And now for the REALLY low hanging fruit

Before I leave UD alone until the next time I need blag-fodder, I simply must mention this latest nonsense from Denyse O’Leary. Apparently, Casey Luskin managed to score an interview with a third-party developer involved with the DS version of Spore, one of the most hotly anticipated games currently on release schedule. To be excessively generous, we can safely say that Expelled didn’t turn out to be the Darwinian Waterloo forecasted by its supporters. It looks like the next saving grace of the rapidly imploding ID movement will, in fact, be Will Wright’s latest innovation:

This time on ID the Future, Casey Luskin — changing things up a little — sits down to talk with videogame artist Dennis DeMercer about his recent work on the Nintendo DS version of the forthcoming game Spore. Working with Amaze Entertainment, DeMercer was responsible for animating 3-D creatures ranging from single-celled organisms to advanced intergalactic civilizations in a game that centers around players evolving creatures from one species into another in order to climb the evolutionary ladder.

But is this highly anticipated game as much an example of the cultural pervasiveness of Darwinian evolution as it seems? Ironically, no. Luskin and DeMercer discuss their discovery that, despite the obviously evolutionary theme, Spore’s game-play actually hinges on intelligent design theory, because success depends entirely on the ability of the player — i.e. intelligent agent — to fashion a creature ready to take on the growing challenges of its environment.

Well, to quote the simple yet important wisdom of our elders, it’s a fucking game you idiot. I have little doubt that Spore will be quite a remarkable example of how computer games are evolving as an art-form, but accurately represent evolutionary biology it will not (hint: the “evolutionary ladder” is the most textbook of all textbook misunderstandings of biological evolution). But for even more of a laugh, you’ll have to read O’Leary’s ludicrously grandiose proclamation following the above quote:

Win the popular culture and you’ve won everything. See, they can’t really Expell DeMercer.

Yeah, Denyse. A game that features a caricature of evolution as part of its gameplay dynamic is the ticket to ultimate victory. I see plenty of WoW fans lining-up to revolutionize science with a bold new theory that looks suspiciously akin to Phlogiston Theory.

And given that there was a suspicious lack of a link to the interview in the post, I decided to head to IDtheFailure myself and see what was up:

Update: This audio file removed at the request of Amaze Entertainment.

Looks like the all pervasive Intergalactic Darwinist Conspiracy was able to “expel” this fellow after all. Either that, or the company doesn’t want a staff member to bring disrepute to their project by tying it to an anti-science political movement that has recently dug its hole even deeper.