Will Wright, one of the of the great American gamemakers, has always produced titles (Sim City and The Sims, to name just two) that have been unique and innovative. (While I skipped out on The Sims, I was completely addicted to Sim City back in the day, and it remains a favorite.)

Will Wright’s upcoming Spore, which allows gamers to evolve life forms from simple cells to complex organisms and beyond, is one of the most anticipated games in recent memory. In a new article, The New York Times, whose video game coverage is becoming smarter than most game-centric sites, discusses the positives and negatives of the new title:

Unlike the typical shoot-them-till-they’re-all-dead video game, Spore was strongly influenced by science, and in particular by evolutionary biology. Mr. Wright will appear in a documentary next Tuesday on the National Geographic Channel, sharing his new game with leading evolutionary biologists and talking with them about the evolution of complex life.

Evolutionary biologists like Dr. Near and Dr. Prum, who have had a chance to try the game, like it a great deal. But they also have some serious reservations. The step-by-step process by which Spore’s creatures change does not have much to do with real evolution. “The mechanism is severely messed up,” Dr. Prum said.

Nevertheless, Dr. Prum admires the way Spore touches on some of the big questions that evolutionary biologists ask. What is the origin of complexity? How contingent is evolution on flukes and quirks? “If it compels people to ask these questions, that would be great,” he said.

Video Games