My only concern about this one in that regard is the graphics - I don't think a modern kid would be very interested in it. Making it simple but with good graphics seems like it would be a better way to get young people interested.

Back when I played, very little, "sims" with graphics like that, all I really remember is wishing for better graphics.

I'm not so sure about that. Looking at the screenshots my first thought was "Roblox" and that is immensely popular among 12 year olds.

Throw in some Dire Straits on the next commercial and they'll have a hit! The game will sell itself with those retro vibes. Kids will love it.

80s is hip again.

I always thought Strike Fighters 2 was a sim-lite and had so much fun in it. Sometimes I don't want to load into the sim to do a cold dark start, just load take off, Alt-N and fight!

In my opinion the Strike Fighters series was the perfect "middle ground" between hardcore sims and arcade sims. The fact that the Strike Fighters sims never became mainstream hits speaks volumes though about what the mainstream gaming community wants and doesn't want.

Reflecting on the history of flight sims, I think that in the '80s and '90s, computers in general were still very technical, and appealed to a technical crowd, and I think flight simulators were similar, so many computer owners enjoyed the technical aspect of flight simulators. I think the 3D graphics were also an appeal, because it is what many thought of when they thought of cool stuff to do with a computer. Adding in the additional hardware you could get, like a good joystick, and it's something tinkerers would really get into, which, again, was a large percentage of early computer users.

Computers at the time were only capable of so much processing, so the controls and functions had to be scaled down, but they were still complex enough for most to feel like they really mastered something, and it satisfied their connection to feeling like they flew an aircraft, and possibly on a combat mission, without requiring hours of study and prep.

As time went by, more and more people got computers, many less technical, so the demand wasn't as great of a percentage of the market. Along with that, as computers became more capable, simulators got more complex, which, while appealing to some, also alienated many who didn't want to put the extra time and effort into learning something they did for fun.

I also think flight simulators got a bit of a boost from Top Gun and then later, the first Gulf War. Since then, interest in aircraft and the military seems to have waned, along with an interest in history, so there's just not that many out there who feel a desire to get into that area anymore.