Is flight simulator for the PC any good?

Why hasn't there been any state-of-the-art PC flight simulator that's way more realistic than the current products like Microsoft Flight Simulator, X Plane or Lookheed Martin Prepar3D among the other game genres in the market?

• Flight simulation games seem to fail to catch up with other ones in various genres in quality, realism, innovation and investment on development. Lockheed Martin P3D did make some progress on graphics but no fundamental change/improvement has been made. We have a blossomed community of flight simulation enthusiasts and good developers, but never have we ever witnessed the real progress made by the flight simulation software industry. So, was it due to the inevitable and hard problems that can't be solved in making flight simulator in the same status as the other games or we're in need of more buyers in the market?

• Answer:

  I haven't done the market analysis, but I'm fairly sure the market isn't big enough to support the sort of work it would take to advance the state of the art significantly, let alone start again with a new product.  I think X-Plane is probably doing the most in that area at the moment, both in terms of graphics and model fidelity. Apropos realism, there are some excellent addon aircraft out there.  I've been flying the PMDG 737 NGX and 777 and they are wonderful.  High-fidelity systems realism. There are several addon weather engines too, which give you the real weather wherever you are, and there are replacement sky and cloud textures available to bring the graphics up to date too. Couple a good addon aircraft with great VFR scenery, and full ATC coverage like IVAO or Vatsim and you have a very real proposition on your hands.  From clearance delivery, ground, tower, departure, center, approach, tower, and finally ground again, you have an incredibly realistic experience. In short, I think there's a lot of mileage in P3D and FSX yet. Happy landings!