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.
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Feb 9, 2009

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

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - LittleBigPlanet, Braid, Left 4 Dead lead game developers choice award finalists

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."
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Jan 22, 2009

Four new Spore titles for '09 - Including Wii/DS version

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Four new Spore titles for '09 - Including Wii/DS version

CVG Writes: EA Maxis has confirmed plans to release four new Spore products in calendar year 2009.

Speaking to us at a recent trip to EA's UK headquarters, Spore senior producer Morgan Roarty laid out the franchise's roadmap for the upcoming year.

Maxis is developing the core game's first expansion pack, the LittleBigPlanet-esque Spore: Galactic Adventures.

The expansion's targeting a "deeper variety of gameplay" based around Spore's space stage, and the overwhelming majority of its new content will be created by the Spore community using new editing tools that'll allow players to customise their own planets and create their own adventures to share with other gamers.
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Jan 8, 2009

TGR News Roundup: January 7, 2009

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - TGR News Roundup: January 7, 2009

Today's news gathering has everything the TGR staff truly loves: boiling hate, Spore and Uwe Boll being publicly disgraced.
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Dec 20, 2008

New Game Releases for the Week of December 21, 2008

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - New Game Releases for the Week of December 21, 2008

Gamerdeals.net writes:

"Well... what can we say... the week of Christmas is not the best time to release a new game apparently..."
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Nov 17, 2008

Spore Developer Goes to Bat for Used Game Merchants

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Spore Developer Goes to Bat for Used Game Merchants

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..."
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Nov 1, 2008

EA Game Banning Forum Post "Misunderstanding", C&C Community Manager Issues Apology

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - EA Game Banning Forum Post "Misunderstanding", C&C Community Manager Issues Apology

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..."
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Oct 30, 2008

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

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - EA Forcing Good Behavior: Get Banned on their Forum and You're Banned from their Games

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:"
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Sep 24, 2008

EA Announce Christmas 2008 Family Gaming Line-Up

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - EA Announce Christmas 2008 Family Gaming Line-Up

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...
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Sep 12, 2008

Jeff Green's Farewell GFW Radio in Audio and Video

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Jeff Green's Farewell GFW Radio in Audio and Video

Want to watch 1UP PC Editor in Chief Jeff Green munch a mouthful of tongue-numbing Toxic Waste? Freestyle rap with 1UP Reviews Editor Ryan Scott doing hype duty? Imagine his impoverished future in which he panhandles for Peggle money outside 1UP's office?

Serious meets seriously stupid as Green, Scott, and the entire GFW Radio ensemble discuss Spore, Far Cry 2, testicles, Anglerfishes, and whatever else they want on Jeff's final podcast -- an episode so special we created this three-part video version.

The audio version of this landmark episode is available right here or via iTunes if you're subscribed to our podcast feed. If you're more interested in actually watching us, check out the embedded videos in this story (first part above, second and third below the cut) or download them via Filefront: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.
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Sep 11, 2008

Banjo dev: Game play through time 'almost irrelevant'

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Banjo dev: Game play through time 'almost irrelevant'

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."
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Sep 6, 2008

New Game Releases for the Week of September 7, 2008

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - New Game Releases for the Week of September 7, 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!"
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Aug 19, 2008

EA Announce Leipzig Line-Up

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - EA Announce Leipzig Line-Up

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...
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Aug 19, 2008

Spore Coming to nextgen systems

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Spore Coming to nextgen systems

If you don't yet know about Spore, you will soon enough, along with every other inhabitants of this planet. Spore is the next big game from Will Wright , the man behind the ridiculously successful game The SIMS. Spore is easily the most anticipated PC title currently in development, and now it looks like console gamers also will be able to enjoy Will Wright's masterpiece on their favorite console.

So if Will Wright's own words is anything to go by, and xbox 360 news don't see how it is not, Spore is definitely heading for next-gen consoles including the Xbox 360.
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Aug 15, 2008

Ron Gilbert Slams Games Colleges

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Ron Gilbert Slams Games Colleges

From gameplayer's Quotes of the Week column: "I don't think they are really teaching anyone anything; they are just taking your money."

Also includes the dirty lifestyle secrets of Sam Houser, some cop-outs from Jonathan Blow, and a disturbing glimpse inside the mind of Will Wright.
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Aug 13, 2008

Electronic Arts aims to license Spore movie rights

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Electronic Arts aims to license Spore movie rights

Forbes: Video game publishing giant Electronic Arts Inc (EA) wants to license television and movie rights to its soon-to-be released Spore game to boost sales, its creative guru Will Wright said on Wednesday.

Struggling with tepid sales and flagging interest from gamers, loss-making EA is rethinking its traditional ways of developing and marketing games.

It is banking on an aggressive marketing campaign and a raft of other new titles, including Dead Space and Warhammer Online, to achieve its guidance for full-year net revenue of $5-$5.3 billion.
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Jun 25, 2008

A Million creatures in Spore and growing

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - A Million creatures in Spore and growing

You want more proof that people have far too much free time?
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Apr 22, 2008

Spore Creature Creator Trial Coming This June

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Spore Creature Creator Trial Coming This June

Maxis marketing VP Patrick Buechner said that a trial version of the creator creator in the company's upcoming life sim Spore will hit PCs this June, The Creature Creator will allow gamers to get a head start in crafting the unique alien species for use in the title, which is currently slated for a September release.
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Mar 12, 2008

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

360 News from N4G | Spore

360 - Spore - Great In '08: 10 Games You Can't Wait To Play

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.
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Feb 13, 2008

EA: We'd love to bring Spore to PS3 and 360

360 News | Spore

EA would love to bring Will Wright's Spore to PS3 and Xbox 360, producer Thomas Vu has revealed."There's lots of technical hurdles we have to think about before we can say, 'Okay, we can do this or not'. But we're always looking at and thinking about these issues," Vu told us earlier this week when asked whether it's the company's intention to bring the title to the two platforms.Spore is huge and we know there's an audience, he added when ... » Read More