This is the home stretch people -- Electronic Arts has announced that Spore has gone gold, and will be available on Mac and PC on September 7 in North America. On that same day, portable versions of Spore, Spore Creatures for the Nintendo DS and Spore Origins for mobile phones will also be available. 

There's not much else to this story other than some squeals of delight, considering gamers have been waiting for this game since President Richard Nixon announced it along with his resignation in 1974. EA reminds us that there's also a special edition of the game called Spore Galactic Edition that comes with a bunch of neat but useless stuff that will clutter your house (two DVDs, an "Art of Spore" hardback book, a poster, and a 100-page "Galactic Handbook"). 

I'd imagine "do want" goes without saying, but there has to be someone out there that doesn't care about Spore, right? Speak up so we can throw things at you. 

EA AND MAXIS ANNOUNCE THAT SPORE HAS GONE GOLD

Long-Anticipated Game from Gaming Luminary, Will Wright, is Complete and in Production; Hits Store Shelves September 7

Redwood City, CA – August 14, 2008 –The wait is almost over! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Maxis today announced that Spore™ the most anticipated video game of the year from the creator of The Sims(TM), has gone gold and will be available for the Mac and PC at retailers September 5 in Europe and September 7 in North America and Asia Pacific. Spore™ Creatures for Nintendo DS™ and Spore™ Origins for mobile phones will also be available globally September 7.

Players who preorder Spore or Spore Galactic Edition from participating retailers will receive a coupon good for $10 off their next purchase of custom merchandise at www.zazzle.com/sporestore. For the ultimate Spore fan, the limited Galactic Edition will contain the 'Making of Spore' DVD, 'How to Build a Better Being' DVD (a 50 minute National Geographic Channel documentary DVD hosted by Spore mastermind, Will Wright), 'The Art of Spore' hardback book, an exclusive Spore poster, and a premium 100-page Galactic Handbook.

"We are so excited to finally get Spore into the hands of fans and players," said Lucy Bradshaw, executive producer of Spore at Maxis. "The Maxis studio has had an absolute blast creating Spore, but the fun is just beginning. The most engaging stories are truly the ones people create themselves, and we can't wait to see how players not only craft and explore the Spore universe, but hear what stories they have to tell as a result."

Spore gives players their own personal universe in a box, allowing fans to create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created 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. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world via the Sporepedia™ and explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers*.