Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Multimedia, Retail, Odds and ends
Will Wright: Mac users will love Spore
Well, who won't, right? If you haven't read a single gaming blog this week (you serious worker bee, you), then you may not have heard the big news: Will Wright's rumored-to-be-a-masterpiece Spore has gotten a release date. It's hitting stores (for both PC and Mac simultaneously-- now that's what I like to hear) on September 7, 2008. Which means that later this year, PC and Mac users alike will be playing God, and creating creatures that virtually evolve from amoeba form all the way up to space travel.Mac|Life got a chance to sit down with Will Wright himself, and not only did he reveal some fun news about the game, but he thinks it will especially appeal to Mac users-- they expect the creative creature creator to do great things with Mac minds. Unfortunately, the game is a Cider port, and
And just like all the other great developers out there, he's very interested to see what happens with the iPhone SDK -- Wright is apparently an iPhone owner, and would love to get Spore on there. Believe me, Will -- I'd love to play it.
[Via IMG]
*Update: Aspyr has contacted us to say that they are not publishing the game. And at first I was confused, because Lucy Bradshaw specifically mentions Aspyr in the interview. However, after reading it a few times, it seems that Bradshaw is actually giving reasons for why they decided not to go with Aspyr-- their native ports come out too late, and EA wanted to release Spore simultaneously on all platforms.
Aspyr also notes to us that they only do native ports, not Cider ports. So I guess my informal boycott against Aspyr is still on, but we're still not guaranteed to get a good game out of this: Madden '08 was created using Transgaming's Cider, and that didn't turn out so well. Wait and see.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jus10 said 10:52AM on 2-15-2008
Too bad Aspyr is releasing the Mac version. Well, I'll be buying the Windows version and running it in Wine then.
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EMoShunz said 3:42PM on 2-15-2008
i'm not familiar with the apparent crappiness of cider or aspyr, but i am familiar with the hell that is trying to get wine working. guess it's like voting...you don't vote for the best, you vote for the least worst.
i would love to see a wii version though.
Brian said 11:24AM on 2-15-2008
Let's hope my brand new Macbook Pro is still up to the task in September.
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allen.wilson said 11:31AM on 2-15-2008
God help us, Aspyr makes the worst mac games. I don't care about everyone feeling that at least we have Aspyr trying when no other company would, but crap is crap. If you don't agree go buy Sim City Rush Hour and try to scroll move around the screen or Roller Coaster Tycoon and watch is crash every 5 minutes.
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Simon Arch said 12:52PM on 2-15-2008
Shows what he knows. Spore is exactly the sort of game I hate.
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Frank said 1:01PM on 2-15-2008
i for one think spore sounds fascinating. diff'rent strokes!
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Simon Arch said 3:49PM on 2-15-2008
Exactly! It's great to have options!
Macfan said 1:27PM on 2-15-2008
Cider is shit. No one's fooled. When a company releases a lazy, shitty cider port, it's only to make it seem like they're dedicated to the Mac. I'm getting tired of these terrible ports. I'd rather wait a month after the PC release and get a smooth, good port, than an automated, slow port, which won't even work on my Intel GMA, even if I lower the settings.
I've been using VMWare for Virtualization. As soon as I get another copy of windows, I'm ditching it for BootCamp, and just going with the windows versions of these games, because these companies rarely know the first thing about Mac programming, or good design for that matter.
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Andy James said 1:36PM on 2-15-2008
The irony of this statement astonishes me
"PC and Mac users alike will be playing God, and creating creatures that virtually evolve"
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Simon Arch said 3:51PM on 2-15-2008
You know, despite what you may have read on the intertoobs, God and evolution aren't mutually exclusive.
markthewarrior said 10:40PM on 2-15-2008
No, they're not mutually exclusive, but Wright himself has pointed out that Spore isn't a game of evolution, it's one of intelligent design. The creatures don't evolve like the post says--we create them.
ZeroCorpse said 2:38PM on 2-15-2008
I'm not fond of Aspyr, either. Mostly, I dislike their lack of support and the fact that Mac users pay more for games than Windows users do. It sickens me to see a Windows version of a game at $19 and the Aspyr port at $50 in the same store on the same day.
I'm sure glad there's Boot Camp.
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PSM said 3:36PM on 2-15-2008
I haven't purchased a Mac game in about 4 years. I had to build a PC gaming rig because Mac games (I'm lookin' at you, Aspyr) suck so much. So I will be getting Spore for the PC. But regardless of platform, I've been looking forward to this game for years, and I hope the release date winds up being accurate (I've had GTA4 on pre-order for almost a year now).
Shunnabunich said 8:43PM on 2-15-2008
So, just as we all expected: there will be no Mac version of Spore, just a Windows version, and a Windows version that costs several times more, may or may not run, and apparently is supposed to be used on some other OS that isn't Windows. Thanks, Will, for at least confirming for us that Mac gaming is as dead as ever.
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Mo said 9:01PM on 2-15-2008
WWDC '08: GameKit? (complete with MobileGameKit for the iPhone…)
Please…?
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Viper007Bond said 11:06PM on 2-15-2008
Hopefully the Mac version is an actual port rather than the it being developed at the same for both formats. I'd hate for my PC version to be somewhat nerfed on the high end of the graphics settings.
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Pete said 1:41PM on 2-16-2008
Good thing I have a Wii ;)
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eric f. said 9:43AM on 2-18-2008
Meh... I have no interest in this "game" whatsoever. ZOMG it's coming...
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teflon said 3:32PM on 2-18-2008
Mike Schramm, some points:
1 - get your facts straight. If you knew anything about games, then there would have been no need to amend this post.
2 - even without Cider, its still possible to do a simultaneous port. Just look at console gaming where X360 is the standard lead platform and everything is ported to PS3, and released simultaneously. It just takes a bit of effort, which might be slightly easier with Cider, but by no means better. You get what you put in.
3 - performance is going to be several notches below that on PC no matter what form of porting is used. Unless, of course, you spend another year optimising the game for OGL with Apple.
4 - youre still an idiot for boycotting Aspyr. Its a stupid line to take and is one that is completely and utterly uninformed by how gaming and mac gaming actually works.
well done.
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Mike Schramm said 3:47PM on 2-18-2008
Thanks for reading and for the comment.