EA Netherlands has invited us recently to go to Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. There we went to see DarkSpore behind closed doors, at the EA Business Lounge, for a very exclusive presentation. Our preview is now online!

Read our DarkSpore preview!

We also got presentations for The Sims 3 Late Night and The Sims Medieval. You can find previews for those games at the SimsNetwork Gamescom 2010 Special.

Here are screenshots and artworks from the new game Darkspore!

There were rumors going around that Darkspore was going to be released today. Thanks to Simprograms for the heads up about the Darkspore website. I went to search online and found an official press release. It's definitely interesting.

EA REVEALS DARKSPORE, A NEW SCI-FI ACTION ROLE-PLAYING GAME IN DEVELOPMENT FROM MAXIS STUDIO
Darkspore to Introduce Innovative Character Customization, Gameplay Mechanics and Online Play to Genre

Guildford, UK – July 20, 2010 – MaxisTM, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) studio, today announced the next project in its award-winning portfolio of PC games: DarksporeTM, an online, science-fiction action role-playing game, is currently in development for an early 2011 launch. Darkspore is rich in action and fiction, and is being written and developed by some of the most talented minds in the video game industry.

“Darkspore is inspired in part by the award-winning creature editor tech of Spore, but also in large part from the team’s own passion for gaming and prior experience,” said Lucy Bradshaw, General Manager of Maxis Studio. "The team has combined these inspirations to produce a unique take on the action RPG genre.”

Darkspore will feature dynamic, fast-paced action as players battle across alien worlds to save the galaxy from the mutated forces of Darkspore in a four-player co-operative and full single-player campaign, as well as intense multiplayer battles. In order to defeat the malicious Darkspore, players will need to collect an arsenal of living weapons - genetic heroes with different combat abilities - and upgrade them with tens of thousands of collectible body parts and armor.

Electronics Arts has a blockbuster in their hands, if it concerns the games, created by Will Wright. Everybody knew it after the start of Spore (PC), there will be an addittion for the consoles and handhelds.
Last year EA entered the Nintendo DS with Spore Creator, a nice start. Reviews were good, but the Spore-gamer wasn't happy. Spore Creator in 2D couldn't compete with his big brother on the PC.
This year EA listened to the complaints and launched Spore Hero Arena on Wii and DS. This is our review of the version on the DS.

Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena can now be found in US stores! Read the press release below.

EA has launched a 2D version of the Spore Creature Creator to promote the upcoming Spore Hero for the Wii, and Spore Hero Arena for the DS. With the flash applet you can create your own creature, using various parts. It's similar to the full 3D version of the Creature Creator, except for the Test Drive mode. This has been changed into a kung-fu game where you train your creature to become great at "Spore-Fu". By swinging your creature's limbs you destroy incoming targets, gain points and proceed through the levels. It's all easy to pick up and get acquainted with. As an added bonus, you can save your creature as PNG file, send an e-card of your creation and even load up your own (or somebody else's) creatures from Sporepedia. The 2D version has 250 body parts to choose from.

The game can be found at www.spore2d.com, more details are in the press release, behind the Read More link.

DeKDeS created a DNA challenge for Spore a long time ago. But it's now available in English on our forums! Go check it out, click on the image below to read the topic.

News got out this week that several people at Maxis were laid off last Wednesday, in order to "focus the business" and to "focus Maxis." While the studio will remain committed to the Spore franchise - with Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena as main upcoming games - they will have to move on with less people on the team. An EA spokesperson says this is more or less natural fluctuation of a games studio's size, which depends on business conditions. All layoffs are said to have taken place at the Emeryville based headquarters of Maxis. More details are at Kotaku.

Thanks to Sims3Nieuws for spotting the news.

DeKDeS was so kind to create a video featuring my TARDIS space ship!