Hey Everyone,

I made a visit to both FS and TSinsider.com the official Microsoft websites for the development of Flight and Train Sim. The rumor is true. Aces Studios, the internal developer of both Train and Flight Sim has been shut down by Microsoft. This means that both Train Sim 2 and FS XI (11) are being cancelled/postponed. Although I've had my struggles attempting to join this team, I still feel strongly about both these teams and franchises. I sincerely wish the best for the members of The Aces team and hope that these successful fancies aren't forever lost to a corporate restructure.

These are indeed tough times for all of us around the world. For those of us in the US, we must strive to be better than Rome. For the rest of the world; stand up and don't let the US take you down. Below is the copy from both websites. Rest assured this topic will come up in next weeks Let's Talk Train Show, my podcast and any future SkyBlueRadio work.

The Best to All,

Nicolas Andrew Marsh Jackson

FSInsider Version

By now, many of you have heard that Microsoft has closed Aces Studio, the publisher of Microsoft Flight Simulator. This was not a reflection of the quality of the products Aces has developed, the sales performance of the games, or the quality of the team at Aces. This difficult decision was made to align Microsoft"s resources with our strategic priorities. Microsoft Flight Simulator X will remain available at retail stores and web retailers, the Flight Sim community will continue to learn from and encourage one another, and we remain committed to the Flight Simulator franchise for the long term.

Microsoft Game Studios is investing significant resources in many exciting and new areas of gaming and entertainment, including Windows games. We believe these future investments will push innovation, community, and collaboration to unprecedented levels and will provide more synergy with our ongoing investments in Games for Windows - LIVE as well as other Windows entertainment technologies. We have nothing specific to announce at this time, but stay tuned for more information.

We are humbled and proud of the passion and support that the Flight Simulator franchise has developed over its more than twenty-five year history. This includes you, the large community of flight simmers, as well as the vibrant third-party ecosystem that has developed around the game. We will continue to produce, sell, and support the latest version of Flight Simulator as we plan for future versions of the franchise. Thank you for your understanding of our decision and for your continued support!

TS Insider Version

 

By now, many of you have heard that Microsoft has closed Aces Studio, the publisher of Microsoft Flight Simulator and Microsoft Train Simulator. This was not a reflection of the quality of the products Aces has developed, the sales performance of the games, or the quality of the team at Aces. This difficult decision was made to align Microsoft’s resources with our strategic priorities. As a result of this difficult decision, development of the next version of Train Simulator is being postponed for an indefinite period.

 

Microsoft Game Studios is investing significant resources in many exciting and new areas of gaming and entertainment, including Windows games. We believe these future investments will push innovation, community, and collaboration to unprecedented levels and will provide more synergy with our ongoing investments in Games for Windows - LIVE as well as other Windows entertainment technologies.

 

We are humbled and proud of the passion and support that the Train Simulator franchise has developed. This includes you, the large community of railroading simmers, as well as the vibrant third-party ecosystem that has developed around the game. Thank you for your understanding of our decision and for your continued support.

Hey all,

I got a lame job that let's me pay some bills and have moved to Washington State where the snow just won't stop. If you would like to know how I feel about all this please visit my Blog Talk Radio page www.blogtalkradio/nicnacjak.

Lots of stuff to talk about while enduring cabin fever so, if I feel like editing some audio that comes out to more than a minute you may here more out of me this week.

I may also split things up between the Blog Talk Feed and this one. I have no idea. Stay tuned and in case I don't post: Happy Solstice and New Years. It would be nice if the two were on the same day.

-Nicnacjak  

Hey all,

Just so things make sense I made myself a MySpace Music Page tonight so that's why some of you who haven't blocked friend requests from bands are thinking that I was requesting to be your friend twice. The two songs that I have up there are simple vocal demo with some EFX. Check them out and let me know what you think but please be nice I am nervous about making my music available to the public.

I have a new podcast as well as an edition of Let's Talk Trains that I hosted and board opted on available at my podcast page http://nicnacjak.libsyn.com. You can also get there via my website www.nicolasjackson.com.

The Myspace band page is located at www.myspace.com/nicolasjackson. Feel free to add and freely distribute the demos. This is one recoding artist who is putting their money (or lack thereof) where their mouth is by allowing free distribution of their music. This is a trend that will continue. I don't expect to make money from my music.

The website will get a bit of an update once I get my laptop and EHDD free of their current virus infections. I don't like the cruel realities of the modern Internet. If you have questions or comments email me nicnacjak@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Nicolas

Hey all,

The six segments from this weeks LTT show are up on this site. Keep in mind that this is something that is still in the experimental phase. When the newer version of the LTT website gets firmly established, I will simply provide links to the website where a podcast for LTT should be hosted. If you are a LTT listener and you like having the show delivered as a podcast please subscribe to this feed so we can use the subscription numbers to help justify  the additional cost of putting together a dedicated podcast feed for LTT.

Like last week, just scroll down to download this weeks show segments and if you have comments please send them to: ltt@letstalktrains.us or suggestions@letstalktrains.us

Now for more personal news. I am traveling to Phoenix this week in an effort to hunt for apartments (studios or 1 bedroooms) and talk to a few of my professors about  the dynamics involved  in finishing  the program. If you are in the Phoenix area and know me on a personal level please give me a call.

In still other news, I have been playing FSX in preparation for the review. Don't expect it for a few weeks. The production pipeline for prerecorded podcasts may end up changing due to the complexity of that goal.

Thats if for now,
Nicolas

I was doing  my  usual browsing of the game development resource site  Gamsutra.com  which  is part of the  CMP Media network that runs  the Game Developers Conference and  and  Game Developer Magazine when I found this article about using  post secondary education as a way to prepare to enter the game industry.

I am currently a senior in an undergraduate game design program and have found it to be one of the strangest experiences I have ever had. On the one hand, our education has been based heavily on everything traditional with the added bonus of having project based classes on game design. However, I've found that this traditional structure only undermines our attempt to succeed at game projects. The game design classes themselves have been quite helpful but that does you little good if you are left with no time to apply those skills that you obtain.

And right now, as I tour about the country via our nations under-funded passenger rail system, I have to wonder if my job hunt which is forcing me to take online classes to finish up, is really going anywhere. I mean yes I have learned things in the past two and a half years but is it really enough?

Anyone who chooses to look into a career in game design should do some serious thinking before they decide they want to invest in post secondary education. When I was going to a JC that I half cared about I was lucky enough to have lunch with one of the industry's most prominent designers and it seemed like getting a job within that company would have been likely had I had the guts to stick around. Over two years later, I got a tour of a prominent development house up here in WA and although the chances of me working with them seemed good, I had to stick with what was safe and move to San Diego so I could be close to the school while still meeting their degree requirements.

I don't know if there is a lesson in all of this. I would think that there has to be. Maybe it's that the work we do as developers doesn't lend itself real well to a college environment. Or maybe it's that you should know the risks of making a commitment before you do so. But whatever the case is the heart of the matter is anything that you commit to comes with a price. I just wonder if I'll be able to "earn out" from the cost of going to college for Game Design.

The Penny Arcade Expo went well. There was a small expo floor and two theaters where GDC style talks were held. Although I didn�t really partake in it, there was also a host of gaming competitions being held in the convention centre which offered the gamer a chance to mess around between learning about indie games, the state of the game industry, Red vs. Blue, or the makings of the famous Penny Arcade comic strip. Next year the show is to be held in Seattle proper so that should make travel a bit easier for those who choose to take planes or trains to the convention.

 

Big industry shows like E3 are being reworked to appeal to the business side of things and while some maybe crying, smaller shows like PAX, AGF and GDC offer gamers, developers and media personal a better chance to converge and share information so we can continue to further our way of life.

I�ve made a few site updates. Here is hoping that you like them. If anyone would like to help me make the site look nice please let me know. My battle with CSS isn't going well silly Tim Berners-Lee and his HTML why can�t we all use something simple like a pdf maker?