Microsoft Brings Reno Air Races To Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) With New Flight Simulator Feature Add-on

Reno Air Races recently announced that as of March 2022, the Xbox Cloud Gaming system (xCloud) now supports the Reno Air Races as an expansion pack (for an additional fee) through the Microsoft Flight Simulator (MFS) marketplace! 

Microsoft had announced the arrival of the Reno Air Races expansion pack on 18 November 2021, adding that MFS runs on Xbox One and other ‘supported devices’ such as mobile phones, tablets, and lower-spec PC’s.  Furthermore, the standard controller inputs such as the Xbox Wireless Controllers are also supported.  Avid subscribers can start practicing in advance of the actual event occurring later this year, September 14th-18th in Reno, NV.  As is typical with online gaming, the multiplayer experience is very much alive.  You can compete against friends or strangers or, for a solitary experience, execute speed or time trials, or just explore the incredible scenery and fleet.

The Reno Air Races add-on comes in two flavors: Expansion Pack and Full Collection.  The Expansion Pack is an entry-level four aircraft collection comprising T-6 Texan, P-51, L-9, and S1S.  If you spring for the Full Collection, you will have the whole stable of 40 aircraft, 10 in each of the four classes; jet, unlimited, biplane, and T-6).  As they did in FS2002/FS2004, Martha and John King again reprised their roles in providing entertaining, educational content in FS.  Take a walk down memory lane by checking out their ‘Welcome to Flight Simulator.’

The author, long-time enthusiasts and aficionados may smile as they reminisce about the early edition of MFS that was first available for the Windows-based PC in 1982, with Apple joining the fold in 1986 with a Mac edition.  In subsequent years, there was little development, beyond the oh, there’s a MFS 2000?  FS2002?  FS2004?  While the FSX edition featured the Garmin G1000 IFD, multiplayer ATC, and greater detail in scenery of airports and cities.  A landmark event, in the authors opinion was the arrival of Flight Simulator (no version reference) in August 2020, first for the bread-and-butter Windows PC’s, and later the Xbox gaming console series of devices.  

In recent years, subscription services aka Software as a Service (SaaS) is the direction that many software manufacturers have taken, and for those not wanting to lose their hard-earned ‘progress’ cloud syncing offers peace of mind.  In today’s ‘on-the-go’ society, playing across many devices offers apparent benefits for a seamless experience. For those wishing to extend the life of their old computer hardware, the cloud subscription service may make sense.  In the authors’ opinion, the minimum vs. recommended PC requirements for FS is very conservative; CPU Intel i5-Core 4460/8400 or AMD Ryzen 3/5, RAM 8/16, OS, Windows 10 64-bit, Video Radeon RX570/590 or GeForce GTX770/970, Pix Shader 5/5.1, Vertex Shader 5/5.1, Free Space 150GB, Dedicated VRAM 2G/4G. 

FMI: www.microsoft.com