Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Spore space phase is 15-20 hours, has one endinghttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/17/spore-space-phase-is-15-20-hours-has-one-ending/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/17/spore-space-phase-is-15-20-hours-has-one-ending/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/17/spore-space-phase-is-15-20-hours-has-one-ending/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Will Wright's Spore is aiming to set precedents in many ways, and it's also set to break a long-standing Maxis tradition: the game ends. Producer Thomas Vu told us that the space phase of the game is what he considers the RPG phase, with 15 to 20 hours of gameplay and -- prepare to be floored -- one ending. No matter how your species lives its existence, it always ends the same way as you make your way to the center of the universe.

Unsurprisingly, Vu said the game has a twist ending. Also unsurprisingly, he was mum on what that twist is. We'll have more from our exhaustive session with Spore later this week.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>e3e3-2008maxissporeRoss Miller2008-07-17T07:30:00+00:00'Strong possibility' Spore creations will be exportable to Mayahttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/strong-possibilty-spore-creations-will-be-exportable-to-maya/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/strong-possibilty-spore-creations-will-be-exportable-to-maya/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/strong-possibilty-spore-creations-will-be-exportable-to-maya/#commentsFiled under: , ,

While taking us through an exhaustive hands-on with Spore, Maxis producer Thomas Vu told us that there was a "strong possibility" that the company would allow you to export your creations - creatures, buildings and vehicles - from the game into 3D modeling/animation program Maya. Vu said it wouldn't be a stretch for other 3D-creation apps (e.g. Lightwave, 3D Studio Max) to be made compatible, too.

Also likely exportable is the music you create in the game, although Vu was not sure what format. What would be holding the feature back, explained Vu, was if it "didn't fit Spore," i.e. how do we define the title? As a game, an app? He suggested that if community interest was strong enough they'd likely put it in. You hear that, community? Make our dreams as aspiring animators that much closer to fruition. We'll have more from our exhaustive session with Spore later this week.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>3d3d-modelingautodeske3e3-2008eaelectronic-artsmaxismayasporeRoss Miller2008-07-16T18:45:00+00:00Wright wants you to love the companion cube, save SETIhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/14/wright-wants-you-to-love-the-companion-cube-save-seti/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/14/wright-wants-you-to-love-the-companion-cube-save-seti/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/14/wright-wants-you-to-love-the-companion-cube-save-seti/#commentsFiled under:


This isn't so much a news post as it is a 129-word, one pic reminder of why we love Will Wright so very, very much. Reason 1: He made (is still making?) Spore, a game that's so whimsically flexible that everyone's favorite three-dimensional friend, the Weighted Companion Cube, can be recreated fairly faithfully.

For reason two, you're going to have to squint a bit at Wright's shirt ... yeah, that's right, "SAVE SETI AT ARECIBO." Will Wright isn't afraid to take on the tough issues, mister, like the effort to convince Congress to continue to fund Arecibo Observatory and our continuing search for life beyond earth. We don't know what kind of nerd cred card you were thinking about playing today reader, but don't bother. It's already done been trumped.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eamaxiswill-wrightJustin McElroy2008-07-14T20:45:00+00:00Joystiq hands-on: Spore (the whole thing)http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/01/joystiq-hands-on-spore-the-whole-thing/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/01/joystiq-hands-on-spore-the-whole-thing/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/01/joystiq-hands-on-spore-the-whole-thing/#commentsFiled under: ,


click to enter gallery

As equal parts excuse and contrition, I feel it's necessary to add the following disclaimer to this writeup: spending thirty minutes with something like Spore is like spending thirty minutes on the history of the Russian space program or spending thirty minutes on the theory of evolution (or any other seemingly disparate discipline you may find in one of Will Wright's famously schizophrenic presentations) - it may be deep enough to wet your toes but there's an ocean out there. At a recent EA event in Los Angeles, myself and the rest of the E3 Judges had an opportunity to get our feet wet (figuratively, of course).

Before being lead into a private demo area with a half-dozen high-end gaming rigs outfitted with the latest build of Spore, Will Wright - along with what seemed to be every other team at EA - gave a short presentation covering ... well, he covered a lot (see above). I was able to extract two fascinating details from my furiously scribbled notes.

First: Wright (and EA we presume) was hoping to have 100,000 creatures created by the time the game ships in September; of course, they beat that in the first couple hours. In fact, they had announced the night before that 250,000 creatures were created and, after getting a quick real-time check during his presentation, estimated they would hit half a million before the end of the day's event. (They did).

Second: Wright told us that they expected to "exceed the world population of 3D models in Spore" within the first couple months. If we heard him right, that means there would be more 3D models in the Sporepedia than every other game, movie, you-name-it combined. And, wrapped in the embrace of Will Wright's own special reality distortion field that afternoon, nothing seemed more plausible.

Gallery: Spore (EA3)


At our appointed time, a group of a half-dozen or so journalists were ushered into the demo room. Will Wright was seated at one terminal and, after a really short introduction, we were off. I initially fumbled around the interface, overwhelmed with the simplest of decisions: where to start. Spore is almost five distinct simulations - cell, creature, tribal, civilization and space - and each one offers unique objectives and a unique game type. After some equivocation, I settled on "space" and, after selecting my spacecraft (an 8-bit Mario, if you're curious) from an already jam-packed Sporepedia page (and this is just Maxis designers!), I was off exploring a seemingly infinite outer space.



As I futzed around, I had attracted an audience of one, interested in my unique mode of transport. Will Wright was seated just over my right shoulder and, for the duration of the 30 minute period, he sort of provided a real-time director's commentary on everything I was doing (mental note: more games should come with 30 minutes of the designer's time). He coached me on how to terraform the lifeless rock I had stumbled upon, carving out bodies of water while adjusting the atmosphere to make it sustainable for life. It's an imprecise balancing act, helpfully charted out for you in the display. After briefly making an atmosphere that looked lovely (clouds!) it continued in that trajectory, tipped again towards a hostile environment. Oops! Alright, enough of that then ...

Then I got sucked into the Sporepedia, where I frittered away a huge percentage of my time with the game. My initial run-in with the 8-bit Mario ship - not to mention the huge number of creatures we'd already seen at Joystiq in the couple days the Creature Creator had been available - had me crawling through hundreds of procedurally generated creations. On occasion, Wright would remark on an interesting element or a particularly beautiful design. And, keep in mind, these are all from his internal team. In just six months, 100 EA employees created 15,000 items, he told us. The designs of one of those employees in particular consistently caught my eye: GalaxyKate. One of Spore's most social features is the Sporecast - an RSS feed of sorts for another Spore player's creations that any player can subscribe to. Here, I was crawling through GalaxyKate's creations, both Will and myself marveling at some of the things she's built. My favorite: A building that looked like an ice-skating figurine, with snow-mound base and pirouette pose. You can also subscribe to Will's own creations; his username is WillDude.



After selecting a building and selecting a creature (we were sort of hopping through stages of the game - helpfully rendered on your own timeline if you so choose) I was in the tribal stage, gathering items, making babies, and generally growing my village. I tried making friends with the neighboring village - another type of creature loaded from the Sporepedia at the beginning of the level - and after some effort including playing music, we were ... well, not friends. Let's just say we could tolerate each other.

Eager to round out my tribal experience, I tried hunting. My first prey: A giant, one-eyed creature who, perhaps unsurprisingly, became rather irate when attacked. Will informed me that I had virtually no chance of defeating a creature of that size right now so, I ran. I didn't run away necessarily, simply towards another foe ... which took me awhile to find. As it turned out, every potential meal was either too large or too aggressive for me to attack. Will guided me around a bit and was himself shocked that not only were there not enough animals (really, I had to hunt) but they weren't balanced very well. Of course, Spore's still in beta. He filed a mental note.

After poking around in the tribal stage for another couple minutes, we got the word that our thirty minutes were, in fact, up. Really? You see, we just got here and actually barely had a chance to do much of anything! What about the three modes I didn't tinker with? What about the Sporepedia (I barely put a dent in it!)? What about my blossoming friendship with Will? My imaginary pleas were greeted with an imaginary stoicism and this imaginary response: "Yeah, we know. You'll just have to wait until Sept. 7 like everyone else." That's just over two months away; who wants to take bets at how many creatures will be in Sporepedia by then?

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>EA3MaxisSporeWill-WrightChristopher Grant2008-07-01T13:55:00+00:00The Best Of Big Download: June 15-21, 2008http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/21/the-best-of-big-download-june-15-21-2008/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/21/the-best-of-big-download-june-15-21-2008/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/21/the-best-of-big-download-june-15-21-2008/#commentsFiled under: ,


It's yet another huge week here at the Big Download news site. For a "game" that's not really a game, Maxis' Spore Creature Creator generated more buzz than most true PC game titles. But that's not all we had. Take a look at the highlights from the past week.

Exclusives

Downloads
  • Spore Creature Creator demo: Need we say more? Download the free stand alone creature editor from Maxis and EA in PC and Mac flavors.
  • Team Fortress 2: Meet The Sniper trailer: The latest in-game engine cut-scene from Valve centers on the long shot character in their multiplayer shooter.
  • Project Origin trailers. We have not one but two trailers showing off more of Monolith's upcoming horror shooter.
  • The Princess Bride demo: Check out a portion of this casual game based on the classic comedy fantasy movie.
  • Diablo II patch: This patch for the classic Blizzard action-RPG finally removes the CD check.
News

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>big-downloadmaxispc-gaming-alliancespore-creature-creatorspore-creature-creator-demostardockJohn Callaham2008-06-21T14:00:00+00:00A week with Spore Creatures: Conclusionhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/a-week-with-spore-creatures-conclusion/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/a-week-with-spore-creatures-conclusion/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/a-week-with-spore-creatures-conclusion/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

In our quest to familiarize ourselves with the laws of nature (and subsequently defy them), this week we're going to share at least five abominations, one each day, that we've concocted in Spore Creature Creator. You can keep track of this our progress via our various profile pages:
For the final day, we tried to commit ourselves to pulling out all the stops, but a very long day of blogging left us with some epic failures that will never see the light of day (e.g. Big Bird). We do feel, however, that we have a much better understanding of Spore's limitations. (You can read about them in our gallery.) You can see all the creatures from the week starting here. Each page contains a link to the creature's respective Sporepedia page where you can download and edit our work.

Gallery: One week with Spore Creatures

Moogle!EbolicOcto-GrimaceWeeglerMelliphon


Put your skills to the test and win some gear. BigDownload is offering BigPrizes to see your Spore creations.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eaelectronic-artsjoystiqfeaturesmaxissporeweek-with-spore-ccRoss Miller2008-06-20T08:30:00+00:00250,000 Spore creatures shared, interstellar plague to followhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/250-000-spore-creatures-shared-interstellar-plague-to-follow/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/250-000-spore-creatures-shared-interstellar-plague-to-follow/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/250-000-spore-creatures-shared-interstellar-plague-to-follow/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Electronic Arts announced late last night that 250,000 new creatures had been uploaded to the Sporepedia since the program got into various Sporeophile's hands mandibles. The company claims two creatures are being shared every second, with the latest data from our Spore page (image after the break) showing that 377,200 creatures have been created since those numbers were last updated on Spore.com.

Quick math break: 377,200 - 78,762 penis creatures = 298,438 actual creatures.

We've certainly been having fun around here making our adorable animals, ready to rule the galaxy on Sept. 7. The Spore Creature Creator demo (with about 25% of the retail content) and the full $10 version are available now.

Gallery: One week with Spore Creatures

Moogle!EbolicOcto-GrimaceWeeglerMelliphon


Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>EAMaxisSporeSpore-Creature-CreatorAlexander Sliwinski2008-06-19T12:00:00+00:00A week with Spore Creature Creator: Day Threehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/a-week-with-spore-creature-creator-day-three/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/a-week-with-spore-creature-creator-day-three/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/a-week-with-spore-creature-creator-day-three/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

In our quest to familiarize ourselves with the laws of nature (and subsequently defy them), this week we're going to share at least five abominations, one each day, that we've concocted in Spore Creature Creator. You can keep track of this our progress via our various profile pages:
Today's highlights include a living guitar, a chocobo and a failed attempt at recreating the faun from Pan's Labyrinth. You can see all the creatures from the week starting here. Each page contains a link to the creature's respective Sporepedia page where you can download and edit our work.

Gallery: One week with Spore Creatures

Moogle!EbolicOcto-GrimaceWeeglerMelliphon


Put your skills to the test and win some gear. BigDownload is offering BigPrizes to see your Spore creations.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eaelectronic-artsmaxissporespore-creature-creatureweek-with-spore-ccRoss Miller2008-06-19T07:00:00+00:00A week with Spore Creature Creators: Day Twohttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/18/a-week-with-spore-creature-creators-day-two/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/18/a-week-with-spore-creature-creators-day-two/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/18/a-week-with-spore-creature-creators-day-two/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

In our quest to familiarize ourselves with the laws of nature (and subsequently defy them), this week we're going to share at least five abominations, one each day, that we've concocted in Spore Creature Creator. You can keep track of this our progress via our various profile pages:
For day two (new entries start here), we've got an elated peppermint, an attentive dinosaur, and a hiphopapotamous with flows that glow like phosphorous. You can see all the creatures from the week starting here. Each page contains a link to the creature's respective Sporepedia page where you can download and edit our work.

Gallery: One week with Spore Creatures

Moogle!EbolicOcto-GrimaceWeeglerMelliphon

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eaelectronic-artsjoystiqfeaturesmaxissporespore-creature-creatorweek-with-spore-ccRoss Miller2008-06-18T07:00:00+00:00Sims Carnival is now in open betahttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/sims-carnival-is-now-in-open-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/sims-carnival-is-now-in-open-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/sims-carnival-is-now-in-open-beta/#commentsFiled under:


In the future, there will be no game developers. Well, to be more accurate, there will be no paid videogame developers, just a legion of unpaid game slaves, toiling away for a chance at e-stardom. Today, the inevitable future looms just a bit closer with The Sims Carnival going into open beta.

Right now, you can play some of the offerings from closed beta folks, who've come up with some really bizarre entries like this terrible take on Mario Kart and this brûlée caramelizing sim. You can also design your own games for the general populace to partake of, enjoy and never, ever pay you for.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eamaxissimsthe-sims-carnivalugcuser-generated-contentJustin McElroy2008-06-17T19:30:00+00:00BigDownload offering big prizes to see your Spore creatureshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/bigdownload-offering-big-prizes-to-see-your-spore-creatures/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/bigdownload-offering-big-prizes-to-see-your-spore-creatures/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/bigdownload-offering-big-prizes-to-see-your-spore-creatures/#commentsFiled under: , ,

How intelligent is your design? Our friends at BigDownload want to see your best work using the Spore Creature Creator demo, and they're offering 10 copies of the full version, a Wacom tablet and two NVIDIA video cards to tempt you. Click here for details and contest rules.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eaelectronic-artsmaxissporespore-creature-creatorRoss Miller2008-06-17T15:25:00+00:00A week with Spore Creature Creator: Day Onehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/a-week-with-spore-creature-creator-day-one/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/a-week-with-spore-creature-creator-day-one/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/a-week-with-spore-creature-creator-day-one/#commentsFiled under: , ,

In our quest to familiarize ourselves with the laws of nature (and subsequently defy them), this week we're going to share at least five abominations, one each day, that we've concocted in Spore Creature Creator. You can keep track of this writer's progress via this Spore profile page.

While we've got no Murlocs today, we did try our hand at making a Moogle. Check out all our creations via the gallery below. Each one contains a link to the creature's respective Sporepedia page where you can download and edit our work.

Gallery: One week with Spore Creatures

Moogle!EbolicOcto-GrimaceWeeglerMelliphon

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eamaxissporespore-creature-creatorspore-creaturesweek-with-spore-ccRoss Miller2008-06-17T07:00:00+00:00Spore: Creature Stage wanders onto land, into blog posthttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/28/spore-creature-stage-wanders-onto-land-into-blog-post/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/28/spore-creature-stage-wanders-onto-land-into-blog-post/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/28/spore-creature-stage-wanders-onto-land-into-blog-post/#commentsFiled under:


click to enlarge

EA just dropped a handful of screens and a short recap of Spore's second stage - the Creature Stage - into our laps (we have a hand there ... and some eyes ... and mandibles). Of course, they did the same thing last week for the opening "Cell Stage" and we presume they'll keep doing so in the coming weeks; we've still got Tribal, Civilization, and Space to look forward to.

The Creature Stage jumps from Cell's 2D world into three dimensions, where you'll gather DNA points which you can use in the Creature Creator (check out our hands-ons and meet Sporky) to expand your critter's abilities. Here you'll encounter other strange species as you explore your world - "all of them created by other players" - and you'll "race" to "become the first sentient being" on your planet. It's like massively single-player online gaming.

Gallery: Spore: Creature Stage


Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>Creature-StageEAMaxisSporeChristopher Grant2008-05-28T12:26:00+00:00Joystiq hands-on: Spore Creature Creator and the birth of Sporkyhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/23/joystiq-hands-on-spore-creature-creator-and-the-birth-of-sporky/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/23/joystiq-hands-on-spore-creature-creator-and-the-birth-of-sporky/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/23/joystiq-hands-on-spore-creature-creator-and-the-birth-of-sporky/#commentsFiled under: , ,


click to get up close with "sporky"
We dropped by Maxis' offices today to get our feet wet in the stand-alone "Creature Creator" component of The Sims architect Will Wright's epic cell-to-galactic-civilization sim, Spore (which hits in September). Set to launch on June 17 in two flavors (a $9.99 "full version" and free downloadable demo, also included with The SimCity Box) the creator could be incorrectly described as a "utility" - in fact, as we found while tinkering with it, the Creature Creator could very well have a life of its own. Read our full impressions after the break.

Gallery: Spore


click to get up close with "sporky"
We dropped by Maxis' offices today to get our feet wet in the stand-alone "Creature Creator" component of The Sims architect Will Wright's epic cell-to-galactic-civilization sim, Spore (which hits in September). Set to launch on June 17 in two flavors (a $9.99 "full version" and free downloadable demo, also included with The SimCity Box) the creator could be incorrectly described as a "utility" - in fact, as we found while tinkering with it, the Creature Creator could very well have a life of its own. Read our full impressions after the break.

Gallery: Spore

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eaelectronic-artsjoystiqfeaturesmaxissim-citysporespore-creature-creatorthe-simswill-wrightRandy Nelson2008-05-23T10:00:00+00:00New Oddworld game in the works, may be 'years' offhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/22/new-oddworld-game-in-the-works-may-be-years-off/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/22/new-oddworld-game-in-the-works-may-be-years-off/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/22/new-oddworld-game-in-the-works-may-be-years-off/#commentsFiled under: ,


It's been more than three years since we last frolicked about in Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, but according to Maxis co-founder Jeff Braun a new game set in Lorne Lanning's Oddworld universe is currently in the works. According to Wilfrid Laurier University student newspaper The Cord Weekly, Braun confirmed his involvement with developers Oddworld Inhabitants on the project during a presentation at the school earlier this week.

Few details were revealed about the upcoming game, though Braun noted that the title will feature a "revolutionary new 3-D animation system" and "cinematic quality on a '1 to 1 scale' to that of computer-generated motion pictures," adding that the same assets could be used to create both a video game and film version in parallel.

This isn't the first time talk of CG features and Oddworld have been mentioned in the same breath, with Lorne Lanning himself refocusing his company in 2005 to create both games and accompanying CG movies, the first of which was announced a year later as Citizen Siege. However, as that title has yet to see the light of day, it doesn't exactly surprise us that Braun admits that the next Oddworld release could be "years" away from seeing retail shelves, and may even be released in an episodic format when it's all said and done.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>jeff-braunjeffbraunlorne-lanninglornelanningmaxisoddworldJason Dobson2008-05-22T22:00:00+00:00Spore 'Cell Phase' flOwts into viewhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/20/spore-cell-phase-flowts-into-view/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/20/spore-cell-phase-flowts-into-view/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/20/spore-cell-phase-flowts-into-view/#commentsFiled under: ,

cell phase
click to magnify

EA today passed out some new media of Spore's first stage, the "Cell Phase," a top-down 2D minigame that looks a lot like flOw (but, you know, maybe, actually ... fun). Perhaps not coincidentally, flOw's original designer Jenova Chen was briefly employed by Maxis, suggesting that Spore's Cell Phase may be a direct evolution of Chen's elegant Flash-based creation. Like its predecessor, Cell Phase features a player-driven microorganism, a little fish in the primordial ooze, which can be designated as herbivore, carnivore or omnivore before crashing into the ocean by way of immaculate meteor. The primary objective is to eat -- and not be eaten -- as you "earn DNA" and collect parts to enhance your creature's abilities (read: grow legs and get on to the good parts). Everybody's gotta start somewhere, eh?

Don't miss the Cell Phase trailer posted after the break!

Gallery: Spore: Cell Phase


Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>breakingnewscell-phaseeamaxissporewill-wrightJames Ransom-Wiley2008-05-20T14:30:00+00:00Free, retail versions of Spore creature editor coming in Junehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/21/free-retail-versions-of-spore-creature-editor-coming-in-june/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/21/free-retail-versions-of-spore-creature-editor-coming-in-june/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/21/free-retail-versions-of-spore-creature-editor-coming-in-june/#commentsFiled under: , ,

While reaffirming Spore's September 7 release date, VP of Marketing at Maxis Patrick Buechner has told IGN that both trial (free) and retail (premium) versions of the creature editor are coming in June. The trial version will be available for download and in The SimCity Box, while the retail version should be available in stores around the same time Box launches.

"The free Creature Creator has about 25-percent of the creature making parts from Spore. The retail version will have 100-percent," said Buechner. Any creations you conjure can be shared online via the upcoming Sporepedia, and they will be compatible with Spore once it's released. No price was given for the retail version, and it wasn't mentioned whether any discount would be given to those who pay a premium to be teased about Will Wright's evolutionary time sink.

Gallery: Spore

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>maxissporewill-wrightRoss Miller2008-04-21T10:15:00+00:00Rumor: Spore Creature Creator included in SimCity Boxhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/rumor-spore-creature-creator-included-in-simcity-box/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/rumor-spore-creature-creator-included-in-simcity-box/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/rumor-spore-creature-creator-included-in-simcity-box/#commentsFiled under: ,


Ever since EA announced the early release of Spore's Creature Creator, we've been wondering how the company planned on distributing the pre-game title. Fingers were crossed for a free demo, but now it seems that EA would rather entice players into buying their SimCity Box, which will reportedly include the Creature Creator amongst its lineup of classic SimCity titles.

On the game's Amazon product page, the box art indicates the presence of the "Creature Creator Trial Version" as a bonus feature. This same bonus is stated in the product description. If Amazon is to be trusted, we still don't know whether the "trial version" indicates a limited demo of the soon-to-be-released creature editor, or whether the editor is considered to be a "trial version" of Spore.

We also don't know if this is EA's only intended method of distribution for the Creature Creator. We've contacted EA for further clarification, and will let you know once we have a few more facts.

[Via GamerTell]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eamaxissimcitysimcity-boxsporespore-creature-creatorspore-creature-editorScott Jon Siegel2008-04-15T16:00:00+00:00Nintendo tops 2007's Develop 100 listhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/10/nintendo-tops-2007s-develop-100-list/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/10/nintendo-tops-2007s-develop-100-list/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/10/nintendo-tops-2007s-develop-100-list/#commentsFiled under: , ,

And what such a prestigious achievement amounts to is, well, an awfully large amount of money. You see, the Develop 100 aims to rank "the world's most successful game studios" based on the revenues earned by their products at UK retail. Leaping to the top of the list for 2007 is Nintendo, its titles earning £129.83 million ($256 million) and boasting a significant lead over the £68.78 million ($136 million) belonging to number 2 producer, EA Canada.

Other notable studios in the top ten include Ubisoft Montreal with £52.17 million, Konami with £41.67 million and Maxis, which raked in £36.84 million. You'll also spot Infinity Ward with £39.6 million and Bungie with £31.45 million, both of which coasted in on a single game.

[Final "million" word count: 9. 10 if you count that "million." Oh, great, now it's 11.]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>BungieDevelop-100EA-CanadaInfinity-WardKonamiMaxisNintendoUbisoftLudwig Kietzmann2008-04-10T23:00:00+00:00Sims 3 teaser posted, more info coming March 19http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/06/sims-3-teaser-posted-more-info-coming-march-19/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/06/sims-3-teaser-posted-more-info-coming-march-19/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/06/sims-3-teaser-posted-more-info-coming-march-19/#comments
If there was any doubt that EA would continue to milk the lucrative cash cow that is Will Wright's Sims franchise, that doubt can now be officially expelled. EA has created an official page for the next title in the series -- titled, appropriately enough, The Sims 3.

The site features little else besides the above image, which teases more details coming on March 19. Our Holmesian deductive reasoning lets us assume that this title will be a return to form for the Sims series, as opposed to another entry in the adorable but divergent MySims line. With work on Spore wrapping up after eight years, it's also possible that Mr. Wright himself may take an active role in the game's development. Guess we'll all have more information come March 19 (finally, something to anxiously look forward to besides Brawl).

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>eamaxissimssims-3the-simsthe-sims-3thesimsScott Jon Siegel2008-03-06T05:20:00+00:00