Hotel in Tokyo installs flight simulator in room (2019)

[mortenjorck]

> however, guests staying for a night in the twin bed room can’t sit in the pilot’s seat or “touch the instruments”, according to the hotel. A “transparent acrylic board” will separate the cockpit from the room.

So it's kind of like a minibar in your room, only instead of dispensing liquor, it dispenses 737-800 simulator hours.

[benbristow]

At least you can drink the liquor ;)

[JoblessWonder]

"It was installed to celebrate the hotel’s 15th anniversary."

AKA - The owner really wanted to figure out a way to expense a new flight simulator.

[Note: I have no clue about tax law in japan... that was mostly a joke because I don't see how this would ever recoup the cost.]

[pc86]

Especially at the seemingly-very-reasonable ~$225 for a 90 minute "lesson."

[hatsunearu]

What the hell's the point if you can't book this room and use the sim all day?

[sandworm101]

I suspect this is some regulatory trickery. Maybe they are licensed as a "hotel" and not a flight training facility or arcade. So maybe they have to keep the "room" available.

In the early days of pay-per-view movies, some hotels became essentially small theaters where people would rent the room simply to access the content available in-room. It was easier to get a permit as a hotel than as some other types of businesses.

[actuator]

Yeah, didn't really understand the 90 minute limitation. Wouldn't it be better to allow the guest to play as long they want once the guided session is over.

[GordonS]

That is bizarre.

If I want to pay to use a flight simulator, why would I pay to use one in a hotel room of all places?!

[dahdum]

It's a hotel, people would immediately use that cockpit for all sorts of things that are hard to clean and could damage the equipment.

[Frost1x]

I bet pilots staying overnight in Tokyo after 12-20+ hour flights would love this room that way they can continue working in the comfort of their own bedrooms.

[CoolGuySteve]

I don't hire any pilots that don't have significant side project flight hours on their resume.

[refresher]

For the train otaku of HN - https://global.trainhostelhokutosei.com/

[ehnto]

That is awesome. I took the Super Hokuto from Hakodate to Sapporo last year, some of the most incredible scenery of my life.

It is hard not to become a train enthusiast in Japan, especially when armed with a rail pass. I would essentially wake up in the morning, decide where to go, within the hour I had tickets and was on a train. Book a cheap hotel on the train ride, enjoy the new city until I felt like another train ride. Effortless and perfect for the unplanning wanderer.

[ginko]

Or you know.. Book a sleeper car.

https://www.cruisetrain-sevenstars.jp/english/

[evolve2k]

But Why?

In high school when I studied Japanese I learnt of these gaming parlours that had pachinko machines. You’d purchase a bucket of metal ball bearings and pour them in and they’d fairly randomly get stuck and flow through and may release other balls that are stuck there. I learnt that when you win you can swap your winnings for a teddy bear from the prize cabinet.

Only years later did I find out that the real system was you could then take the teddy across the street and swap it for CASH. The teddy bear was a front for what was really going only, but in the process everyone saved face.

I suspect a similar thing is happening here.

[woutr_be]

That's because gambling for cash is illegal in Japan, you buy balls, and win balls, exchange those balls for tokens. Then across the street, you can exchange those tokens for prizes / cash, thereby circumventing the law. It has nothing to do with saving face, it's a loophole to allow for gambling.

[benbristow]

You can't use it. A bit pointless then!

[coding123]

I think they would literally get more bookings if they just installed wrap-around screens like that but with Microsoft Flight Simulator / joystick/keyboard.

[mmmuhd]

I concur, when clicking the link I genuinely thought they installed Microsoft flight simulator, which really made me follow the link.

[whalesalad]

Boeing has found their new revenue model.

[room505]

Boeing's flight simulator probably crashes.

[olivermarks]

I think the idea of hotel rooms with high end simulators for driving, flying and other stimulants is a fabulous business idea and excellent for places of low scenic interest, ie you go and stay a weekend racing, drinking, eating and sleeping in your room.

[fudged71]

I remember going to a hotel as a kid where each room had some sort of theme (tropical, polar, etc. at West Edmonton Mall). It would be really neat if you could select an experience that has different levels of technology instead.

[schoen]

The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo also has this room theming:

https://www.madonnainn.com/viewrooms

[gibolt]

In the future, AI overlords will determine that it is inefficient to drive airplanes, and will instead put humans in what they'll call a cockpit.

This room is where they'll be raised, before ready for service.

[notyourwork]

Made me think of Enders Game.

[hamsterbooster]

2020 works from home version for pilots and flight attendants.

[jakobmartz3]

Tokyo always coming up with the coolest things to attract tourists

[mhh__]

I still don't really get the appeal of civilian flight sim-ing. I like playing with the systems in DCS, but ultimately the end game there is to shoot each other. Usually, I can never sit there flying whereas I will spend hours lapping in rfactor2 or similar - in large part because if you're in an online race, you know that you are racing a human that you have to outbrake or outsmart.

Then again, racing cars is a lot cheaper than owning a plane.

[slg]

If you can't get into flight simulators, just wait until you see the train simulators that are popular in arcades in Japan.

https://kotaku.com/japan-still-makes-the-best-train-games-17...

[erikpukinskis]

That’s a valid way to play, but not everyone is playing video games for intellectual stimulation. A lot of people play to relax, not to compete.

Look up Euro Truck Simulator. Some people just like fiddling with complex systems and relaxing with some sights and sounds.