Most gamers have been touched by the concepts of super game designer Will Wright, either directly or indirectly. We’ve played his games (The Sims) or have played games that were influenced by his ideas.
Evidently, the effect of his work has transcended beyond the gaming world; Time magazine says that one of his recent creations, Spore, has secured a spot in its "List of Best Inventions for 2008."
We’ll let Time speak for itself:
"It’s blasphemy, brilliance or both to take the entire evolution of a species – from a single-celled animalcule in a drop of water to a space-faring, galaxy-exploring sentient being – and turn it into a video game.
"But that’s exactly what Will Wright has done. Wright is the man who created The Sims, a game about everyday life in suburbia, but apparently he found the vast panorama of human experience too confining, because he then spent seven years creating Spore, in which players design their own life-form and then manage every aspect of its progress through the centuries, from savagery to civilization."
Wright’s game ranked a respectable 20th in a field of 50 winners. Among those on the list of best inventions for 2008 was the retail DNA test (#1), Tesla Roadster electric car (#2), Hadron Collider (#5), bionic hand (#14), thin-film solar panels (#25), and bringing up the rear, a camera for the blind (#50)
To see the full listing from Time, go here.
