The latest NPD PC sales charts are in for the week ending January 17th. World of Goo finds itself slipping in there, and WoW Lich King reclaims the #1 spot.

1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. The Sims 2: Double Deluxe
3. Fallout 3
4. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
5. Spore
6. Left 4 Dead
7. The Sims 2: Apartment Life
8. World of Warcraft
9. Call of Duty: World at War
10. World of Goo

Venture Beat reports that Electronic Arts is working on a number of new games based on the Spore franchise. The universe is going to expand in many directions, including the release of the Spore Galactic Adventures expansion pack complete with Adventure Creator, and the release of a game for young players called “Spore Creature Keeper”. Like the Creature Creature that was released prior to Spore, you will be able to create a creature, nurture it, develop it’s personality and create objects for it to interact with. Additionally, there’s some Wii action going down with the development of “Spore Creature Hero” and “Spore Hero Arena” for the Nintendo DS. Lots going on these days for Spore fans!

IGN takes their first look at the upcoming Spore expansion called “Galactic Adventures”, which is due out in Spring.

Maxis unveiled the first expansion pack for Spore last night, one that borrows a page or two from Star Trek as well as Adventure Construction Set. Spore Galactic Adventures will allow players to not only beam down to planets to explore strange, new worlds on foot, but they will be able to pursue dozens of Maxis-created adventures and stories. Of course, since the core of Spore is built around the idea of users building and sharing their own content with the entire community, Galactic Adventures will also feature a robust editing tool that will let players create their custom worlds, stories, and adventures that are then uploaded to the Sporepedia where anyone can download them.

There’s lots of information and some screenshots in there, so be sure to give the article a look!

From Joystiq: Shigeru Miyamoto and Spore have been recognized by The Jim Henson Company as part of their annual “Jim Henson Honors” awards. The legendary game designer was bestowed the Celebration Honor, which goes to an “individual, organization or product that makes the world a better place by inspiring people to celebrate life.” Mario, Donkey, Wii … yeah, you know the drill.

As for Spore, it took home the Technology Honor, probably because it allowed everyone to create their favorite Star Wars characters or giant penis monsters. The other not so game-related awards went to artist Shepard Falrey (Creativity Honor) and the Center for Puppetry Arts Distance Learning Center (Community Honor). Read more.

NPD has released their list of the top best selling PC games in the US for 2008 (thanks ve3d), here they are!

1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. Spore
3. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
4. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
5. Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning
6. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
7. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
8. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Ed
9. Fallout 3
10. World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
11. Call Of Duty: World At War
12. The Sims 2 FreeTime
13. World Of Warcraft
14. Sins Of A Solar Empire
15. Warcraft III Battle Chest
16. The Sims 2 Apartment Life
17. Crysis
18. Left 4 Dead
19. Diablo Battle Chest
20. The Orange Box

From Voodoo Extreme: Here are the NPD’s top 10 best selling PC games in the US for the week of December 28 – January 3rd:

1.The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
2. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack
3. Spore
4. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
5. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest
6. Fallout 3
7. Left 4 Dead
8. Call Of Duty: World At War
9. World Of Warcraft
10. The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Expansion Pack

IGN’s Top 10 PC Stories of 2008 is a collection of the most read stories on IGN PC last year. It’s not much surprise that Spore was came in number one on their list, more specifically IGN’s Spore Review. You can read the rest of the list here!

There’s a Spore machinima series out there that I just spotted, and it certainly has its moments. Check out all five episodes below!

Spore Explorer Episode 1

Spore Explorer Episode 2

Spore Explorer Episode 3

Spore Explorer Episode 4

Spore Explorer Episode 5

Do you live in the San Francisco Bay Area? Then if so you already have the first qualification required in order to participate in some “user experience testing” at the Maxis Studio in Emeryville on January 13 and 14, 2009.

They are looking for people who can spend about 2 hours at the Maxis office in Emeryville, CA and meet at least one of the following criteria:

1. Someone who has finished at least the Spore Creature stage.
2. Someone who has done player-created mods for PC games, not only Spore, but for games such as Starcraft, Counterstrike, Battlefield, etc.

A small compensation will be given for your time. They’ll only be inviting 4-6 people, so if you are interested in participating then apply via email to MaxisSaguaro@maxis.com!