Latest Spore Stories
The TorrentFreak weblog has named Will Wright's evolutionary epic video game "Spore" the most pirated PC game of 2008.The site used BitTorrent data, the peer-to-peer sharing protocol, to compile a list of the 10 most downloaded PC games in 2008.Since Spore's release in September 2008, there have been at least 1.7 million illegal downloads, according to the site. The game's maker, Electronic Arts (EA), said it sold nearly 2m copies of the game.The Sims 2, Will Wright's other big-selling title,...
Biologists at The University of Nottingham and University College Dublin have announced a major breakthrough in our understanding of the sex life of a microscopic fungus which is a major cause of death in immune deficient patients and also a cause of severe asthma.The discovery of a sexual cycle in the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus is highly significant in understanding the biology and evolution of the species and will shed new light on its ability to adapt to new environments and its...
Sales of organic products are booming: Consumers want their food to be untainted. To avoid the use of fungicides yet nevertheless protect plants from disease, researchers have developed a method that involves bombarding seeds with electrons to kill fungal spores and viruses.Whereas a few years ago, organic products were sold exclusively by small health-food stores, they can now be found in the majority of supermarkets. A growing number of consumers prefer to buy organic food that has been...
Video game maker Electronic Arts has loosened copyright protection for the newest release of its game Spore after complaints about a restriction that meant the game could only be registered to three computers.The company has since raised that restriction to five computers, which it says should account for all legitimate uses.The company has also addressed the complaint that each copy of the game only allows one player to use it.Thousands of Spore enthusiasts posted one-star reviews on...
By City News Service Two insects and a plant disease foreign to the United States were intercepted at Los Angeles International Airport and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday. A shipment of Italian ceramic tile inspected by Customs and Border Protection officials Sept. 4 at the ports contained a wood- boring beetle that can eat and destroy wood, according to the agency. The tile was fumigated to avoid further spreading of the beetle....
The long-anticipated video game Spore is falling under widespread criticism, and has scored surprisingly low in Amazon.com user ratings with a score of only one star out of five.The much-awaited game, developed by Simms creator Will Wright, lets players use tools to help their creations evolve from single celled organisms to highly civilized creatures.Electronic Arts (EA) released the game for sale in Britain on September 5, and on Sunday in North America.Since then, hundreds have complained...
By FRAZIER MOORE of The Associated Press Humans might not be exactly kissing cousins with fruit flies. But we have more in common with them than we might expect. We and fruit flies, too, have eight "master" genes that call the shots for what the tens of thousands of other genes should do in building a body. "All animals, including humans, have a very similar set of basic genes, and yet we're so different," says geneticist Michael Levine in the documentary "How to Build a Better Being."...
A COMPUTER game has been launched in which users play God. Spore, by the creators of The Sims, allows gamers to create a single- celled creature which evolves during a quest to conquer outer space. (c) 2008 Sunday Mail; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
Video gamemaker Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is letting players of its new creature-building game "Spore" create potential new areas of business for the company. "Spore" is the brainchild of Will Wright, the man who designed the Sims games that lets players create and guide virtual worlds. Since its inception, the Sims has spawned sequels, spin-offs and expansion packs that have sold over 100 millions worldwide. But some believe "Spore", which EA spent $50 million to develop, will...
By Carl Zimmer By day, Thomas Near studies the evolution of fish, wading through streams in Kentucky and Mississippi in search of new species. By night, Near, an assistant professor at Yale University, is a heavy- duty gamer, steering tanks or playing football on his computer. On a recent afternoon, his two lives came together. On his laptop swims a strange fishlike creature, with a jaw that snaps sideways and skin the color of green sea glass. As Near taps the keyboard, it wiggles and...
