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Spore Coming to Consoles?
Wowzer writes "EA was previously planning to bring Spore from PC to handhelds. In an interview this week Spore creator Will Wright was quoted as saying they are looking at bringing Spore to all platforms. From the article: 'You might be playing part of the game on a handheld platform, you might be playing the entire game but maybe more avatar-based on a console. The consoles are getting kind of different now, I think there's a really interesting distinction between the Wii and the Xbox 360 and PS3. Something like the Wii offers a lot of interesting creative opportunities for the editors, with the controller.'"
Stocking up on rubber gloves.
Where were you when the voynix came?
I think a Wii version (maybe even a DS version?) of Spore could be amazing. But as it stands now, I hope they wait until after the PC version is released to work on console versions. If they're developing for the consoles simultaneously then we can expect to see the game's release date pushed back by another year.
A friggin release date already!
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
This isn't news.. It was reported at about E3, or the week after. It was on that other news site..
The title says it all (stupid comment rules).
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
One of the really intriguing things about Spore, at least to me, was the way it used a random sample of species from a worldwide depository (via the net) to populate the game and create a unique experience every time you played it. I got all sorts of chills thinking about it, sort of like this kind of evolutionary programming might some day lead to an accidental AI (yes I know, very pseudo-science Sci-Fi.. but hey I'm a dreamer)
So, while I applaud the game being released on the consoles, if it doesn't have the same net-based populating code I think something will be lost. But hey, it'll probably still be cool.
TLF
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
It would be pretty easy to see the control scheme from PC translated to Wii. If you've got a pointer, then you've essentially got a mouse. They could, of course, add more than just pointer stuff to use the accelerometers and gyroscopes, but I would be disappointed if it didn't at least have pointer capabilities.
Possible problems: graphical downgrade from PC to Wii? Maybe.
I'm really looking forward to Spore, so please don't screw it up by designing it to be "console-friendly". TFA seems to imply that the PC game will be developed first, followed by console ports. Fair enough, if that's the case. But designing games simultaneously for both consoles and PCs seems to result in console gamers saying "wow, this game is much deeper/better than most games!" while PC gamers are shaking their heads at the moronic interface while lamenting what could have been. Oblivion is a prime example of this. Grrr.
P.P.S. I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.
I hope this doesnt delay development or release for PC. Many people, including me are very eager to start playing this game after only seeing a few demos.
the Wright to Life
And the redux.
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Why link to the original article when you can link to some blog that quotes it?
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I know for sure a DS version is in the works as I have a relative who works for EA. And think about it. The other Will Wright game from EA is whored out to every system and their mom. The Sims is out for Win/Mac/GBA/DS/GameCube/PS2/XBox/Cell Phone. It DOES make sense, regardless of the fact that Spore is more of a gamer's game than a casual player's game (though they will probably fit in too) like The Sims is. It makes sense that Spore is for everything.
Am I the only one skeptical about how well this game would control on a console? Ah well, so long as the PC version doesn't suffer because of a simplified system for consoles, it doesn't bother me.
such as the Sims and Sims 2 console versions, we'll see that he normally allows a smaller subset of images (such as clothing styles, hair styles, body platforms) than in the PC versions, and that they're less modifiable.
My guess, based on his other console versions, would be that the version of Spore on a console may or may not have an online component (based on platform, most likely) but it will have a standard stock set of planet types and creature parts, which may not be quite as rich and adaptable as the PC version will be, but will have a stronger story element, with pre-scripted stories you have to follow to "unlock" additional components for later game play.
Given the wide range of features (eg hard disk storage on PS3 and xBox360 and even Wii addon versions), it may have further limitations as well.
One would definitely hope they'll delay the console release until about 3 months after PC release to:
a. maximize PC game sales;
b. hype console sales when they happen due to buzz and "being after the console launch" when fewer games are being simultaneously released; and
c. fix bugs and problems found in the PC version, since a console version tends to be a frozen code set, unless online patch updates are integrated - note while the Wii, xBox360, and PS3 all have online capability (or can add it), there is no guarantee a player will have a high-speed net connection needed for such upgrades, so it needs to work out of the box.
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I'd like to know exactly what the Wii can offer to this game over the PC version. As far as I can tell it offers nothing, at least not without fundamentally changing gameplay to accomodate the Wii controller. As far as I'm concerned, the mouse will be just as good, if not superior to the Wii, at least for Spore. The Wii certainly will have the advantage over other consoles, but I think people really have unrealistic expectations about that controller.
My main concern here is that this is going to be yet another game where quality has to be compromised on the PC in order to ensure it runs on consoles. There's something about PC versions of console games that is subpar. One big problem is poorly designed interfaces with badly scaled graphics, and graphics in general dont compare to PC-only games. There tends to be a sense of polish that console games lack.
Hopefully this will be a PC game first and wont suffer from those issues.
does all platformes include Linux?
This would make sense if we were talking about a PC version of a Sega game, which have always been awful, but it's Will Wright. The PC versions of his games have simply blown the console ports away: SimCity/SimLife on SNES, The Sims on PS2/Gamecube have all paled in comparison. Wright and Maxis are always focused on the PC experience first, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.
This post may be offtopic but if Spore is being ported to the Wii, this could be a precursor to other PC games coming to the system. Imagine mouse intensive games like X-COM: UFO Defense (Enemy Unknown in UK). That game requires a mouse (revmote) and very little keyboard which was used mainly for naming bases and soldiers. I'd bet 90% of the slashdotters will be getting X-COM if it comes out for the Wii since that is by far one of the most memorable DOS games.
You live and learn. At least, you live.
But its quite possible that Spore could require a HD, or equivalent on any console ports, all the new consoles either have, or support a hard-drive. Including the Wii.
it's called boot upgrade code - the disk does a seek for patches on disk and if connected to high-speed pings the update server for patch number.
sheesh, we used to do this back in the early 80s with 300 baud modems - if you mean to tell me they can't do this, they're way too lame.
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