Planned 10 day authentication cycle gone

A couple of days ago, news trickled out that Spore would use the same anti-piracy system as the PC version of Mass Effect. Normally when we hear news of any anti-piracy measures that do not involve the name 'StarForce', we shrug and go on talking about the weather. Not this time.

The proposed anti-piracy system would require players to have an Internet connection and to validate their game every 10 days for as long as the game was installed. The news caused quite a stir among the Spore community. Our forums had multiple threads on this topic, including one that linked to an online petition to have the system removed.

Fortunately, EA is paying attention to their fans and announced that the copy protection scheme would be altered. A mail was sent out, explaining:

We wanted to let you know that we've been hearing your concerns about the online authentication mentioned earlier this week. I didn't want to head into the weekend without getting back to you with some information about how Spore is planning on using this new system.

A few things we wanted you to know:
We authenticate your game online when you install and launch it the first time.
We'll re-authenticate when a player uses online features, downloads new content or a patch for their game.
The new system means you don't have to play with the disc in your computer. And if you are like me, always losing discs, this will be a huge benefit.
You'll still be able to install and play on multiple computers.
You can play offline.

I guess petitions work. :)

May 12th, 2008 by Falconer - Comments (15) - Share it!

Creature Editor: Officially Announced

EA has officially named the announcement about the Spore Creature Editor, and will be 9.99 (USD and EURO). Read the entrance of the article below, or head on over to the entire article by clicking here.

Redwood City, CA - April 25, 2008 – Get a jump-start on creating your own universe in Spore™, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims™. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Maxis today announced that a free downloadable demo, and complete retail version* of the Spore Creature Creator will be available starting June 17, 2008. The Spore Creature Creator gives Spore fans, and those who are creatively curious, the first hands-on opportunity to design their own species and share it with their friends. All creatures designed with the Spore Creature Creator can be imported into the full retail version of the Spore for PC and Mac when it launches on September 5, 2008 in Europe and September 7, 2008 in North America.
-From Spore.com

April 25th, 2008 by Artistvrd - Comments (23) - Share it!

New E-mail from Maxis

MaxisCactus has sent us a new with new information. New videos and some new creature pictures and all sorts of other new goodies can be found at the Spore official site. Head on over to Spore.com to view all the new pictures. Also, a 'semi-updated' FAQ can now be found on the official site by clicking here. View the e-mail by clicking 'See More'

[see more]

April 24th, 2008 by Artistvrd - Comments (4) - Share it!

Spore's Thomas Vu Interviewed

Play.tm has a new article posted today. The article is an interview with Spore Producer, Thomas Vu. There's not much I really have to say here about the interview other than how the article linked to the interview (found here) briefly discusses how the game will indeed have an end, or something very related to an ending. But don't fear fans of sandbox games, you can still, of course, play beyond the game's 'ending.'

April 17th, 2008 by Artistvrd - Comments (5) - Share it!

Creature Editor Next Month

This just in a few hours ago, the Spore creature editor will be available to Spore fans in late June! Patrick Beuchner, the marketing director at Maxis, stated this about the editor:

A trial version of the Spore Creature creator will be available for free through a variety of sources including as a download from Spore.com and in The SimCity Box. There will also be a version of the Creature Creator available at retail. The free Creature Creator has about 25-percent of the creature making parts from Spore. The retail version will have 100-percent. It's up to the players to choose which version they want, but they'll all be available at approximately the same time

The article at IGN.com has some insides on what the editor will consist of, including: A complete creature editor (only creatures at this point, folks), a test ground with several different backdrops, and the creator can take in-game shots and movies of their creature in the testing grounds. Your creatures will be able to enter the official Sporepedia at Spore.com. The functions in the retail version of the editor will be identical to that of the editor in the game, and your creatures will be able to be played in the game when it ships September 7 in North America.

April 16th, 2008 by Artistvrd - Comments (21) - Share it!

Rumor has it!

A popular rumor has been going around the Spore community today that there will be a Spore creature editor 'trial edition' inside the new collection of Simcity Games, the Simcity Box. However, it is still unclear as to exactly what the 'trial edition' is; whether its a mini version of Spore or the entire (what we have been expecting) version of the creature editor. Either way, I think many of you are with me when I say that I hope we don't need to buy this game to try it out. I doubt this is the case as I'm sure EA would have some other means to distribute the 'demo' Stay Tuned!

Read the entire article at Joystiq.com

April 15th, 2008 by Artistvrd - Comments (11) - Share it!

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Play the original version of the PS3 hit fl0w (flow)

Maxis History

The company we have all grown to love was founded in 1987 by designers Will Wright and Jeff Braun to launch their game, Simcity. The game didn't show much interest among the community because of it's lack of "winning and losing" concept; which is what, then, defined a video game. After the amazing success of the game, the young company went on to create several other games such as RoboSport and the ever popular 3D pinball game for the Windows Operating System.

With Simcity's success Maxis attempted other various 'Sim' games such as: SimAnt, SimFarm, SimEarth (a possible inspiration for Spore) and SimLife. Maxis then looked to other game genres creating The Crystal Skull and SimCopter, both flops, then leading to a decline in what Maxis has to offer.

Electronic Arts acquired the company in 1997, and it seems to be ridding of the name. With the release of the Sims 2: Pets, the Maxis logo was omitted entirely from the game. But we see it's return at the bottom of the Official Spore Website. The teaser trailer for Spore even features a "Brought to you by the makers of The Sims 2.." So perhaps EA wants to keep the popular name.

In 2000, Maxis released The Sims, despite the ridicules and almost certainty of failure by the EA officials. The game went on to become the best selling PC game of all time. And with the release of the extremely popular The Sims 2 in 2004, and Spore to be seen released September of 2008, the company has a very bright future.