No joke, Darkspore will not be released on March 29th after all.  Looks like Maxis has pushed the release date back until April 26 to fine-tune the game from the beta (plus, hopefully to market the game as I have seen zero advertising on it).  Read all about it on the Darkspore forum (or below):

Thanks to everyone who has participated in the Darkspore beta! We’ve received really positive feedback about the game, as well as some suggestions of things you’d like to see. We’re really close, but in order to make the best game possible, the team has decided to take additional time to incorporate more of your feedback. Darkspore will now be available in NA April 26 and across EU/APAC beginning April 28. The beta will not be available this weekend, but we’re excited to announce that we’ll have more betas where you’ll have a chance to experience new game updates. We’re also planning an open beta for everyone in April, so you can invite any friends to play with you to check out the game and have the opportunity to provide further feedback. Thanks again for your support, and we’ll see you in the game!

Posted via MaxisMikeP