Spore Spawns Sims-Sized Expectations

Spore will face scary expectations when the one-of-a-kind computer game goes on sale next month, CNET reports. Electronic Arts has poured untold millions into it; fans of Will Wright's last all-new creation, The Sims—the best-selling game of all time—hungrily await a new diversion; and analysts ask if gamers will glom onto the premise of Spore, which offers five games in one.

Spore gamers will get a complex tool box to design species and play them through five stages, from cellular growth to interplanetary adventure. More than 2.5 million have already downloaded a demo to cook up creatures, which have been integrated in the game. Now Will Wright, EA, and 92 full-time workers hope that 3 years of hype will pay off. "The expectations are very high," one industry analyst said. (More Spore stories.)