Recently I have gotten back into the playing of maritime simulations! I had Lighthouse Interactive Ship Simulator 2008 on pre-order since October, and it was finally released in January (although I actually received in December). When I first installed it, I judged it as dismal. You certainly could drive a boat/ship around the water, but that was about it. That was version 1.0. Now, there have been patches released to make it version 1.3, and it is much improved! There are new controls, missions, online play, and an overall enjoyable experience!

I've also taken the plunge back in Ubisoft Silent Hunter 3, in which players play the part of German U-Boat commanders in World War 2. There is nothing wrong with Silent Hunter 4 (in which the player is an American in the Pacific) but it seems to me there is much more diversity and excitement in SH3. In addition, several mods were released to make it much more realistic than the original game.