Will Wright's Spore finally dated for release (demo included)

It’s been lingering on the horizon for so long that many PC gamers have all-but given up on Will Wright’s wildly innovative Spore from ever progressing to retail. Well, ailing Spore fans, prepare to be rocked on the balls of your feet because the game’s release has now been set. Will Wright's Spore finally gets an official retail release date. Credit: Maxis

Will Wright's Spore finally gets an official retail release date. Credit: MaxisAnd, what’s more, suddenly reinvigorated fans don’t have too much longer to wait before finally getting the opportunity to evolve their water-based microbe through to a fully-fledged intergalactic explorer, because Spore will hit stores on September 07, 2008.Published by Electronic Arts and developed by award-winning Maxis (The Sims), Spore will arrive on PC and Mac computer systems, while a handheld version will also be released for Nintendo’s hugely popular DS console. Sadly for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners Spore is one cutting-edge gaming experience that they won’t be enjoying on their consoles; Wii owners are still clinging to hope, which may yet pan out.

Credit: EA/Maxis

“The wait is almost over,” exclaimed Maxis’ chief designer and legendary game developer Will Wright. “We’re in our final stages of testing and polish with Spore, and the team at Maxis can’t wait to see the cosmos of content created by the community later this year.”

In essence, much more than a unique single-player resource management game, Spore will play host to near limitless user-created elements in an online universe where players can evolve life, establish tribes, build civilisations, sculpt entire worlds and even explore galaxies constructed by other gamers from around the world.“Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs,” outlines the game’s official blurb. “Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers.”With the potential to carve a niche as one of the most imaginative and innovative titles to ever grace the gaming industry, Spore has an awful lot of gathered promise to deliver in -- mainly due to the length of time it has remained just out of reach. However, with Will Wright’s impressive game demonstrations ably showing the incredible character editing and gameplay depth ingrained into Spore’s breathtaking design, it’s hard to see it not making good on that promise come September 07.Want to know more? Check out the great Spore demonstration below and/or visit the official Web site by clicking HERE. Count how many times Wright says "um," and "procedural."