Between Will Wright’s new project, Spore, and his enduring legacy of The Sims, EA has no shortage of games this year which will appeal to the divine benefactor/merciless despot in all of us. At the EA press briefing on Monday afternoon, the simulation software was out in force, and audience members got several previews of the lives they’ll be controlling soon — from animals to man, and everything in-between.
EA’s Rod Humble kicked off the presentation with the first game on display: SimAnimals, which looked exactly like it sounds. Imagine if your Sims were covered in fur, and were constantly trying to maul and/or eat one another… hell, make that game, EA. I would play that in a heartbeat. In reality, though, SimAnimals will put you in control of a lush, woodsy tableau, populated by deer, owls, bears, foxes, hedgehogs, squirrels, and more. Your influence, seen through a floating white hand (similar to Black & White), will bring balance to the ecosystem as you alter the landscape and group animals together; you might build more trees to give the small critters cover from their natural predators, or perhaps eliminate said cover in the hopes of sparking a horrific bloodbath. All of the animals will have natrual behaviors and instincts to deal with, and breeding will play a role in keeping the balance as well. SimAnimals is scheduled for release on Wii and DS in January, 2009.
Humble went on to introduce new entries in the main Sims franchise. The Sims 2 Store, a microtransaction-based marketplace for all things Sim, is going into effect, allowing you to purchase new furniture, new clothes, pre-made house layouts, and more — spiral staircases, promised Humble, are on their way.
The Sims 3, as well, will be hitting stores some time in 2009, and will inflict the greatest mystery of all onto your astonished Sims: Going outside. The Sims 3, based on the trailer shown during the presentation, will allow your Sim to venture out of his lovingly-crafted home, and navigate an entire neighborhood, encountering all manner of luxuries and hazards — panhandlers and joggers await you in the new game, which is promised to be available as a fully digital download from the aforementioned Sims Store.
Later in the show, auteur Will Wright took the stage, and shared a number of startling Spore discoveries with amused attendees. Spore, the product of Wright’s desire to bring a mix of science and creativity to every audience, recently saw the release of a standalone Creature Creator, which has since seen massive use. The goal behind this, explained Wright, was to pre-populate the Spore universe with enough creatures to meet & greet when the full game launched later in the year. The aim, said Wright, was to have roughly 100,000 creatures ready to go within a few weeks. That goal was instead met in 22 hours.
Wright had some rather stunning statistics to share: As a result of the Creature Creator’s overwhelming popularity, there are now more registered species of Spore creature than there are actual species of animal on Earth. What’s more, this level was achieved in 18 days, whereas Earth’s library — according to some of the more time-honored estimates — filled out in 7 days. As such, Wright praised the Spore-playing public for reaching a rating of “38% God.”
The Spore appeal, according to Wright, has been phenomenal. 85,000 YouTube videos of Spore creations have been posted thus far, and a wide array of celebrity deities have shared their work. Spore, scheduled to launch on 9/7/08, is going to be accompanied by a National Geographic special and endorsement by the SETI project. The game’s “Galactic Edition,” moreover, will come with a DVD of the National Geographic program.
And you thought it was just good for manufacturing ambulatory obscenities.
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