[April Fools] Sid Meier's Evolution: Everything you grow is wrong

[Thunderfall]

Apparently Extreme Diplomacy Game Mode for Civilization V is not the only thing Firaxis is working on. According to a preview article published yesterday by Game Revolution, Firaxis is also working on a brand new game titled Sid Meier's Evolution, which the article described as "spore-killer" and a "Civilization-destroyer" type game. The genre of the game is Virtual Life.

The Civilization games put players in era-spanning, God's-eye control of an enduring human empire and Spore gave players godlike, manipulative influence on the adaptive transfiguration of a single biologically-competitive species over time. The scope of Sid Meier's Evolution dwarfs the two franchises combined, tackling not only the trials and tribulations of terrestrial life as we know it, but of the fundamental, formative forces that define the Laws of a given universe—or, in this case, a host of potential Multiverses.

Further, SME aims to make good on Meiers' long-standing design promise/threat not merely to elevate the player to omniscient/omnipotent status, but to remove the player effectively from the lowly, mundane business of click-obsessive engagement entirely, to better focus on The Big Picture. And this is just about as Big as it gets.

Head over to Game Revolution and see if you can follow what the game concept is about...

PS: This was posted on April Fools' Day.

 

[Fr8monkey]

Yeah.... I'm not putting any money on this yet. I'll wait a couple of days and see if this is real or an April fools prank.

Anyway, if it is real, this looks like what Spore should have been before it was turned into a pre-teen cartoon abomination.

 

[Thunderfall]

This is April Fools for sure. How else you can explain Game Revolution is the only gaming site who has knowledge of this game?

 

[moscaverde]

Yeah, this would turn in a really cool game.

 

[Auncien]

If this is an April fools spoof I will cry myself to sleep tonight...

 

[Thunderfall]

Game Revolution also has a press release for this game:

http://www.gamerevolution.com/screen/pc/sid-meiers-evolution

New York, NY – April 1, 2010 – 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that Sid Meier’s Evolution™, the next offering from the legendary game designer of Games for Windows®, is now in development and will be available internationally sometime in 2012. Created by 2K’s world-renowned Firaxis Games development studio, Evolution will revolutionize the way people think about video games.

“The decade-long groundswell of fan enthusiasm around previous Firaxis titles was the driving force behind our decision to make an entirely new franchise for today’s gamers,” said Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games. “The terrific community support, coupled with the opportunity to design a a whole new gaming paradigm, made it the right time to create this title for loyal fans and everyone else who loves great games.”

Evolution is a standalone game that creates an entirely new experience, and challenges the whole notion of how games are played. According to Sid Meier, “When designing a game, particularly one based on real-world or scientific topics, it might seem that hard facts, physical principles, painstaking research, and mathematical formulas would provide the foundation for a successful game. Wrong. These and many other seemingly useful tools will have to take a back seat to the real driving force in game design: the psychology of the player. Gameplay is a psychological experience: it’s all in your head. The vagaries of human psychology define your game more than the laws of physics or algebra. Egomania, Paranoia, Delusion - these are tools to be wielded with precision and care. For the player, perception is reality and the center of the universe is right here. As we follow this reasoning to its logical conclusion we discover a number of amazing things, among them: everyone is above average, 2/1 is not equal to 20/10, and the player is his/her own worst enemy.”

Sid Meier’s Evolution for Games for Windows will be available in North America and internationally 2010. The title has not been rated by the ESRB.

I wonder where they got those screenshots... Those look pretty neat.

 

[Fr8monkey]

I don't know TF... I hope it's real. If it is fake, this goes beyond April Fools.

 

[Thunderfall]

I don't know TF... I hope it's real. If it is fake, this goes beyond April Fools.

Lots of things from the press release and the article just revolved around what Sid said at the GDC keynote.

 

[Verarde]

Ooooo, I cannot wait for more info! Lol.

 

[GoodGame]

If it were a MMORPG.......it'd be totally the real deal.

 

[Neo-Dar]

hey guys sorry to burst your bubble but the cell stage screenshot comes from either a game from armorgames.com or addictinggames.com (I forget which though I know the game)

 

[W|M]

well, if it is in development, they wouldn't have any good screenshots yet

 

[Joecoolyo]

If this was real, I'd totally buy this game.

Anyways, just b/c it was posted on April Fools Day, doesn't mean it can't be real. I mean, we first heard about Gmail on April Fools Day.

 

[remake20]

If this is real, I would totally buy it. But I guess it's AF.

 

[Red Adept]

This may just be an April Fools joke, but this game sounds so fascinating.

I would be hard pressed to not take an active peek in on the game, just to see if some catastrophe does occur from my perception.

The game-play would be fascinating as it's all up-front and then you let it go. It would be like John Conway's Game of Life... all the setup and then you just let it loose and see how things play out.

 

[Wonderblunder]

This reminds me of the dinosaur game that Sid Meier shelved. If only this evolution game was real.....

 

[remake20]

I bet it was AF, but now seeing everyone would buy it, they're gonna make it.

 

[Vortilex]

Considering the great response this has gotten, if it is an April Fools' joke, Firaxis ought to follow through on this

 

[Eridu]

If there ever was a case of an April's Fool joke turned into a reality, now would be the time. Absolutely brilliant idea.

 

[Dale]

Release date 2012..... Definitely AF's. After Dinosaurs Firaxis has never pre-announced a game.