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EA unveils 'Spore' tribal phase images, video

The much-anticipated evolution game from <i>The Sims</i> creator Will Wright is edging closer to release and its publisher is doling out bite-size teasers.

Daniel Terdiman Former Senior Writer / News
Daniel Terdiman is a senior writer at CNET News covering Twitter, Net culture, and everything in between.
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Daniel Terdiman
EA's forthcoming evolution game, Spore, tasks players with growing from small cell-like creatures step-by-step until they've colonized far away planets. EA just released some of the first detailed images and video from the game's tribal phase. Electronic Arts

With Electronic Arts' much-anticipated evolution game, Spore, not scheduled to hit store shelves until September 7, it seems that it is stoking fans' interest by releasing bite-size teasers every week or two.

Last month, EA released the first video of the game's cell stage, in which players evolve their creatures from primordial murk.

And on June 17, it will release the game's creature creator, allowing anyone to make Spore creatures for free that they can use later on when the game is out.

In the tribal phase of Spore, players can either wage war against other tribes or make peace with them. Electronic Arts

Now, it has put out the first video and detailed screen shots of the tribal phase. This is when players have moved beyond the cell stage and are now competing for, or sharing, territory with other tribes.

Spore is scheduled to be released on Sept. 7, 2008. It is one of the most-anticipated new games in years. Electronic Arts

Spore is a single-player game, but it has elements of multiplayer titles, most specifically the ability to upload creations to the Internet that others can then download. This means that players, though using the game by themselves, will be enjoying the entire community's creations.

Spore developers have put easter eggs, little hidden surprises, in the game that they think might take players a year or more to discover. Thats because the game is so vast that it may take players that long to get that far into it. Electronic Arts

I've included video of the tribal stage below. Please forgive the lo-fi quality. It was an experiment in using Qik's streaming video service to get the video up on this blog quickly.

On June 10, Geek Gestalt hits the highways for Road Trip 2008. I'll start in Orlando, Fla., and visit many of the South's most interesting destinations. Stay tuned, and be sure to keep up, both now and during the trip, with what I'm doing on Twitter.