Why, Blog, Why?

Those of you who know my gaming habits can attest to my great attraction to games that have significant extended play or replay value. I figure if I'm going to drop $50+ dollars on a game, I want to enjoy it for a long time before having to go out and buy another one. This is particularly true since parenthood as I can't devote a ton of time upfront to a game, but rather prefer to play it out over time. The Sim line of games from Maxis is a great example of this. They can be played for years, literally, as long as you keep investing in the game environment. Maxis has long been rumored to be creating a new variant of the Sim line of games called Spore that deals with a broader environment of game play. This video introduction to the game is a bit dated (February 2006), but I only just came across it and was blown away by the expansiveness of the game. The game starts by controlling a tiny Protist-like creature. Through the process of evolution you eventually "upgrade" your creature to something more complex, eventually creating small tribes of these creatures then growing them into competing and trading cities. This is just the tutorial for the rest of the game, though. Watch the video to see just how amazing this game could be. For this kind of game-play value I could be easily persuaded to pay double a typical game price.