amongst forum friends and strangers... typical NDA stuff that many ignore anyway.
"We will be sorting through your applications over the coming month and will get back to qualifying participants with additional details throughout our beta phases in January," the company said. "As we taxi for takeoff, we will continue to provide intriguing updates about the future of Microsoft Flight so please keep checking in on our website or on our Facebook Fan Page."
Although there's no set release date as of this writing, Microsoft released a set of tentative system requirement last month (opens in new tab):
Minimum:
CPU: Dual Core 2.0 GHz
GPU: 256 MB card capable of shader 3.0 (DX 9.0c compliant)
HD: 10 GB Hard Drive space
OS: Windows XP SP3
RAM: 2.0 GB
Recommended (high settings):
CPU: Intel Core i7 960 @ 3.20GHz, AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 3.3 GHz or better
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 5870, Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 or better
HD: 10 GB Hard Drive space
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
RAM: 6 GB