Computer gamers around the world have been eagerly exploring the new game Spore, recently released by the team that created other hits including The Sims. In the new game, players watch life develop and evolve—from single-celled organisms to starfaring civilizations. In this segment, we’ll talk about Spore and its model of the evolutionary process. How close is the game to the way evolution really works—and what were its designers’ goals in creating Spore? We’ll be talking with Will Wright, the game’s creator, and an evolutionary biologist who has played the game.
Segment Guests
Richard Prum
Richard Prum is the curator of ornithology and head curator of vertebrate zoology in the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He previously chaired Yale’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Will Wright
Will Wright is the chief designer at MAXIS and creator of Spore, a SIMS, SimCity game. He’s based in Emeryville, California..
Meet the Producer
About Christopher Intagliata
@cintagliataChristopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.