TWiG 2008-09-01: The Coming of the Spore

Quick — think of the last Spore-related article you read. It could have been yesterday, it could have been last week, but think about it: What was it about?

It makes me sad to even type this, but it’s my estimation that for something around 90% of you, the last Spore-related article you read was about penis monsters, mammary trolls and the like. The fallout of releasing the Spore creature creator almost three months before the full game was released is that every sexually-challenged goofball out there who thought he or she was being absolutely hilarious (RoFL WoFLs!) decided to make a monster that looks like human sexual organs. Some of the more enterprising souls released the results to YouTube. In fact, the “Sporn” phenomenon has grown so quickly and placed in such a prominent position in the mainstream coverage of the game thus far as to have all but completely overshadowed the incredibly ambitious nature of the full-length game.

The mere idea of Spore has been making gamers, particularly PC gamers, drool for some years now, and it’s unfortunate that the pre-release press for the game is so focused on the juvenile. Still, if Spore even approaches the mere idea of itself, the press post Sunday’s release should focus on the changing face of the simulation genre as a whole. Spore is the one to watch this week, maybe the one to watch this year.

Elsewhere, there’s a whole pile of releases for the Xbox 360 this week, including Infinite Undiscovery, Square Enix’s next venture into non-franchise role-playing. Given the incredible response to The World Ends With You, Infinite Undiscovery has a lot to live up to. Facebreaker looks like it could be good for a laugh or three, and hey — some people actually liked Vampire Rain, so maybe PS3 players have something of their own to look forward to.

So what are you picking up this week? Scope out the release list, check out the Spore vid, and let us know in the comments! Oh, and enjoy your Labor Day!

Xbox 360:

Infinite Undiscovery (02 September)

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (02 September)

Warhammer: Battle March (02 September)

NFL Head Coach 09 (03 September)

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball (Xbox Live Arcade, 03 September)

Shred Nebula (03 September)

FaceBreaker (05 September)

Wii:

Ford Racing: Off Road (01 September)

PS3:

Vampire Rain: Altered Species (02 September)

NFL Head Coach 09 (03 September)

FaceBreaker (05 September)

DS:

PictoImage (02 September)

Spore Creatures (07 September)

PC:

Combat Mission: Shock Force – Marines (01 September)

OPERATION Mania (01 September)

FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage (02 September)

Ford Racing: Off Road (02 September)

GTR Evolution (02 September)

My Dream Job: Babysitter (04 September)

Spore (07 September)

PS2:

Some “Greatest Hits” Re-release business

PSP:

Nah.