DICE In Quotes posted by Jube at 05:24:AM

Next-Gen wraps up their DICE Summit coverage with DICE In Quotes, bringing us several easily digestible key quotes from the Interactive Achievement Awards and D.I.C.E. presentations. From the Spore Design Team:

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"Ocean Quigley on making accessible vehicle and character editors: �[It�s like] art directing a million incompetents. � They don�t have good sense as to what makes a good character, so you have to put in all these techniques and tools, so when they do something, it looks good.�

Chaim Gingold on developing Spore�s editors: �A lot of that � was finding out how an artist does something, reverse-engineering their process and figuring out how to put that into a toy so that the player will have that technology.�

Jenna Chalmers on one of Spore�s many unique development challenges: �I think one of our other challenges that we�ve been debating for a long time with the editors is how to make a creature evolve to look intelligent�what makes a creature look like something that you are meant to ride on like a horse versus something that�s an intelligent creature?�"

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Creating A Universe Made Easy posted by Jube at 03:57:PM

Over in Fargo's FileBlog, Fargo has posted up an analysis of Will Wright's Spore presentation at DICE. If you've never had godlike powers before, then building a universe is probably hard. Never fear though, Wright and his team are at the helm to make it easy! Find out how they're going about that task, and the challenges that have faced the Spore team on their journey to create a game where even mere mortals can be artists. Also find out what Fargo took away from the presentation in Spore and the "Joy of Manipulation".

Spore Week in Review posted by Jube at 12:20:PM

Spore Week in Review News Headlines

Popular Science Interviews Will Wright posted by Jube at 04:09:PM

Popular Science brings us The Wright Stuff, a whopping eight page interview with the man behind the machine! Some of the interview highlights include content sharing, economy and rewards for popular content, web comunities, Spore platforms, and much more. As for what Will Wright plans to do once Spore has been released... "There are so many different things� well actually yeah, there's one idea, but I don't want to talk about it. But I'm very interested in more relevant gaming." [Source: Gaming Steve Forum]

Possibly Most Hyped Game Of All Time posted by Jube at 09:38:AM

MTV News does their bit to help spread news from DICE, with mention that Will Wright's presentation was the best-attended afternoon session yesterday. In their article they refer to Wright's game as "one of the most hyped of all time". MTV News goes on to briefly recap the DICE session, focussing on Spore's mix of genres, referring to the news that the Spore phases will play out in a number of different ways.

The New Phases of Spore! posted by Jube at 05:52:AM

In the GameSpy Spore coverage from the D.I.C.E. Summit they lay down some interesting information on the Spore modes of gameplay. Spore's initial stages of evolution are looking slightly different these days, with the addition of a Molecular phase. GameSpy lists the phases of evolution, with each stage being likened to another popular video game title.

• Molecular (Tetris style)
  
• Cellular (Pac-Man style)
  
• Creature (Diablo / FPS style)
  
• Tribal (Populous style)
  
• City (SimCity style)
  
• Civilization (Civilization / Risk style)
  
• Terraform (SimEarth style)
  
• Galactic (Masters of Orion style)

D.I.C.E. Spore Article Roundup posted by Jube at 05:39:AM

DICE 2007: Will Wright on Designing Spore posted by Jube at 05:23:AM

Will Wright's presentation at the 2007 D.I.C.E. Summit was one of the most anticipated talks at the event, and IGN walks us through the presentation. It began with footage from Spore (nothing new), and then Will took the stage with four other members of the Spore design team. The core designers talked about the huge task of how the team started to approach the vastness of Spore, including graphics decisions, space exploration and exploitation and more. Here's a little quote on randomly generated planets.

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"... [He] also gave us a glimpse of some of the more odd planets in the game, such as a "giant Swiss cheese" planet. "We wanted some of the more unusual planets to be like treasures you discovered," Will explained."

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D.I.C.E: The Complete Guide posted by Jube at 04:29:AM

The 2007 D.I.C.E. Summit began in Las Vegas yesterday, and Next-Gen brings us a closer look at the event. Among things worth noting, comedian Jay Mohr will be hosting the Interactive Achievement Awards again this year. Game of the year finalists are Wii Sports, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Guitar Hero II, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Gears of War, which leads the pack with 10 nominations. Will Wright will be talking about the rest of the Spore team. Plus more! I'm sure we'll be hearing more news out of D.I.C.E. soon enough.

Angry Gamer Wants Spore, Us Too! posted by Jube at 05:12:AM

The latest IGN Mailbag features a question from an angry gamer looking for more on Spore. In reply to the mail, which questions why we've not heard more about the title, IGN suggests we may get some tidbits in Spring (at GDC or the new E3). It's the same battle we've seen discussed in forums many times. Some people want to see Spore on shelves now, others are happy to wait to make sure the game is well polished. You can read the IGN Mailbag here.

The Hottest Games Coming in 2007 posted by Jube at 05:05:AM

Bjorn3d.com brings us their Hottest Games Coming in 2007 list. Counting down the gaming goodness...

10. Silverfall
9. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
8. Hellgate: London
7. Unreal Tournament
6. Supreme Commander
5. BioShock
4. Alan Wake
3. Half-Life 2: Episode 2
2. Spore
1. Crysis

Go, go gadget Spore! Read all about each title at Bjorn3d.com.

Spore Week in Review posted by Jube at 09:43:AM

Spore Week in Review News Headlines

Spore Sizzling Up The Webwaves! posted by Jube at 10:41:AM

In an article on Yahoo! News in which they talk about EA's rising stock, a quote is made regarding Spore, confirming once again that the game is one of the most anticipated titles of this year.

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"One of the most highly anticipated new titles in the gaming world is "Spore," the brainchild behind "Sims" developer Will Wright, considered one of the gaming industry's most creative artists. Through its Maxis Software brand, EA will release "Spore" � an interactive game where players evolve from single-celled organisms into intelligent beings that are part of a complex, real-time civilization � later this year."

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Spore DS officially confirmed? posted by Mythor at 07:21:PM

News today that EA has confirmed a version of Spore is definitely coming for the Nintendo DS.

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"Regarding both the Wii and Nintendo DS, Electronic Arts noted that the company has 15 SKUs in development for both platforms, including several original IP offerings. Confirmed titles in development for Nintendo platforms include My Sims for both the DS and Wii, Sim City, as well as official confirmation of a Nintendo DS version for Will Wright's highly anticipated Spore."

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