Image Preview: Spore

[tmeacham]

Will Wright's life-creation-and-evolution sim Spore remains elusive and the release is far off in the future. However we were able to score some new screenshots from Electronic Arts that renewed our interest.

http://www.twitchguru.com/2007/09/07/spore_gallery/

 

[meadowlands]

It seems like some games nowadays get so hyped up and take so long to release, that when it happens, you are never fully satisfied. Granted it looks like a very good game, but (sims) games are not for me. They do feel like work and if I want to live life, I'll press on with mine.

Now, Bioshock for example was something I heard a few things about and it did not seem very hyped up. Based on reviews, I bought it and it is one of the best games I played. I did not wait months/years for it to come out.

Too much hype really kills a game, especially if it falls a little short in one or two categories.

 

[waxdart]

So many games these days try to give us too much and in the end they are just make work.

If I wanted to put that much effort into getting something done I'd learn how to be an accountant, make a fancy front end for excel and play that. Thats all any sim game is. Plus excel gives you better tools to get the work done. The game UI holds you back.

I hope this game is fun. I think I'll enjoy playing the first few stages.
Then, as with most games I'll get bored or it will be too hard and as I do not have 5+ hours a night to play anymore I'll never see the other 80% that was made.

 

[cpburns]

Actually, as far as Bioshock goes, it was incredibly, horribly hyped. I couldn't turn left on the interwebs without running into something about it. I've realised what you said, meadowlands, and I agree.

Overhyping and a game and giving it too much media exposure kills it. Why would I play the game now? I've seen all it has to offer. I've seen the gimmicky "shoot the lightning at the water and it'll kill the splicers" trick already. I know flaming a Big Daddy will take it down.

Crysis is similar: What's going to be left for me to discover when I play the game? I know the end of the game will take place aboard the alien ship, and this will likely involve "killing the alien overmind" in some regurgitated form. I know the same weapon can become six different weapons with mods. I can punch an oncoming vehicle and flip it over my head. I just wonder how much trouble they're going to have programming the "attachment point", how far away you can be for it to register as punching the vehicle. How buggy that system will be.

I've stopped reading any Crysis material, and I stopped reading any Bioshock material long before it was released. I just want these games to still retain some magic for me when I actually do play them.