Microsoft rides the rails again with Train Simulator

Publisher to saddle up the iron horse once more, sequel to six-year-old sim to be built using Flight Simulator X tech.

Almost six years ago, Microsoft brought its Flight Simulator series down to Earth with the release of Microsoft Train Simulator. The game offered more than 600 miles of re-created railroad routes to run and a level of detail that took into account everything from the rate of coal shoveling on steam trains to the logistical problems of switching cars in a crowded rail yard.

The publisher apparently has boxcars in its blood now, as Microsoft has announced it will return to the rails with a new Train Simulator. A teaser site has surfaced with links to some of the developers' blogs. In Rick Selby's blog, the lead game designer on this installment of Train Simulator talks about his work on the first game, as well as a canceled follow-up to the original of which he says, "Unfortunately, we hit our collective thumb with the hammer on that second attempt."

The new game will be developed by Aces Studio and built on the Flight Simulator X platform. No other details were announced, but the teaser page promises that more information will be revealed later this year.

64 Comments

  • theKSMM

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 5:05 pm GMT

    Why would you have to "make" a special mouse or keyboard for the 360? It has USB ports, so stock PC keyboards / mouses already work on it. Of course the game would have to support them, but I doubt that would be difficult.

  • mpoulin

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 10:36 am GMT

    chrisdojo,

    It wouldn't be to difficult to make a keyboard and mouse for the 360 though. I have one on my old Dreamcast.

  • fahad2mail

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 10:20 am GMT

    thats a great and shocking newz.

  • mobius5010

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 9:23 am GMT

    boring...

  • Legacyoftain

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 7:56 am GMT

    I like real model trains...then I can put my G.I. Joe women (or Cheetara from thundercats in a pinch) on the tracks and pretend Cobra Commander is Snydly Whiplash and play vaudeville music on my Bose speakers...while my B.A. Barracus action figure saves the day.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 7:35 am GMT

    mpoulin said:
    How come Microsoft's simulator games do not show up on XBOX 360?


    dude, can you imagine trying to play a RTS or sim game with no keyboard+mouse?????

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 7:34 am GMT

    big MEH....

  • shizwill03

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 4:44 am GMT

    I meant to pick up Sim Myer's Railroads this weekend....but did not wanna spend too much money. ....I spent $150 alone at Target so I don't know why I did'nt....>.>

  • insane_metalist

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 10:02 pm GMT

    dont think its for me

  • Twinnie2

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 3:23 pm GMT

    I'm thinking I know what's going on here. Microsoft didn't actually make the last game rather than commission an outsource to develop it for them. That same company has already been making a new train simulator for some time called Rail Simulator which already looks like it's coming up a treat. If you look at the Latest News section on their website it says that on the 8th of this month they attended the Consumer Electronics Show after being invited to the Microsoft booth. I'm assuming MS liked the way the sim was coming up and they're porting it now. It'll be good to see how MS will influence it cos so far it looked like there was an excess of British tracks rather than samples from around the world

    Website:
    http://www.railsimulator.com/en/index.htm

    There's no actual announcement on the site (that I could find) but it's what I'll be assuming until I know more.

  • mpoulin

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 10:49 am GMT

    How come Microsoft's simulator games do not show up on XBOX 360?

  • hhh44_2000

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 9:55 am GMT

    W00t! You know what would be just as awesome? Subways. That would be saweet.

  • datniccah187

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 9:31 am GMT

    Nice i got the first one, i love trains, definately buying this game lol.

  • X360PS3AMD05

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 11:37 pm GMT

    Don't knock it until you try it, i'd like to try this.

  • Sheiko

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 7:06 pm GMT

    Its Microsoft how could they half ass something....

  • First_Person

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 5:46 pm GMT

    YES!! I thought this day would never come! I just hope and pray they dont half ass this one.

  • HuusAsking

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 3:46 pm GMT

    The Japanese, apparently. Train sims are quite popular over there.

  • jasonmacrillo

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 3:25 pm GMT

    who wants to simulate trains?

  • aafuss

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 2:33 pm GMT

    I loved the first Train Simulator-so I hope the sequel will be worh it. I've been playing Trainz 2006 a lot-just as good as Train Simulator.

  • enoslives7

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 2:12 pm GMT

    WOW, THIS SOUNDS LIKE ALMOST AS MUCH FUN AS WATCHING PAINT DRY

  • Cloud737

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 1:51 pm GMT

    I haven`t played Flight or Train Simulator, but from what I heard and saw from others, I`m really tempted to give it a go.
    Must be quite fun in those stressful days.

  • chineolee

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 11:18 am GMT

    Might be quite relaxing, so long as I can make it go choo choo!

  • spcphilpot

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 9:41 am GMT

    Count me in, beats listening to a 12 year old trash talk over Xbox Live any day!

  • The_Weekend

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 8:37 am GMT

    i prefer the flight one ... but a train one isn't that bad also ... just throw in a train robbery and it's one notch above the rest!

  • ztype85

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 8:19 am GMT

    What a bunch of dumb children. Ohh no you can't kill people or steal cars, what's the point of this game then?

    There is quite a large fanbase for MS Train Simulator, large enough that people release and sell their own expansion packs and add-ons. Just because you're too immature to like anything that doesn't involve sex and violence, then don't bother commenting on it. Who cares if you think they should cancel this, go back and play Saint's Row, there are a lot of people who have been waiting for a sequel to this game, as is obvious by the fact that Microsoft is shelling up another game almost 6 years after the first one came out.

  • Re_ensurer

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 7:56 am GMT

    No thanks.

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 6:03 am GMT

    Train simulators are coming back after a long hiatus.

  • chicken_123_pie

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 3:50 am GMT

    The train is at home on the raaiils.-Cole Train-Gears of War. I wouldn't mind this game. It wouldn't be anywhere near as good as the flight-sims though as has been stated by many others. But yeah, if it is anywhere near the size that FSX was as DJ-PRIME90 said, I will be disappointed. My PC also only just runs FSX and I have a 7900GTX video card and 1GB RAM. I've been meaning to upgrade to the 8800 and get another GB of RAM but, with so many good 360 games scheduled for release this year, I have run out of money.

  • ultimate_zero

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 9:26 pm GMT

    I've never played a train simulator before...its like.

  • muscrat_01

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:44 pm GMT

    Niice TS was fairly cool

    There is a boat simulator aswell Generic Dude...
    And it has all the stuff u mention - Titanic vs. power boat FTW!

  • neinnunb

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:33 pm GMT

    Im glad because the other simulator, Trainz 2004 I beleive, has terrible track layouts. A little competition in train market is needed to give both developers a reason to do better.

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:14 pm GMT

    let's see how much this one is able to sell

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:13 pm GMT

    That's kinda cool, but I'd rather a boat simulator really. Small craft, ships... maybe some battleships, some historical war galleons and so forth. That would be alright. Of course, it'd probably be better if I just went sailing myself. Or got on a train. Can't afford a pilot's license, so... but yeah. Ship And Boat Simluator. One that doesn't suck, please.

  • R3DN1N3

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 7:48 pm GMT

    Love flight sim 2004, waiting to upgrade my computer for flight sim X (...and crysis lol). This sounds like an interesting game. If it's anything like flight sim then count me in!

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 6:48 pm GMT

    well i don't imagine a train simulator selling well

  • etmaul

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 6:09 pm GMT

    Hopefully it's not a cpu/gfx card killer like FSX is. Also, they should allow you to navigate the entire USA instead of limiting it to certain routes. I'd love to do some old Amtrak routes or Metra routes in Chi-Town!

  • milepost11345

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:57 pm GMT

    OH MY GOD!!!!

    Finally I have loved playing MSTS since it came out. I was truely dissapointed when Microsoft canceled there original sequel. But I guess the community is large enough to warrent another try at a sequel.

    All I can say is I hope they put Tehachapi and Cajon in this game.

  • TryMe01

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:54 pm GMT

    sounds interesting, give me some more information on how bad of an idea this is, seriously, a train sim, id rather play thomas the tank engine. at least they talk

  • _man1c_

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:34 pm GMT

    im still kinda looking for the original. yea this game isnt for everyone. although i always liked trains since i was a kid.

  • rbop

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 4:53 pm GMT

    Not too excited 'bout this one. Gotta admit.

  • okassar

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 4:47 pm GMT

    Wow,train simulator....errrrr not thank you.I'll have the roller coaster tycoon and flight sim please.

  • elektrixxx

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 4:25 pm GMT

    Haha.

    I really should give at least one of these simulator games a go.

  • Willy105

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 4:24 pm GMT

    Yay! Can't wait.

  • ketsuatama

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 4:16 pm GMT

    I think I'll drag myself outside and watch the grass grow rather than waste time on this !

  • DontEatCream

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 4:00 pm GMT

    I hope they make the game backwards compatible. The FSX engine isn't really known for its scalability, and I hope the Train Simulator doesn't suffer from it. After all, if MS limit their audience to 8800-equipped train enthusiasts, they'll be lucky to sell 3 copies.

  • Eararaldor

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 3:55 pm GMT

    The odd's are this is going to be on the 360 as well as PC. That would boost sales of this otherwise very boring game, which was understandably canceled a a few years ago....

  • DJ-PRIME90

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 3:55 pm GMT

    sounds interesting, but the size of the Flight Simulator X was about 14GB so if Train Simulator is anywhere near that size I don't think I'll get it.

  • gatsbythepig

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 3:29 pm GMT

    woo hoo!

  • piecake

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 3:12 pm GMT

    great!

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 3:10 pm GMT

    I never knew there was a Train Simulator...

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