Spore Deserves a Remake/Remaster/Sequel
Spore is a game that challenges convention, is overly ambitious and immensely creative. It is masterpiece, Flaws and all. To some it is poetic that such a game, such a name, has not been tampered, ha...
Forum Discussion
@dblocks I mean they really really should. Spore only failed in a financial sense due to draconian DRM (keep in mind that spore launched in a world before digital distribution on PC was mainstream)
It took EA 2 weeks to remove the DRM and by then most initial interest evaporated, ironically the DRM was so draconian that it meant that even you bought it legitimately, you had to pirate the game anyways, because the DRM wouldn't let you play it.
It was EA's own fault that spore failed. Had EA not had such an obnoxiously strict DRM, it would have been a massive success. I mean, once the DRM was removed, the game started to flourish, albeit severely deminished from the apocalyptic launch.
I'd compare the hype for spore before launch to the hype around Halo 3. It could have been a golden goose so to speak without that DRM.
There are few games that I can recall that have had a terrible launch, seen the end of their development, are close to technological obsolescence and yet are still beloved, played, and supported by a passionate community.
If EA were to remake/remaster spore, I honestly believe it would thrive. Provided they keep the essence of the game intact.
I for one would be willing to pre-order a remastered spore! Something I would not do for any other EA Game.
However as much as I desire a Spore remake/remaster, I do see several obstacles to that becoming reality.
The biggest of which is the closure of Maxis. Spore was being updated up until EA shuttered the studio. A lot of the talent that made Spore have since moved on, and you'd need at least some of main forces behind the game to oversee a remake. Without them it would be likely that such a remake will go down like a lead balloon.
EA would have to be very delicate and measured, two words that haven't described EA for a long time. EA would have to take a risk on the remake in the first place, and likely devoted a large amount of resources on it, there is simply no reason to remake spore without rebuilding it. And the biggest argument against a Spore remake is that if EA fumbles and produces a *, it would kill what remains of the original.
A remaster will suffer from different hurdles but not to different from a remake. Again the biggest issue would be the absence of Maxis and the team that built Spore. But arguably, EA could find a handful of the core forces behind the game, and recruit them to oversee/direct a remaster being done under a different studio.
The biggest challenge for a remake akin to that of the kind @Deathmeat666 mentioned, would be the age of Spore's code. You would pretty much have to develop a "definitive edition" with the same tools Maxis used to develop Spore. Otherwise it would introduce too many issues to be worthwhile from a development perspective.
All that aside however, I am devoutly in favour of a remake/remaster. I am sure that if enough intrest in a spore remake exists, EA would at a minimum, consider the possibility
It took EA 2 weeks to remove the DRM and by then most initial interest evaporated, ironically the DRM was so draconian that it meant that even you bought it legitimately, you had to pirate the game anyways, because the DRM wouldn't let you play it.
It was EA's own fault that spore failed. Had EA not had such an obnoxiously strict DRM, it would have been a massive success. I mean, once the DRM was removed, the game started to flourish, albeit severely deminished from the apocalyptic launch.
I'd compare the hype for spore before launch to the hype around Halo 3. It could have been a golden goose so to speak without that DRM.
There are few games that I can recall that have had a terrible launch, seen the end of their development, are close to technological obsolescence and yet are still beloved, played, and supported by a passionate community.
If EA were to remake/remaster spore, I honestly believe it would thrive. Provided they keep the essence of the game intact.
I for one would be willing to pre-order a remastered spore! Something I would not do for any other EA Game.
However as much as I desire a Spore remake/remaster, I do see several obstacles to that becoming reality.
The biggest of which is the closure of Maxis. Spore was being updated up until EA shuttered the studio. A lot of the talent that made Spore have since moved on, and you'd need at least some of main forces behind the game to oversee a remake. Without them it would be likely that such a remake will go down like a lead balloon.
EA would have to be very delicate and measured, two words that haven't described EA for a long time. EA would have to take a risk on the remake in the first place, and likely devoted a large amount of resources on it, there is simply no reason to remake spore without rebuilding it. And the biggest argument against a Spore remake is that if EA fumbles and produces a *, it would kill what remains of the original.
A remaster will suffer from different hurdles but not to different from a remake. Again the biggest issue would be the absence of Maxis and the team that built Spore. But arguably, EA could find a handful of the core forces behind the game, and recruit them to oversee/direct a remaster being done under a different studio.
The biggest challenge for a remake akin to that of the kind @Deathmeat666 mentioned, would be the age of Spore's code. You would pretty much have to develop a "definitive edition" with the same tools Maxis used to develop Spore. Otherwise it would introduce too many issues to be worthwhile from a development perspective.
All that aside however, I am devoutly in favour of a remake/remaster. I am sure that if enough intrest in a spore remake exists, EA would at a minimum, consider the possibility
Yeah the DRM had quite a significant amount of stigma attached to it. A Spore 2 with modern graphics in a 64 bit process would be very welcome.
Realistically though, most of the team has left. It wasn't looking good in 2009 when Will Wright left the team, then over-time figures like MaxisCactus left as well. The team behind Spore deserves its own story, the animation was revolutionary and is severely underappreciated. The people behind the game had a lot of passion, and Galactic Adventures is the best DLC/Expansion pack released in gaming history period.
I think a 'Spore 2' is definitely on the table if the right people are found again.
