SporedUp

Spore Origins will be available on Apple’s iPhone on September 4, a full few days before Spore is available on the computer. Why is Electronic Arts giving iPhone owners an early crack at the most anticipated computer game of the year?

Easy. It’s a brilliant way to broaden Spore’s audience. Will Wright makes great games but that’s not why his games have been so ridiculously successful. He’s rich and you’re not because he makes great games that have huge appeal. The Sims was the best-selling PC franchise in history because people that otherwise would never buy a game love it. Case in point: the Sims’ huge popularity with casual female gamers.

With an iPhone release, EA gets great exposure to tens of millions of potential customers. Most iPhone owners aren’t hardcore gamers. But they’re a demographic that could easily buy a game if convinced. They rich folk. The average household income of an iPhone purchaser is over $75k.

Also helping: I can say that if Spore Origins for the iPhone lives up to the potential shown in demos, it will kick ass. A demonstration after just two weeks of work already looked better graphically and more enjoyable than nearly all the games currently available on the iPhone. (Don’t believe me? See for yourself. The video of this demo is after the jump.)

How does the game work? You use the iPhone’s accelerometer to control your spore and eat smaller lifeforms while avoiding everything larger. After eating and avoiding being eaten, you’re rewarded with an evolution editor. Then you use the touch function to add advancements to your creature like mandibles.

Basically, you upgrade your spore. And then–at least EA hopes–you upgrade to the more expensive PC version of the game. More than a few of you will. Ka-ching.