I believe I read in the Gaming Steve transcript, you either allow Internet downloads or you don't. The game itself will come with a local database of races to populate the galaxy, if you want a truly single player experience.

I'm still cautiously neutral on whether I want my galaxy full of elephant-lobster and butt-asses.

The way I see it, in the long term you could easily be seeing just as much cool stuff as you do stupid crap. The sort of people who live to create things like wang monsters aren't the sort of people who would dedicate themselves to this thing long-term. As time goes on, I think that more and more of the playerbase will put some real effor into their creations.

yeah, like penis-butt monsters!

I'm absolutely ecstatic about the whole terraforming aspect. Some of my most favored of sci-fi books were entirely about terraformation. Building Harlequin's moon and Rainbow Mars (okay so Rainbow Mars wasn't about terraforming, but it was about interplanetary travel, surviving on a foreign planet, etc.) to be more precise.

Well, I'm stoked. Of course, I'm going to have to get a new computer to run it (my computer is ancient and it is thoroughly corrupted by my influence so that I am the only one who can use it - all others get BSODs on startup) but the POTENTIAL behind this is just too good to pass up.

I just hope it doesn't wind up decidedly underwhelming and aggravating, as did Black & White, decidedly limited, like Populous, or largely pointless, like The Sims.

I'd like, for once, a God-game where you can actually feel like you've accomplished something, yet it's free-form enough that you can set your own goals. This looks like it might just deliver on that.

EDIT: as a sidenote, I'm unable to watch the video. So far, my computer has *never* successfully ran an .avi or .mov file, no matter what codecs or versions of Quicktime are involved, so I only know what I've been told about this.

I wonder if they'll be smart enough to have a third option for Spore -- internet downloadable races, but only ones approved by Spore's head honchos. In other words, get Will Wright and his buddies to glance at some race archetypes being created throughout the interweb. Include the ones that are creative and worth inclusion, and don't include the penis monsters. Seems an easy enough solution to me, it can't be that difficult to casually monitor new races and 'pick and choose.'

Theoretically yes Solid Snake. It shouldn't be too hard...but theory and reality don't often see eye to eye. Remember, people eventually will be running entire galaxies (those that actually have the patience and devotion to go that far). Ubdoubtely hundreds upon hundreds of people will obtain this game. There will be dozens upon dozens of planets to inhabit. Now the thousands of races that will increase and an exponential rate would just be too damned overwhelming for any sized team.

Sure Will Wright and his chums could pick a dozen or so of their favorite player made races, but I'm sure Mr. Wright could better spend time on his own projects.

About creating new species: can you create your own content in an editor somewhere as extras and have the game randomly add it in along with other players content? I know once you get your spaceship you can go around making things up and putting them wherever you want, but I'd like to see one of my own creations just crop up somewhere unexpectedly.

You wouldn't see it crop up in your own game, the idea is it crops up in someone elses.

Dang dude, I may have to get this. Armies of werewolves dude, armies of werewolves.

Or maybe armies of Grim Reapers? Try beating DEATH itself, bizach!

Yea, this'll be good. :P