Comments on: Is Spore a Game or a Toy?

By: Thomas D.

Thomas D. — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:00:42 +0000

I think it is important when it comes to market analysis. See, Sean Malstrom to me is a perfect example of this: He views “hardcore” and “casual games” as being not only opposites, but bent on destroying each other. I honestly can’t see why and he never explains. You can only see things this way if you think games and toys are competing in the same market (which, given their different target demographics is ridiculous imho).
But from analysts it goes to game companies who think that there is “gaming” which is really unified and thus “gaming” becomes more and more unified via self-fullfilling prophecy.

By: Frantic-Sheep

Frantic-Sheep — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:42:01 +0000

It’s both to be honest. Sure it is a toy as you can use it to play around, build things and see it evolve. It is a game because of the game rules and the goals. I’m only in the tribal phase yet, but its clearly a goal in ‘collect this, evolve, migrate to your new nest, wipe out that tribe or make communication’ etc. I don’t know if the game has a clear ending, but I assume you can ‘finish’ it :).

By: Juuso Hietalahti

Juuso Hietalahti — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:56:19 +0000

Good points guys. Angus says an interesting point “Toy. There’s no particular goal”. I suppose that’s something required from a game…

Anyway – agree with you guys on the fact whether it’s a game or a toy doesn’t matter, as long as it’s fun.

Neat concept nevertheless.

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:05:16 +0000

I believe it to be a toy, though it does have game qualities. We have enjoyed playing with the character creator, and look forward to playing with the full version when it is released.
Actually if I were the shady type I would just download the leaked copy. I feel that the authors deserve to get paid for their work, and I plan to buy the full version when it is released. Thanks for such a great post.

By: Angus

Angus — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:06:36 +0000

Toy. There’s no particular goal, even though there’s a progression of sorts. There are rules and structure to the world, but that’s true of a rubix cube as well.

That makes it no less awesome. I’m not sure why we care about the distinction. You are being digitally entertained.

By: Thomas D.

Thomas D. — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:16:56 +0000

Toy. I’m glad that seemingly, finally, people start to realize that it’s not a game just because it’s interactive entertainment. This is like saying something is a soap opera just because you can watch it on TV.

Will Wright always had a toy-approach to “games” (often enough annoying me with his statements about games which I felt he knows nothing about because he does not do games, he does toys), so this is no surprise at all.