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.

Will Wright Confirms Future Involvement in Spore Franchise (News)

Apr 22, 2009

GameDaily BIZ just got off the phone with legendary game designer Will Wright, who as you know recently left Electronic Arts to pursue his entertainment think tank, Stupid Fun Club (of which EA is a co-owner). Although Lucy Bradshaw, VP and General Manager at Maxis, reassured us when the news broke that Spore would be in good hands and that Wright's legacy and the culture he instilled at Maxis would help steer Spore's future, Wright today confirmed with us that he will actually still be providing feedback to EA on Spore and other projects.

New Details About EA's Wii-Exclusive 'Spore: Hero' (News)

Mar 9, 2009

Few games have transitioned from the PC to the Wii. There is no "World of Warcraft" Wii, no "Company of Heroes" Wii, not even - yet - a "Peggle" Wii. But EA has been trying, first with "MySims" for Nintendo's home system and, coming this fall, "Spore Hero."

EA has shed almost no light on "Spore Hero" since announcing it in January as part of the 2009 line-up of "Spore" spin-offs. MTV Multiplayer can change that today.

Last month in Las Vegas, Stephen Totilo met with the general manager for EA's "Spore" and "Sims" studio, Lucy Bradshaw, who talked to him, among other things, about how "Spore" for the Wii is taking shape.

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."

TGR News Roundup: January 7, 2009 (News)

Jan 8, 2009

Today's news gathering has everything the TGR staff truly loves: boiling hate, Spore and Uwe Boll being publicly disgraced.

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..."

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 Game Banning Forum Post "Misunderstanding", C&C Community Manager Issues Apology (News)

Nov 1, 2008

Ripten:

"You know that saying about shit rolling downhill? Yeah, well you better believe it does. A few nights ago, we reported that a long time EA Command & Conquer community staff member had made a forum post informing members that the company would be linking bans on the forum to their line up of games as well ...

We then ran a follow up yesterday featuring an official canned response from EA regarding the matter, and today, the C&C community manager issued a response via the forum addressing his previous comment..."

EA Forcing Good Behavior: Get Banned on their Forum and You're Banned from their Games (News)

Oct 30, 2008

Ripten: "A recent post by an EA Community Staff member on the company's Command and Conquer message board outlines changes to their policy, stating their intent to link a gamers forum account to their EA gaming account. Why does this matter? Because EA is planning on banning those who get banned on their forum from their games as well.

The post by the EA Community Staff member can be seen below:"

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...

Banjo dev: Game play through time 'almost irrelevant' (News)

Sep 11, 2008

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at a recent Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts press day at Microsoft's Reading HQ, Rare's senior animator Elissa Miller said that the time it takes gamers to play through a modern video game is pretty much "irrelevant".

Asked about the apparent move away from linear gaming to much more free experiences - LittleBigPlanet, Spore, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts - Miller said this is the kind of gaming she enjoys most.

"For some people, that's the most interesting part. I know it's what I enjoy the most. Rather than play a game through from start to finish, I like to get lost in it," said Miller.

She added: "The amount of time it takes to actually complete a game is almost irrelevant, nowadays."

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!"

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 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 (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 ...

Great In '08: 10 Games You Can't Wait To Play (News)

Mar 12, 2008

After the deluge of great games that were released in 2007, you might think that this year's crop of titles are destined to underwhelm when compared to the likes of Bioshock, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Super Mario Galaxy, and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. However, a number of high profile games scheduled for release over the coming months should have gamers everywhere doing the pee-pee dance in anticipation, giving 2007 a run for it's money as the best year of video games ever.

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 expected to sell 3-5 million in 2008 (News)

Feb 18, 2008

GamesIndustry.biz's Phil Elliott writes: Although most people seem to agree that there's a healthy anticipation building around the forthcoming Will Wright project, Spore, there's also some feeling that its publisher Electronic Arts must manage expectation about its performance and appeal.

"I think Spore will do at least 3 million units as a packaged product, and if it's as good as it looks, it has the potential to do twice that," said Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter.

And the simExchange is currently predicting that the PC and as-yet-unannounced DS editions of the game could combine for 7.5 million units in its lifetime, while its analyst Jesse Divnich believes it could fall "victim to the expectations that EA has set up for the title."

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 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."

Most Anticipated Games of 2008 (Part 2): Fallout 3 beats MGS4 (News)

Jan 20, 2008

From Worthplaying:
"Yesterday, we revealed the bottom half of the top 20, and today we announce what the WP staff considers to be the 10 most anticipated games for the upcoming year. Cue the drumroll, and head on over to our Most Anticipated Games of 2008 section for the final results"

Spore (Preview)

Jan 15, 2008

Jan 15, 2008 Playing with Spores electronic clay nearly a year ago, we were struck by just how complete the character creation tools were. Spores remit, to take a species from microbe to UFO, may be massive but back then it felt ready, and real. Stretching out flesh, bolting on limbs, arranging faces - it all worked. Then, nothing. The game went back into development. New hires (Soren Johnson, the lead designer of Civilization 4 was the last high-profile addition), and no news pointed to a ...

Spore On Track For 2008 (News)

Jan 15, 2008

Whilst an exact release date has yet to be announced by publisher Electronic Arts, CEO John Riccitello did confirm back in June last year that the game was scheduled for launch in the 'early part of fiscal 2009', which begins on April 1st this year.

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."

Confirmed: Spore Coming To The Wii (News)

Oct 29, 2007

Will Wright has finally confirmed that a version of Spore is being developed for the Wii. And despite the different controls, Wright seems to like working on the platform.

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

SimCity creator Will Wright is creating his most ambitious simulation ever: one for the entire universe.

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 ...

New Spore video gets viral (News)

Aug 22, 2007

Aug 22, 2007 A new two-minute trailer shows gameplay of Spore - the latest from design genius Will Wright. Running through the games premise, we also get commentary from the man himself from other members of the development team. In a nutshell, Spore is a life sim, that has players starting off as a single-cell organism. From there, you create your species at every stage of its evolution - from your first steps on land through tribal culture and then on to galactic exploration. Scroll down ...

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 ...