A game controller, gaming controller, or simply controller, is an input device or input/output device used with video games or entertainment systems to provide input to a video game. Input devices that have been classified as game controllers include keyboards, mice, gamepads, and joysticks, as well as special purpose devices, such as steering wheels for driving games and light guns for shooting games. Controllers designs have evolved to include directional pads, multiple buttons, analog sticks, joysticks, motion detection, touch screens and a plethora of other features.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a series of flight simulator programs for MS-DOS, Classic Mac OS and Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed significantly from Microsoft's other software, which was largely business-oriented. As of November 2022, Microsoft Flight Simulator is the longest-running software product line for Microsoft, predating Windows by three years. Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the longest-running PC video game series of all time.
Microsoft Train Simulator is a 2001 train simulator game developed by UK-based Kuju Entertainment and published by Microsoft Games for Windows. It was released on June 18, 2001.
Trainz is a series of 3D train simulator video games. The Australian studio Auran released the first game in 2001.
A train simulator is a computer based simulation of rail transport operations. They are generally large complicated software packages modeling a 3D virtual reality world implemented both as commercial trainers, and consumer computer game software with 'play modes' which lets the user interact by stepping inside the virtual world. Because of the near view modeling, often at speed, train simulator software is generally far more complicated software to write and implement than flight simulator programs.
BVE Trainsim is a Japanese three-dimensional computer-based train simulator. It is notable for focusing on providing an accurate driving experience as viewed from inside the cab, rather than creating a network of other trains —other trains passed along the route are only displayed as stationary objects. BVE Trainsim was designed and developed by Takashi "Mackoy" Kojima starting in 1996 with the original program name coming from the Japanese 255 series multiple unit trains found in routes in Japan.
Train Simulator is a Japanese train simulation game series produced by Ongakukan. The game is significant as it was one of the earliest of its kind since the series started in 1995. No titles were released outside of Asia until the 2022 title JR East Train Simulator.
Rail Simulator is a train simulation published by Electronic Arts (EA). It was produced by Kuju Entertainment. After release of the EU version, EA's support and further development of the title was taken over by Rail Simulator Developments Ltd, who continued to provide updates, fixes, official expansion packs and new content to players. RSDL has also released a sequel to the first game called RailWorks.
RailDriver is a desktop cab controller for train simulation software. It replaces keyboard and mouse operation as far as possible to provide a more realistic train driving experience. It is designed to be compatible with Microsoft Train Simulator. N3V's Trainz, BVE Trainsim and World of Subways also support RailDriver. As of December 2020, Dovetail Games' Train Sim World 2 added an open beta for Raildriver on PC. Other software may be controlled using downloadable resources.
Kuju Entertainment Ltd. is a British video game developer. The original company was Simis, formed in 1989 and purchased by Eidos Interactive in 1995. Kuju was formed in 1998 in Shalford, Surrey, England, after a management buyout of Simis from Eidos.
Microsoft Flight Simulator X is a 2006 flight simulation video game originally developed by Aces Game Studio and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 and the tenth installment of the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, which was first released in 1982. It is built on an upgraded graphics rendering engine, showcasing DirectX 10 features in Windows Vista and was marketed by Microsoft as the most important technological milestone in the series at the time. FSX is the first version in the series to be released on DVD media.
Microsoft Train Simulator 2 was a train simulation game in development by Microsoft Game Studios on two occasions. Meant to be the successor to Microsoft Train Simulator, it was originally announced in 2003, until being cancelled in 2004. The second attempt at the game was first announced on January 19, 2007, and originally scheduled for release in the last quarter of 2009. It was postponed indefinitely and virtually cancelled due to the closure of Aces Game Studio in 2009.
Bruce Arthur Artwick is an American software engineer. He is the creator of the first consumer flight simulator software. He founded Sublogic after graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1977, and released the first version of Flight Simulator for the Apple II in 1979. His original Apple II software was purchased by Microsoft in 1982 and became Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0.
Asobo Studio SAS is a French video game developer based in Bordeaux and founded in 2002. The studio is most known for developing video game adaptations of several Pixar movies, A Plague Tale: Innocence, and the 2020 and 2024 versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator. To develop most of their games, they use their own game engine called Zouna, which was originally developed in the 1990s by some of their own employees who used to work at Kalisto Entertainment. It was later further developed by Asobo. The studio's name is derived from the Japanese word "asobō" (遊ぼう) that means "let's play".
Microsoft Flight Simulator, commonly known as Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0 or FS4, is a 1989 video game developed by Bruce Artwick Organization and published by Microsoft.
Paul Stafford Jackson, OBE is a British video game producer and publisher.
Aces Game Studio (ACES) was an American video game developer based in Redmond, Washington, owned by Microsoft Game Studios. It was founded in 1988 under the name Bruce Artwick Organization Limited at Champaign, Illinois, by Bruce Artwick, creator of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Microsoft Space Simulator and also co-founder of Sublogic.
V-scale, Vscale, or V scale is a scale of model railroading utilizing self-defining three-dimensional models and a compatible graphics engine to create an alternative modeled world. Though it has not been classified or recognized by either the NMRA or MOROP, the term Vscale has gradually taken on widescale de facto use in railfan and model railroading circles. V-scale model railroading was created when Japanese game developer Artdink released A-Train in 1985, but it was not widely popularized until Microsoft released Microsoft Train Simulator and Australia's Auran/N3V Games released the successful family of Trainz railroad simulators, both in 2001. With the ability to enter into the cab of a modeled train consist in a modeled landscape and track system, the 'play' modes of the two simulators gradually established a following among rail enthusiasts.
Dovetail Games (DTG), a trading name of RailSimulator.com Ltd (RSC), is a British simulation video game developer and publisher established in 2008 by former Electronic Arts executive Paul Jackson, Fund4Games backers Tim Gatland and Charlie McMicking, and a development team from Kuju Entertainment.
