Spores Illustrated alerts us to an English interview with Will Wright on a German site for a television station called 3sat. Unfortunately, its format is mp4, which some have trouble opening.
For anyone having problems opening mp4 videos, here is a solution. I used this guide at AfterDawn.com (scroll down to "The Easiest Method" and their software VLC for Windows (they also have links to the Mac and Linux versions at the end of that section). I'm not endorsing this software and it's use at your own risk--I'm not responsible! But it's what I used to open the mp4 and watch the video (plus it's free). If you still can't view the video and want to know what it's about, read on.
[Spoiler Alert! If you want to watch the vid yourself, don't read below!]
Back to the interview--it starts at about 1:50 into the video and runs to the end (14 minutes or so). Will talks about Nasa wanting games to get people interested in space sciences. He showed them Spore as a way to get people exposed to astronomy in a "toy galaxy." Nostalgic about SimCity and The Sims user communities, Will explains how he wants the communities to fit right into Spore--Spore uses all player generated content, and the ways to access it and blog or YouTube about it (is YouTube a verb yet?) fit perfectly into the game.
An open world within the game is the biggest change to games that he's seen since he's started working in the industry--games used to be "on rails" where you had to get x to do y and follow a preset track. Now players are given a lot more freedom. Most of the games created by the games industry aren't about contemporary reality, and Will feels they need to be to get widespread appeal. The Wii is his example--it reaches a new demographic because it makes games accessable to new gamers. If the user forgets about the controls, she will become immersed in the game--so, no awkward brainwave helmets for Will! He also pointed out that good games are malleable and can mold around the player--you can make the game become about yourself and your interests. When asked about the internet's utility for games, Will agreed that online is a great tool, but it's not the only thing that matters.
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In closing, here is a link to probably my favorite cartoon (about Spore) in the whole world!
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