There is now no doubt that Electronic Arts' forthcoming
game is going to revolutionise gaming.
Spore comes from games guru Will Wright, the genius behind the hugely-popular series "The Sims" and "Sim City", and the early hype made it sound intriguing, but it's been a long while coming.
The game was at one point supposed to be released in 2006 and long waits such as these have always been a sign that complex games may be too complicated and possibly never able to be fully realised as they were intended.
Wright himself has been quoted as saying that it's going to be such an epic game, he imagines it may take a lifetime for a gamer to play every aspect of it.
The first real evidence Wright is about to turn gaming on it's head again comes with the release of the Spore Creature Creator (G, both PC and Mac). The demo last week triggered a madhouse with
250,000 Spore creatures created
in just one day.
The idea of Spore is mindblowing. It's about a player developing the evolution of life from a single organism through to an intelligent race that ascends into space and comes in to contact with other life forms from other planets.
Creature Creator is a toolset for creating creatures using 228 drag-and-drop flexible parts. Highly customisable and starting out with a digital ball of clay, you can shape and model a new life form in just a few minutes with as many eyes, legs or cute bits as you choose. You can then colour and animate your creature.
Check out how it works.
Once created, you can show off your creature to the world by sending it to
.
There are some limitations such as the size of the creatures but there's so much design scope and it's so easy to get going and heaps of fun unleashing your creative flare. My mates were standing in line waiting for their chance to mess around with the software!
It's also very quick to run and load whilst being an impressive glimpse into what promises to be a massive universe of Spore creations.
Wii Sports helped open the way to a market for family-friendly games catering for people who normally shy away from blood-thirsty game offerings which are the usual gamers staple.
Sims and Sim City have shown how giving gamers the chance to interact, create and adjust people's virtual lives or environments is a big winner.
The most exciting thing about this concept is that the game appears infinite and the world can easily share their individual contributions.
for the free demo.
The full creator package is now on sale, and it's great to see it plays on Macs - although it needs Intel core duos with Leopard - as there are many graphic designers who will absolutely love this game and own a Mac.
Spore now has a definite release date - September 5 - and will be available not just on PC, Mac, and DS but on mobile phones as well.
Now that really is cool.
No surprises in another thin year for the sector.