Chris Hecker Apparently Responsible For Simplified Spore Gameplay

Spore hasn't exactly had a smooth ride since hitting the market back in September. While the Sporepedia has garnered its fair share of praise, reviewers and fans alike have consistently pointed to one problem - oversimplified gameplay.

So who is to blame for this apparent flaw? If a recent post on the Official Spore Forum is to be believed, it's not Will Wright but Chris Hecker, the same guy who once called the Wii "two GameCubes stuck together with duct tape." Apparently Hecker is drinking the kool-aid now though, proudly calling himself "a founding member of the 'cute' team" in the Seed Magazine article the post derives much of its information from.

On the other side of the line was the so-called "science team," apparently lead by Wright and art director Ocean Quigley. According to former Maxis intern Michael Chang, creature morphology "actually mattered" in early versions, forcing players to carefully consider the placement of parts lest the creature find itself too slow, or overbalancing from its own weight. Hecker, however, was apparently having "strong misgivings about how all this hard science would appeal to the wider world." 

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