Something New from the Simosphere

When I was a kid I had an Atari, then a Nintendo, then a Gameboy (the old black-and-brown variety), and that’s the extent of my video game experience, except for some Crash Bandicooting back in the day on my brother's original Playstation. But in the spirit of doing a little series on interactive media, I do have a tidbit of week-old news today, which is that Will Wright, creator of The Sims, has just unleashed his latest game. This is Spore, where players play God not just by directing civilizations but entire planetary eco- and social systems. In other words, there are five levels in which users guide a species’ evolution from a single cell (akin to what's shown here) up to complex civilizations with galactic empires. Sounds fairly sweeping.

Guiding evolution can be pretty fun, I expect. As I understand it, players design the organisms’ physical bodies and then the computer determines how they move and behave. That right there sounds pretty fun for science buffs and inspiring cartoonists, let alone all the hunting, gathering, farming, and city-building.

As one might expect, I have absolutely no Sim experience and hence can’t predict how easy the interface will be for kids to master, but I suspect the kids will figure it out. The New York Times, however, wasn’t exactly exuberant, citing the fact that it allows entirely too much freedom. Popping bubbles on the Wii may be the way to introduce youngsters to gaming, while something of this breadth might be for the older (teen and above), more dedicated players.