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Evolution on screen There is a new computer game out there, called Spore, which takes up on the theory of evolution. Looks like fun and educational, as many such games are, a fact that critics of computer games rarely seem to take on board.
Here is another item about this game.
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Pity it’s so mired with DRM/copy “protection” that the restrictions make it completely unpalatable to anyone who understands the stuff.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/10/spore_drm_amazon_effect/
JP,
One of the things that drives me up the wall is the “computer games rot the mind” meme. Invariably this is uttered by someone who’s last experience was with a Pac Man machine in 1983. Someone who hasn’t played Civ or Sim City IV or a modern flight-sim or anything…
It’s snobbish nonsense and the idea that gaming is “passive” (another common idea) is bloody ridiculous.
Contemporary art has disappeared up it’s own posterior. Cinema is old-hat now. TV is background noise. Pop music is crap these days but games…
Games are this generations culture. They are the finest expression of ourselves right now. They define us the way painting and sculpture defined renaissance Italy. They gave the Nobel Prize to Harold-effing-Pinter. Where’s Sid Meier’s Nobel?
I practically grew-up on Microprose stuff and I have seen one Pinter play and it was shite. Why is literature deemed worthy but gaming isn’t? Why isn’t it discussed on Newsnight Review? What by the way happened to Tom Paulin? I’ll tell ya why it isn’t discussed by these arts luminaries. They all have bad memories of being totally pwned by an 8 year old niece or nephew in Tekken 2.
I’m 35 and I suspect (it always seems to be the case) I’m just below average age for a PC gamer. Yeah, it’s that pathetic and childish. Frankly let’s just close down the schools and have education based on games. It would achieve more than the National sodding Curriculum.
Well, I guess I will have to have a look before I draw any real conclusions, but from what these two articles say it looks more like the game is modelling Intelligent Design rather than straight natural selection.
Of course, it’s evolution that is guided and directed by the person playing the game, who is essentially playing the role of a deity.
Intelligent design advocates (especially if they are of the “theistic evolution” persuasion) will find much to praise in this game.
This(Link) doesn’t seem to think that there is anything redeeming in the game. But then the author is a crackpot of the highest order.
The game itself is quite good, and this (Link)has appeared on the interwebs in the last day or so extolling the virtues of ‘tangential learning’. Something alot of developers would do well to think about.
I am 46 and a serious PC gamer. My PC is a big investment, and I change it out every 2-3 years for the next boffo hardware collection, which I lovingly assemble myself, like a fly fisherman on crack. My budget for a new system is typically $2000, so, spread that out over 2-3 years, plus the cost of several games I play, and the hobby becomes significant. But, not excessive, when compared to, say, skiing in Colorado.
I am not sure what I think about Spore, yet. Single-cell to space-faring sounds like a stretch to me. Give me thousands of hapless minions to command, in games such as Rome: Total War, and I am captivated for months at a time.
And anyone who thinks games are mind-numbing, I challenge you to explore Second Life, where ALL the content is user-created, and tell me that there is not a creative dynamic at play there the likes of which has not been seen before in human experience.
Too bad its an EA venture. I’ll never see it as I have no need for their history of consistantly repackaged junk.
Mired with “protections”? Well, there IS that association with AOL after all. I’m STILL waiting for my refund for that astounding “innovative failure” Majestic.
It’s not like it’s an original idea, and certainly not the first
of it’s kind.
Educational? In spite of itself?
The Adventure Company has been producing games like that for PC for years.
Darryl, I’m not a PC gamer (no interest or time), although I have no problem with those who are. We all get our entertainment in different ways. However, I went to their website and frankly I just can’t see the point of “Second Life”. I mean, if you’re going to play in a fantasy world, shouldn’t it be on another planet or in another time or someplace completely different from normal life? What is the point of having an elaborate “pseudo-earth” which is just like the real thing? Why not just go outside and actually do something real? Or go blow up some digital automobiles?
I tried 2nd life for a while but was struck by the same thought as Laird. For a world where the only limit is the user’s imagination its an awful lot like the real world. Could it be because the really creative people are really creative in reality rather than in the pseudo-reality of 2nd Life?
What we really need is 2nd Liff, where you have to be as surreal and bizarre as possible or you don’t get in.