Spore
So I thought I’d write a little something about games. I like games. A lot. I spend too much of my time playing them, I restore classic arcade games for fun, and they’re why I got into software development in the first place, which in now “what I do.” I’m a fan of the demoscene as much as anyone, probably more. I ported a mod player to OS/2 of all places, and I believe I wrote the only Amiga demo that was multitasking friendly [and didn't trash memory, and restored everything nicely when done, and most importantly let you continue to leech 0-day warez at 9600bps in the background], something I was so excited about that I posted to usenet about it [to the sound of crickets]. But I digress.
The 64k demos that spend most of their time in DirectX really do kick some serious ass, and yes it’s cool that procedural tricks mean you can have an FPS in 96k.
I also think that Will Wright seems like a really great and intelligent guy. He created The Sims, which is postmodern genius. SimCity and SimAnt, yeah man. You rock, Will.
Will. Talk to me, brother. I have to say, I think you’ve been hanging out with too many Europeans and maybe hit the scene koolaid too hard or something. Your mom and I told you it’s bad for you. I mean, I watched your presentation of “Spore” at the GDC, and wowsers Will, did you say “procedurally generated” 400,000 times? Or is that just where I lost count?
Spore, while looking incredibly cool, seems like it might be a tad on the jacks-of-all-trade side to be enjoyable. Way too many game types. It seems more like a cool set of sandboxes than a coherent whole. Or maybe something I’d put up on the plasma for that way-cool ambiance/ambience. It’s missing the postmodern genius of the Sims, where everyone and thier mom played because they wanted to make perfect versions of their own lives but ended up depressed when their Mini Me lost their 5th job and couldn’t keep up with the dishes and constantly wet themselves.
I think Spore will ultimately flop. I hope I’m wrong.
[Related: Frank Lantz's "Sporgy"]