GameSpy: So what are the odds of two people getting the exact same evolved creature without copying each other?
WW: Extremely low. Extremely low.
GameSpy: If I wanted to replicate a creature you made, could I do it?
WW: You would be able to do a pretty close approximation of it, but it would not be exact.
GameSpy: So who do you consider the best PC game designers in the world?
WW: I would put Peter Molyneux and Sid Meier at the top of the list. There were some people who I think would have been up there except they kind of took weird turns. Alex Garden… Of all the odd things, he went off and started a company that sells automated parking systems.
GameSpy: What about John Carmack?
WW: I don't think of him as a game designer. He is a technologist. He is the best in the world at what he does… by far.

I respect the Bioware guys a lot. Peter Molyneux and I almost merged our companies quite a few years ago. Bullfrog and Maxis came really close to merging.
GameSpy: That would have been a good fit.
WW: It would have been tricky because of the distance and all. Peter and I, you know, the creative guys, did not clash. The business guys decided that it did not make sense.

Oh, one more computer [game] designer who I really like is Tim Schafer. I don't like adventure games at all except for his. Grim Fandango was really a masterpiece.

I guess in console, there are only certain games that I spend a lot of time playing. Lately it has been Guitar Hero, only because Sid [Meier] talked me into playing it. He told me how great it was. Sid's addicted to that game.

GameSpy: I've got to ask, how do you think Sony will do with that $600 price point?
WW: Six hundred bucks; that is a lot of money. I'm rooting for Nintendo. What I don't like is that the way the Wii controller works depends a lot on how close you are to your TV. If you are five feet away it feels one way. If you are 10 feet away, it feels completely different.
GameSpy: What games are you playing these days?
WW: I am playing with my DS a lot. I am playing Brain Age and Sudoku.
GameSpy: How old is your brain?
WW: It's down to like 29. I did not like the original DS very much, but this new one [DS Lite] feels like an Apple product. It's heavier, smaller, and has a really nice screen. It's a lot brighter.
Breakfast ends, and Wright starts towards the Convention Center. He will spend the next nine hours in a small room giving demo after demo of Spore. As he leaves, two people recognize him and ask about Spore or simply think him for all of the great games he has created.

"Does that happen more now, since you have been on the cover of WIRED?" I ask.

Wright laughs. "I get recognized maybe once or twice a day. The WIRED cover hasn't changed my life."

He may be the most recognized face in computer games, but Will Wright always has a friendly word when people approach him. He answers this question, shakes that hand, and thanks some person for the complement, then heads to the convention center for Spore's day in the sun.