Reno Air Racing
Flight Simulation In Holding
Pattern
race fans will
not see this one under the tree
for Christmas
 It’s
been said that bad news comes in
threes. With the recently
announced intended sales of two
actual race planes normally seen
at Reno and now the announcement
by Mattel that they will not be
producing the Victory Interactive
"Reno Air Racing"
flight simulation any further, it
seems this old saying has come
true.
If
you follow the stock market and
business trends, this may not
come as too much of a surprise.
Mattel had not been happy with
the performance of their 3.5
billion dollar acquisition, The
Learning CO., which was working
with Victory Interactive,
producing the Reno Racing
simulation; in late September,
Mattel sold the Learning CO. to a
branch of the Gores Technology
Group.
On
the brink of finally getting the
long awaited Reno Air Racing
flight simulation completed and
to market, software developer,
Victory Interactive, finds itself
left in the lurch once again.
Traditionally,
the computer gaming industry has
aimed release dates at the key
marketing period of the year, the
Christmas season, clearly this
could not have come at a worse
time in the life cycle of this
particular entry into the crowded
but somewhat repetitious flight
simulation niche of that market.
This
is particularly disappointing for
both Air Racing fans and flight
simulation fans alike, as this
simulation promised a breath of
fresh air, something completely
different than the traditional
flight combat simulations most of
us are familiar with.
Thought
by some in the flight simulation
industry to be too much of a
"niche" market, there
has never been a serious entry
into this very exciting sector of
"virtual flight," this
unique effort by Victory
Interactive might well bring a
new wave of excitement and
interest to the virtual pilots of
the world.
 You will
note that we have did not use a
"past tense" statement
in the last paragraph. This
project is far from dead!
Efforts
are underway by software gaming
developer, Victory Interactive,
to get the final touches put into
the project and get it ready for
market.
In
part two of this article, we talk
with Pat Hunt of Victory
Interactive about their plans to
get this important product
finished and on the computers of
flight simulation fans.
Part
II: Interview
with Pat Hunt Of Victory
Interactive
By: Wayne Sagar
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