Might wanna be sitting down for this one...

[Snaker]

I cover some of my thinking around what I know about this decision and what influenced it at a new post at:
http://www.futuregpu.org.

I will post again as I learn more.

Thanks for the link to your blog - it is interesting to see your take on things.

:ernae:

 

[JT8D-9A]

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/160224.asp

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/23/what-the-heck-was-microsoft-thinking/

http://venturebeat.com/2009/01/24/m...-of-games-for-windows-live-among-the-layoffs/

:isadizzy:

 

[SolarEagle]

Financed how??
Employees who find themselves suddenly unemployed need to find a job that will pay for the neccessities of 'real' life.

I guess it comes down to two things:

1) Leadership
2) Capital

The second one is usually given to the first. One hundred plus unemployed flight sim developers standing under the sky is no ordinary moment.

 

[kjb]

So, I'm kicking back and doing a little mindless browsing and wander over to the FS Insider site. I click on the About the Aces link. The few paragraphs can't avoid the buzz words like "synergy" and "strategic priorities". Ugh!!!

I'm not a billion dollar business owner, but if it was my decision I would keep divisions that are profitable instead of scrapping them. If I was going to do some pruning, it would be elsewhere.

They plan to push "innovation, community, and collaboration to unprecedented levels"...HUH? Racing sims, fighter sims etc might do that with teams, squadrons and an ongoing campaign or season, but not a flight simulator. I think that someone needs to put down their granola, grab a cup of black coffee and look at promoting the profitable parts instead of trying to force something that doesn't exist and probably won't sell no matter how much cash they pour into it.

 

[crashaz]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/03/microsoft_flight_simulator_partners/

 

[noshadez]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/03/microsoft_flight_simulator_partners/

Cool crashaz..Fs11 was to come with skydiving acording to the report?..I think we can go with FSX for quite a while without FS11 ..The mission tool in it can do just about everything in a lot of ways--including skydiving..easy chng object/chng object to chng object..as here in my aussie bigfoot hunter skydiver..I will get all these (out of envelope) missions wrapped up soon now all we have is FSX for an indefinite while..It might be a good thing to only have FSX for a long while..FSX is as good as it can get for what price PC it takes to run it good for now--and a (Long) while from now..I would just of liked to see TS2 get finished though..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgpri9BZfCo&feature=channel_page

 

[wombat666]

One hundred plus unemployed flight sim developers standing under the sky is no ordinary moment.

Certainly not for the unfortunate individuals who have just become 'redundant'.
However, it is the same for three thousand BHP employees in the same situation, or for the One Hundred Thousand +/- unfortunates who have met the same fate in under a week.
'G-L-O-B-A-L R-E-C-E-S-S-I-O-N' ................ and it is getting worse as each day passes.

 

[stiz]

and it is getting worse as each day passes

unless your a Bailiff

 

[Daube]

Planned features included voice recognition with air traffic control, first-person mode, a full fledged career mode with a job board and a currency system, a lighter-then-air aircraft class, and skydiving.

Ouch. Now I'm starting to miss FS11. The first-person mode was asked by a lot of FS enthusiasts since long ago (walking around and inside the plane juste like in Operation Flashpoint for example). And this voice recognition with ATC just sounds cool... :faint:

 

[empeck]

'lighter-then-air aircraft class'

 

[Lionheart]

So, I'm kicking back and doing a little mindless browsing and wander over to the FS Insider site. I click on the About the Aces link. The few paragraphs can't avoid the buzz words like "synergy" and "strategic priorities". Ugh!!!

I'm not a billion dollar business owner, but if it was my decision I would keep divisions that are profitable instead of scrapping them. If I was going to do some pruning, it would be elsewhere.

They plan to push "innovation, community, and collaboration to unprecedented levels"...HUH? Racing sims, fighter sims etc might do that with teams, squadrons and an ongoing campaign or season, but not a flight simulator. I think that someone needs to put down their granola, grab a cup of black coffee and look at promoting the profitable parts instead of trying to force something that doesn't exist and probably won't sell no matter how much cash they pour into it.

I think MS has lost its abitlity to manage its own company. My humble 2 cents..

<-- puts on safety goggles incase someone throws cabbage

 

[CodyValkyrie]

Oh Bill, I think they can manage it just fine... hence the firing of 5,000 employees. If they couldn't manage it, they would run it right into the ground

 

[Bjoern]

Maybe they just did a "Windows 7" on the whole company?
Leaner, better, more successful...?

 

[SkippyBing]

They need to ditch Balmer, he's almost a legacy now and his inability to 'get' emerging technology and fields or change direction is doing MS no favours.

 

[IanP]

But Zune and LIVE have been such a success so far that they can't fail to... fall flat on their face even more!

 

[Chuck_Jodry-VJPL]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><TABLE id=Table3 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bodytext vAlign=top>Job Title: Art Management</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE id=Table5 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bodytext vAlign=top>Job Category: Game Design</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE id=Table7 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bodytext vAlign=top>Product: Games</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE id=Table8 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bodytext vAlign=top>Date Posted: 01/30/2009</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top width=5 rowSpan=5>

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><TABLE id=Table2 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bodytextnopadding vAlign=top>Job Code: 252532</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE id=Table1 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bodytextnopadding vAlign=top>Location: WA - Redmond</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE id=Table9 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bodytextnopadding vAlign=top>Travel Required: </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE id=Table10 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bodytextnopadding vAlign=top></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=3 height=2>

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=bodytext align=left colSpan=3>
*To consider similar job openings on MS Careers, use keyword: GAMES

Join the team responsible for building the most fun and rewarding flying experiences available on Games for Windows Live. Does working on a small, innovative team that delivers the most immersive flight experiences available today on the PC intrigue you? Our technology makes available entire continents - potentially the entire planet - for a detailed and dynamic 3D experience. We are looking for a Project Art Lead who can define, refine, and extend the visual elements while balancing the need for fun and approachability for a broad set of users.
RESPONSIBILITIES:

Demonstrate and clearly communicate expectations for quality of work, creativity, originality and professionalism to the art team.
Provide strong leadership for the art team and provide guidance for overall career development.
Establish a regular art review schedule internally within the team.
Ensure that all required art positions are staffed with excellent, qualified persons.
Manage both internal and external resources
Consult on a regular basis with the Project Design Lead and Project Developer Lead to set and adjust appropriate art production milestones.
Drive development and documentation for art processes and tools.
Work to thoroughly understand our customers and provide guidance to the team that will allow them to build assets that support our customer’s desires.
Locate and establish solid working relationships with outsource vendors.

QUALIFICATIONS:

5+ years experience as an Art Lead across multiple shipped titles
Demonstrated ability to successfully lead a team through the complete product development cycle
An in-depth knowledge of game development software and techniques (e.g. Max, Photoshop)
Experience in creating and managing all processes of artwork creation for triple-A titles
An eye for detail and style, as demonstrated by a top-rate portfolio
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Experience dealing with outsource vendors

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>



I kinda wonder sometimes who is in charge, or is anybody actually in charge , can't wait for the next announcement , thanks to Bill Leaming for bringing this to our attention

 

[Prowler1111]

..If they are considering migrating Flight Simulator into LIVE..well, those still in dual up or crappy internet connections will be left without choices....
I guess they are going that way in order to fight piracy?
Prowler

 

[stiz]

so like all the other games which require online activation ... which have all been cracked anyway so theres no point in 'protection' really if you think about it

 

[jsolomon]

An idea...

Some Aces developers move to id software and develop an amazing combat/simple civilian flight sim using id Tech 5, which is cross platform in development. Since id has seriously entertained the idea of eventually releasing Tech 5 as opensource, the studio appeals for a degree of investment and an advertising campaign with Ubuntu. Tech 5 is expanded along with a Linux games/opengl market. The result would be quite a feather in Mark Shuttleworth's cap.

 

[MCDesigns]

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="50%"><table id="Table3" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytext" valign="top">Job Title: Art Management</td></tr></tbody></table><table id="Table5" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytext" valign="top">Job Category: Game Design</td></tr></tbody></table><table id="Table7" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytext" valign="top">Product: Games</td></tr></tbody></table><table id="Table8" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytext" valign="top">Date Posted: 01/30/2009</td></tr></tbody></table></td><td rowspan="5" valign="top" width="5">

</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="50%"><table id="Table2" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytextnopadding" valign="top">Job Code: 252532</td></tr></tbody></table><table id="Table1" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytextnopadding" valign="top">Location: WA - Redmond</td></tr></tbody></table><table id="Table9" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytextnopadding" valign="top">Travel Required: </td></tr></tbody></table><table id="Table10" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytextnopadding" valign="top">
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td colspan="3" height="2" valign="top">

</td></tr><tr><td class="bodytext" colspan="3" align="left">
*To consider similar job openings on MS Careers, use keyword: GAMES

Join the team responsible for building the most fun and rewarding flying experiences available on Games for Windows Live. Does working on a small, innovative team that delivers the most immersive flight experiences available today on the PC intrigue you? Our technology makes available entire continents - potentially the entire planet - for a detailed and dynamic 3D experience. We are looking for a Project Art Lead who can define, refine, and extend the visual elements while balancing the need for fun and approachability for a broad set of users.
RESPONSIBILITIES:

Demonstrate and clearly communicate expectations for quality of work, creativity, originality and professionalism to the art team.
Provide strong leadership for the art team and provide guidance for overall career development.
Establish a regular art review schedule internally within the team.
Ensure that all required art positions are staffed with excellent, qualified persons.
Manage both internal and external resources
Consult on a regular basis with the Project Design Lead and Project Developer Lead to set and adjust appropriate art production milestones.
Drive development and documentation for art processes and tools.
Work to thoroughly understand our customers and provide guidance to the team that will allow them to build assets that support our customer’s desires.
Locate and establish solid working relationships with outsource vendors.

QUALIFICATIONS:

5+ years experience as an Art Lead across multiple shipped titles
Demonstrated ability to successfully lead a team through the complete product development cycle
An in-depth knowledge of game development software and techniques (e.g. Max, Photoshop)
Experience in creating and managing all processes of artwork creation for triple-A titles
An eye for detail and style, as demonstrated by a top-rate portfolio
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Experience dealing with outsource vendors

</td></tr></tbody></table>



I kinda wonder sometimes who is in charge, or is anybody actually in charge , can't wait for the next announcement , thanks to Bill Leaming for bringing this to our attention

Is this true?? They just let many talented people go and are looking for replacements? Someone at MS needs to pull their head out of their !!!!!