Check out this article on the new game Spore, which mimics evolution like the Sims mimic life.

"Mr. Wright wanted Spore to communicate some of the grand patterns of evolution. But he did not want players to spend a million years waiting for something interesting to happen. He also did not want the game to look like an abstract cloud of drifting spots.

“I spent a fair amount of time going around to talk to scientists here and there,” Mr. Wright said. “You have to explore a huge amount to figure what 20 percent will be cool and fun for a game.”

One thing Mr. Wright and his colleagues decided Spore should reflect was evolution’s ability to produce life’s staggering diversity. “We wanted to convey the sense that evolution can bring up a surprising diversity of weird, interesting, strange things,” he said.

Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/science/02spor.html?pagewanted=1

I think its cool the game creator actually talked to scientists, even if the game takes some liberties with evolution. Also, this may help in the fight against intelligent design, considering kids love games.

Omai