GamesRadar - Spore

Spore Hero & Spore Hero Arena Coming to Wii and Nintendo DS (Includes First Official European Trailer) (News)

May 12, 2009

The Spore franchise continues to evolve as Maxis, an Electronic Arts studio, today revealed details about Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena – two games built from the ground up exclusively for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms. Building on the franchise's core tenets of creativity, exploration and adventure, Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena will immerse Nintendo fans into all-new experiences when the games launch this year.

LittleBigPlanet, Braid, Left 4 Dead lead game developers choice award finalists (News)

Feb 9, 2009

Gamasutra writes:

"Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet leads the nominees for the ninth annual Game Developers Choice Awards with seven nominations, organizers have revealed.

Number None's Braid follows closely with five nominations. Among the nominations for LittleBigPlanet is the coveted Game of the Year award.

Other nominees for that category include Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead, each of which received a total of four award nominations; Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV, which earned a total of three nominations, and Lionhead Studios' Fable 2. Winners will be honored at an awards show taking place during the 2009 Game Developers Conference."

New Game Releases for the Week of December 21, 2008 (News)

Dec 20, 2008

Gamerdeals.net writes:

"Well... what can we say... the week of Christmas is not the best time to release a new game apparently..."

Spore's Huge DRM Backfire (News)

Dec 8, 2008

"Now it has become apparent that for all EA's reputation destroying efforts to ensure punters bought Spore, they may have actually acted to entice gamers to pirate the game. Forced between a choice of downloading the game for free, or effectively renting it from EA, punters voted with their clicking finger." - gameplayer reports

Video Game Installs Anti-Piracy Software (News)

Nov 29, 2008

The freshly-launched Spore video game that lets people play God has been hit with a lawsuit accusing its publisher of slipping devilish anti-piracy software onto players' machines.

The lawsuit filed this week in a federal court in Northern California contends that players weren't warned about tenacious digital rights management (DRM) software that stays in computers even if game programs are removed.

Spore publisher Electronic Arts told buyers that there are anti-piracy safeguards but didn't advise people the SecuROM program it used "is essentially a virus that installs itself without warning," the lawsuit alleges.

The DRM software attaches itself to the "command and control centers" of computers and can track activities, block certain operations and even disrupt hardware, according to the suit filed this week.

A US woman was named as the plaintiff in the lawsuit, which is seeking class action status to represent all Spore buyers.

The filing demands a jury trial and wants Electronic Arts forced to pay unspecified damages as well as turn over money it has made from Spore, which went on sale in Europe, Asia, Australia and the US this month.

Electronic Arts said it does not discuss pending litigation.

Spore Developer Goes to Bat for Used Game Merchants (News)

Nov 17, 2008

Kombo writes, "It is a widely held belief that used game retailers are screwing game publishers and developers out of millions upon millions of dollars annually. While this may be the case, there have been some that have made the argument that the game industry would be in worse shape without these retailers selling games at discount prices.

One such individual is Soren Johnson, a programmer on both the Civilization and Spore franchises. On his blog, Johnson spoke in the defense of GameStop saying..."

EA responds on Spore bannings (News)

Sep 25, 2008

Boomtown reports: "Electronic Arts has quickly denied that Spore owners will have their accounts terminated for discussing DRM issues on the official forum.

Yesterday we reported on forum posts from moderators which threatened to bring the banhammer down.

Now EA has stated that banning users is not an official policy.

"These comments are absolutely not true or in-line with EA's moderation policy," EA told Kotaku. "They were made by an over-zealous community volunteer who does not work for EA. Anyone who looks at the boards will clearly see that DRM and other issues are freely discussed on the Spore forums, alongside other topics about the game."

Spore sells over a million in just over two weeks (News)

Sep 24, 2008

Will Wright's universe sim Spore has sold over one million copies since its launch earlier this month, EA has just announced. Since hitting store shelves on September 7th for the PC, Mac and Nintendo DS, gamers have created over 25 million creatures, vehicles and buildings, all viewable online over at Sporepedia.

EA threatens to cancel Spore accounts (News)

Sep 24, 2008

Eurogamer reports: "EA has threatened to ban the Spore accounts of members discussing DRM issues on the official game forum.

"SecuROM has been discussed and discussed so much and it causes arguments in threads," barked a moderator. "If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fan site forum.

"Please do not continue to post these threads or you account may be at risk of banning, which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore."

EA Announce Christmas 2008 Family Gaming Line-Up (News)

Sep 24, 2008

Today, Electronic Arts have announced their UK Christmas 2008 family gaming line-up. While many of these titles will already be familiar to both Casual and Hardcore Gamers, there may also be one or two surprises...

Spore Creatures (Review)

Sep 10, 2008

Ten years in the making, Will Wright’s Spore finally arrives on PC to fanfares of adulation from those who’ve reviewed it. The hype has well and truly been lived up to, the ambition fully realised. It would be as preposterous as a swan made of jelly to expect the DS version of Spore to match the scope and scale of its PC cousin ...

SPORE Launch Event in India, Bollywood Actor and MTV Jockey demo Creature Creator (News)

Sep 10, 2008

The Angry Pixel writes: "On Tuesday afternoon, EA India unleashed the icky-galacticness that is SPORE upon unsuspecting press attendees at the game's official launch event held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Delhi. General Manager Ajay Khanna was armed to the teeth with PowerPoint presentations that could apparently freeze time itself, as he went on and on trying to convince the mainstream news representatives that they were staring at something that was sheer 'fantastic' incarnate (one of Mr. Khanna's favorite words). But much like the evolutionary process itself, these things can take time. Which is exactly why you've got to bait these groups of 20-something-year-olds with a free lunch, a fancy press kit (nice job with that one, PR dudes), review copies, and a limited edition EA 2GB pendrive! Well played, indeed."

Spore (Screenshots)

Sep 10, 2008

New Game Releases for the Week of September 7, 2008 (News)

Sep 6, 2008

Gamerdeals.net writes:

"The highlights this week include Spore (PC/Mac), NHL 09 (Xbox 360, PS3), NHL 2K9 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2), Spore Creatures (DS), and The Price is Right (Wii, DS).

Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of September 7, 2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC!"

Spore Review Coming Tonight (News)

Sep 3, 2008

IGN reports: "IGN will post its Spore review at 12:01am, Pacific Daylight Time, Thursday, or basically tonight. So come back then to find out what we think about the highly-awaited game from EA and Maxis. In fact, all you have to do is refresh this very story at a minute after midnight to read the review."

EA Announce Leipzig Line-Up (News)

Aug 19, 2008

After an award winning showcase of titles at E3 in July, Electronic Arts today announced its product line up for the Leipzig Games Convention. EA will demonstrate the innovation and creativity of its portfolio for seasoned gamers and newcomers alike, as it leads the way with great interactive entertainment offerings for broad consumer tastes this year. On show in Leipzig are Europe's best selling franchises and consumer favourites like FIFA, Need For Speed, The Sims and Harry Potter, a wide range of casual and family titles for Nintendo platforms including LITTLEST PET SHOP, Boogie SuperStar, Zubo and MONOPOLY, brand new IP like SimAnimals, Mirror's Edge, Dead Space...

Spore (NDS/PC) Goes Gold (News)

Aug 14, 2008

WorthPlaying writes: "Begin your odyssey at the dawn of life as a simple microbe just trying to survive, then evolve the creature from its microscopic origins into an intelligent, tool-using race, becoming a global civilization and choose whether to hunt or forage, attack or trade.Spore will be available on PC Sept. 5 in Europe and September 7 in North America and Asia Pacific. The NDS version will also be available on Sept. 7, 2008."

Spore could be the new Sims, says EA (News)

Jul 10, 2008

MCV: New title can have same 'long tail' effect as Will Wright's last smash, says publisher

Digg monster sighted in Spore (Feature)

Jul 9, 2008

Stories that showcase fan-made clones of popular videogame characters made with Spore’s Creature Creator have been doing quite well on digg over the last few weeks. But it looks like digg itself has become the latest victim of the imitation treatment.

Meet the digg monster. His special attacks have been known to attract tons of traffic and snarky comments to websites that host him. The digg monster loves videos of cute girls ...

Spore spawns Mario’s worst nightmare (Feature)

Jul 4, 2008

Spore’s population of creatures continues to steadily rise since the game’s Creature Creator was released just a few weeks ago. We’ve already taken a look at how freaky Pokemon invaded Spore. But today it’s all about Mario.

From badass Bowsers to busted Bomb-ombs, check out the most awesome and awful clones of Mario’s most memorable foes. If you’d like to get your hands on these bad guys for ...

Spore Creature Creator Live Feed (News)

Jun 15, 2008

Gamernode reports: "Brendon has rigged up a live stream of his experience with the early version of EA's Spore Creature Creator. He's in there making stuff now, so I'm going to quit my commentary and get to posting. Enjoy!"

Jonathan Ross's son loves Spore (News)

Jun 12, 2008

MCV: As a major celebrity's son or daughter, you're due a few more perks than your average playground dweller.

And that's exactly what BBC presenter Jonathan Ross's son Harvey discovered when EA sent him an advanced copy of Will Wright's Spore.

Spore's Tribal Phase detailed (News)

Jun 2, 2008

TVGB: "The stage begins with your tribe being the first on their planet to discover tools. With these tools you can pick fruit or go on a hunt with your fellow tribesmen and, while you're at it, you can also capture and ultimately domesticate animals."

Spore (Preview)

Apr 7, 2008

At each of Spore’s five stages, from the microbiotic to the intergalactic, there is an eternal choice: kill or... don’t. When you start, as a microbe with teeth, it’s kill or be vegetarian. When you evolve enough to crawl from the primordial soup to dry land, it’s kill or sing little songs to befriend things. Once your species forms a society and decides what buildings to have in its first village, it’s kill or ...

Spore - Behind the scenes (Video)

Apr 4, 2008

Maxis decided to drop some scraps of its massive game monster Spore onto the DS with middling results.

iPhone Getting Multitouch Games, Including Spore (News)

Mar 6, 2008

From Gizmodod:

"I've got good news and better news. The good news is that the iPhone is getting multitouch games that use the accelerometer and every bell and whistle of the iPhone for controls. The better news? Developers such as EA are on board and they're bringing the insanely anticipated game Spore to it. All 18 levels. Yes, this is real. Oh mercy."

Spore 'less than 1% of what we could possibly do' (News)

Feb 18, 2008

Maxis' ideas for Spore are so vast that the game as it exists today represents only one percent of what the developer could do with it, according to producer Thomas Vu.

"Speaking as a developer, we always want more. With a game like Spore, when you start imagining what could be in there, the scope of it is enormous", Vu told CVG last week.

He explained that, because of Spore's nature, Maxis had to sit down and be very specific about what it wanted to include, but said that "This is like less than one percent of the things we could possibly do"

Spore infects the DS (Preview)

Feb 13, 2008

The DS version of Spore won’t be processing the massive universe of content to be included in its PC counterpart. You won’t evolve your creature from a single-celled state, challenge other tribes in the real-time strategy segment, develop a flourishing society, or conquer alien cultures as you explore planets spread across a near infinite galaxy.Instead of following the epic journey of a microscopic organism that evolves into a race ...

Spore planted on September 7, coming to PS3/360? (News)

Feb 12, 2008

The Wii version of Spore, which was reconfirmed at an EA analysts' event today, has not yet been dated. However, it may not be the only version of the ambitious evolution-civilization-space-exploration sim to hit next-generation consoles. Speaking to analysts, EA Games president Frank Gibeau said that Spore is "already in development" for the newest generation of consoles, "Wii included." He did not specify further platforms, and EA reps could not clarify his comments as of press time.

In addition to dropping hints about new platforms, Gibeau also hinted that Spore might not be entirely free of charge. He told analysts that the online mode of the game could be an "opportunity" for an "expanded digital revenue stream." He did not elaborate if said stream entailed microtransactions, in-game advertising, subscription fees, or any combination of the three.

"Unique" Nintendo DS Spore dated, Wii version detailed (News)

Feb 12, 2008

It seems like Will Wright and Maxis' Spore has been in development forever, but after a number of delays and dodging of the questions regarding a release date, publisher Elecronic Arts has finally confirmed in a press release that the title will be arriving worldwide on the Nintendo DS this coming September 07. Worryingly, there was no mention of the Nintendo Wii version in the latest official detailing, but a recent interview with Wright reassures us that it is still in the pipeline.

EA CEO Calls Spore The Greatest Creative Risk In The Industry (News)

Feb 9, 2008

John Ricitiello started his DICE keynote with a list of games he's currently playing-Burnout Paradise, BioShock, Portal. The one game he's playing that we're not is Spore, a title he said he'd become "fixated" on. While John got the crowd up to speed on his gaming chops, he admitted "Deep down, I'm a business guy." That helps explain Riccitiello's publicly expressed hesitance about the ultimate success of the Will Wright "SimEverything" game.

"It's probably the greatest creative risk maybe going on in the game industry today," he said, responding to audience questions about dealing with failure. Calling Spore "massive" he continued, "I believe it's going to be one of the greatest franchises in our industry and will rival World of Warcraft or The Sims or Rock Band. It's going to be right up there."

"Or not."

Spore Coming 'Before Holidays'; EA Still Confident (News)

Jan 31, 2008

Despite a recent analyst projection that Spore will not be released until the coming fall or winter months, EA declined to give a specific release time frame for the title during today's analyst and press financial conference call.

The company did, however, state that the game will be released this year. "We're not announcing dates for any of our titles. We will tell you it's gonna be before the holidays," said EA CEO John Riccitiello in the call, which is ongoing at time of writing. "We're very, very bullish."

Analyst's 2008 Best Seller List (News)

Jan 12, 2008

Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey picks what he believes will be the biggest sellers of 2008.

Surfer Girl: Crysis PS3/X360, Driver 5 not PS3 exclusive, Spore, Skate 2 (News)

Nov 20, 2007

Surfer girl is back with four new rumors. Take these with a grain of salt:

"1) Crysis is coming to PS360, but not until Q3 of EA's fiscal 09 [October-December].

[...]

4) Driver 5 (working title) is not exclusive to the PS3 (nor was such ever the case), it will be hitting PC and 360 as well sometime next year."

Will Wright: Spore "roughly" six months away (News)

Oct 24, 2007

Oct 24, 2007 Spore will release in roughly six months time, according to its creator Will "The Sims" Wright. "We have the game fully playable at this point and it's in final testing," Wright said yesterday in an interview with Radio 5 Live. Spore is an admittedly ambitious game, essentially a life sim. Players start off as a single-cell organism and then create their species at every stage of its evolution - from its first steps on land through to tribes then a culture and then finally it's ...

Spore 09-04-07 trailer (Video)

Sep 4, 2007

Maxis decided to drop some scraps of its massive game monster Spore onto the DS with middling results.

Watch! Spore Leipzig Trailer (News)

Sep 4, 2007

Sept 04 2007 We knew it was going to be expansive - but the Leipzig trailer of Spore really blows all bets out of the water. The scale of change in how you manage your species through it's evolution from the primordial ooze to indisputable galactic dominance is staggering - but not nearly as exciting as the ability to control the evolution of your creation, not just manage it. Every evolutionary adjunct, every building, vehicle and plant is for you to ...

Spore playable at Leipzig (News)

Aug 7, 2007

When Electronic Arts held its press conference at this year's E3 in Santa Monica, one title was notably absent -- Will Wright's Spore.

It is currently down for a 2008 release, although EA CEO John Riccitiello recently said that, "its release will be right up [to] the bubble in Q4 [of fiscal '08], if not sometime in early fiscal '09, so we don't feel comfortable in forecasting it."

A slate of EA's titles at the Games Convention 2007 in Leipzig shows Spore will be playable by journalists at the event, the first time that it has been.

EA: Spore Will Ship When It's Done (News)

Aug 2, 2007

Electronic Arts reaffirmed that it will be releasing Will Wright's Spore sometime in the early fiscal 2009 timeframe, but added that the game won't release before it's absolutely finished.

"It's one of those breakthrough products that might come across the industry every three, five, seven years.... We could not be more bullish for the potential of the franchise as we are right now," said Riccitiello.

EA: Spore Delay "Misinformation" (News)

Jun 21, 2007

It's one of the most anticipated games of today, and any word of further delay for Will Wright's Spore is sure to make headlines.
But reports making rounds today are basically old news being made into "new" news, EA said.

"There seems to be some misinformation flying around," explained a rep in a phone interview.

Spore Coming to DS (News)

Feb 2, 2007

During Electronic Arts' quarterly conference call, the company confirmed that the hotly anticipated PC game Spore is also coming to the Nintendo DS; EA "all over" Wii and DS with My Sims for both platforms and SimCity for DS.

Spore spreads the love (News)

May 18, 2006

We already suspected that Spore was heading to DS and PSP, but now Will Wright, creator of The Sims, has announced during an online interview that his colossal-scale evolution game will be launched "on all platforms." Will Wright also spoke out about the next-gen war, saying, "I'm rooting for Nintendo." This surely means that Wright is keen to see his creature-creation masterpiece reach Nintendo's Wii, after already confirming in another interview that Spore would "definitely" be playable on ...

Spore's handheld evolution (News)

Mar 3, 2006

A recent recruitment advertisement suggests that Will Wright's evolution simulator Spore is currently in development for PSP and DS. According to the ad, Electronic Arts is looking for programmers with over five years' handheld experience to "be responsible for designing, creating and maintaining game systems and content for Spore handheld ...