Spore - the E3 preview

The creature game

"Now, I'm going to show you two levels - the creature level and space level; the beginning and the end of the game.

You have this world populated with a lot of other creatures. Now in the creature game, you're controlling one creature directly, he's like your avatar. I can move him around with the mouse or keyboard."

"There are also social aspects to the game. The creatures can bond and play games together, which makes them more social. This one with the hearts is actually ready to mate... I'm not sure how the ESRB is going to rate this. I think we need a new category."

"Now you've mated and produced eggs, you can actually create a new generation of your creature, the next version. You have more points, so we're going to improve the legs here. Add some more arms - you can never have too many arms. I'm going to make him a little faster, put some different feet on. The hands will be useful for when we go into the Tribal phase later, to use tools. You can also do just aesthetic things, make him look a little scarier."

Some people will spend a lot of time in the editor, some people will just want to make a quick jump in, so lots of the creative aspects are pretty voluntary - if I just want to play the game, I can.

Now this is the adult version of my next-generation creature, but when I come back into the game, it's just a baby. I have my siblings, they can socialise and bond. They have a little friend icon, and they'll become kind of a pack with me. We can work together, and take out a larger creature."