I am stoked for Spore, the latest creation by Will Wright.

I had to pleasure of hearing Will Wright speak on the subject of emergence and how it affects his game design. He uses cellular automata to model addictive gameplay and then builds graphics and control schemes on top of the cellular automata game from the bottom up. It’s an intelligent way to design a simulation game, and a great way to assume entertaining gameplay (a characteristic typically overlooked by game designers today).

Here is some links that have been quenching my thirst for Spore hype:

• A lengthy piece in the New Yorker on Will Wright
• Will Wright on Game Design
• GigaOm coverage on Spore (Great links in this piece too)
  
• Official Spore Website with gameplay videos
• Robin Williams Demoing Spore