IEEE Spectrum September, 2008 - 2

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EdITor IN chIEF

Susan hassler, s.hassler@ieee.org

ExEcUTIVE EdITor

Glenn Zorpette, g.zorpette@ieee.org

MANAGING EdITor

Elizabeth A. Bretz, e.bretz@ieee.org

harry Goldstein (online), h.goldstein@ieee.org;
Jean Kumagai, j.kumagai@ieee.org; Samuel K. Moore (News),
s.k.moore@ieee.org; Tekla S. Perry, t.perry@ieee.org; Philip E.
ross, p.ross@ieee.org; david Schneider, d.a.schneider@ieee.org;
William Sweet, w.sweet@ieee.org
SENIor EdITorS

SENIor ASSocIATE EdITor

Steven cherry (resources),

s.cherry@ieee.org
Sally Adee, s.adee@ieee.org; Erico Guizzo,
e.guizzo@ieee.org; Joshua J. romero (online),
j.j.romero@ieee.org; Sandra Upson, s.upson@ieee.org
ASSocIATE EdITorS

ASSISTANT EdITor

Willie d. Jones, w.jones@ieee.org

SENIor coPy EdITor
coPy EdITor

Joseph N. Levine, j.levine@ieee.org

Michele Kogon, m.kogon@ieee.org

EdITorIAL rESEArchEr

t was one of those 'Oh, wow'
moments," says IEEE Spectrum
Contributing Editor David
Kushner [right], recalling his
first encounter with the new
computer game Spore. Due to be
released this month and featured
in Kushner's article in this issue,
Spore is the brainchild of legendary
game designer Will Wright [left].
Kushner has been a devoted fan of
Wright's ever since 1993, when he
began playing SimCity 2000.
What sets Wright's work
apart, Kushner says, is his ability
to conjure up those "Oh, wow"
moments-lots of them. In SimCity,
players explore the dynamics
of what makes a city thrive,
creating uncannily believable
and compelling scenarios.
"You wouldn't think urban planning
and laying down pipe would make
for a great computer game," he says.
But they did. The game even became
part of Kushner's courtship of his
wife, Sue: "We spent months having
fun building this city together as

we were building our relationship."
They battled bad plumbing and
broken roads, which served as
good practice for life in Brooklyn,
N.Y. Eventually, their virtual city's
inhabitants got to live in a big space
tower, so the two won't complain if
life continues to mimic art.
When Kushner visited Wright's
studio earlier this year, he got a
sneak peek at Spore's Creature
Creator, the game's built-in
editing tool, which lets you sculpt
a fanciful new life-form out of a
featureless, bean-shaped blob.
Kushner was instantly hooked.
"Wright's riffing on some basic
themes of play, going back to Silly
Putty and Play-Doh and Mr. Potato
Head," he says. "It's at once new
and yet really familiar, with that
whimsical quality he's known for."
In the coming months Kushner
fully expects to spend many happy
hours creating creatures and playing
Spore. And that's okay, because as a
veteran computer-game writer, he
actually gets paid to play.
o

citing articles in ieee spectrum
IEEE Spectrum publishes two editions. In the international edition, the abbreviation INT appears at the
foot of each page. The North American edition is identified with the letters NA. Both have the same
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should include the issue designation. For example, the first Update page is in IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 45,
no. 9 (INT), September 2008, p. 7, or in IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 45, no. 9 (NA), September 2008, p. 11.

na * ieee spectrum * september 2008

Sharon Basco

ASSISTANT ProdUcEr, SPEcTrUM rAdIo

Francesco Ferorelli,

f.ferorelli@ieee.org
ramona Gordon, r.gordon@ieee.org;
Nancy T. hantman, n.hantman@ieee.org
AdMINISTrATIVE ASSISTANTS

INTErN

Monica heger, m.heger@ieee.org

John Blau, robert N. charette,
Peter Fairley, Alexander hellemans, david Kushner,
robert W. Lucky, Paul McFedries, Kieron B. Murphy,
carl Selinger, Seema Singh, John Voelcker
coNTrIBUTING EdITorS

art & production
SENIor ArT dIrEcTor

Mark Montgomery

ASSISTANT ArT dIrEcTor
PhoTo EdITor

Brandon Palacio

randi Silberman

dIrEcTor, PErIodIcALS ProdUcTIoN SErVIcES
EdITorIAL & WEB ProdUcTIoN MANAGEr
SENIor ELEcTroNIc LAyoUT SPEcIALIST
WEB ProdUcTIoN coordINATor
WEB ProdUcTIoN SPEcIALIST

Peter Tuohy

roy carubia
Bonnie Nani

Jacqueline L. Parker

Michael Spector

editorial advisory board
Susan hassler, Chair; Marc T. Apter, Francine d. Berman, Jan
Brown, raffaello d'Andrea, Stephen L. diamond, hiromichi
Fujisawa, Kenneth y. Goldberg, Susan hackwood, Erik heijne,
charles h. house, david h. Jacobson, christopher J. James,
ronald G. Jensen, Mary y. Lanzerotti, ruby B. Lee, Tak Ming
Mak, david A. Mindell, c. Mohan, Fritz Morgan, Andrew M.
odlyzko, Leslie d. owens, Barry L. Shoop, Larry L. Smarr,
harry L. "Nick" Tredennick III, William Weihl, Bas
¸ak yüksel

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April Jones

A Computer Game's
Intelligent Design

Alan Gardner, a.gardner@ieee.org

ExEcUTIVE ProdUcEr, SPEcTrUM rAdIo

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum September, 2008