Last week in my post about the evolution of entertainment I used a quote from Will Wright, the co-founder of Maxis, who said “…I think the most important thing that computers do for us…is that they extend our imagination.”  And Mr. Wright and his team of programmers have indeed created a computer generated world that extends our imagination, while also being a world that grows and thrives by virtue of how imaginative its users are.  This is the world of Spore, a game that is being developed for PC, Nintendo DS, iPhone, and with plans underway for the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360.

In Spore, players control a species and its evolution from a basic unicellular organism, to being an advanced civilization that roams the stars.  The direction you take your species in is entirely up to the user, and this open ended world is expected to provide a sim-like approach on a monumentally large scope; most importantly, the world you create is uniquely yours. It gets even more Wikinomics-esque though: the creatures and worlds that players create will be linked together and able to be discovered by, and interact with, user-generated content from around the world. It goes without saying that this game dynamic is perfect for a generation that embraces having the freedom to do what they want in a way that they want. The ability to customize every aspect of the game speaks to the developers’ understanding of this generation of gamers, who will invest parts of themselves into the game, and who will in turn interact with other people from within the community.

Spore has a September launch date for Europe and North America, but on June 17, Maxis, an Electronic Arts Studio, launched an early sneak peak of one of the major game elements – a creature creator.  By downloading this creature creator anyone is able to create their own unique species, with limitless possible variations. In fact, the creature creator was so popular that one million creatures were created by June 25, nine days after its release.  By going to the Spore website, you can see other people’s creatures and upload your own.

Why would Maxis release the creature creator before the release? What better way to sell a game than to let users experience a major aspect of it beforehand. Trial versions of games are nothing new, but I would argue that by releasing an experiential component of the game before it is released (most trial versions come out after the game’s release), it rewards interested people who have been following the development of the game.  These people often crave ANY new information or opportunity to get involved, and this demo toolset provides them with a chance to be a part of the game development and participate. Additionally, if there are any bugs, they can be resolved before the game’s official launch, and in this case, Maxis/EA is even selling a full version of the creature creator for $10, purchased online or in stores (the downloadable version has 25% functionality). Rather than push new content out to the public, they are allowing people to interact with Spore and use the toolset to express themselves in a way that builds a bond with Spore.  Who wouldn’t want to play the game and see their little species wander around after they’ve invested themselves in a creature?

So my question for you is: what does your creature look like?

If you’d like to share it with the blog, family or friends, upload your picture here and post the link.