ounting down the minutes to Spore's launch next week? Now you can get one step closer to the next-big bang in gaming from the creator of The Sims by pre-loading the game direct from EA.

Starting today, gamers who pre-order the PC version of Spore from the EA Store (http://eastore.ea.com) can pre-load the game now and be among the first to start playing on the day of release.

Pre-loading Spore is available only for PC. Spore Galactic Edition will be available as a boxed product-exclusive at retailers.

Once pre-ordered, you will see Spore in your EA Download Manager. You will then be able to download 99 percent of the game to your computer with the remaining part of the game to be downloaded upon the date of the game's release. It will only take 30-60 minutes to install before you can begin conquering galaxies in Spore before anyone else.

Spore ships on September 5 in Europe and Asia and on September 7 in North America.

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.