Exhibitor: EA/Maxis
Game: Spore
Platform(s): PC
Scheduled Release: Q3 2006
Official Site: www.spore.com

Will Wright, creator of the hugely influential SimCity and The Sims franchises, is attempting to bring life, the universe, and everything to the PC with his latest (and perhaps greatest) videogame venture.

In terms of the simplest possible explanation, Spore, as the name implies, sees the player begin the game with a 'character' that exists at a mere cellular level, swimming about in the primordial soup and slowly evolving through assimilation and consumption until it reaches the next stage in its own growth development. At each point of evolutionary upgrade, the player is allowed to use an in-game editor to graft fresh elements to their character as it moves inexorably up the development ladder. Soon enough, the game expands from its cellular beginnings and sees the character move up onto land, growing legs, feet, arms, teeth, and personality. Here simplistic SimCity aspects are employed as the character - now clearly a creature of some kind depending on the player's editing choices - begins to adapt and proliferate in its environment as both predator and prey, while forming communities with other similar creatures. From here, the game evolves into simple areas of encampment between creature tribes, that can either work together for progress, or against one another for the sake of tribal dominance. Flash forward through the game's structure again, and again, and again, and the basic camps have gone from villages, to towns, to cities, and technology is now a major editing component in terms of progress; though peaceful democracy or ruthless invasion are still the order of the day. Eventually (and this explanation gets there an awful lot quicker than the game itself) the player is able to master space travel and jump in their flying saucer in order to search beyond their home world. Fresh planets, colonisation, new civilisations, unusual cultures, and truly massive opportunities galore await as the immense game world experienced up to this point suddenly shrinks amid the vastness of outer space and the multitude of unexplored worlds. What's more, gamers from around the (real) world can upload their own created civilisations, which will then be available for download for every other Spore player to install within their own ever-expanding galaxy.

That's enough to know by way of attraction. Spore will be huge. Fact. It had the industry picking their collective jaws from the floor at E3 2005, this year will be no different. Console owners can only hope Spore makes the intergalactic journey from PC to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. Anyone in any doubt should look no further than the 35-minute demo video linked below, narrated by Wright himself. You will be hooked, and well before the demo ends... at which point you'll wish there was more.

Spore video: video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8372603330420559198

Also Showing: FIFA World Cup 2006

The Xbox 360 'Road to FIFA World Cup 2006' was generally a big seller but an equally big disappointment. But the mere fact that the official World Cup tournament opens in Germany in around 6 weeks (with or without a certain Mr. Rooney) means that EA's profit margins - regardless of franchise quality, or lack thereof - will be nothing short of massive.

The Dark Horses.

The following is a brief breakdown of some of those other titles that will attract passing attention at E3, but may well unjustly fade from memory in light of the more high-profile offerings:

Exhibitor: Sony
Game: God of War 2
Platform(s): PlayStation 2
Scheduled Release: February 2007
Official Site: www.us.playstation.com/content/ogs/SCUS-97481/site/

The mighty Kratos returns to the PlayStation 2 in this hard-hitting sequel to possibly one of 2005's best but woefully underexposed gaming experiences. Expect more sumptuous visuals, more gruesome action, and more thoroughly godly mayhem.

Exhibitor: Take Two/Rockstar
Game: Table Tennis
Platform(s): Xbox 360
Scheduled Release: May 26
Official Site: www.rockstargames.com/tabletennis

Singular developmental focus on such a simplistic sport by one of the industry's best creative teams, and every ounce of product imbued with the Xbox 360's impressive power outage. No frills. No gimmicks. No bouncing semi-naked beach bunnies. Table Tennis could prove to be a massive forehand winner for Rockstar and Take Two.

Exhibitor: Webzen
Game: Huxley
Platform(s): PC, Xbox 360
Scheduled Release: 2007
Official Site: www.webzengames.com/Game/Huxley/

Based on the book 'Brave New World', Webzen's post-apocalyptic Huxley is an ambitious MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter), and if it delivers on its promises, such as: "Servers will be solely dedicated to accommodate millions of users engaged in fast paced, large-scale combat." And, "Everything a character does in the Huxley world directly affects the success of not only the individual, but also their race and party..." then online FPS fans may be about to get dragged kicking and screaming into the MMO arena. Info is still scant, but Huxley could prove a bit hit come 2007.

Exhibitor: Atari
Game: Alone in the Dark
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Scheduled Release: TBA
Official Trailer: www.e3insider.com/products/?productID=R6WIAJPKYH

The founding father of survival horror is making a comeback - and after the truly abhorrent Hollywood adaptation by the German Ed Wood of modern movies, Uwe Boll, a fresh media incarnation of Alone in the Dark is certainly welcome news. The in-game footage on the official trailer is certainly the stuff of nightmares, but it's still a little too early to tell whether Alone in the Dark will successfully steal the survival horror crown from Resident Evil.

Exhibitor: Codemasters
Game: Sensible Soccer
Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Scheduled Release: Jun 9
Gameplay Clip: www.gamershell.com/download_13381.shtml

With cutely appealing cell-shaded graphics, laughably over-sized heads as standard, and an obvious arcade atmosphere from the off, the re-emergence of Sensible Soccer is perhaps unlikely to test the staying power of genre giants FIFA and Pro Evolution. However, though it's anything but 'sensible' the game's more relaxed and fun-filled approach should secure Sensible Soccer a modest slice of the half-time orange.

In conclusion...

E3 2006 will be a massive few days for everyone involved on the floor of the LA Convention Centre, and also for everyone else glued to the net waiting for the next bombshell announcement. Ferrago will bring you up-to-date bulletins as we get them. In the meantime, we hope this preview goes some way to attuning your gaming senses to the onrushing flood of videogame excitement that 2006/2007 surely holds.

By Stevie Smith

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