Continuing their story of nonstop success, Maxis’ latest endeavor Spore has topped the sales chart in North America for the week ending June 21. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the full game – since that’s not scheduled to ship until September – but the recently released Creature Creator, a sample of the studio’s work in the upcoming life simulation title.

The Creature Creator, which lets users fulfill their lifelong wishes of creating penis monsters, beat out another Maxis creation – The Sims 2 – for the top place, also beating out hardcore games such as World of Warcraft and Age of Conan. The game’s strong sales also saw it appearing at number six on the All Categories list.

Like most other games, Spore is also getting a collector’s edition treatment according to a listing on GameStop’s website. Dubbed the Spore Galactic Edition, the package includes a “Making of” DVD, a “How to Build a Better Being” DVD created by the National Geographic Channel, a hardback artbook and fold-out poster, as well as a 100 page Galactic Handbook. And yes, the game is also included.

It will retail for $79.99 and will be released alongside the standard edition on September 7.

Konami today announced the development of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, the latest installment in the venerable soccer simulation series. Also known as the Winning Eleven series, the latest installment includes a major graphic overhaul, new control elements (as well as moves) and enhanced online functionality.

It is in development for PC, PS2, PS3, PSP and Xbox 360 for release in Europe, where the sport is most popular (and also known as football), this Fall. No North American release date was specified, though it can be inferred that it will be released sometime around that period.

Many games release demos, but some more open-ended games find it hard to truly encapsulate the experience in a brief snippet of play time. Occasionally they release small components of the game, often creation tools. The Sims 2 released the Sim creation program where you could make sample Sims. It’s a good way of getting people interested as well as taking a measure of your future audience. It seems that Spore’s Creature Creator is a good indication that Spore will be a disgustingly successful game.

As of last night a quarter of a million creatures had been uploaded to the Sporepedia. If you do the math (don’t since someone’s already done it) that equals two creatures being uploaded every second. Not all creations are quite as original as you might think. Some of course are the exact reason why online games come with that statement “Online interactions not rated by the ESRB”; giant genitalia, creatures designed to look like two creatures in the midst of copulating, and even some amusing creatures with various profanities displayed on their body.

Having gotten another game under its belt, Philips today announced that Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X will support the company amBX technology. This announcement coincides with price reductions across the amBX peripherals range, making the Starter kit about 100 GBP.

HAWX is an upcoming action simulator, allowing players to grasp the throttle of over 50 famous fighter aircrafts and fly them over real world locations. It will feature voice support to let players pull off moves using nothing but the voice.

“Tom Clancy’s HAWX comes hot on the heels of our Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway amBX announcement with Ubisoft and further underlines our commitment to bringing amBX to world class gaming,” commented Jo Cooke, Chief Marketing Officer, Philips amBX. “Tom Clancy’s HAWX is another example of a completely different genre of game that amBX can enhance and we’re looking forward to super realistic air combat lighting, wind and rumble effects that PC gamers haven’t been able to experience to-date.”

Another juicy tidbit from the recent Microsoft leak reveals that Forza Motorsport 3 is in development and that it will be released on two discs. What will these two discs contain? For starters, 400 cars and 100 tracks! The two-disc deal doesn’t sound so bad, but there will still be issues with disc swapping for which even MGS4 took a jab at the Xbox 360.

The leak also reveals that the game will have some form of “assist system” and will have car damage. No other details were revealed.

The game isn’t expected until at least late 2009. Further information is expected at E3.

The Wii has fairly accurately simulated sports like golf and bowling, and one of the newest sports to be put on the Wii is beer pong. For any unfamiliar it involves teams, most often just pairs, tossing ping pong balls into the opposing team’s cups. Each cup that gets a ball thrown into it is then removed, and the first team with no cups left over loses. It originally found popularity in college dorm rooms and frat houses, but the game can now be seen in bars and tournaments in Las Vegas.

The WiiWare game received a somewhat surprising 13+ rating and has raised eyebrows and tempers. Gen. Arthur T. Dean, who heads the Washington, D.C.-based Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America voiced concerns over the dangers of beerpong and the fact that even most college students aren’t of legal drinking age. While I would strongly agree that something needs to be done to curb binge drinking amongst college and high school students, attacking the games they play isn’t really the answer.

With the game due out on September 7, EA has sent out detailed system requirements for the long-awaited evolution simulator Spore.

For Windows gamers, a minimum of 2GHz processor with 512MB RAM will be needed, along with a video card supporting Pixel Shader v2.0. It will also require at least 6GB of hard drive space. Vista users will need more than 512MB RAM to play the game.

Hit the jump for full details, including laptop and Mac requirements.

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Not much is known about Sony’s safari simulation that was first shown at the company’s E3 2006 press conference. Dubbed Afrika, the game was said to offer players a look at African wildlife through a new perspective, and that’s what Famitsu is reporting this month, as they have found out that the game will include at least three camera angles – third person view, bird’s eye view and the animal’s point of view; there will also be fixed camera points.

The magazine also reports that players will be able to make their way across open fields either by foot or through vehicles such as jeeps. Photographs can also be taken over long distances using binoculars. It is yet unknown how animals will interact with the player.

Last, but not least, Famitsu reports that Japan will get the game on August 28; no release date is yet known for other regions.

The release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith may seem like milking the franchise when there’s nothing much to milk. But Neversoft senior producer Chris Parise, speaking to Shacknews, revealed that releasing the game’s content as DLC for Guitar Hero 3 just wouldn’t work.

“I think DLC limits what you can do,” said Parise. “I think DLC means you have to have Xbox Live [on Xbox 360] or PlayStation Network [on PlayStation 3] Whereas I think your install base is still [mostly] PS2, they don’t get [DLC].”

He then goes on to point out that Aerosmith will feature the animations of Steven Tyler, Joe Perry’s “stuff” and that they wanted to capture the performance of the band, and not just provide their songs.

Parise notes that they have recreated a number of real-life venues for the game, utilized motion capture sessions with the band and included factoids and other bonuses throughout the game to mark the whole “experience.”

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is released on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii later this month.

Yet another Sims 2 expansion has rolled onto the scene, this time Apartment Life.

Taking the Sims out of the suburbs and smack dab in the middle of an apartment building, Apartment Life actually does what we haven’t seen before in a Sims expansion.

Players will have the opportunity to choose from 5 different apartment building complexes with the apartments ranging from dirt-cheap to luxury penthouse complete with butlet.

The Sims 2: Apartment life is currently on track to ship to for the PC this August.

Those looking to knock their friends out in a video game (rather than real life, which would be more fun) can mark their calendars now, as 2K Sports sent out word that Don King Presents Prizefighter has gone gold for Xbox 360. Developed by Venom Games, the game is equal parts sports simulation and boxing drama that takes place both in and out of the ring.

The game casts players in the role of an unknown boxer who has to fight to the top spot. The storyline will challenge players with temptations of wealth and stardom and will be told through a unique, live-action sports documentary style that features real-life legends as well as current stars.

Prizefighter will be out June 10 on Xbox 360, and this Fall for Wii and DS.

Paradox Interactive has announced Dark Horizon, a space combat simulator that will let players pilot their own ship through an “action-packed” adventure. Hyped to be along the same lines as classics Freelancer and Wing Commander, the game will offer 22 missions, full ship customization, original weapon creation, joystick support and several modes of combat.

Dark Horizon is scheduled for release during Q3 2008.

Today EA has officially unveiled the latest installment to the Sim City franchise, developed exclusively for the Wii and Nintendo DS; Sim City Creator.

While the game doesn’t seem too different from your run of the mill Sim City game, it is notable that both the Wii and DS have unique controls that will make Sim City Creator stand out from the rest.

Sim City Creator will be avaiable in North America on September 22nd, and in Europe and Asia on September 19th.

You can read more about the game courtesy of DS-x2 after the break.

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While Ubisoft’s recent announcement of 4 games targeted at preteen girls won’t apply to the majority of us, it is still interesting to see how Ubisoft continues to expand on the Imagine franchise. With PocketGamer reporting that over 4 million copies of the series have been sold to date, don’t expect this to be the last announcement of Imagine branded games from Ubisoft.

Announced today were My Secret World, Imagine Fashion Model, Imagine Teacher, and Imagine Girl Band. While these new titles are somewhat self explanatory, let me give you a small insight into what each offers.

My Secret World incorporates a customizable diary, various quizzes that help one find out more about themselves, along with different mini games. My Secret World will have wireless capabilities in the sense that you will be able to share quiz results and play mini games with one another over Nintendo’s WFC.

The rest of the three games are exactly what they sound like, Fashion Model involves designing clothes, Girl Band involves forming a band, and Teacher involves following a young teacher through everyday life.

Expect all of the previously mentioned games to hit both the Nintendo DS and Wii sometime later this year.

Hoping to get the competitive spirit going, Sony sent out word that the GT Academy will launch in Europe on June 2, letting gamers across the region dream about racing a real-life race car around a track. The first phase of the competition will run for seven weeks, having players compete to be the fastest around the Eiger Nordwand track in a Nissan Fairlady 350Z.

The second stage will start in July, having the fastest 20 drivers from each country invited to a national final to compete head-to-head in the game. The three fastest drivers will be taken to drive a real-life Nissan GT-R in Silverstone, the home of British motor racing.

The two fastest drivers there will have the chance to enter a four month training program to earn their racing license and take part ina real life race in a fully race prepared Nissan 350Z at the 24 hour endurance event in Dubai in January 2009.

Speaking at Nurburgring 24H race, Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital producers of Gran Turismo said: “This is a very exciting day for Gran Turismo. The Gran Turismo story started 10 years ago with the ambition to make a racing game that gives players the ultimate driving simulation experience. The GT Academy is the ultimate realisation of this ambition taking the Gran Turismo experience to the next level.”

With a competitive binge eating video game already covered, the next step is a binge drinking video game. Where better to start than the popular drinking game of Beer Pong? More than just a collegiate hobby this game has spread to bars and even sparked competitions in Las Vegas. As with most things, if it’s popular, someone will make a video game.

JV Games Inc. has announced that they’re doing just that, bringing the first in a series titled Frat Party Games to Wiiware in mid-June. There’ll be two different modes of play, the first being the standard tournament style beer pong, the second being aptly titled ’speed pong’ and has both players throwing their ping pong balls at the same time. Each mode will have a handful of tables to choose from in order to keep things interesting. Beer not included.

Guitar Hero 3 tried to add something new to the franchise by introducing bosses. Though the game was subtitled “Legends of Rock”, it had nothing more than two boss battles with Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and Guns n’ Roses Slash, as well as a brief cameo by Poison frontman Bret Michaels. Fans looking forward to more guitar gods were left disappointed, to say the least.

Activision may be about to change that, as legendary guitarist Ted Nugent has announced on a radio show that he is going to be present in the upcoming fourth game. The whole radio interview, which can be downloaded for free, about the man reveals the motion-capture process (using colorful language, no less); though no specific songs were disclosed, Nugent did mention the song “Strangle Hold” that might be in the game.

No further details on his participation in the coming title were detailed. Guitar Hero 4 is due out later this year.

Further milking the 100m-selling franchise, EA today announced MySims Kingdom, the next title in the offshoot MySims series. Exclusive to the Wii and DS, the game sets players on a story of adventure, discovery and exploration to help King Roland and his subjects revitalize the kingdom. It is set for release this Fall.

The game has players exploring the kingdom and making new friends. Throughout the journey, new characters, lands and contraptions will be revealed, allowing the player to do anything from tending pigs to finding treasure chests. Everything will be customizable, letting players give a signature look to everything.

The DS version of the game will comprise of many new activities and mini-games to help the player persuade the King that his island is the ultimate royal destination.

The original game has sold over 2.8 million copies worldwide; EA hopes that the second installment will perform the same.

Rivaling other established franchises in terms of awesomeness, Codemasters today announced that Race Driver: GRID will feature multiplayer content that features 32 online race events on 80 circuits at 15 intercontinental locations. The game will support up to 12-player events with full car damage, a first for its kind in racing games.

“Race Driver: GRID online is the ultimate expression of what the game is all about – incident-packed, aggressive, wheel-to-wheel racing,” said Ralph Fulton, Chief Game Designer, Race Driver: GRID. “Our wide range of motorsport disciplines, stunning locations and full damage 12-player races make for a uniquely spectacular race experience and our immersive new ranking system rewards player skill and deepens the challenge online.”

Players will be able to take their custom cars online and race in a large number of disciplines – from drifting around Yokohama Docks, charging through the streets of Detroit, and more. There will be a lobby system, as well as a slick voting system, allowing for gamers to find competitive races quickly.

As expected, the game will also feature an online ranking system that progresses the players’ progress as they advance from Junior Rookie to Legend, with experience points being awarded based on a wide range of achievements, from events won to beating higher ranked opponents.

The game is due for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 30. A DS version will follow. Interested gamers can download playable demos from Xbox Live, PlayStation Network or file download sites for their respective platforms.