Expect a crowd of gamers out there tomorrow morning, noses pressed against the windows of retailers across the country or fingers poised to hit the mouse button for an online order for the long-awaited North American release of "Spore."
It's the brainchild of Will Wright and the design team at Maxis, whose "The Sims" remains the world's top-selling computer game. "Spore" has been eight years in development and promises to usher in a new stage of evolution in gaming -- literally.
Here's how it works: The player creates life forms and then moves up the evolutionary ladder to tribes, civilizations and worlds. The game can be played in five stages: cell, creature, tribe, civilization and space. Every choice the player makes has evolutionary consequences.
Players start with a single-cell creature that can evolve into more advanced life forms, while also creating the world they'll live in. Creations can be shared via the Internet, enabling players to explore worlds and galaxies beyond their own. It's also possible to download other people's creations and tinker with their characteristics.
Even pre-release, thousands of people have been playing with the Spore Creature Creator online, uploading fanciful critters complete with personalities and back stories. (Sample them at www.spore.com/players.)
With Creature Creator, you can generate a brand new digital life form -- adding head, legs, eyes (not limited to two) -- and choose colors. Body parts can be changed in size and placement. You can name you creature, see it in motion and get a dossier of its attributes. Then tinker with your creature's structure, and see if it has what it takes to swim in the gene pool.
My Spore
In the spirit of participatory journalism, I dove into the gene pool and made my first creature with the Spore Creature Creator. Inspired by the image conjured by Republican vie presidential candidate Sarah Palin during her acceptance speech -- "What's the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? Lipstick." -- I tried to come up with something like it.
The result was much more old-school T-rex, with a bird-like structure and a head that's way too large. The Creature Creator site spit back this evaluation for Pit bull lipstickicus: "A meat-eater of so-so attack strength and blurry eyesight." Guess this one needs a little more work.
Celeb creators
It?s nice to know that celebrities are just like us, wasting time on their computers and posting their own "Spore" creations online.?
People can cast their votes for their favorite celebrity "Spore" at www.sporevote.com. Click on their photo to see what they've come up with.
Participants include original TV Batman Adam West, Mt. Lebanon native and billionaire Mark Cuban (with The Cubanator), plus Stan Lee, Elijah Wood, Melissa Joan Hart and others.
On TV
For some handy tips at surviving the world of "Spore," check out the National Geographic Channel special "How to Build a Better Being." The documentary explores the science behind the world of "Spore" and is included with the deluxe edition of the game. TV viewers can catch it Sept. 9 at 10 p.m. and again Sept. 10 at 1 a.m.
Vitals
"Spore" (Electronic Arts Inc.) retails for $49.99. "Spore Galactic Edition" sells for $79.99 and includes two DVDs -- with "The Making of Spore" and a National Geographic Channel documentary called "How to Build A Better Being" -- plua a hardback art book and a poster.
Platforms: PC/Mac, Nintendo DS, mobile phones and iPhone.
ESRB Rating: E10+ for animated blood, comic mischief and fantasy violence.
People are giving their TV sets a rest, but they're not watching less TV. They're now doing about 20 percent of their TV viewing online, according to a study from Integrated Media Management, Inc.
Of that 20 percent, about half are using the Internet as a substitute for their TV connection, and the other half are using it to catch up on missed episodes.
"This is the first single-source passive data to show that the migration from one platform to another is actually occurring -- and it's happening fast," Amanda Welsh, head of research for Integrated Media Management, told Advertising Age.
That's not exactly music to the broadcast industry's ears, but in the next few weeks, TV companies are rolling out various new Web video ventures designed to hold onto that migrating audience. Old media outlets are experimenting with Web video in ways that will enable it to capitalize on new media, without drawing audiences away from their traditional TV sets.
"Blank Slate," a so-called "micro-series," premieres Sept. 9 on TNT. Former Pittsburgher John Harrison is the creator and director of "Blank Slate."
It's an 80-minute crime thriller that will air in 20 four-minute episodes that will run over the next two weeks during "Law & Order" reruns, or you can watch them online at TNT.tv.
"Blank Slate" stars Eric Stoltz as an FBI agent and Lisa Brenner as an amnesiac on death row, who is being used in an experiment in which the memories of the recently dead are implanted in her brain to solve crimes.
If it's successful, the micro-series could serve as a pilot for a conventional TV series.
Five "Blank Slate" episodes will air during each of the two-hour "Law & Order" blocks at 8 and 9 p.m. on Sept. 9, 10, 16 and 17.
Harrison is currently in London, working on "Clive Barker's Book of Blood."
Fox will stream the season premieres of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" and "Fringe" to an exclusive Web audience of college students.
"Terminator" premieres Monday (Sept. 8) at 8 p.m. and the "Fringe" pilot Tuesday (Sept. 9) at 8 p.m. Students watching from college campus connections -- through their school's .edu domain -- will be able to catch them online.
The streaming versions will have pre- and post-show features, including behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and music videos.
www.fox.com/terminator/college
Established producers and directors continue to migrate to Web-only ventures, like "Mr. 10%," a new Web comedy that gives viewers an inside look at the entertainment business
"Mr. 10%" stars "Home Improvement" writer BIlly Riback as Jay Bloomberg, a has-been talent agent who now operates out of coffee shops and who represented clients like Flipper and Gentle Ben in his career heyday. The series follows his attempts get back into the game.
Eric Schwartz plays his assistant. "Mr. 10%"was created by producer/directors Matthew Asner and Danny Gold, along with Riback.
The series features an appearance by actor Ed Asner -- Matthew's dad -- who plays himself as a potential client for Bloomberg. Other celebrity guests are planned for future episodes.
Three episodes are posted, with more scheduled to run this fall.
First Published: September 5, 2008, 9:00 p.m.
