The Japanese have found a rather interesting use for two obsolete air traffic control radars, which had previously been used at the Osaka International Airport. Instead of trashing them, they installed them in a nearby park - built on an artificial hill, go figure - and are now using the radars as gaming platforms of sorts.

Nothing fancy, though, just a simulator game for children, "in which they can control landing planes following guidance on a screen", Mainichi writes today (here's a backup of that page, since their stories have a habit of going M.I.A. real fast). Had it been put to proper use - and by "proper" I mean "hardcore" - this would've surely qualified as the most advanced and realistic flight control simulator.

The only issue that remains is mass-producing real radars for common gamers (who wouldn't want one in their backyard?), not to mention the questioning appeal of a flight control sim. As if flight sims weren't unpopular enough.

Tags:  aerial, simulation