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.'"

Comments

Nice, but..

[The Living Fractal]

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

If we remember other Will Wright console releases

[WillAffleckUW]

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.

Re:The Console Plague

[PFI_Optix]

Not entirely. We have learned that some things just don't work the same on both, and trying to do both at once is a disaster.

FPS have to be dumbed down for console play. Overbearing auto aim, turning speed limits, limited control options, deeply-nested graphical menus for issuing complex commands because you only have a dozen buttons at most. If you did a simultaneous, identical release on both console and PC with a FPS, the PC version would be an utter flop because it was so crippled compared with other gams.

RTS is obviously virtually impossible with current consoles. Even the Wii isn't suited for it.

A game like spore should benefit greatly from the mouse. I don't see where character design would be nearly as easy or fun with a console controller; again, even the Wii's remote will probably lack the finesse.