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Wright: 'Spore fans 38% god'
If you need proof that numbers can be twisted to represent absolutely anything, then Will Wright has you covered. His basic argument goes like this: In the span of 18 days, Spore Creature Creator users were able to top 1,589,000 species in about 18 days, a feat that took God 7 days to accomplish. So, by his math, users of Spore at operating at 38 percent of God's capacity, or .38G. A closer look at his math is right after the break.The blaspheme-o-rama continued as Wright said he suspected that by Spore's official launch users will be at 1,589,000 species a week or 1G. Which left us wondering ... just how long would it have taken God to make Spore?
Nintendo E3 2008 press conference: Let's play bingo
#bingochart { border: 2px solid #111; border-collapse: collapse; } #bingochart td { padding: 1px 0px 1px 0px; border: 1px solid #ccc; vertical-align: top; text-align: center; margin: 0; font-size: 80%; line-height: 90%; } #bingochart th { padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center; margin: 0; } #bingochart a{ filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(opacity=100); -moz-opacity: 1;} #bingochart a:hover { filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(opacity=80); -moz-opacity: 0.80;} DS Lite redesign Mega Man 9 That pesky storage problem More Mario sports DLC A new Wii peripheral Link returns Even more Fit What comes after FFIV? Pikmin, baby, yeah! Dragon Quest IX Layton sequels Fanboys love Reggie New Wii colors Balance Board games Guitar Hero for everyone More language trainers Chrono Trigger Pokémon Platinum DS Novel to US Wii Music Captain Rainbow Spore Creatures Animal Crossing Wii Kid Icarus var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Nintendo_E3_2008_press_conference_bingo'; In anticipation of next week's E3 Media and Business Summit, we've prepared bingo cards for each of the big press conferences, filled with some likely (and some not-so-likely) predictions for what each of the big three console makers intends to announce at arguably the biggest trade shows of the year.Today's card is for Nintendo (special thanks to Wii and DS Fanboy). Our fingers are crossed twice over (trust us, it's painful) for the no-brainer Pikmin sequel. Click on each of the slides above for more information about our predictions. The folks at NWF and DSF got a little carried away, so check out their full predictions (Wii, DS).Nintendo's E3 2008 press conference begins Tuesday, July 15, at 9:00am PT (that's 12:00 pm Joystiq Time / ET). As always, we'll be liveblogging the event, so you can play along in real-time with us. (Also: check out all our press conference bingo cards, including some for Microsoft and Sony!)Download a copy (PNG file) and play along!
Vote in Big Download's Spore creature contest
The Big Download folks need your help in choosing the best design out of the Top 10 contestant in their Spore Creature Creator contest. Check out the zoological diversity below and then vote on the Big Download site for the best one. The grand prize winner gets a Wacom Intuos3 6x11 drawing tablet and there's great prizes for second and third place as well. Voting closes July 14, so rally the troops and make sure the best freak of nature wins. Gallery: Spore Creature Creator Contest Top 10
This Week in Review is evolution, baby
Oh yes, we got to play Spore. The entire thing. With Will Wright providing backseat commentary. We also got some time with the Wrath of the Lich King's Death Knight, and DS Fanboy decided to play Homie Rollerz (so you don't have to). Check out all of our impressions and reviews from the Joystiq Network this week:PC American McGee's Grimm (hands-on) Spore (the whole thing) (hands-on) Wrath of the Lich King (Death Knight hands-on)
Joystiq hands-on: Spore (the whole thing)
click to enter gallery var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Joystiq_hands_on_Spore_the_whole_thing'; As equal parts excuse and contrition, I feel it's necessary to add the following disclaimer to this writeup: spending thirty minutes with something like Spore is like spending thirty minutes on the history of the Russian space program or spending thirty minutes on the theory of evolution (or any other seemingly disparate discipline you may find in one of Will Wright's famously schizophrenic presentations) – it may be deep enough to wet your toes but there's an ocean out there. At a recent EA event in Los Angeles, myself and the rest of the E3 Judges had an opportunity to get our feet wet (figuratively, of course). Before being lead into a private demo area with a half-dozen high-end gaming rigs outfitted with the latest build of Spore, Will Wright – along with what seemed to be every other team at EA – gave a short presentation covering ... well, he covered a lot (see above). I was able to extract two fascinating details from my furiously scribbled notes. First: Wright (and EA we presume) was hoping to have 100,000 creatures created by the time the game ships in September; of course, they beat that in the first couple hours. In fact, they had announced the night before that 250,000 creatures were created and, after getting a quick real-time check during his presentation, estimated they would hit half a million before the end of the day's event. (They did).Second: Wright told us that they expected to "exceed the world population of 3D models in Spore" within the first couple months. If we heard him right, that means there would be more 3D models in the Sporepedia than every other game, movie, you-name-it combined. And, wrapped in the embrace of Will Wright's own special reality distortion field that afternoon, nothing seemed more plausible. %Gallery-26579%
Peering Inside: The rights of creators
On 14 November, 2003 Linden Lab caused quite a stir by announcing that users who created or published content via the Second Life service would "retain full intellectual property protection for the digital content they create, including characters, clothing, scripts, textures, objects and designs." Essentially, the same rights that they'd have anywhere else (barring assorted terms of use/service to the contrary). It seems obvious, in many ways, but ultimately it's actually very rare. Terms of use/service which express a contradictory position are in the majority. In fact, go to the filing cabinet and pull out the contract for your current RL job. Odds are, there are a whole slew of creator rights that you've already signed away that have little or nothing to do with your job. That, unfortunately, is the normal condition. When it comes to the new, novel, or creative -- almost everyone wants a piece of your pie, and few want to leave a slice for you, if they can avoid it. Even taking Sturgeon's (second) Law into account, competition for the remaining portion of human content and pop-culture is quite stiff.
Will Wright talks Spore and defensive cows
1UP has a nice video interview with Will Wright where he discusses various elements of Spore. He covers the different stages of evolution in the game, the AI built into the creature creator and tells a good story about a really mad cow. For Civ IV fans, Wright also briefly talks about Soren Johnson's contribution to the game. Johnson left Firaxis last year to go work on Spore and help the team streamline the title. The full interview can be found after the break.%Gallery-15870%
Pokemon invade the Sporepedia
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Sporemon_Spore_Creature_Creator_meets_Pokemon'; Sure, Will Wright's Spore Creature Creator can let your imagination run wild ... but sometimes your imagination doesn't exactly go that far. Our friends at Nintendo Wii Fanboy have amassed a collection of Pokemon creatures from the Sporepedia. Each picture in the gallery can be added directly to your game by saving the picture into the Spore folder. Our Sporémons, let us show you them.
Sporemon: Spore Creature Creator meets Pokemon
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Sporemon_Spore_Creature_Creator_meets_Pokemon'; The Spore Creature Creator. PC enthusiasts have been enjoying the thing for a bit now, creating wild and imaginative creatures. Well, it's also been used to create other things, such as controllers and ... rabbids. We figured there must also be a vibrant Pokémon population thriving within the virtual walls of the editor, as well. And, sure enough, we found lots of fun and inspired Pokémon recreations. So click on the bottom-right button there to check out some of the Pokémon users have come up with!
The best of WoW Insider: June 17-24, 2008
It has been a wild week in WoW -- first, we heard about patch 2.4.3, with level 30 mounts and big changes to the talents. Then, new loot cards for us to drool over. On Saturday, the Midsummer Fire Festival started, with new quests and a new boss to fight. And this week, we're all puzzling over what Blizzard will announce at the Worldwide Invitational (and what "Icefield" means -- it's like Cloverfield, only colder). Big stuff happening at WoW Insider! Here's all the links you need to catch up. News Patch 2.4.3 patch notesLevel 30 mounts? A new bag from Haris Pilton? Cheat Death nerfed? It's the patch we never saw coming. Upper Deck announces new loot items, including an Ethereal vendor petNew items to drool over from the WoW TCG. WotLK Wiki is back in action After suffering a C&D late last week, the fan-run wiki covering all the alpha leaks is back and running. GotFrag releases videos of the MLG 3v3 Tournament What's almost as exciting as playing WoW? Watching other people play it. Blizzard's Icy splash screen changes, hints at Diablo and Wrath of the Lich King for WWIWhat's behind the icefield? WoW Insider wraps up all the rumors (here's hoping for Diablo 3, since, as you can see above, Diablo is clearly hidden in the ice. Clearly.). Features Lord Ahune strategy and walkthroughWe tell you exactly how to take down the new event boss (and nab his tabards, if you know what we mean). Azerothian Spore creatures continue to crawl inCreatures from Azeroth have invaded Spore -- here'a gallery of some of the best. Midsummer Fire Festival quest guides Everything you need to know about getting the most out of Blizzard's mid-Summer event. Patch 2.4.3 gallery of eye candy Construction in Stormwind! New TCG items! Feast your eyes on everything there is to find in the new patch. The Art of War(craft): Farewell to season 3Season 4 starts today -- before you get to all the good stuff, take a look back at what just happened. Update: Did we mention that Season 4 starts today? WoW Insider has both a roundup of Season 4 news as well as an in-depth gear guide to the new set. Go get that Arena gear!
Spore getting $80 'Galactic Edition'
By design, Spore is all-encompassing, with nigh infinite possibilities for gameplay, from crafting the very essence of life to managing entire galaxies. But sometimes, you have to go to the bathroom, it's a scientific fact. For those moments, there's the Spore Galactic Edition announced today by Gamestop, available for $79.99. In addition to the game, you'll get: 'Making of Spore' DVD video 'The Human Toolkit' DVD video, by National Geographic 'The Art of Spore' hardback mini-book Fold-out Spore poster Premium 100-page Galactic Handbook So whether nature calls and you need reading material or your significant other wants to watch some TV, you'll have no problem keeping it Spore-centric. And yes, now that you mention it, that was a very depressing sentence.[Thanks, Dalibor and KrAzYmAn]
Rabbid fact #76 -- Bunnies look good in Spore
While Joystiq was spending a week trying to create cool and clever things with the Spore Creature Creator, other folks were up to some interesting projects as well. Take, for instance, this rabbid made by YouTuber judhudson.Sure, the little guy might look even more demented than your standard, already-crazying-looking rabbid, but it shares a pretty good resemblance. Between his appearance, the dancing, and the dubbed in screaming, he has "rabbid" written all over him.Apparently, people are making all kinds of neat things with Spore. Have you ran into any particularly good character remakes in your travels?[Via GoNintendo]
Reimagining the Zelda franchise's characters as Spore Creatures
The internet has been set on fire by the recent release of Spore Creature Creator, which has been used to create not only some really weird and interesting things, but also variations of characters found in other games. Above, you'll see 19 different characters from The Legend of Zelda games.The full spectrum of characters is covered, from the incredibly annoying Navi, right down to the ferocious Beast Ganon. So check out the video above.[Via Go Nintendo]
Sunday Morning Funnies: A random intermission
This week, Sunday Morning Funnies includes ranting, crying, joking, and even some crazy old guys trying to fight each other. Prepothteruth from Dark Legacy Comics talks about predictability and improbability that can creep into plots. Extra Life speaks out against level 30 mounts, crying, I earned that thing! Shakes and Fidget meet The Guardian. You even get a joke, an intermission, and some explanations (sort of). You may have noticed that we've been talking about the Spore Creature Creator lately. While it isn't Warcraft-related in itself, many people have been using it to create sporelings similar to WoW characters! We even have a gallery. So, to celebrate, and pique your curiosity, I am including GU Comics' The Spore Creature Editor. LFG's Richard is starting to go a little bit bonkers. No no, more than before. In fact, he even fancies that he has a destiny. NoObz has a lovely father and son moment. Ding!'s Kissybear is taking a walk on the Alliance side of things. Teh Gladiators come upon an old, old arena match. On The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf, Shari begins ranting about the rampant use of the word "gay" by certain types of players. Are you ready to cast your vote?
Spore Creature Creator spawns Wiimote and nunchuk
Click for super-huge image Much like the creature that resembles an Xbox 360 controller, someone has gone ahead and created the Wiimote and nunchuk-like combo you see above. While we haven't played any Spore Creature Creator ourselves, we do hear it's fun. Heck, if you can make the thing above there, it can't be all bad.Any other gaming controllers or characters you've seen done up in the game?[Thanks, Amiculi!]
A week with Spore Creatures: Conclusion
In our quest to familiarize ourselves with the laws of nature (and subsequently defy them), this week we're going to share at least five abominations, one each day, that we've concocted in Spore Creature Creator. You can keep track of this our progress via our various profile pages: Justin McElroy Ross Miller Randy Nelson Alexander Sliwinski Kevin Kelly For the final day, we tried to commit ourselves to pulling out all the stops, but a very long day of blogging left us with some epic failures that will never see the light of day (e.g. Big Bird). We do feel, however, that we have a much better understanding of Spore's limitations. (You can read about them in our gallery.) You can see all the creatures from the week starting here. Each page contains a link to the creature's respective Sporepedia page where you can download and edit our work.%Gallery-25321% Put your skills to the test and win some gear. BigDownload is offering BigPrizes to see your Spore creations.
Big Daddy gets the Spore treatment
As PC gamers patiently wait to play Will Wright's latest creation, Spore, they've recently had a chance to tinker with the Spore Creature Creator to test the customization options of the game. As expected the first monsters created were intentionally NSFW but some gamers took the opportunity to get creative. Using the PC tool gamers have recreated the Big Daddy from 2007's critically and commercially acclaimed BioShock. Other game character homages made with the tool include Mass Effect and a very bubbly Master Chief.Download the Spore Creature Creator from Big Download today!
Spore creature resembles an Xbox 360 controller
Spore Creature Creator creations are all the rage right now (yes, we've even been sucked into Spore's creative wormhole) as gamers set out to create the most evil, most adorable and (sadly) the most phallic looking creatures they can think of. But the little guy you see above takes the Portal cake for being the most Xbox 360 themed and impressive of them all, because if you didn't already notice, it's modeled after a 360 controller. Genius! Though, we wouldn't advise pressing his guide button, because no creature likes being poked in the eye. It's painful. Oh, we also wouldn't touch this controller's joysticks because, honestly, we aren't sure what disgusting activities this little creature uses 'em for.[Via Kotaku]
250,000 Spore creatures shared, interstellar plague to follow
Electronic Arts announced late last night that 250,000 new creatures had been uploaded to the Sporepedia since the program got into various Sporeophile's hands mandibles. The company claims two creatures are being shared every second, with the latest data from our Spore page (image after the break) showing that 377,200 creatures have been created since those numbers were last updated on Spore.com. Quick math break: 377,200 - 78,762 penis creatures = 298,438 actual creatures.We've certainly been having fun around here making our adorable animals, ready to rule the galaxy on Sept. 7. The Spore Creature Creator demo (with about 25% of the retail content) and the full $10 version are available now.%Gallery-25321%
Azerothian Spore creatures continue to crawl in
That Murloc was just the beginning -- since the Spore creature creator demo dropped officially yesterday, and along with this cute little C'thun (thanks, Andrew!), there are a whole crowd of Warcraft-related creatures showing up on the Sporepedia. We've collected our favorites so far in a gallery below -- while you'll need to actually put the creatures in game to see them shuffle, saunter, and dance around in Spore, you can get a pretty good idea of just how versatile Will Wright's little creator is. I've said it before and I'll say it again: while everyone is expecting Warhammer to give WoW a run for its money, the PC game that Blizzard should really be worried about this year is Spore.If you see any other great Warcraft-related creature creations in Spore, feel free to send them along and you just might see them here. And in the meantime, our sister site BigDownload (who are also hosting the demo) is holding a creature creator contest -- send them your best creature and you could win a EVGA NVIDIA e-GeForce 8800GT, EVGA NVIDIA e-GeForce 9600GT or a free upgrade to the full version of the creature creator game. It's Sporelicious!Seriously, look at the C'thun. We haven't seen a tentacled, ancient monster this cute since, well, Hello Cthulu.%Gallery-25480%
