Posting here as it's the default computer game sub forum. My daughter loves the game SPORE, she played it for hours at a friends house. They lent us the DVD, but it wouldn't load on our machine. I assumed that was because the registration code had already been used. I bought her a new copy on Amazon for Christmas, but it still won't play. It says you need OSX 10.5.3 or higher, we have a new MacBook Pro running 10.9.5. IS it that we just have too new an O.S. that isn't backwards compatible.
The DVD appears to load and install. It asks for the reg# which we input. When you then try and open it it says you need updates. If you try running without the updates it doesn't run, so you accept the updates, then more updates, then more and more updates. After all that you get a basic 'SPORE' screen, but it just won't run.
I tried contacting the game manufacturer (MAXIS), but while they still have a SPORE home page, the help page is 404, probably because this is a 2008 game. If you go directly to the MAXIS home page it just offers up their new games and no help or contact #.
Right now I've contacted the Amazon seller, but all they will be able to do is refund which is a shame, as my kid would love this game.
Any ideas?
Maxis is now owned by Electronic Arts, you may have better luck contacting them.
I recently loaded up the game on my PC and it works, I just can't get online content because I can deregister my old install. I know that doesn't help you, but I'll add it anyway.
PubBurgers wrote:
Maxis is now owned by Electronic Arts, you may have better luck contacting them.
Thanks, I'll follow up with them.
I'm pretty sure unless the update is applied Spore has an always on form of DRM. So if the DRM server went down with the demise of Maxis you'll have to find a 3rd party location to get the patch from.
The backlash from the DRM decision is why Spore didn't do as well as the early reviews and hype indicated it should.
Maxis still exists, just as a subsidiary of EA. I recently installed Spore on my Windoze PC with no problems, as far as I know it's still supported.
And a quick heads up. When the game first came out people had a habit of making phallic creatures to share online. Not a problem if you're not sharing creatures but something to remember depending on the age of the kiddo.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
There's a note on the Spore patch page regarding crashing on Macs. If the updates downloaded you might want to try those steps if you can't get a hold of anyone. It's basically just a manual install of the patch downloaded off the support site.
PubBurgers: Wasn't sure if DRM was still an issue with the game or not. I've been out of the loop for several years now. It was enough for me not to buy it when it came out though. Same with Starcraft II and Diablo III.
Return the game to amazon and download Origin. It is EA's online game store and that version is going to be the most supported. EA should provide support through that too.
singleslammer wrote:
Return the game to amazon and download Origin. It is EA's online game store and that version is going to be the most supported. EA should provide support through that too.
This is probably the best solution. Spore is also available on Steam depending on how much you dislike EA.
Steam has a tendency to not keep their games running on newer operating systems. I have a number of older games from GOG.com because the steam version doesn't work on Windows 7 without major fine tuning.
Errr stupid question but what is stream?
We are not really gamers in our family. I spent the summer of 83 playing games on my Sinclair ZX Spectrum, got to the end of summer and realized I'd missed the summer. I've never played computer or video games since. We have a Wii that has barely been tiuched , but she loves this Spore game.
Steam is an online game store. All of the games are digital and run through the Steam software. They routinely run massive sales, they're doing their winter sale right now. IIRC i picked up spore for like $5 during one of their sales.
