Microsoft Flight Simulator will ship on 10 (10!) disks
Retro, but good retro
The physical edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator will ship on 10 disks, and in 2020 this is a very easy thing to mock. I do honestly believe it has been literal years since I have even seen a single disk, and the idea of faffing about with 10 outdated retro-wheels makes me shudder. But it makes total sense! Flight Simulator models a huge portion of the earth, so the game's going to be biggo - and there are people who don't have great internet connections, so providing them with their preferred route to fiddly airborne zen times is a good thing. Plus, yunno, some people like boxes.
Still. 10 disks lol. It's probably a record.
The news comes from Aerosoft, the makers of the physical edition, with a spokesman explicitly saying that the 10 disks partly exist to cater for people who'll have difficulty downloading the game. It's worth noting Aerosoft are only distributing in Europe, though I imagine those elsewhere will be able to land a physical copy.
If disks are your jam and/or your internet is bad, do bear in mind that the spokesman describes the game as "very much a simulator that depends on the cloud if you want to use it to its full potential". The disks themselves have 90gb worth of plane times on them, with more as "optional online streamed content". It's also worth noting that both the regular edition and the deluxe edition come on ten disks.
Here's Microsoft's official launch announcement, with more details on all the many billions of buildings and trillions of trees you'll get to fly over. It does look nice.
This physical edition will start shipping "at or around August 21st", while the digital launch is set for August 18th. The premium version of the physical edition will cost €130. You'll be able to nab the basic digital version from the Microsoft Store for £60/€70/$60, though it will also be available on the Xbox Game Pass for PC.