News that Electronic Arts' and Will Wright's Spore would be delayed broke yesterday to the surprise of probably no one. This game has already earned worldwide interest because of its maker, but its release has never been nailed down despite years of buzz.

In fact, Spore might be the most popular title that ever wasn't.

Considering the build up for the game, I understand the hesitance to release it before it's "perfect." Wright has a reputation to maintain, after all. As the father of The Sims, any creation he makes is expected to rock the gaming world.

Still, all the delays are starting to make me wonder if Spore isn't just a great big mess.

Guess we'll have to wait until 2008 to find out now.

Once released, the game is expected to be a "god" type title where players create their own worlds from the spore up. It's already won numerous accolades and has a following that includes celebrities.

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Labels: ea, electronic arts, spore, the sims, will wright

Electronic Arts has expanded its popular casual gaming platform, Pogo.com, in the UK and will also launch a German-language service in Europe.

Fans of mind-numbing, but wonderful, games can log on to the UK site here and the German site here to check out the single and multiplayer games EA has up. The free offerings range from puzzle and word games to casino and board.

Vice president and general manager of Pogo, Karen Schulman said in a media release,
“We are ecstatic to bring the Pogo experience and community to Europe. Whether you speak French, German or English, enjoying and relaxing with games is something that we universally share. Pogo players have created an incredibly tight knit community. We are excited to see Pogo grow past the borders of North America.”

In the U.S., Pogo.com draws in about 11 million gamers a month. The UK site sees about 3.2 million monthly since its launch.

It might not be Vanguard, City of Villains, or even EverQuest, but even I have to admit, Pogo is a fun distraction from everyday life and less casual gaming. I have to warn though, Word Whomp is addictive.

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Labels: casual gaming, ea, online games, pogo, pogo.com

Electronic Arts has announced a rather interesting partnership with the Endemol group that would seek to marry television and video games in a hybrid creation. The Virtual Me, as its being billed, will bridge "the divide between traditional TV and videogames."

This brand new production is being created to debut during the next "Big Brother" round.

According to the EA media release, "Virtual Me combines cutting edge avatar creation technology from EA with popular TV formats from Endemol to give consumers a breakthrough way to meet, compete and socialize in online digital worlds. Avatar creation takes a leap forward with a high performing, easy-to-use tool that creates astonishingly life-like cyber-clones, with uniquely customized appearances and identities."

While using the Virtual Me, gamers or viewers, if you will, will be able to participate in virtual versions of hit shows, such as "Deal or No Deal," "Fame Academy" and more.

The web site, VirtualMe.com, is expected to go live in the coming months.

Peter Bazalgette, Chief Creative Officer, Endemol, is quoted as saying, "We’re told that people are starting to spend more time online than they are watching TV. Both markets are now important and this has huge implications for content creators. Our opportunity with Electronic Arts is to develop ideas that fully embrace the way people are consuming entertainment today.”

This does sound a whole lot like the Wii Mii or even MTV's virtual games on steroids, but with EA behind the wheel the result should be interesting to say the least.

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Labels: big brother, ea, endemol, virtual me