On June 17, EA will release two versions of the Spore Creature Creator – a $10 complete version and a free demo version. Both will be functionally identical to the creature creation tool in Spore, however the free version will only include about 25% of the creature parts compared to the full version.
Users will be able to create an unlimited number of creatures and let them loose into a play area to see how they will look and move in-game. Once Spore is released in September, they will be able to import their creations into the full game.
EA did something similar with The Sims, releasing an item creator ahead of the actual game to generate buzz. That turned out to be a great move as user-generated content became a huge factor in the success of that game. Spore will have a more fully integrated infrastructure for user-generated content from the beginning, so it is likely that this tool will have a greater impact on the long-term success of the game.
I will definitely need to make a computer upgrade before the full game is released, but it is not likely to happen before the Creature Creator is released. Hopefully, my current computer will be able to handle it.
I first heard about Spore three years ago but didn’t really take notice until about a year later when Will Wright’s presentation from 2005’s GDC was made available online. I was instantly hooked and committed to playing it when it was released. The trouble was, even at the time, it was at least a year from release. So I allowed myself to forget about it until May of last year, when EA announced that it was going to be delayed at least another year. Disappointed, I let it drop off my radar again.
As of yesterday, it’s got my attention again in a big way. A release date has finally been announced: September 7, 2008. Even better, a creature editor will be released ahead of time so you can hit the ground running when the full game is released. There’s also news about the Nintendo DS and mobile phone versions of the game and a new interview with Will Wright. Joystiq has collected all of their Spore coverage here.
For those that don’t know, Spore is a sim/god game that combines elements of games like Pac Man, Populous, Sim City, and Civilization. The about page of the official site gives a simple description of the game and its various phases, but I think the best way to get an understanding of the scope of the game is to check out Will’s GDC presentation from 2005 that I embedded in this post. It’s long but also fascinating.
EA posted their fourth quarter results for fiscal year 2007 this week. In addition to a loss of $25 million, they also announced that they are removing Spore from their fiscal year 2008 projections, which means the earliest the game could be released is next April.
I’ve really been looking forward to this game so I’m disappointed, but everything I’ve seen and read about it suggests it will be worth the wait.
With E3 coming up next week, someone has posted the B-roll for Spore that EA is providing to TV stations covering the show. It’s too bad the game won’t be released until next year.
First up there’s the 