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IGN: So what's been going with Spore?

Patrick Buechner: We've been hard at work in the Emeryville offices. Right now the game is at its Alpha stage of development, which for us means that you can play the game through from your humble beginnings as a little blob of eyeballs all the way out though your species exploration and colonization and conquest of space. All of the game's editors, the tools we use to let the players make their own game content, are working so are some of those big technical features of the game such as the pollination process which allows the players to share their content.

IGN: So what are you guys working on now?

Patrick Buechner: Well, the game is looking really good and can be played all the way through so the bigger technical challenges are behind us. Right now the team is focused on polishing and tuning that experience. A lot of what we're doing is putting players in front of Spore and allowing them to play the game all the way through for several hours. We watch them play, we talk to them about their experience including what they liked or what they didn't like. Then we take that feedback and use it as part of the tuning process.

IGN: And what kind of feedback have you been getting?

Patrick Buechner: Overall, it's been extremely positive. A lot of these people have heard of Spore, but a lot of them haven't heard of Spore and those that haven't are really surprised by the whole concept of the game. We're really seeing that the players are loving the ability to create their own content whether it's creatures or vehicles or spaceships or vehicles. We're not completely surprised by how much people are enjoying it and how easy it is to use -- it always has been a core feature of the game -- but it is pretty rewarding to see them really getting into those features.

IGN: Is there anything that players have specifically been having problems with that you've had to think about and fix?

Patrick Buechner: No, no problems overall. For the most part everyone that we've put in front of Spore have been "gamers" either hardcore PC gamers or Sims players so they all have some familiarity with playing games. I think what all of them are trying to cope with Spore is just the epic nature of it. You know, where one game might have one kind of gameplay style, Spore has multiple gameplay styles. From, as Will [Wright] has described it, from a Pac-Man like experience at the beginning of the game to more of an explore, exterminate, and colonize type of game towards the end. So there are a lot of genres that are intermixed there. So you have to adapt your play style to all of those different experiences.

IGN: Do you feel any special pressure with this game since it's probably one of the more important titles to be announced in the last few years for all of its community features and creative tools?

Patrick Buechner: Of course, any development team feels pressure. I think expectations for Spore are really high and I think what this team is really focused on is creating a game that meets or exceeds the expectations of players and of Will's original vision and their own goals. I think it's really great to be working for a company that will allow us the time and the resources in order to get that game experience right. So definitely there's a lot of pressure but members of this team has been under the same kind of pressure before to deliver The Sims and it's the kind of pressure that they like.

IGN: How different is the game from the original vision of what was originally shown at GDC?

Patrick Buechner: I think what's pretty startling is how close the game is tracking to that original demo and that original vision. I think when the press gets a chance to actually play it at the Games Convention in Leipzig they'll be surprised how closely tied it is to that original demo.

IGN: So you guys are going to Leipzig instead of E3 this year. Why did you pass on E3 and pick Germany instead?

Patrick Buechner: E3 is a great event especially when you're unveiling a new game or have some other big news to share. EA obviously has a lot of big games at the show already. Spore has shown well at E3 in the past. It won Best of Show and Best Original Game. Whenever you're going into one of these big events, game developers have to weigh the positive benefits of media and industry coverage to the cost of taking the team down to the show, creating a special demo, and having producers offline for a while so we, in the case of Spore, have already been to E3 and we felt that we should keep the team focused on development. As well we already have this commitment to go to the Games Convention in Leipzig which is Europe's biggest videogame event and that's at the end of August and we didn't want to have multiple events to work towards. The press will be able to play the game at the show behind closed doors.

IGN: Is it going to be a controlled demo or will everyone be able to do whatever they like?

Patrick Buechner: We don't have our demo format nailed down yet, but the press will definitely get the chance to put their hands on more than just the editors, they'll definitely be able to play the game.

IGN: Until then, how do your fans go about getting more information? They're probably a bit starved right now.

Patrick Buechner: The community can go to spore.com and sign up for the newsletter and new communications will be coming in the near future.

IGN: You're also officially announcing the DS version of Spore.

Patrick Buechner: We will have a DS version of Spore around the same time we launch the PC version.

IGN: What makes the DS version different? Obviously there have to be some changes.

Patrick Buechner: [Laughs] Yeah it's going to be just a little bit smaller. The DS version is being designed from the ground up for the platform. We'll have a lot more details shortly but it is focused on the creature portion of the game so you won't be playing the whole evolutionary arc that's in the PC version. It's much more focused. But creation and customization is still a key focus of the DS game.

IGN: Who's developing it?

Patrick Buechner: Maxis in conjunction with Amaze Entertainment.

IGN: Will the game be compatible at all with the PC version as far as creature design or the like?

Patrick Buechner: No, it won't be.

IGN: You said the DS is going to be shipping the same time as the PC. When is that exactly? There's been some confusion lately…

Patrick Buechner: So as our new CEO John Riccitiello said in his first call with Wall Street analysts back in May was that Spore was tracking toward the cusp of our fiscal year which ends in March of 2008. For business purposes we weren't going to play the launch in this fiscal year and so nothing has changed since then. It's still around that time frame but for business purposes it's being planned for next fiscal year, which begins April 1st.

IGN: So April 1st, 2008, or beyond.

Patrick Buechner: Yeah, but I wouldn't say too far beyond.

IGN: Are you planning on putting out some kind of demo or beta program?

Patrick Buechner: We are going to release the creature editor portion of Spore in advance of the core game release. Probably several weeks before. We know there are a lot of people anticipating Spore and we appreciate their patience. We really want to give them the game that they're waiting for.

IGN: Sounds good, thanks for your time, Patrick!