Apple’s October event was most known for the introduction of the 2016 MacBook Pro with its new Touch Bar input device. As usual at such events, however, Apple rolled out some other, lesser products and announced some things coming from partners and even competitors.
One of the latter announcements was that Microsoft would be releasing Minecraft for Apple TV. Apple indicated Microsoft’s popular open-world sandbox game would make it to its media server by the end of 2016, and Microsoft made that promise real on Monday, MSPU reports.
Minecraft runs on a host of different platforms, from PCs to Xbox One to smartphones, and it is used for fun by millions of players, as a business endeavor by YouTube celebrities, and as an educational tool by teachers and institutions around the world. Minecraft allows for open exploration of a massive world and the ability to recreate real-world sites and technologies inside of the game.
Apple has been pushing its Apple TV product as a sort of poor man’s gaming console for some time now and Minecraft will be a welcome and important addition. At this point, Minecraft support on Apple TV is a bit limited. For example, support for Microsoft Realms or Xbox Live are omitted, but developer Mojang promises support for those features and more in an update. The Apple TV version does support both Creative Mode, which offers unlimited resources, and Survival Mode, for some in-game combat action.
You can buy Minecraft: Apple TV Edition for $20 from the App Store. The Apple TV version of Minecraft supports the various DLC that’s been released for the game and some editions ship with Holiday 2015, Town Folk, City Folk skin packs and Plastic, Natural, Cartoon, and Festive 2016 mash-ups.
Teachers can use pre-made Minecraft worlds for everything from learning about windmills or ecology, to the function of the human eye. If they’re uncertain how to begin, Microsoft and developer Mojang have them covered. 60 educators from 19 countries have been recruited for regular blog posts, lesson plans, and other supplemental help for those looking to implement Minecraft into their teaching strategy.
The 1.0 version also brings some mechanical and quality of life features. The game world can be built twice as high to accommodate complex projects, teachers can pause the game across their whole classroom, and the worlds in which the children work can be much more easily uploaded and shared.
Minecrafthas a great track record as an educational asset, and it’s only getting better. In addition to the robust feature set already implemented, Minecraft is positioned to be a truly valuable tool in the hands of teachers looking to engage the most connected generation in history.
Educators who don’t know a creeper from a piston can get online help from experts on using the megahit game in schools. Also new: polar bears.
A new version of Microsoft’s Minecraft for schools means teachers won’t have to struggle for expertise or inspiration using the game with their students.
The video game, which lets players explore its signature blocky 3D realm and build all kinds of fanciful structures, can be complicated. That’s especially true if you’re building interactive tutorials for students in Minecraft Education Edition.
Hand-picked mentors can now answer teacher questions or offer guidance for particular age groups or subjects, and now there’s a larger 60-person team offering blog posts, live streams and videos, Microsoft said Tuesday as it released the updated software.
So far 75,000 students are using it, Microsoft said. Teachers can use pre-packaged Minecraft worlds for tasks like exploring ecology, showing the fictional worlds depicted in books, experimenting with construction and architecture, teaching physics and recreating historical moments.
Other changes in the new version:
Higher skies — a 128-block height limit now is lifted to 256 blocks.
A global pause ability so teachers can put an entire classroom’s Minecraft activities on hold.
The addition of igloos and polar bears in snowy areas.
An easier process to upload Minecraft worlds for better sharing.
Minecraft is one of the most popular games ever made, and it appears to be just as beloved in classrooms as it is at home. Looking to continue that trend, Microsoft and Mojang have been working hard at further developing Minecraft Education Edition, and at the start of 2017, the two firms have announced that this version of the game has now hit 1.0.
Minecraft Education Edition is the same Minecraft world you know and love, but with specific features aimed at students and teachers. It has NPCs for tutorials, simple multiplayer server setup, camera and portfolio recording, in-game chalkboards and downloadable lesson plans for educators.
While all of those features have been present since the early days of Minecraft Education Edition in late 2016, now that it’s hit version 1.0, there are a number of new features to enjoy, too.
There is now a global pause button, which brings the whole world to a quick halt in order to give children a break, and which also lets the teacher control when and how the lesson ends. Text-to-speech and other accessibility features have also been added and they make it easier for those with disabilities to join in, too. A newly arranged UI makes interaction easier, and an increased world height to 256 means bigger and better projects.
Added features from the main game’s v1.0 update, like The End dimension, are now included and there are also igloos and polar bears in snowy biomes. To top it all off, there’s a new, streamlined uploading process with support for .mcworld files.
To continue encouraging teachers and educators around the world to use Minecraft Education Edition, Microsoft has also announced a new mentor system. This will see some 60 educators from 19 countries around the world posting blogs, lesson plans, live-streams and videos on a regular basis as part of a “Mentor of the Week” ongoing series.
Microsoft and Mojang aren’t stopping there though. They plan many more updates to the educational version of Minecraft throughout 2017, so keep your eyes peeled and make sure you know your granite from your redstone, as chances are your kids will be playing it before long, if they haven’t already.
Minecraft is the biggest (paid) gaming sensation of the last decade, racking up more than 100 million downloads across platforms and still growing in popularity after several years. It’s hugely popular with young kids, has a vibrant fan community, and even is used in classrooms for educational purposes. And now you can play it on the Apple TV.
Released right before Christmas, Minecraft: Apple TV Edition is essentially a big-screen conversion of the Minecraft: Pocket Edition you might know well from iPhone and iPad. It’s not only the biggest game to hit the Apple TV to date, but also simultaneously the highest-profile game on the device to require a gamepad—you won’t be able to play with the Siri Remote. And that’s for the best, because it means that Minecraft isn’t diminished in this new incarnation.
Block by block
Minecraft on Apple TV offers essentially the same experience as Pocket Edition, which itself follows the same core tenets as the original Minecraft on Mac and PC: it’s all about little blocks. Like a modern-day digital take on LEGO, you’ll wield pixelated blocks of all sorts—dirt, sand, iron ore, and much more—in your charmingly jagged world. You can use them to build a house, a city, a detailed re-creation of the Millennium Falcon… or anything else, really.
You’ll also bash them to bits as you dig into the ground and mountains, exploring beneath the surface to mine all sorts of minerals. And then you’ll craft, of course, using the myriad blocks you’ve accumulated to build swords, shovels, pickaxes, fishing rods, and other tools to help you in the lo-fi wilds. As ever, Minecraft is about as loosely structured as a game can be. You’re dropped into a world with no tutorial, a minimal on-screen interface, and no objectives or storyline. It’s up to you to find meaning and fun in each randomly generated world you enter.
Be friendly with the blocky wildlife… or punch them until they turn into beef and leather.
Luckily, that’s not difficult: the allure of freeform, trial-and-error exploration reveals surprises and secrets along the way, especially as you learn the ropes in the Survival mode, and there’s real joy in forging your own adventure in the face of unexpected challenge. With vicious block monsters appearing every night, you’ll need to utilize the resources around you to build shelter, craft better tools, and ultimately find your way to the final realm, called The End.
Meanwhile, in Creative Mode, you have all of the tools, blocks, and resources ready in your arsenal, and you can even soar through the air—all of which allows you to build massive structures and create your own experiences along the way. And you can also connect to online servers for multiplayer in either mode, and play with fellow fan-made maps and makeshift minigames.
The Apple TV Edition comes with a pretty cool bonus bundle of Christmas content right now, even if its immediate relevance has passed.
Playing Minecraft with a proper gamepad is so much better than using virtual buttons on your iPhone or iPad. While that’s adequate enough, there’s nothing quite like the steady, tactile sensation of feeling an analog stick and buttons under your thumbs, not to mention having an unencumbered view of the game on your TV. I’m using the SteelSeries Nimbus ($50), which is still the best of the bunch with Apple TV and iOS MFi gamepads, and Minecraft plays as well here as it does on other consoles and computers. While it’ll take a fairly sizable investment to start playing, it’s the only option that makes sense on the Apple TV: trying to comfortably squeeze all of the controls onto the limited Siri Remote seems an impossible task.
Double up?
Minecraft: Apple TV Edition is almost identical to Pocket Edition in nearly every respect. It has the same content as the recent 1.0 release of Pocket Edition, which also supports gamepads. However, the Apple TV Edition lacks a couple of features right now: support for Realms, the official service for setting up and running private Minecraft servers, as well the ability to sign into Xbox Live and add friends via the service. Both of those features are in development, which is great, but it’s no surprise that the Apple TV Edition’s $20 price tag is throwing some Pocket Edition owners for a loop.
Dig into the earth to find rare minerals. Ooh, redstone (and lava, too)!
While many purchased iOS games are then free to download on Apple TV, Minecraft: Apple TV Edition has its own $20 price tag that is separate from Pocket Edition’s paltry $7 charge. Seven bucks for Minecraft on your iPhone is a steal, while $20 for a home console version feels spot-on. However, given that you’re essentially getting a blown-up version of Pocket Edition, it seems strange that you’re asked to pay again, not to mention at a much higher price.
It’s a matter of Mojang and Microsoft following their usual playbook here, in which console versions of Minecraft cost $20, while Apple’s shared platform could allow for one purchase to cover iOS and Apple TV versions alike. But that’s their choice to make, and now it’s yours too. At least early buyers get a free add-on pack bundle that brings in a Christmas-themed environment, costumes, and other small digital goodies.
Connect to online servers to play with friends or other random fans.
The Mac version is a bit more feature rich than this one (and is $27 by comparison), but playing on a TV with a gamepad is definitely preferable to using an iOS device. If you or your kids are still over the moon about Minecraft—or haven’t played and think it could be up your alley—then this may be $20 very well spent. Minecraft is infinitely replayable and Mojang keeps expanding its feature set, while online servers offer further modes and experiences. On the other hand, if you have Pocket Edition and are either perfectly content with it or don’t play much anymore, then there’s little point in buying the same game again at three times the cost.
Bottom line
Minecraft shines on the Apple TV, as playing on a big screen with a comfortable controller is even more alluring than playing on your iPhone or iPad—and it’s about on par with the Mac version in terms of overall experience. However, the price discrepancy with the Pocket Edition and need to buy this version separately may throw some fans for a loop.
