Game designer Will Wright is full of ideas, but when he boils it all down, he wants his next game to focus on three key elements: creativity, reality and community. You can expect those to be a big part of the first game from Syntertainment, a new company he should be unveiling in more detail later this year.
Dedicated game consoles aren't dead, but in the future they won't be the market force they have been in the past, according to game designer Will Wright. While Wright acknowledges that consoles will probably never go away completely, he predicts they'll lose their "mainstay" status.
Will Wright has unveiled his next game, along with a new start-up based out of Berkely, California. Both ventures are called HiveMind, though the "game" application doesn't sound much like a game at all. Much of the idea is still under wraps, but from Wright's statements so far, HiveMind seems more like an advanced social networking tool.
IGN has details on Will Wright's next project. The creator of SimCity, The Sims, and Spore will be working on a television show, currently titled "The Creation Project".
The project is described as a "TV series about the creation of a TV series," according to IGN. Citing early show planning documents, IGN reveals that the show will allow viewers to submit story ideas, which will then be voted on. The winning idea would get produced into two half-hour episodes. Read more »
In an announcement we can scarcely comprehend, ZootFly has obtained the license to the Mr. T graphic novel series for a series of video games based upon the terrific T.
The graphic novels set Mr. T----best known for his role as "B.A." Baracus in cult 1980s television series The A Team--against such incredible adversaries as Dracula and Dinosaur-Man, but the first game stars a more familiar enemy and an unbelievable ally: Read more »
Beloved game creator and Maxis co-founder Will Wright (The Sims, SimCity, Spore) today revealed that he is leaving Electronic Arts and Maxis to pursue one of his old side projects.
Dubbed Stupid Fun Club, the company is described as "an entertainment think tank developing new Intellectual Properties to be deployed across multiple fronts including video games, movies, television, the internet, and toys." Read more »
Will Wright, the Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame designer responsible for Spore and The Sims, dubbed the E3 trade show "the walking dead."
Talking to GamesIndustry, Wright added to a rising chorus in the games industry claiming the E3 Media & Business Summit has outlived its usefulness since evolving from the over-the-top Electronic Entertainment Expo to a low-key industry meet. This year's E3 came under heavy fire for having a weak collection of products on show. Read more »
Maxis has dropped some new information on the ancillary versions of its upcoming PC title Spore, with details of the Nintendo DS, Wii, and mobile versions leaking in a series of interviews with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal.
Spore Creatures for the Nintendo DS will predictably focus on the creature phase established in the PC edition, with users evolving their customized characters, defeating enemies, and "exploring the galaxy on a quest to find new evolutionary paths and save their home world." Read more »
Ending years of speculation, EA Maxis has announced that its long, long, long-awaited evolution simulator Spore will hit PC, Nintendo DS, and Mac on September 7, 2008. No mention was made of the upcoming Wii edition.
Lead designer Will Wright, the renowned visionary behind the long-running Sims franchise, had previously stated the game was on track for a spring 2008 release, though EA would only confirm that the game would hit "before holidays" in a recent conference call. Read more »
In this week's ShackCast, we talk Electronic Arts news, including Rock Band for the Wii, Will Wright's Spore, and the oft-discussed quandary of parallel Xbox 360/PS3 development.
No More Heroes is reviewed and endorsed ad infinitum, with Remo, Faylor, and Aaron gushing over the Grasshopper Manufacture Wii title. Also: Reader mail, Velociraptor Safari, Maarten Goldstein, and more!
Don't forget to send in your questions and comments about video games, the Shack, or the ShackCast to shackcast@shacknews.com! Read more »
Over the past year or so, I have been fairly impressed with Electronic Arts. That's not to say I reserve full-on gamer excitement for EA in the same sense I get excited about the developers behind, say, No More Heroes (go buy it) or Rez (it's on Xbox Live now, go buy it!), or what have you, but as far as megalithic publishers go I haven't been too frustrated. Read more »
Despite its ongoing delays, Electronic Arts brass is still confident in Will Wright's ambitious evolution simulator Spore.
Despite a recent analyst projection that Spore will not be released until the coming fall or winter months, EA declined to give a specific release time frame for the title during today's analyst and press financial conference call. Read more »
Janco analyst Mike Hickey has some bad news for those anticipating Will Wright's next ambitious title.
"We now expect [Spore in the second half of 2008], versus management guidance for March/April," said Hickey to Gamasutra. The prediction comes as an explanation of recent disappointing Electronic Arts share performance. Read more »
Blizzard Entertainment co-founder, president and CEO Mike Morhaime (pictured left) is the latest addition to the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame, the academy announced today.
Morhaime marks the eleventh inductee into the Hall of Fame, joining renowned industry figures such as Sid Meier, Will Wright, Shigeru Miyamoto, Richard Garriott, Peter Molyneux, Trip Hawkins, and Yu Suzuki. Read more »
Despite cable TV host and 2008 presidential hopeful Stephen Colbert being refused admission into the South Carolina Democratic primary election, Austin-based publisher Gamecock Media Group has announced its official endorsement of Colbert--and invited the candidate to reestablish his campaign headquarters in Texas after Colbert was turned away from his own home state. Colbert has officially withdrawn his candidacy following the setback, but Gamecock has refused to acknowledge the withdrawal. "We came to the conclusion that Stephen Colbert has shown strong leadership and best represents the interests of the videogame playing community," said Gamecock CEO Mike Wilson. "Politicians have long demonized videogames for short term gain. This has, of course, been hilarious to watch. But Stephen Colbert will definitely be funnier than anything Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney can come up with." Wilson also pointed to Colbert's interview with The Sims creator Will Wright, and defeat of a virtual version of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at Wii Sports as further evidence of Colbert's video game advocacy. Don't expect to see Colbert respond to today's announcement on his Comedy Central program, The Colbert Report--it's off the air this week due to the current industry-wide writer's strike. Gamecock's endorsement may serve as an implicit condemnation of certain prominent supporters of Democratic candidate Barack Obama, who successfully lobbied to have Colbert's name thrown off the ballot in South Carolina. Among the factors cited in the lobby has been the overlap between Obama supporters and potential Colbert supporters, who are likely to draw from the same young, college-educated demographic--and the Obama camp was concerned Colbert could draw some of that base away. Strong anti-Colbert lobbyist and former Democratic National Committee chairman Dan Fowler compared a potential election with Colbert to the 2000 presidential election, in which he claims the presence of Ralph Nader led to a split of Democratic support resulting in the defeat of Al Gore. This isn't the first time Colbert has been part of politically sticky situations involving Obama--earlier this year, before Obama's official announcement of his presidential candidacy, Colbert dove into the much-publicized debate over the current Illinois senator's "blackness." It is also interesting that Wilson chose to highlight Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney as Colbert's competition, eschewing aggressively patriotic Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani, or perhaps making an implicit comment on Romney's recent surge in Iowa. Though not a dark horse candidate in the vein of Colbert or libertarian-leaning Republican candidate Ron Paul, Romney often casts himself as less of a household name than his competitors, a trait that may appeal to the indie publisher--and, by the way, where does Paul fit into Gamecock's political landscape? Perhaps the company was intimidated by Paul's recent internet-driven mega-fundraiser, which set a 24-hour earnings record reportedly upwards of $4 million. The message is clear: Gamecock supports Colbert, favors Clinton and Romney as the recipients of their parties' respective nominations, takes a critical eye towards Obama and Giuliani, and doesn't really care about Ron Paul. You heard it here first, folks. This is Shacknews political analyst Chris Remo signing off. Good night and good luck.
Read more »The rather lengthy ShackCast Episode 16 features Chris Remo, Steve Gibson, Chris Faylor, and Nick Breckon with discussion of the recently-released Crysis demo, Manhunt 2's ongoing controversy, the launch of Hellgate: London, the Thai Orange Box debacle, BioWare's not-actually-confirmed Star Wars MMO and Blizzard's might-be-Diablo 3 MMO, Will Wright's comments on the Wii and its version of Spore. Listeners weight in with comments and questions on Soldier of Fortune Payback, Rock Band, why Gordon Freeman has no feet (and sometimes no hands), exclusive sports franchises, the moon, and more.
Finally, we've got two of Chris Remo's recordings of Shacker-written songs submitted to our Jam Sessions contest: Public Servers by KalLanta, and Gordon's Crowbar Blues by quadeh.
Don't forget to send in your questions and comments about video games, the Shack, or the ShackCast to shackcast@shacknews.com!
Play or download the podcast now, or browse the episodes through iTunes, RSS, or Digg--or continue on for the full breakdown.
000:00: It's a song! And other stuff! 001:21: Crysis demo is out! It is rad! (Demo, interview, preview) 012:53: It's Hot Coffee 2: Manhunt 2's Revenge. (Story)
019:30: Hellgate-gate 07! Hellgate: London is out, and a bit unstable. (Story, review) 027:51: Valve haxed your Thai copy of The Orange Box. (Story 037:02: EA CEO John Riccitiello wants to change game pricing. (Story) 047:43: Blizzard is making a next-gen MMO! DIABLO 3?!?!?!?!/1 (Story) 048:12: Dave Perry's Top Secret explained here. 055:22: BioWare is pretty much making a Star Wars MMO. (Story) 060:00: Will Wright: Wii only next-gen console, Spore on Wii. (Story 069:01: Games we've been playing: Halo 3, Picross DS, Full Throttle, Guitar Hero 3 076:50: Reader mail: Soldier of Fortune Payback payback, Rock Band, Freeman's feet 098:11: Goodbye! Two Jam Sessions Contest winner songs coming up! (Contest) 099:37: Public Servers; written by KalLanta, composed by Chris Remo 103:16: Gordon's Crowbar Blues; written by quadeh, composed by Chris Remo
A Wii edition of Maxis' heralded evolution simulator Spore has been confirmed by designer Will Wright, who is responsible for both Spore and the massively successful Sims series. "We're doing Spore on the Wii," Wright mentioned offhandedly in a talk with Guardian Unlimited. A Wii version has long been speculated since Wright declared last year that Spore would arrive "on all platforms," though it was never specifically confirmed until now. Earlier this week, the renowned designer claimed that the PC version of Spore was "roughly" six months away. A Nintendo DS edition is said to be in development, with a PSP iteration rumored as well, though no information has surfaced on either project in some time. Wright also noted his belief that the Wii is the only true "next generation" console on the market. "The PS3 and the Xbox 360 feel like better versions of the last, but pretty much the same game with incremental improvement," he said. "But the Wii feels like a major jump--not that the graphics are more powerful, but that it hits a completely different demographic." "In some sense I see the Wii as the most significant thing that's happened, at least on the console side, in quite a while," he continued. As for the PC market, Wright expressed his continued optimism for the platform. "Every generation it's like 'the PC's dead! The PC's dead!'," he said. But it carries on growing when consoles are flat for five years. At the moment I can get better graphics on my PC than I can on the PS3."
Read more »Spore, Maxis' upcoming PC evolution simulator, is in final testing and should release in "roughly" six months, designer Will Wright revealed in a recent Radio 5 Live interview. "We have the game fully playable at this point and it's in final testing," said Wright, reports CVG. "We've had to do a lot of testing to make sure that the game is accessible by a wide group of people." Originally slated for a 2007 release, Spore was delayed until 2008 earlier this year. Publisher Electronic Arts later spoke on the matter, saying that it expected the title to ship in the spring. "Right now it's sort of squarely targeted of March-April-May of next year," noted Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello during an August earnings call. "Games like these are so large and so complex that we chose not to put it in our fiscal year release because these dates are pretty hard to predict." "I want the people who have played The Sims to be able to play Spore," explained Wright, the man behind the ludicrously successful Sim franchises. "I don't want it to be some thing just hardcore gamers play." A DS version of Spore is in development and a a PSP edition is possible, though no details on either project have surfaced in some time.
Read more »EA Japan designer Takahiro Murakami confirmed a Nintendo DS remake of Peter Molyneaux's original 1989 god game Populous is on the way in an EA Tokyo Game Show press event Wednesday. Murakami also helmed SimCity DS, the portable remake of Will Wright's classic city builder. Unlike the original Populous, which featured just one deity, the DS version will include multiple gods with varying powers. The familiar open book layout of the game will be replaced with a newer design, though Murakami said the title would use an aesthetic making it similar to the original Populous. Creator Peter Molyneaux will not be involved. Four-player multiplayer battles, a tutorial-enhanced story mode, and optional stylus controls round out the package, which has been in development for six months. EA Japan doesn't have a release date yet for the title.
Read more »Electronic Arts sends along 12 new screenshots of Will Wright's evolutionary life simulator, detailing the game's progression from tiny cell-sized organisms to tool-wielding civilizations. Spore is currently expected to arrive on PC in spring 2008.
Read more »1UP, GameSpot and GameSpy all have Spore previews, going hands-on with the new Will Wright game at the Leipzig Games Convention.
Read more »During an earnings call, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello expressed optimism in his company's future, despite a comparative decrease in revenue over its first quarter and a tough slate of upcoming competition. EA's first-quarter revenue and profits were down 4% and 7% year-over-year, respectively standing at $395 and $229 million. The publisher chalked up the relative decline to its new policy of hosting games with online-enabled features for free, which deffered some $36 million in revenue. Looking forward, Riccitiello etched a silver lining around strong future titles from publishers like Microsoft's Halo 3 (X360) and Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360), saying: "I think it's a double positive, for us and for the industry. Great software sells hardware. "We were a little careful of the dates we selected to put our products in the marketplace. We wouldn't make that mistake anymore than I would launch an animation movie in the shadow of a Disney-Pixar movie." One of EA's major Q2 titles, Crytek's gorgeous FPS Crysis (PC), was confirmed as being pushed back to a November release. The move will shift some $60 million in expected revenue into the company's third quarter. Responding to a question of the company's confidence in Will Wright's upcoming evolution simulator Spore, Riccitiello reiterated the title's release date of next spring. "Right now it's sort of squarely targeted of March-April-May of next year," he affirmed. "Games like these are so large and so complex that we chose not to put it in our fiscal year release because these dates are pretty hard to predict." Expressing his confidence in the game, which he labeled as a "breakthrough title" for the industry, Riccitiello assured investors that quality is being stressed over speed--at least in this case. "We will make the choice of shipping a better game rather than an on-time game," he said.
Read more »Also at 1UP is this SimCity Societies Q&A. EA's Rod Humble talks about contracting out development of the game to Tilted Mill, the lack of involvement by Will Wright and the concerns of SimCity fans among other things.
Read more »In an analyst conference call following the release of Electronic Arts' earnings report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, EA executives announced that the release of Will Wright's upcoming evolution simulator Spore has been pushed out of 2007. EA CEO John Riccitiello, who recently returned to the company after co-founding Elevation Partners, indicated that there is a possibility the game will be released at the end of EA's coming fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, but it is more likely it will be pushed into the following quarter. "We continue to have enormous confidence in Spore as a franchise but have made the call not to include this title in our fiscal year financial plan," said CFO Warren C. Jenson. Responding to analyst queries regarding the current status of the game, Riccitiello added, "I've had the chance to review the title three times in my short return to EA, and it looks fantastic." The CEO stressed the importance of giving the ambitious game enough time to create a franchise with lasting power "like The Sims." Speaking to Shacknews in 2005, designer Wright said on developing Spore, "It's a challenge. Quite a challenging project, but I've got an amazing team on it, and I'm actually very satisfied with where it's going." EA executives frequently pointed to the company's increasing emphasis on internal intellectual property rather than licensed titles. "In general, I'd say that if you go back five or six years EA was probably over-tilted to license properties," admitted Riccitiello. "We saw the writing on the wall in terms of the cost of licensed properties rising. [Chairman and prior CEO] Larry [Probst] and the team redirected the team to owned intellectual property. That has paid dividends and there [has been] big investment made in the last 12 months to further enhance that strategy." Jenson noted EA Montreal's Army of Two, EA Black Box's SKATE, EA Canada's EA Playground, EA Montreal's Boogie, and an unannounced Steven Spielberg-produced Wii game as examples of new EA IP slated to be released this fiscal year. He also confirmed that the nearly-announced The Simpsons game will be released this holiday season. The three current generation home consoles as well as Nintendo DS were said to be receiving the largest allocation of games. In the current fiscal year, approximately 20-23 games will be released across PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 10-13 on Wii, and 10-13 on Nintendo DS. The company plans to retain its leading market share across most platforms, with the goal of achieving the leading market share among third parties on Nintendo platforms. Regarding EA's strategy for the coming years, North American publishing general manager Frank D. Gibeau said, "Our goal absolutely is to be the biggest murderers on murderers' row."
Read more » Firaxis designer Soren Johnson has left the Hunt Valley, Maryland-based studio founded by Sid Meier to join Will Wright's hand-picked development team in Emeryville, California, giving him two of the most enviable resume entries a game developer could possibly claim. Wright's team is currently working on the ambitious evolution simulator Spore; Johnson's specific role on Spore is unknown. During his more than six years at Firaxis, Johnson was best known as the co-designer of Civilization III and the lead designer of Civilization IV. For his increasingly key role in the acclaimed Civilization series of turn-based nation-building games, Johnson was frequently described as the heir apparent to Civilization creator and overseer Meier.
Johnson's employment by EA serves as something of a homecoming for the programmer. During his time as a student at Stanford University, Johnson also served as an intern at EA's Redwood Shores offices. While there, he contributed to the boxing games Knockout Kings 2000 and Knockout Kings 2001.
News of Johnson's departure and destination was broken by Civilization fansite Apolyton. Representatives from Firaxis parent Take-Two Interactive declined to comment on the news, but the reports were later confirmed by Electronic Arts. Johnson has not made any mention of the move on his personal site.
"Yea, the general consensus is that these same aspects suuucked in GTA IV. Also, i didn't ..."
- dedgecko See all 16 comments