A new video of the civilization stage of Spore makes it look remarkably like a real time strategy game, probably because it is. You can see units being recruited, cities being built, resources (geysers) being captured, battles being fought, and superweapons being activated. There's a nifty shot of a propaganda blimp dumping leaflets onto a city. That's the unit I want! "A new life awaits you in the off-world colonies..."

A few talking head comments are included from Kip Katsarelis, the game's producer, and Soren Johnson, its "software engineer". What does "software engineer" even mean? For what it's worth, Johnson is the guy who designed Civilization IV, the nonpareil of strategy games. As far as I'm concerned, he's one of Spore's biggest selling points.

The video is clearly aimed at people who don't really play real time strategy games (i.e. most gamers and the entirety of everyone else). "I really enjoy sending my vehicles over and maybe attacking [the other players'] cities," says Katsarelis. Johnson is tasked with mentioning the superweapons: "Those abilities are kind of cool to use, you know, at various points."

Spore's greatest challenge will be squeezing itself through a fairly esoteric genre on the way to its wide-open space travel stage. We'll know whether it pulls it off in a few short weeks.