"We're not planning a demo of the game. Just the Creature Creator," she said during our live chat. "We've released a number of videos to show off the game."

"When we started Spore, we were thinking about how we'd make an engine that had the possibility of expansion, so yes, we'll add to the experience," she said.

"I think, however, we have a very cool opportunity to take Spore in a few different directions too. The editors are so cool and fun, that we want to advance those as well as the gameplay that we put into the core game."

Among those additions should be the flora editor, which was axed from the full game. "We are not shipping with the flora editor. Sorry. It's something we eventually want to get out there as it is fun to work with,"

"We do have copy protection, it is a necessary part of our biz, but we've worked to make it something that does not punish the legit owners," Bradshaw said.

"You need to authenticate once at the first install. This happens online. You can install on three separate computers and you do need to register for the online features."