Genetic Science Fuses With Video Game Technology in National Geographic Channel’s Companion Documentary to Groundbreaking New Game Spore

    From Hand to Fin to Wing, How to Build a Better Being Examines

Unexpected Genetic Truths Behind Highly Anticipated Simulation Game from

Will Wright



    How to Build a Better Being premieres on NGC Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 10:00

p.m. ET/PT



    WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 /EMWNews/ -- In the newest creation

from Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) and video game pioneer and "The Sims"

mastermind Will Wright, Spore(TM) enables players to design a virtual

galaxy of new life, such as a one-eyed web-footed creature with a snout,

and then control their species' evolution. But how much real-world science

is behind this groundbreaking new game? And what genetic connections do

people share with a universe of strange organisms?



    On Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, National Geographic Channel

(NGC) presents the premiere of How to Build a Better Being, the companion

documentary to the highly anticipated new video game Spore, which will be

released nationally on Sunday, Sept. 7. The show, which is also included in

the limited run of the collectable "Spore Galactic Edition," joins Wright

and leading scientists in exploring the genetic information we share with

all animals -- even creatures we could never have envisioned. From

prehistoric fish with wrists to 8-ton elephants with trunks, get powerful

new insight into the origin of species and how our prized parts came to be.

Then see how evolutionary creature-making is translated into a brave new

world of gaming.



    "What are the things that evolution has at its disposal to define a

creature, to mix and match the parts, and eventually come up with a unique

organism that's going to live its life and try to reproduce?"



    -- Will Wright, gaming innovator, EA's Maxis Studio



    Spore allows players to design bizarre creatures that mate, compete

against predators, obtain better body parts and, if they survive,

ultimately become spacefaring voyagers. Replicating creature-making within

electronic gaming required Wright to develop an understanding of how

evolution invents, recycles and repurposes parts. In How to Build a Better

Being, Wright consults with top scientists on the latest discoveries in DNA

development and explores how creatures with antennas, wings and six legs

share a common family tree with all of us.



    At UC Berkeley's Fly Lab, meet geneticist Michael Levine -- a key

figure in a new science called "evo-devo" that studies embryonic

development -- who offers Wright creative new insight into how genes build

bodies and how the process can go terribly awry. Levine demonstrates with a

mutant fruit fly that has legs where its antennae should be. We learn that

eight master genes are so essential during development that any problems in

these building blocks can transform a creature into a catastrophe.



    These same genes don't exist just in flies; they're in animals and

people, too. "With over 100,000 genes, we think we have genes that a lowly

fruit fly would know nothing about. But this is not true," explains Levine.

"All animals, including humans, have a very similar set of basic genes, and

yet we're so different." Therefore, the finished body part may vary, from

fins to wings to fingers, but underneath the exterior the genetic chassis

is the same.



    Next, we look at one of our strangest and most remote ancestors on the

evolutionary tree: a worm. Paleontologist Neil Shubin explains how an

ancient worm laid the foundation for our basic body plan. Symmetrical,

streamlined, bilateral and laid out head to tail, most animal life on the

planet is built on this fundamental design. For Spore, developers realized

that making creatures bilateral, or identical on either side, needed to be

hard-wired.



    Then learn how something as versatile as a hand got its start in a

375-million-year-old fish with a neck and a wrist. Using the Spore game's

unique visualization tools, Shubin gets a chance to bring the prehistoric

fish to life. Other scientists, such as marine biologist and National

Geographic Emerging Explorer Tierney Thys, strive to design the "ultimate

animal" by using extensive knowledge of animal diversity -- like sea stars

that move on hundreds of tube legs and travel in any direction.



    "It's kind of a biologist's dream to be able to design your own

animal," says Thys, "to pick and choose the traits of animal groups that

you most enjoy ... Oh my gosh, I love this."



    Will Wright revolutionized the computer game industry with SimCity(TM)

and The Sims, games that offer remarkable simulations of cities and the

lives of their residents that parallel the real world. Since its release in

February 2000, The Sims has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide,

making it the best-selling PC game in history. Will is the chief designer

at Maxis, an Electronic Arts studio.



    Spore will be released on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008, for the PC, Mac,

Nintendo DS(TM) and mobile phones. Spore gives players their own personal

universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build

civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe filled with

creations made by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative

tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures,

vehicles, buildings and even spaceships.



    How to Build a Better Being is produced for the National Geographic

Channel by National Geographic Television (NGT). For NGT, producer,

director and writer is Ron Bowman and executive producer is John Mernit.

For NGC, executive producer is Howard Swartz, senior vice president of

production and development is Juliet Blake and executive vice president of

production is Steve Burns.



    National Geographic Channel: Based at the National Geographic Society

headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is

a joint venture between National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and Fox Cable

Networks (FCN). Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some

of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more

recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated

its fifth anniversary January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD, which

provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in

stunning high definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major

cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available to

nearly 68 million homes. For more information, please visit

http://www.natgeotv.com.



    Electronic Arts: Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), headquartered in

Redwood City, Calif., is the world's leading interactive entertainment

software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes and

distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal

computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its

products under four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA(TM), EA SPORTS

Freestyle(TM) and POGO(TM). In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of

$3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies.

EA's home page and online game site is http://www.ea.com. More information about

EA's products and full text of press releases can be found at

http://info.ea.com.



    EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO, SimCity, The Sims and Spore

are trademarks or registered trademarks in the United States and/or other

countries. Nintendo DS is a trademark of Nintendo.