SPORE - the game I return to the PC for?
So I am looking ahead here. My future PC gaming could be away from MMORPGs in the typical sense & heading towards the game Spore with it’s “Massively single-player metaverse”. Spore has yet to be released(slated for 2008) but indications are encouraging.
From what I have seen of Spore & as there is no released demo it has just been videos on Youtube.com, there seems a great emphasis on fun. Relying only on video for a full & flushed out impression is not ideal but I have heard that before final release the numerous in-game editors will be released as demos(as yet this has not been officially announced). You just can’t help but enjoy the feeling of fun on these video demos.
Now the most important element that a game can have for me is that it’s fun. It shouldn’t feel like work. I shouldn’t feel I have to play it because I feel I am neglecting the avatar I have created, the guild that I am in or the players I have befriended.
So Spore could lead the way here in giving the player a vast fun sharable gaming experience without the need to be cooperating with other players at the same time.
No more slave to the game!
Will Wright, the man behind Spore, commented in a interview for Popular Science about the commitment needed for certain games & that he doesn’t have time to get involved in with games like World of Warcraft. This passage struck a cord with me:
“I think it’s more interstitial time now, where you have these little tiny blocks of time that you carve out that you want to play a game in. I mean, that’s why I play Battlefield all the time, because I can sit down and play half an hour of Battlefield, it’s really satisfying and I don’t have to worry if I never play it again for another two months. I’m not paying anything, nobody’s waiting for me, no commitments. I can have a nice half-hour satisfying experience.” ¹
So what is making Spore sound so appealing to me, a mature MMORPGer? Well it’s the “Massively single-player metaverse” that I mentioned in the first paragraph. I think this is what I really have been waiting for in a game & with Spore still being developed I would hate it if this concept gets dropped before release.
Other factors are the fluidity of the game & the natural way the game progresses your ‘being’ from the molecule to a galactic force. With Editors giving all players huge scope in creating content for the game.
My fingers are firmly crossed on this one & just hope all the delays don’t cost Spore it’s initial birth.
footnote links:
¹The Wright Stuff - Popular Science
§Related Posts ¦ Spore
This entry was posted on July 2, 2007 at 11:32 pm and is filed under Gaming, Massively single-player metaverse, PC, Spore, Sporepedia. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
July 3, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I remember watching videos of Spore and being unbelievably psyched.
That was two years ago.
Still interested in this game, and you know Will Wright always makes a quality product. But I’m not going to hold my breath.
I do agree that the idea of game playing time being interstitial is a good one though. I like games like Football Manager because I can get a quick match in with my side before running out to dinner with the fiance or something along those lines. Puzzle Quest for the DS is another great example.
July 7, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I have begun looking for something to run on my PC until SPORE is released. WoW being a very easy option as all I have to do is patch up the client & head on in but I really was hoping to avoid paying a monthly fee for a game again. I had hoped LotRO would be the game to keep my interest as I paid for 6 months at the low rate of £5 a month. It feels like the interest there is not enough to draw me back just yet…shame.
I don’t own a DS but my PSP does a similar job for me if I want a quick game or am on the move.
August 27, 2007 at 1:53 am
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