Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Evolutionary Scientists Test-Drive Spore, Gripe

Posted by timothy on from the but-not-bitter-about-salaries-in-academia-no-sir dept.

ahab_2001 writes "The computer game Spore has been marketed partly as an experience that makes evolutionary biology come alive in a game setting. But does that claim hold water? To find out, John Bohannon, a correspondent for Science Magazine (writing as 'The Gonzo Scientist'), sat four card-carrying scientists, ranging from evolutionary biologist Niles Eldredge to JPL astrophysicist Miles Smith, down in front of a terminal to play the game. The upshot, says Bohannon: Spore flunks basic science, getting 'most of biology badly, needlessly, and often bizarrely wrong.'"

5 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Really? by stonecypher · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Wow, a video game isn't scientifically accurate. Who ever would have thought it? Because EA teaches for their gains, and games aren't about fun, they're about rigid adherence to reality.

    God forbid those scientists should get a hold of Super Mario Brothers.

    --
    StoneCypher is Full of BS
  2. Re:Um, no duh. by Kral_Blbec · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Intelligent Design can hardly be used to describe the makers of the Penis-creature.

    BTW why did i get marked troll? that was a joke :(

  3. O NOEZ! by genw3st · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Soon they'll be trying to tell us life really isn't like GTA3, or Oblivion... and here I was training to be a car-jacking thief in the Dark Brotherhood...

  4. Re:Actually, having RTFA, I stand corrected by Xanius · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I disagree. 800,000 penis monsters are not cute, we all know that's the first thing nearly everyone that bought and pirated the game made.

  5. Doesn't stop here... by Lemming+Mark · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I heard that Star Trek sometimes features unrealistic physics and that Jedi isn't a real religion. What is it with the world these days?