Wright’s presentation of Spore at E3 was virtually identical to his demonstration during GDC. So, be sure to read GameSpy’s complete writeup from before for every juicy detail. Assuming you’ve checked that out, here’s a look at what caught their eye this time around…


First of all, it was great to see the game in action on a high-definition screen where we could analyze all the details. The game opens within the primordial soup, which absolutely teemed with blobs and squiggles of prehistoric life. As your creature evolved into a 3D environment and swam around in the sea, the water swarmed with life: plants, bubbles, little microorganisms. That same detail carried out once your critter walked out onto the land, where tiny insects buzzed around. Outer space was cluttered with comets, meteorites, gas clouds, and all sorts of interstellar phenomenon. Visually the game is a treat, not from state-of-the-art graphics but simply from a standpoint of detail and variety.

Wright explained that the real goal of the game is to allow players to create things, and to allow them to transparently share their creations with other players. So, the idea isn’t to make you go to a website to actively download stuff; instead, new content is constantly sucked into your game for you to experience, and you won’t have to lift a finger. Similarly, the things that you create will be beamed out into the ether for other players to share.

Since creation is key, a great deal of attention is being paid to the editor. The same 3D editor is used to manipulate creatures, buildings, and vehicles. We took a closer look at it to see how it worked: the tools were very simple. It was like playing with blocks of clay. You could slap shapes down, pull them, move them, stretch them, combine them, all by clicking and dragging the mouse. You could scale stuff up and down by rolling the mousewheel. It looked very intuitive: Creating an 8-legged flying creature with a forked tail that grasps weapons is just as easy as creating a four-wheeled tank with multiple turrets and angry eyeballs on the front.

The final game will have a procedural texture creator that will “skin” new monsters or buildings as you create them. So, you could use a selector to say that your creature will have purple and green fur with spots, and the game will be able to figure out (by analyzing the critter you build) where its back is and where its stomach is, etc. Then it’ll put the spots in the right place and color the belly correctly and so on. Unfortunately this particular feature isn’t quite working yet, which limited the creatures that Wright was able to build as we watched.

One nice thing about the way the game figures out how creatures will move and walk is that it looks incredibly smooth. These little guys look real. They have their own weight and mass that waddles as they shuffle along, and the animations flow seamlessly from one behavior to the next, no matter how strange the creature is.

We learned more about the gameplay during the city/conquest part of the game, where apparently you can dominate the planet either culturally, economically, or militarily. What that means, we don’t know. Military conquest was pretty self-explanatory, as evidenced by the big cartoony tanks rumbling from one city to the next. Vehicle design looked to be tremendously fun (you can add wheels and guns, etc, with ease). Gameplay at this stage of the game is still a mystery: it was clear that players would be able to buy and spawn vehicles, but how much control you exerted over actual combat is probably still being determined.

We discovered that you can evolve your entire species underwater. If you have hyper-intelligent dolphins, they can build whole cities under the sea. Interestingly, when these creatures colonize other planets, they can build domes around their cities filled with water.

As we explored the galaxy during the demo, I took time to note that every planet was very different. Some were cratered balls of ice, some were lifeless chucks of rock, and even among the habitable planets there was a lot of variety. Our starting planet was a humid jungle with a dense atmosphere. But another world we visited was dry and arid, with very little water and lots of reddish-yellow sand.

Naturally we blew the other planet up with our doomsday weapon.

As the alien world exploded into a splendid sphere of debris and a glorious ring of flaming wreckage, Wright elaborated one of the central points of his game design. “I want players to be able to do this without ruining the game for each other,” he explained. You get to share content with other players, and interact with it in godlike ways, but nobody can spoil one another’s fun.

Speaking of sharing content, we learned more about how people will get to interact with each other’s stuff. Whenever you create something, assuming you’re connected to the ‘net, it’ll be uploaded for the world to enjoy. But it doesn’t just disappear. You’ll be able to track how your creations are faring around the universe. You’ll get regular “Multiverse Reports” that tell you how many people met your species and how they reacted. Is everyone killing your creatures on sight? Are they using the different buildings you’ve created? You’ll get to see!

Spore looks to be a unique product. From what we can see it’ll feel more like a toy than a game. It’s less about achieving your goals and more about playing around and creating cool things. That might not hold the attention of some “hardcore” gamers, but it’ll definitely find a huge audience.

Source: GameSpy

Technorati Tag: Xbox 360 Gaming

The Big Lie (another 360/PS3 post)
Posted: 05-24-2005 10:17 PM
If you don’t like 360/PS3 posts, don’t read this, and don’t complain about it….you were warned….

In the past week, Sony’s strategy for the upcoming console war has become clear….actually, it was pretty clear to some people as soon as MS let the existence of the 360 leak at GDC this past January. It became very clear that Sony was going to be late to market, and they knew it. MS had quietly shipped dev kits out early in 2004, and Sony got caught a little flatfooted. They scrambled to get their dev kits ready for developers (Epic, for example, only just got theirs in March). Some Sony developers apparently still don’t have kits yet.

Sony is faced with a well-funded, software-intensive opponent who has proven they can have a “triple-A killer app system-seller” at a system launch. This opponent has 160 games in development and has the intention to stick around for the long term (and the money to do so). So what can Sony do to stop them?

The same way bad politicians get themselves reelected: Manipulate the media to do your marketing work for you.

OK, MS does it too, but they are far more obvious about it. The MTV special was a prime example. But if you tuned into that show not expecting to see hype and marketing at work….well, if you did that, you probably lack the literacy or attention span to read this whole post (sincere apolgies for the length…I was bored and I’m practicing my essay skills. Sue me.).

But buying a block on VH1 or G4 won’t work for Sony. It’s just way too obvious. They need to attack strong and swift, yet not show themselves as TOO aggressive lest people think it’s all peacock-style bluster. So what they really need to do is to get the media to do their promotional work for them, and win the public mindset without even having a working product on the show floor.

I bet they looked back to E3 2001 and took a look at how Microsoft handles a system launch (they are smart, after all, and it’s what smart people would do). If they watched, they would have seen that Microsoft, as a software company, was ill-equipped for show business. Demos ran at poor framerates and generally looked bad….it hardly looked like there would be any decent games at launch. MS got a “D” from EGM based on their E3 showing on 2001. Then came the launch, bristling with system-seller Halo and solid titles like DOA3 and Oddworld. MS likes to go low-profile then wow you once you see things in action (which is how they got my business), but before the final product actually shows up, they don’t look so hot.

So the opponent, if not actually weak, will at least APPEAR weak at E3, and since that’s where the media is, that is where Sony chose to strike. They know that the people smart enough to ask the right questions about whether a demo is “real” or not are generally nowhere near the cameras and microphones, and they used this to their advantage.

So it was at the press conference they advanced the Big Lie, which is composed of two parts.

Big Lie Part 1: We are waaaaaaay more powerful than our competition.

This one was a no-brainer. Sony won the last round in spite of a horsepower disadvantage to MS, but they were well entrenched in the marketplace by the time MS hit the market. Their original competitor, Sega, withered in the face of a blitz of fancy imagery and “more power” claims laid out on impressive-looking spec sheets. The truth was that Sony launch titles looked barely better - or in some cases worse - than Dreamcast titles, in spite of what was supposed to be a significant power edge, but Sony had successfully sold “more power”, and gamers bought into it. Sega, practically broke and with no third-party support, couldn’t afford any significant advertising to counter the Sony hype machine. Much later, it was found that the 75 million polygons per second that Sony had claimed for the PS2 on their original spec sheet was actually closer to 7 million in actual applications, but by then, everyone already had a PS2 and no one cared they had stretched the truth.

What Sony learned was that if you can make people think your console is going to be significantly more powerful, they will wait for you to get to market. They also learned that people like to hear impressive numbers, and it doesn’t matter if you can actually deliver on them or not. So it is you get wild performance claims about the Cell that may or may not bear any resemblance to how it will perform in the final product. No one can really dispute them because no one really knows any better.

But it isn’t enough to simply TELL people you are more powerful. They will demand “proof”. Since your opponent will be showing actual works in progress, which as anyone who has followed the industry knows makes games look worse than the final product, counter with a little showbiz magic that “SHOWS” people how much more powerful you really are. After all, “seeing is believing”, and most of the people in the media don’t know to ask if it’s real or not. I do not believe for a second that most members of the non-gaming media are “industry savvy” enough to realize how unfair it is to compare a real game in progress to someone’s CGI fantasy. But that is what Sony wanted, and that is what they got. Killzone was being compared to Need for Speed, apple to apple.

The more perceptive in the gaming media will think to ask about it, and look into it, and get specific information, read between the lines of the “representation of the look and feel” or “to system specs” marketing doublespeak, and report the truth….but by then, the mainstream media will consider E3 old news, and the general idea “twice as powerful” will be ingrained into the public mindset.

So phase one has already been accomplished. Now you have to promote Big Lie, Part 2, which is to promote the idea that you are much farther along in production than you actually are.

First, the history: After Sega folded the tent, Sony had the whole marketplace to themselves for nearly a year. In that time, the software lineup got up to speed, and by the time MS and Nintendo showed up, they had 100 games out, among them Gran Turismo 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Devil May Cry, and Final Fantasy 10. They won the last round because they had a strong foothold in the marketplace and a large library of quality titles when their main competition launched. It was over before it even began.

Looking at MS, Sony realized that the tables could very well be turned this time around. Sony would be the ones arriving late, and MS had shown they could produce “system seller” software right off the bat. The promise of more power might wilt under a constant barrage of quality software. Topping it off, MS developers have had the kits for upwards of a year longer than their PS3 counterparts.

This is a key point, and where, if you apply critical thinking skills, you must reach the conclusion that the claim of a Spring 2006 launch is so much Sony marketing fertilizer. It is generally recognized that the 360 is somewhat easier to program, which means games may be able to be produced a little more quickly. Now, if MS developers have had 12-15 months to work with their development kits as of today, and PS3 developers have only had them for 2-3 months….AND the 360 is easier to program…..then how does Sony figure to have an exclusive launch lineup that’s worth anything 4 months after the 360 launches, when developers have barely had their kits a year? This is especially true when you consider the lack of quality of the PS2 launch lineup (proof of this found here), and the slow flow of software at first. It was 10 months from launch before Gran Turismo, 14 months before Metal Gear Solid, and 16 months until Final Fantasy hit the shelves. Sony got away with it because they had the market to themselves almost the whole time. There was nowhere else for consumers to go.

So, once again, how can Sony deliver a worthy software lineup in March 2006? The answer is simple: They can’t. It is not possible, unless their developers have magically figured out how to cut production times in half on an all-new system. But if they are honest about it and tell people that the really good games won’t hit the shelves until mid-2007, a million gamers or so might figure it’s not worth the wait and get a 360 to “hold them over”. These consumers just might be so impressed with MS they make it their preferred system…and they tell their friends….and suddenly Sony is facing an opponent who is firmly entrenched in the marketplace and the public mindset.

Sony can’t allow this to happen, so the perception must be created that they will be on the store shelves a lot sooner than they actually will. Microsoft must be stopped and stopped early; any momentum in the marketplace is very bad news for Sony. Even if they wind up selling more systems, a strong start by Microsoft may mean the difference between charging $399 for the “superior” system or having to sell it at $299 in order to compete. When you are talking about eventual sales in the tens of millions of consoles, you are looking at a potential loss of over a billion dollars in possible revenue.

Now do you understand why Sony is lying to consumers?

The CGI fantasy sequences do double-duty in this case. They provide the impression of power and near-completion in one neat stroke. Hey, if they’ve got “realtime” stuff that looks that good, they must be damn near ready to launch, right? Heck, Killzone 2 practically looked ready to go tomorrow….bring it on! This is what the Sony fanboys and the unsavvy civilian press will think and report back to their sheep…and as for the gaming press, most of what I’ve seen after E3 suggests to me that a large portion of them clearly don’t understand the industry very well.

So the Big Lie takes the form of “Spring 2006″, which many people would interpret to mean that in March or April they’ll be playing MGS4 and watching Blu-Ray movies on a PS3. I have seen media reports suggesting it will be out in the US as early as March, so the “coming very soon” message got through. But if the games aren’t there (and I just gave some pretty strong evidence that they won’t), Sony gets eviscerated in the marketplace, period. So Spring is an utter fantasy…maybe in Japan, given Sony likes to “beta” its hardware in Japan (who are more likely to be forgiving of flaws in the hometown product) and the potential for bugs in something that packs in this much shiny new high-tech stuff has to be pretty high. Add to this that summer is a horrible time to launch a video game system, and I can practically guarantee you won’t see a non-grey market PS3 for sale in the US until September 2006 at the earliest. They did the same thing back in 1999-2000, delaying the US launch several times until it finally arrived in the Fall. I can foresee the same thing happening again this time.

I predict Sony will announce this delay in mid-to-late January. Any earlier and they provide 360 with a sales boost in the holidays. Any later and it becomes obvious that they are stalling for time.

The reason they can get away with this is because of a psychological phenomenon called “buy-in”. All buy-in means is that once you’ve invested a little time or money into something, it’s a lot easier to justify spending a little more to get what you want. Once people have already waited two months, it makes it easier to wait a little longer until E3…at which time Sony is free to try their luck with another smoke-and-mirror show. If they can convince people who have already waited seven months that they’ll deliver the software at launch, those people will wait the additional four months with no problems. Given the way people reacted to last week’s show, that’s going to be a piece of cake.

Is Sony going to get away with the Big Lie? In one sense they already have, because the “twice as powerful” and “will be here in early 2006″ ideas have already permeated the mainstream media. Microsoft got the worst grades coming out of E3, and Sony got the best. Mission accomplished….partially.

The problem, though, is that this time they actually have to deliver on the promises they’ve made in a timely manner, or people will call them on their BS. Unlike 2000, they don’t have the luxury of having the marketplace to themselves for 14 months. In the very least, Microsoft will have four months alone on the shelves to make an impression, which in all likelihood will be much closer to ten months to a year. A poor launch lineup, significant delays in major software titles (likely if the PS3 turns out to be difficult to get a handle on, as was the PS2), production difficulties, a major format war with DVD/HD, bugs in the Cell or Blu-Ray….the number of potential pitfalls is enormous. Then they have MS, who just might come up with enough great games this time to carve deeply into their market share….maybe not enough to win, but enough to make it hurt their bottom line in a major way.

So, did Sony lie and get away with it? Yes. Is the console war over before the first one is even manufactured? Not by a long shot.

You can read the post and all of the original discussion by using this link.

Technorati Tag: Xbox 360

You only have to look at the current generation of systems to see that
the most powerful console does not always equal the most market share.
The current Xbox is much more capable than the PS2 but, despite that
fact, Sony was the clear “winner” when it comes to market share in the
current generation. Nintendo’s GameCube, which is also more capable
graphically than the PS2, is a distant third. It should be obvious that
it takes more than mere muscle to come out on top.

The next round of console wars is almost upon us. All three hardware
manufacturers are trying to position their next-gen system as being
“the one”. Now, more than ever, it will take more than snazzy graphical
effects and beatiful scenery to end up in first place. All three
systems, no matter what anyone tells you, will be more than capable
enough to produce incredible graphics, smart a.i., and huge gaming
worlds. The “big three” will need to offer something above and beyond
graphics to convince gamers that they should spend their hard-earned
dollars on their console. This is where I think  Microsoft will
have an advantage over Nintendo & Sony.


Sony, as usual, has not really done anything more than hype the power
of the PS3. They’ve been busy pushing their Cell processor and the
PS3’s supposedly insane capabilities. They haven’t shown gamers
anything substantial that should convince them that the PS3 is the holy
grail of gaming systems.

Nintendo has been touting their upcoming console as being something so
forward thinking and revolutionary that it will blow gamers away when
they finally get to see it in action. As Nintendo tends to do, details about
the console and, even more so, it’s controller have been kept a tightly
guarded secret. They’ve promised to reveal their plans sometime
later this year. I’m reserving my judgement until then even though I’m
personally hoping that they pull it off this time around. Being an old-school,
hardcore gamer I’d love to see Nintendo rise to the top again.

Microsoft, on the other hand, may have a great trump card in the
upcoming generation. I’m, of course, referring to their new committment
to the services aspect of gaming and more specifically, Xbox Live. The
boys and girls at Microsoft have been putting the finishing touches on
their, almost completely revamped, online gaming service.

Connect your Xbox 360 to a broadband connection, and it’s on. With a free
level of Xbox Live™ service, players can share their Gamer Profile—comprised
of user-generated information such as Achievements (rewards players have
earned in games), Gamerzone (style of play), and a custom-created Gamertile
(a visual icon to represent yourself online) — with their friends in the community.

And, with the free level of Xbox Live, players can send and receive text and
voice messages to friends, as well as engage in Xbox Live voice chat anywhere,
anytime, even if one person is playing a game while the other is watching a
progressive-scan enabled DVD movie. Also available is the Xbox Live
Marketplace, a one-stop shop to download demos and trailers along with new
game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins, community-created content, and
more to the detachable Xbox 360 hard drive.

Xbox Live members who subscribe to the premium service can
experience the thrill of multiplayer online gameplay. Gamer Profiles
will provide a foundation for intelligent matchmaking, so players of
similar skill levels and interests can quickly and easily connect, and the
Xbox Live Camera peripheral will let gamers add their own faces
into games and see their friends while they play. Other Xbox Live
features for premium members include video messaging, online
tournaments and ladders, and exclusive, original programming such as
playing with celebrities online and joining sponsored tournaments to
win prizes. And all Xbox 360 owners who sign on to Xbox Live
for the first time can kick-start their experience with a free month of
the full subscription service, which will let them experience the full
power of Xbox Live.

In this gamer’s opinion this all adds up to Microsoft having a distinct
advantage over it’s competitors in the upcoming console war. Neither
Sony or Nintendo have made any announcements that indicate they will
offer anything that will even remotely compete with the Xbox Live
gaming service. It may seem like small potates to many gamers but this
may be just what Microsoft needs to compete with Sony head on and
eventually overtake their comfortable spot on the top of the gaming
world.


Technorati Tags: Nintendo Revolution Playstation 3 Xbox 360

The name is Christopher. In the online world I’m known as “dyferent” aka “Chris Legend” on Xbox Live and other gaming sites. Most people have no clue why I’d choose that as my online persona but it’s simple really. Everyone who knows me personally would be quick to tell you that I’m more than a little “left of center”. I’m sometimes strange and I have a somewhat twisted view of our world. I always see things a little “differently” than most people.

I’m a hardcore gamer at heart and I’m an “old-school” gamer from way back. In fact, I still have my very first console, a Magnavox Odyssey. All told, I have every console from the Odyssey until now. Yes, I even have an Atari Jaguar and a 3DO! Due to my addiction to videogames, a lot of my entries will be related, in one way or another, to gaming.

I do have other interests that include fishing (which happens to be my main source of income) and sports.

Trust me when I say that I will not have a shortage of topics to rant about in this blog. Anyway…I guess that’s enough for now. I’m hoping that anyone who happens to stumble across my corner of the blogosphere will at best, be entertained and maybe even informed, or at worst, be scarred for life. Either way …enjoy!