Spore Creature Creator goes 2-D

The Spore Creature Creator has officially become 2D. Maxis has released Spore Creature Creator 2-D, a new Flash application that lets users experience the creature builder in one less dimension. Available for free at www.spore2d.com, players can create a creature from scratch or import a creature from the Sporepedia. The 2-D creatures users create can also be embedded into social networking pages, and shared with friends via email.

The launch of Spore Creature Creator 2-D comes just weeks before the launch of Spore Hero for the Wii) and Spore Hero Arena for the Nintendo DS on Oct. 6.

Spore Hero, Spore Hero Arena dated for October

Electronic Arts will release Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena to North American retailers on Oct. 6 2009 and internationally on Oct. 9, 2009. Built for the Wii and Nintendo DS, Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena give Nintendo fans a taste of Maxis’ popular new franchise with some platform specific adventures.

Spore Hero is an action-adventure game for the Wii set in a 3D world where players are charged with being hero on a mission to save their home planet from total destruction. Players engage in battles, and solve puzzles and collect and unlock more than 250 new creature parts, all with unique abilities. These parts, which can be used to customize creatures in the Spore Creature Creator, can change the way creatures will play and fight in the world. Players can also utilize their brawling in multiplayer mode against friends.

Spore Hero Arena for DS is an arena-based combat game featuring a story set in the same universe as Spore Hero. Spore Hero Arena takes players on a quest to save planets in their galaxy from an evil force. They’ll do this by creating a unique gladiator hero creature and guide it from planet to planet as they fight enemy creatures, collect new parts, gain upgrades and unlock special abilities. Developed with multiplayer capabilities in mind, Spore Hero Arena also allows players to battle with up to three friends locally or play with a friend over Wi-Fi

Spore Hero will Retail for $49.99 MSRP, while Spore Hero Arena will be available for $29.99

Nintendo-Focused Spore Games Detailed

Maxis today revealed details about Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena - two games built for the Wii and Nintendo DSs. Spore Hero promises an accessible, story-driven action-adventure set in a vibrant 3D world, Spore Hero empowers players to create their own Hero as they embark on a quest to save their new home world from destruction as a dark force threatens the planet. Spore Hero gives players combat, humorous missions, curious puzzles and more. Throughout the game, players will collect more than 250 parts with unique abilities and creatures the way that want.

In Spore Hero Arena players create a unique gladiator Hero creature and guide it from planet to planet as they fight enemy creatures and complete special missions, collecting new parts and abilities, gaining upgrades along the way. In combat, they’ll seek out and defeat each local champion and unlock special abilities that will benefit their Hero. By combining special abilities, parts, and upgrades, players create a fighting style of their own design. Spore Hero Arena will also feature multiplayer capabilities as players can battle with up to three friends locally or play with a friend over Wi-Fi.

Look for both these games later this year.

100 Million Spore Creatures

Since launching the Spore Creature Creator in June 2008, Spore users have created and uploaded 100 Million creations (an average of 307,000 daily) - on the Sporepedia according to figure released by Maxis this morning.

The creator of the 100 millionth creation “may” receive a NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT graphics card, Spore and the upcoming expansion pack Spore Galactic Adventures ( See the official rules www.spore.com ). The 100Millionth creation and the entire collection of player-generated content can be seen at the Sporepedia naturally.

Spore Gets Creepy & Cute

Spore and Spore Creature Creator owners will probably want to pick up the freshly released Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack. The Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack is the first add-on pack for the creature building game for the PC. Available for $19.99 (MSRP) for PC and MAC, Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack gives players more tools to create unique life forms using more than 100 new components. Spore Creepy & Cute Parts includes 60 new creature parts, 48 new paint options and 24 new animations including the robot, hoe-down, moonwalk and more.

Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack requires Spore or the full version of Spore Creature Creator for Mac or PC.

Spore, The Sims Dominate PC Charts

Despite all the Internet drama about DRM, Spore managed to eke out a decent second place showing in North America, right behind the latest The Sims 2 expansion, The Sims 2 Apartment Life. I This is according to NPD Groups retails sales data for the week ending September 6, 2008.

It is interesting to note that the PC charts are being dominated by only two companies this week: Electronic Arts and Activision Publishing. For EA’s part three key franchises have managed to take up 6 slots in the top ten: Spore, The Sims 2 and Crysis. Activision Publishing’s World of Warcraft and Warcraft III Battle Chest filled out the remaining four slots. It’s tough to call Spore a disappointment, though many expected it to be at the top of the heap as soon at was released. I expect that it will have a number one showing in next week’s charts. Full top ten after the break:

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Spore The Vote!

While fans try to contain themselves for a mere seven days in North America and three days in Europe, EA is doing everything it can to make Spore the next big franchise since The Sims. One of the ways it is doing this is with a special contest using its game and the creations of a dozens of celebrities including Stan Lee, Adams West, Elijah Wood and more. Participants created their own species using the Spore Creature Creator and uploaded it to www.Sporevote.com, where fans can then log on, view the creatures and vote for their favorite.

Participants (in alphabetical order), after the jump:

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