All geared up to play Maxis' "next big thing" on the PC and the Mac? After more than three years in the making, it seems like Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS, Mac, and Mobile) is finally good to go for its September release. During a studio visit from producer Thomas Vu, he confirmed to CNET that the game will be going gold by next week.

Spore certainly generated a lot of hype with the release of its Creature Creator last June. The huge amount of user generated content already floating around on the 'Net is a good indicator that the game has a good chance to replicate the success of its sibling franchise, The Sims.

Speaking of which, EA CEO John Riccitiello was rather hopeful of Spore's success in the market, possibly turning it into another publishing label similar to the company's The Sims division. In addition, he also hinted that the game will most likely follow through with multiple expansion packs and paid downloadable content.

However, Riccitiello explained that their primary focus right now is to successfully get the game off the ground. "Job one is to make the launch successful," he said, "and making sure we have the right to ask that question [about expansions and more content] down the road."

In any case, we can't wait to get our hands on Spore when it finally arrives in North America this September 7 for the Mac and PC platforms.