Spore Goes Gold, Definitely Arriving September 7

Following years of delays and setbacks, publisher EA today confirmed that EA Maxis' ambitious life simulator Spore has gone gold and is now in the manufacturing process.

The PC and Mac release is slated to hit North American retailers on September 7, with a slightly less ambitious Nintendo DS version, titled Spore Creatures, arriving the same day. The iPhone version, dubbed Spore Origins, arrives September 4.

The studio has previously released surprisingly low system requirements for the title, with a free creature creator currently available for PC and Mac users to download.

"We are so excited to finally get Spore into the hands of fans and players," said executive producer Lucy Bradshaw. "The Maxis studio has had an absolute blast creating Spore, but the fun is just beginning. The most engaging stories are truly the ones people create themselves, and we can't wait to see how players not only craft and explore the Spore universe, but hear what stories they have to tell as a result."

In addition to video games, creator Will Wright has expressed his desire to turn Spore into a movie and television show, noting that "Spore potentially has a wider net to cast [outside of video games] than The Sims did."