EA announces the weekend of September 7, 2008 as the worldwide release date for the PC, Mac, and mobile editions of Spore, the highly anticipated evolution simulation (no release dates for the console editions are offered). This confirms the delay predicted by analyst Mike Hickey a couple of weeks ago (story), which is the latest in a series of setbacks for the game, which was even dubbed "vaporware" (story) by Wired (though one could argue that list is "tired," rather than Wired"). On related notes, Level Up follows this up with some Spore-mania, which includes Will Wright Gives Level Up the Scoop On Why Spore Is Taking So Long to Get Right--And Why It Will Be Worth the Wait, Part I and Part II, a two-part Q&A talking with the game's lead designer, and this Q&A with executive producer Lucy Bradshaw on how the Nintendo DS, Mac, and Mobile Phone editions of Spore evolved. Here's the announcement:

Redwood City, CA - February 12, 2008 – Get ready for the next Big Bang this fall! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Maxis today announced that Spore™, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims™, will be available at retailers worldwide the weekend of September 7. Spore will be available for the PC, Macintosh, Nintendo DS™, and mobile phones.

“The wait is almost over,” said Maxis Chief Designer Will Wright. “We’re in our final stages of testing and polish with Spore, and the team at Maxis can’t wait to see the cosmos of content created by the community later this year.”

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 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 UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers.

Consumers can visit www.spore.com to sign up for the Spore newsletter or check out all-new screenshots and video of the game.