Skip to Content
Uncategorized

Playing God

Will Wright’s hugely successful game The Sims let players shape the lives of virtual humans; his new game, Spore, lets them control the universe. Spore has five levels, following a species’ evolution from single-celled organisms to technologically advanced space explorers, but players can begin at any level. In the game’s editor mode, players design their own creatures. The creatures’ movements and behaviors are then determined by algorithms that analyze the structure of their bodies. At the lower levels, players help their creatures feed and hunt; at the higher levels, they control the creatures’ social organization and their built environment. Spore comes out September 7.

Courtesy of EA

Product: Spore

Cost: Less than $50

Source: www.spore.com

Company: Electronic Arts

Other products in this section:

Cheaper Solar Power

Mail-Order Genetic Screening

Mouse for 3-D Navigation

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build

“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

Learning to code isn’t enough

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google

Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.