EA officially details Spore Hero, Spore Hero Arena

Electronic Arts has elaborated on what playing Spore will be like once the primordial goo takes shape on the Wii and DS later this year. The Wii's motion-sensitive Spore Hero will play out as a story-based action game, as players save their planet from being blown to bits while collecting more than 250 creature parts. EA also notes that this take on 2008's evolutionary experiment will feature a new version of Spore Creature Creator, one that's been "enhanced" for the Wii. We expect minigames are somehow involved.

For would-be gods on the go, Spore Hero Arena instead will focus more on combat. Here, creatures travel between planets to slug it out to become the champ and collect spoils, which, in this case, are special abilities to give a creature enough of an added boost and inflated ego to take on the next rival evolutionary misfit. Spore Hero Arena will also support local multiplayer battles for up to three players, or allow two players' creations to go up against each other over Wi-Fi.

Neither Spore Hero nor Spore Hero Arena have been given an exact release date yet, with both expected to evolve onto store shelves sometime this fall.