TotalBiscuit put out a "WTF IS Darkspore?" video during the beta that was pretty good, but he didn't get very deep into the game and was only solo play, which is sorta dull to watch.

Yea, watched this earlier, not a bad look at the game, the whole pre-order loot thing is lame though, didn't realize they did that.

Yeah, I was specifically planning on not getting the pre-order just to avoid those items, but in the end I pre-ordered anyway for various reasons. I just turned those pieces into details, as one of those guys mentioned. They are OP items at first but they're only viable for the first few worlds, and remember, you need to gear out at least 3 guys so it's not like you're JUST using your pre-order items.

For games like this, I go with Ten Ton Hammer.  That's the site that seems to get them right as it is specialized in all this stuff.

Yeah, they had a bunch of good coverage, even a developer interview/feature. I'm gonna keep poking the GB guys until they do the same, they're like a few blocks away from Maxis headquarters, come on! ;)