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Will Wright - The Games Master
The New Yorker has a profile up of Will Wright, referring to the designer as 'The Games Master'. The lengthy article delves into Wright's past, and deals with the enormous venture that Wright has undertaken with the now much-hyped Spore. From the article: "At a certain point in the performance, the crazy ambition of Spore became clear: Wright was proposing to simulate the limitless possibility of life itself. The simulation falls between Darwinism and intelligent design, into new conceptual territory. Wright had worked out the algorithm for life, as described by the philosopher Daniel C. Dennett, in 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea.'" Mr. Dennett's book is well worth checking out, if you're interested in evolutionary thought.
Okay, it's just a game. Props to Will and all, it's a neat idea and so far it looks to be a fun exploration of the concept, but let's not get carried away.
Many games provide a limited simulacrum of deity simulation: Populous and Black & White come to mind instantly. Someone might even be influenced in thinking about their personal theological views by playing these games, which I find healthy and useful.
But there's a lot more to "the algorithm of life" than what Spore has to offer. From John Conway to Will Wright, you're not going to find 0.00001% of the algorithm in any one place. Enjoy the game for what it is.
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I loved the initial island of black and white, doing what I wanted when I wanted etc, but step through gate and all that is gone you HAVE to build your armies, you HAVE to fight, challenging yes but much less fun (for me anyway) .
From what I have read about spore the 'freedom' will not be as free as we perhapse envisage, especially the transitions of phases.
Never the less I wait with baited breath for the WII version.
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I don't know if "Game Master" is an appropriate title for Will Wright. I'd say "Toy Master" is more appropriate. Most of his games are actually little sandboxes for people to play around in. Sim City, The Sims, and now Spore. Not that there's anything wrong with this approach, but how do you win? Winning seems to be an essential key for games, IMHO.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
That's one of the best things about Wright - he reads emails that people send him, and actually responds to them. He's added features from email suggestions, and sent out plenty of "this is why we can't do this" responses. Great guy.