Stone Marshall

When Will Oculus Go Finally Get Minecraft? It’s Still Unclear

by Stone Marshall | Nov 29, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Yesterday, YouTube VR was released for Oculus Go. In his tweet about the release, Oculus CTO John Carmack stated that it was one of the two apps people always ask him about, and that there “is also some progress on the other one” – the other one almost certainly being Minecraft.

No upcoming Oculus Go game is anywhere near as anticipated as Minecraft. Minecraft is the highest selling 3D game ever, with over 150 million copies sold. It is available on almost all gaming platforms, with cross platform multiplayer between most of them.

The game is anticipated for Go not just due to its significance outside VR, but because it has been available on the Samsung Gear VR headset for over 2 years now. Gear VR runs the same Oculus mobile store as Go, so in theory porting should be easy. In fact, some YouTubers have even managed to sideload the game into the Go headset, though reportedly only singleplayer works.

Minecraft’s absence was noted at Go’s launch back in May. No statement was given at the time (by either Oculus or Microsoft) about the reason for the absence, a release date, or even if it was coming at all.

Minecraft Was Carmack’s “Quest”

Oculus CTO John Carmack was heavily involved in porting Minecraft to Gear VR back in 2016. Carmack worked directly with Mojang to provide both code and guidance. Facebook’s lawyers warned him that his work would become Microsoft’s property, but Carmack didn’t care – getting Minecraft on Gear VR had become his “quest”. In fact, Carmack went as far as to say that he “would have cried” if the deal hadn’t worked out.

Shortly before Minecraft’s release on Gear VR, Carmack called it “the best thing to come out on Oculus”, even going as far as to say all of Oculus, not just Gear VR.

First Hints Of A Go Port
Carmack first hinted that the game could be coming to Go in June, when he stated that it was “a high priority for sure”, but added the disclaimer that few Go owners would have a gamepad paired. This is relevant because the Go’s included controller does not have enough inputs for Minecraft.

The following month, Carmack hinted that progress was being made, and noted that he cared a lot about getting it:

From ‘If’ To ‘When’
When asked to list his favorite Go apps in September, Carmack ended his response with “When we get Minecraft running on Go it will be back in the list.”

This brings us back to yesterday’s tweet, where Carmack suggested “some progress” has been made.

What’s The Delay?
The Minecraft team have had a very busy year. While the Nintendo Switch version of the game was intended to ship last year, delays meant that it didn’t ship until June of this year. Additionally, the team have had to make fundamental changes to the graphics engine in preparation for the ‘Super Duper graphics pack’, a DLC which will add modern graphical features to the game. This too was intended to be released in 2017, but has been pushed back all the way to 2019.

The delays of these projects mean that a lower priority task such porting to Go may have been heavily deprioritised. With the Nintendo Switch version of the game shipped however and the graphics DLC hopefully shipping soon, Minecraft for Go may be next on the agenda, and this may be what Carmack was referring to in his latest Tweet.

We’ll keep you updated on any further news about Minecraft coming to Oculus Go.

Tagged with: john carmack, Minecraft, Oculus Go

Johannesburg school turns popular game Minecraft into a learning tool

by Stone Marshall | Nov 28, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Cell phones are slowly being integrated into the schooling system in South Africa.

Educational technologist at Educor, Bilal Kathrada says cellphones should be used as a learning tool instead of banning them out of the classroom as that will only get learners to find clever ways to bend the rules.

The popular game, Minecraft is now being used as an educational tool.

Tracy Heath of Brescia House School in Johannesburg explains how the game Minecraft is being used to improve learning in the classroom.

Read: ‘Don’t ban cellphones in schools, rather teach kids how to use them to learn’

Also Read: ‘Don’t ban cellphones in schools, rather teach kids how to use them to learn’

Most kids play it and they love it. And with this generation, we need to take what they love and turn into an educational experience.

— Tracy Heath, PS Senior Management Team and ICT teacher
So Microsoft bought the game and we run it as part of our educational system… They’ve turned the game into an educational app.

— Tracy Heath, PS Senior Management Team and ICT teacher
Most people will tell you that if you are playing a game and you having fun, there is part of your brain that gets stimulated which is active and not passive. You are not just sitting and getting stuff to you, you are engaging with the material.

— Tracy Heath, PS Senior Management Team and ICT teacher

Kamehameha schools ‘Minecraft’ program

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Kamehameha Schools has partnered with Microsoft on educational opportunities geared toward computer science.

One of the ways they’re doing it is through the popular video game, Minecraft.

The video game is being used as an educational tool for students to learn more about Native Hawaiian Issues.

‘Overwatch’: Sombra Is Definitely Online In This Cosplay

by Stone Marshall | Nov 27, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Sombra is a unique hero in Overwatch, a double agent that has her own agenda and is a total wiz at hacking. With Overwatch continuing to prove it’s a force to be reckoned with in the gaming community, it’s no wonder that there are so many phenomenal cosplays of this particular character. This one, however, has got to be one of our favorites.

This particular cosplayer is from Korea. Pion Kim is no stranger to bringing characters to life in stunning detail, but her take on the sleek hacker is just too good not to share.

SLIDE 1 of 5
“SOMBRA ONLINE”

SLIDE 2 of 5
“EVERYTHING CAN BE HACKED, AND EVERYONE”

SLIDE 3 of 5
“SEE YOU LATER”

SLIDE 4 of 5
“LOOKING FOR ME?”

SLIDE 5 of 5
MORE ON THE CHARACTER:
Sombra is known for taking information and using it against those in power. She came from the ashes of a tortured past, left orphaned following the Omnic Crisis. Though her country was destroyed, she picked herself up and taught herself skills that could help her survive and thrive.

After being taken in by the Los Muertos gang, she aided in rebuilding Mexico – though her means were dubious to some. After her security came into question, Blizzard mentioned “She later reemerged as Sombra, upgraded and determined to find out the truth behind the conspiracy she had uncovered. Sombra launched an even more audacious string of hacks, and her exploits earned her no shortage of admirers, including Talon. She joined the organization’s ranks and is believed to have contributed to its massive cyberattacks against corporations with strong ties to their governments. These efforts incited a popular revolution in Mexico against LumériCo and breached the security of Volskaya Industries, the manufacturing arm of Russia’s anti-omnic defense.”

Overwatch is now available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

‘Fortnite’ and ‘God of War’ Win Big At 2018 Golden Joystick Awards, Full Winner List Here

This past week, we’ve been learning small tid-bits about who won that coveted trophy at the Golden Joystick Awards this year, including how Fortnite beat out Red Dead Redemption 2 for the ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’ award. A huge surprise to be sure, but we still didn’t know the final tally of winners. At least until now.

The biggest highlight was FromSoftware’s Hidetake Miyazaki winning the Lifetime Achievement Award. Miyazaki mentioned in a recent press statement, “To receive such a prestigious award from the Golden Joysticks fills me with great surprise and a sense of great honour. I am tremendously grateful to everyone who has played, enjoyed and appreciated our games. Rather than myself, this award goes to the many people who have built these games with me, and shared their passion with me over the years.”

God of War and Fortnite seemed to be the two biggest contenders, with Overwatch taking home the gold for esports game of the year.

For the full winner list:

Best Storytelling: God of War
Best Competitive Game: Fortnite Battle Royale
Best Cooperative Game: Monster Hunter: World
Best Visual Design: God of War
Best Indie Game: Dead Cells
Best Audio: God of War
Still Playing Award: World of Tanks
Best Performer: Bryan Dechart, Detroit: Become Human
Esports Game of the Year: Overwatch
Best VR Game: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
Studio of the Year: SIE Santa Monica Studio
Best New Streamer / Broadcaster: Bryan Dechart and Amelia Rose Blaire
Mobile Game of the Year: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile
PC Game of the Year: Subnautica
PlayStation Game of the Year: God of War
Xbox Game of the Year: Forza Horizon 4
Nintendo Game of the Year: Octopath Traveler
Breakthrough Award: Unknown Worlds
Most Wanted Game: Cyberpunk 2077
Critics Choice Award: Red Dead Redemption 2
Lifetime Achievement Award: Hidetaka Miyazaki
Outstanding Contribution: Xbox Adaptive Controller
Ultimate Game of the Year: Fortnite Battle Royale
What do you think about the winners listed? Do you feel like the right games one, or do you feel like a particular title got the shaft? Join in on the conversation in the comment section below! You can also watch the Golden Joystick Awards 2018 on the Golden Joystick Awards Twitch Channel, broadcast live from London from 3pm GMT / 7am PST / 10 am EST.

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