What's so special about 'Spore'?

Just released in the U.S. on Sunday, September 7, Spore is Electronic Arts' big holiday push for the still-alive PC gaming market. The game is from Will Wright, creator of the best-selling Sims and Sim City franchises, and developed by the same company, Maxis, so expectations are naturally high.

But despite the buzz, which includes full-page stories in the New York Times and numerous TV news segments, does Spore have a chance at mainstream video game success at the level of GTA4 or Guitar Hero (or The Sims)?

After spending the last week playing an early copy of the full game (where we created the Danosaurus, which lives on the planet Danlandia), we're ready to say that Spore is a monumental achievement in game design, and a genuinely engaging experience, but at the same time, it may lack that mainstream accessibility needed to resonate with non-core gamers.

The Sims is one of the best-selling game series of all time, PC or console, and has sold more than 38 million copies in the U.S. (compared with about 12 million for World of Warcraft, the other current PC game tent pole). Non-core gamers, and even people who have never played a video game before, were able to get into The Sims because it allowed them to build virtual versions of the friends, family, neighborhood, etc. It had the appeal of the familiar, and became more of a 3D dollhouse than a serious game.

Spore's main concepts, designing a creature and eventually building a habitat for it, are actually intellectually similar to The Sims, but the setting is much more abstract. It's much harder to identify with a single-celled organism, or even an intelligent, technologically advanced Spore creature--they simply lack the sense of familiarity that made The Sims a crossover hit.

Spore also scales up in difficulty fairly quickly, and may leave casual gamers behind. The first two sections, swimming around as a single-celled organism, followed by an evolutionary spurt where you grow some legs and run around making friends with (or eating) other animals, are easy, almost arcade-like fun. Jumping into the third stage, where your creatures form a tribe and set off down the path of civilization, the game abruptly switches to a very traditional real-time strategy mode, requiring the player to manage several tribe members, gather resources, and work with, or against, rival tribes.

This is one of the hardest game types for casual players to get their heads around, and the game's sparse onscreen tutorials will leave anyone not familiar with the conventions of the RTS genre lost (there's an extensive in-game manual, called the Sporepedia, but that requires actual reading).

We're sure Spore will be a best-seller, especially in its first few weeks of release, but if EA expects Sims-like sales, the company may end up being disappointed if early word-of-mouth paints the game as too difficult for mainstream gamers.

Check out the Reuters TV segment below to see me further pontificate on all things Spore.

[arkofttruth]

From the tone of this article, I guess EA will have to dummy-down the game if they want to capture a wider audience. But then again, what should we expect from a world where headlines of Britney's next breakdown or rumors of Hanna Montana tickets being sold are front-page news.

[DenigoTantric]

Agree -- but hopefully the "dumbing down" won't happen until the console version releases. Those who game on their computers tend to be at least marginally more 'cerebral' and willing to accept intelligent challenges than the vast audience of "guitar heroes" and "melee fraggers" who game exclusively on consoles.

[podunkboy]

Yeah, it'd be a really great game if it ran on more computers. I spent 4 hours trying to install it on my less-than-a-year-old computer with Vista, only to learn that EA wasn't supporting my graphics card under Vista, only XP. So I had to install it on my 3-year-old computer my kids play on because it's still running XP. I had the same problem with EA's Tiger Woods games, they wouldn't run under Vista, and they said it was Microsoft's problem, not theirs. Guess I'm going to have to quit spending my money on EA products.

[ronreed]

Your comment is very relevent. I tried to load Creature Creator on my "reasonable" desktop machine and it would not run. The minimum system requirements of this game need to be tweaked so that more computers and operating systems are supported. The PC gaming market is not going to be where this game makes most of its sales.

[fjellt]

I will wait until the validation/activation issues are reversed by EA. I have been watching the whole issue with a keen eye. I don't want to be treated as a criminal by a manufacturer when I purchase the product. I read yesterday that there are cracked copies on the torrent sites that don't have the activation/hassles, but can't connect online. I always get a kick out of hackers doing what consumers want more than the programmers.

[Dragon_Myr]

Dan, I agree with your assessment on Spore. I bought it anticipating a rather repetitive and shallow experience and that's what I got, but I severely underestimated the lasting appeal of all the unique content. That really adds a whole new level of entertainment to the game, or that's what I've personally felt so far. It's also got that easy to learn, hard to master feel to it. So far I've been happy and, at times, impressed.

Unfortunately, the DRM on the game does ruin the experience. It wanted me to insert my DVD, but it was already in the drive...I can't insert it any more than that! Not sure what's going on, but Spore just won't recognize my DVD drive anymore. Probably has something to do with that abomination called Securom because I run a week-old clean install of Vista 64-bit. No problems running Spore, except for that DVD problem I had to get around. Less techie users probably won't be able to get around a showstopping DRM bug like that. EA should really make sure the DRM they put on these games is compatible with all operating systems listed on the box.

[renGek]

This article is not informing the public about the DRM and rootkit that gets installed in the game. It should be mentioned so that people can make their own decision. I read 3 articles on spore before I bought it and none of the 3 ever mentioned it. Thats irresponsible reporting.

I was enjoying the game for the last 2 days but now realizing they put a rootkit in my machine without informing me of such will completely cloud this game for me. While EA can claim its harmless, we all know programs don't always work the way it should. Had I known about this thing I would not have bought it which is probably why they didn't say anything. Next time I'll know better.

[C0mmanderB0nd]

At least the PC tech market will get a boost when all the 38 million people that bought "The Sims" pick up "Spore" and the DRM breaks their DVD burners or other rootkit abnormalities pop up.

Thanks for the business EA.

I really miss the good old days when people picked up unauthorized malware on the computer for free, not disguised in with cute little critters you had to pay for. At least Banzai buddy was free.

[extirpator]

Spore was one of two game I really wanted to buy this year; however, the 3 install limit DRM (then it's up to EA to allow you to reinstall after that) on it has killed any chance of me buying this for my PC at least. My home system is a test bed for os's and programing experiments. I can't even begin to count how many times a curious experiment has forced me to reinstall an os. Heck I remember one time I got a bios virus, and decided to try Norton after fixing the problem only to have it much up my system more than the virus did in just a week. That would have been my 3 installs right there...

I find most drm annoying like forcing you to keep a cd in the drive, but this latest 3 install limit before being forced to call EA, and MAYBE getting another install, is ridiculous. Beyond which, supposedly after that it has to verify through an online server. According to several people the last time EA had online server activation for another game the canned the activation servers after only 2 years. This means eventually spore will end up a coaster even if you're not ready for it to become one.

[joeltom]

Reading about the DRM, why doesn't the PC press slam them for this? That should've been the headline of the article. Come on CNET and Crave, No one is going to appreciate buying this thing and you didn't warn them.... Maybe if EA loses enough business, they'll come around a bit.

[Dragon_Myr]

The press is afraid of companies like EA. They, and their industry buddies, advertise on sites that are owned by CBS. Journalism died this year. There's a lot of money in anti-piracy and business to business politics in play, so that easily trumps any attempt to protect consumers from malicious software like Securom. That, and nobody wants their boss forcing them to take some sort of seminar or conference on Securom and piracy...it's like being in a time share sales pitch!

If more people knew about the DRM, then more people could make an educated decision and say no to it. It should be absolutely illegal to install software without the users consent (thought that was illegal already).

[ironhase]

I will never buy this game with the current 3 install DRM. Too bad, i really wanted it and buy 10-15 games a year. the DRM is like going into a store and having the store detective follow you around. Yes, you may stop a few thefts, but you alienate the consumer. Further, it does nothing to stop pirating. The DRM will be cracked quickly and in the end the only people out of luck are the ones who paid and can't use it. Games like Galactic Civ. seem to have done just fine without this silly DRM.

[ryanrh]

Dan Ackerman needs to put his album(s) on mp3va.com so i can buy um. thanks big o and dukes!

[vHgriever]

I really don't understand what the issue with the DRM is for you people. Unless you're buying it for 3+ people, I don't see any reason not to buy the game.