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Scientists now believe there's a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. But back in the day, we dreamed the galactic center held God's home planet. Or a super-civilization. What else did science-fiction authors think we'd find there? More »
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Fox is readying an evolution movie based on the create-your-own-creature video game Spore. But will the new feature also include the Spore-inspired creature fad Sporn, in which genitalia inspired creatures dance for your amusement? (NSFW video.) More »
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This new 1950s-style trailer for Spore Galactic Adventures is heavy on the space-operatic bombast... and it's getting me intrigued. Especially the part about turning giant monsters into ginormous chaos. More »
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Aww thanks, Independent Film Channel, for talking about io9 in your video segment about Sporn, the term for oddly-genitaled beings made using the "creature creator" editor that goes with EA/Maxis' forthcoming evolution game Spore. Though io9 did make a music video devoted to Sporn, we have to admit shamefacedly that we did not coin the term. We were just early adopters of it. [IFC Lunchbox] More »
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At least two things happened last week in the worlds of science fiction and science. One was cool and the other was crap. More »
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Why does Spore, the new evolution game from EA/Maxis, give us hope for the future of humanity? Because the first thing everybody did with the "creature creator" editor was create a bunch of, shall we say, genitally-oriented organisms. Call it Sporn. EA is unlikely to let you share these creatures with other Spore players, and every time somebody posts footage of a new one on YouTube it gets taken down. That's why we've put together this happy music video, featuring the vocal stylings of Peaches' "Tent in Your Pants," celebrating the very best of Sporn. There are some things in here that even I can't identify. Ah, evolution. More »
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Last week Electronic Arts was kind enough to invite me to a demonstration of Spore's creature creator. A few days ago, we told you about Spore, a video game that challenges you to guide a single cell on the bottom of the evolutionary ladder out of the ocean and into civilization. (Here you can see my creature, Chlorophyta complexus chainsawus - AKA the Chlororaptor.) It's not easy for a video game to teach the principles of evolution. Evolutionary games would necessarily be limited to pressing start and watching what happens as mutation and selection occur, without intervention from the player. Spore strikes a good balance between scientific fact and playability. More »
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Spore, the upcoming 6+-years-in-the-making project from Will Wright (Sim City, The Sims, and Sim everything else) is releasing its fabulous alien species design tool, the Creator Creator today as a free download. Spore is Sim-Rise-of-Intelligent-Life-In-The-Galaxy, and it is a fountain of scifi awesomeness. I've followed Spore’s development for a long time, and feel licensed to talk about what I’ve seen and speculate irresponsibly about what I haven’t. (I should disclose at this point that periodically I work as a freelance game designer for Electronic Arts, which owns Maxis, which makes Spore.) More »
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Video game designer and visionary Will Wright, inventor of Sim City and The Sims, spoke spoke last night at the Mezzanine Bar in San Francisco, but not about his upcoming evolution game Spore. But he did have a geekgasm about science fiction, miniature worlds, and the future of the user/viewer/gamer experience. Plus he referenced Godzilla, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, and Phillip K. Dick during his 45 minute speech, complete with slides. So we weren't complaining. Check out some highlights in the gallery and the list below. More »
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