Will Wright, Stephen Colbert, and N'Gai Croal
by Ross Miller 
{ Dec 5th 2006 at 6:55PM }
Legendary game designer Will Wright visited The Colbert Report last night. Surrounded by a nativity scene and lacking his standard comfort mustache, Wright and Stephen Colbert philosophized on why anyone would want to, as Colbert put it, "go into another world to live a life that is just as mundane."About four minutes into the interview, the discussion transitions into Spore, which Wright describes as a "spreadsheet for God." This brings up a debate on Evolution versus Intelligent Design, which should not come as a surprise for anyone familiar with the show. Wright notes that it is a hybrid between the two theories, though "the designers aren't necessarily that intelligent." The evolution aspect, Wright explains, comes with the online world where your creations are pitted against everyone else's -- it's like "competing gods on the playing field of the world," they conclude.
Watch near the end where Wright almost gets Colbert to break character by "confessing" he is almost fluent in Sim-lish, the language of The Sims.
Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, who described the designer as polymathic (that means he's edumucated), followed Wright to the set to get some behind-the-scenes perspective of the interview and reveals some insight into Wright's gaming habits, like that he doesn't like MMOs because of the "rote treadmill" of leveling characters.
Spore, according to Wright, is on track for a release the second half of 2007 and is currently in Pre-Alpha Five phase, which means five months until alpha phase, which means there are some lucky EA employees playing the full version of Spore right now. The full Colbert Report interview is embedded after the break.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Huzzah!! @ Dec 6th 2006 8:08PM
I'm getting a nerd-rection right now.
Jeremy @ Dec 5th 2006 7:21PM
Will Wright is probably one of my favorite game-related people.
I mean, his games were really original, a really good idea, and have a nic enatural progression.
Can't wait to play Spore.
**
the whole manger joke was really funny too
Mitsuo @ Dec 5th 2006 8:21PM
I would SOOO get a nerd-rection if I was to meet Will Wright also.
otakucode @ Dec 5th 2006 9:51PM
I don't expect many people, Will Wright included, would mind so much the treadmill stuff if the end paths of the advancement of characters held some sort of value. As it is, advancing to the highest levels in a given MMO puts you in a group with lots of other people - which means it's nothing special at all.
There is no way to distinguish yourself, no way to truly forge a CHARACTER. I can't wait for an MMO that provides such a variety of play and limits the server populations so that people can actually distinguish themselves like they used to be able to in MUDs.
pocketmnky @ Dec 5th 2006 8:32PM
I think I just got a Nerd-rection watching this video.
Cabcru @ Dec 5th 2006 8:33PM
"and reveals some insight into Wright's gaming habits, like that he doesn't like MMOs because of the "rote treadmill" of leveling characters."
Yeah, he only likes treadmills if they involve telling your character to use the toilet every five minutes.
Shane @ Dec 5th 2006 8:03PM
I just got a nerdrection.
Can't wait for Spore
BklynKid @ Dec 5th 2006 10:06PM
Nerd-rections. OK.
Amos @ Dec 6th 2006 2:54AM
There were a couple funny bits, but this interview was rather dissapointing...it's like they were HINTING at a joke the whole time rather than making one, and the meat of the discussion was 'meh.'
Eggzie @ Dec 6th 2006 3:32AM
OMG I nearly fell out of the chair when Stephen mentioned nerd-rections. It's a real phenomenon and especially around Will.
I've met and talked to Will twice (E3 2006 and a sims 2 event) and both times were up there in my most cool moments of my life. Will is such a great guy. It was even inspiring to watch him eat a bag of ruffles while he took a break at E3 from speaking about Spore. haha
Man, can't wait to play the full version of Spore!
Gonzo @ Dec 6th 2006 5:29PM
That was a great interview.
I can't get into MMORPGs for the same reason. If it wasn't for the fact that you have to level up so much to play a reasonably fun game, I'd totally be into them.
They should make WoW for people who only have an hour or two a day (at most) to play games.
Can't wait for spore.