A new article popped up today on Gamasultra regarding Spore and whether or not it will appeal to everyone. Sure, the game might not be pointed to everyone as it branches away from reality into fantasy, but it shouldn’t be disregarded just for that fact alone. There will be entertainment for everybody from the actual gameplay and story-telling to creating creatures, ships, and more.
But the observation that surprised me the most was how people totally unfamiliar with Spore reacted to the very idea of a creature editor. From my perspective, it’s a brilliantly engineered, elegantly constructed content authoring tool. But from theirs, it’s an unfamiliar interface to an almost deviant act.
I’m used to living in a world drunk on Spore anticipation — at any other conference, I would have had to battle my way to the screen. But among the newbies, there was a significant amount of uncertainty and performance anxiety. People weren’t sure they would be able to build something, even with encouragement and example. One even said, over my shoulder, “I’m not sure I’m creative in that way.” I found this reaction fascinating.
