I’ve been surprised the last couple of days just how excited I was about the Spore Creature Creator (released today). So I downloaded it the minute I got home from work, and I’ve been playing with it for hours. As expected, it’s tons of fun. A stripped down version is available for free (you should definitely check it out), and you can get the full version, complete with hundreds of creature parts, for $9.99.

Unfortunately, the full version for Mac won’t be available until tomorrow. Not sure why the delay, but I suppose I can handle it. If you’re interested in how it works, there are thousands of videos and tutorials on YouTube (the creator allows you to post videos of your creations).

I’ll avoid elaborating further (you can read a good overview here) and simply tell you again to go download at least the free version. All your creations can be made available to populate other players’ universes when the full game comes out in September. For inspiration, check out a few of the creatures I’ve made today.

Anyone following Spore with as much interest as me (by that I mean anyone who has signed up for the Spore newsletter) has no doubt already heard about the Spore Creature Creator. For everyone else, here’s the deal:

On June 17 you’ll be able to download the entire Spore creature interface, which lets you design as many zany, fantastical creatures as you want (I’m kind of curious how closely I can approximate millipede–or maybe one with hooves). The free version gives you access to about a quarter of the creature bits available in the full editor. For $9.99 you can get access to everything.

Aside from the little bit of extra income (yeah, I think they should just offer the whole thing for free), this little package does two important things for Maxis:

• It introduces people to the game’s editors. Not that Spore needs anymore hype, but the creature editors and the others like it in the game are likely to be the heart and soul of this thing. If people get hooked, they’ll come back and buy the full game.
• It gives the developers a way to populate their universe. This was one of my main questions about the game. How were they planning to create millions of creatures for people to interact with? Sure, the volume would be there over time, but a game has to be fun right out of the box if people are going to buy it in any large numbers. And, while I’m sure a sizable team of people is working on the game, they couldn’t possibly create the number (or variety) of creatures necessary to make the game really stand out. This way, just get yourself a hundred thousand or so downloads (just being conservative). If each person creates 10 creatures, you’ve got your first million right there in a few days. Not bad at all.

For anyone who’s wondering, any creatures you create will be available to you when you buy the full game in September.

Pretty exciting stuff. And since Apple announced a refreshed iMac line today, I can pick up my new Spore gaming machine in time for the June 17. Oh, and GTA IV tomorrow. When is that government rebate check supposed to get here?

A quick news post today to let everyone know (I was a little slow to find out) that EA has made a bid to purchase TakeTwo, owners of Rockstar Games and makers of the Grand Theft Auto series. TakeTwo has refused the bid, but the folks at EA apparently aren’t backing down; they have published this open letter to TakeTwo and the rest of the gaming public. Thanks to Screen Play (an Australian game news blog that I read) for covering the story.

As a huge fan of the GTA series, I don’t quite know what to make of this. Certainly the series will continue regardless of what happens with these two companies, but I hope GTA IV won’t be delayed too much because of it.

The similarities between EA’s offer and Microsoft’s rebuffed offer to buy Yahoo are pretty obvious here. All we need is EA’s chief rival to come out publicly condemning the acquisition as hazardous to gaming public’s right to virtual entertainment. Get on it, Vivendi.

One of these years I’ll actually go to GDC. It would be nice of course not to foot the bill myself, but that may be my only option. There seems to be a lot going on at this year’s show, including a keynote address by the guy I wrote my master’s thesis about, Ray Kurzweil.

But if I can’t go, at least I can read all the news that comes out of the show. This report in particular, about a game designer named Blow (not sure where he came up with that) and his ten new challenges for game design. I love reading articles about game design and the theory behind it. They get the academic side of my brain going (my inner academigeek?) and help me understand different ways of looking at games.

Faithful readers may remember that I tend to take a very analytical approach to game design, and Mr. Blow apparently bristles at that approach, calling it “sterile.” Thankfully, he provides some useful (if somewhat obvious) alternative paradigms for people thinking about game design.

Aside from thought-provoking and mind-bending keynote speeches, probably the biggest news to come out of GDC this year is Microsoft’s announcement that they are launching, later this year, Xbox LIVE community games, essentially a YouTube of gaming where anyone can create games (using Microsoft’s XNA development tools) and publish them for people to play. Bruce Everiss gives a dramatic account of the news in which he heralds “a flowering of innovation and creativity beyond anything the game industry has ever seen before. Probably beyond what any creative industry has seen before.” Whoa, there.

I doubt Microsoft’s announcement will have much impact on me in the short term, since I use a Mac-based game development platform. However, this does open the door for far more indie games, and I will be shocked if Sony and Nintendo don’t release a similar system for their consoles. It will certainly give me a lot more insight into my competition. Unity is already equipped for Wii development, so if that happens (and if Wii development kits become more easily available), I’ll be ready.

It’s easy to get discouraged as a solo game developer. There’s just so much to do and so many skills to learn. Indeed, I accept that I will ever be more than a hack at most of the skills involved in game development.

But this post over at Tales of the Rampant Coyote (a blog from indie developer Rampant Games) is proof that indie developers can create expansive, immersive role-playing games.

No, I’ve never played any of the games listed in that post. Most probably won’t even run on my Mac. What gives me hope is that the list is so long. It means someone is actually publishing completed games.

SPUDZOOKA isn’t an RPG, but it will be my first full game. And I will finish it. I have modest hopes for it. I hope some of you will play it. I hope some of you who play it will enjoy it. Everything else is just gravy.

What I really want to do is make games that tell stories. I have to start somewhere, but it’s nice to think that maybe one day I’ll publish a game that makes somebody’s list.