Nintendo made a game “very similar” to Minecraft for the N64

by Stone Marshall | Dec 16, 2016 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions | 0 comments

Minecraft took off while it was still the project of just one developer, and went on to become one of the biggest games in the world today. Imagine how different its history might have been with the backing of Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto.

That’s the alternate world state we’re all contemplating in the wake of a Glixel interview in which the creator of Donkey Kong, Mario, Pikmin and more revealed his own dabbling in the genre.

“I do like Minecraft, but really more from the perspective of the fact that I really feel like that’s something we should have made,” he said.

“We had actually done a lot of experiments that were similar to that back in the N64 days and we had some designs that were very similar.”

Given how much Nintendo enjoys fostering play and creativity, you have to wonder why it didn’t happen. Was it hardware limitations? The lack of online infrastructure at the time? Miyamoto’s next comment may provide some clues.

“It’s really impressive to me to see how they’ve been able to take that idea and turn it into a product,” he said. That sounds to me like Nintendo prototyped some sort of sandbox builder but couldn’t figure out how to turn it into a compelling game. Heck, plenty of people still don’t “get” why Minecraft’s so fun.

At this point I was reminded of a 2014 Kotaku interview in which Miyamoto and colleague Shinya Takahashi said that Minecraft isn’t as popular in Japan as in the west, and that they’d like to see it made more kid-friendly in terms of controls.

It occurs to me the family-friendly Nintendo would definitely have wanted some way to prevent players creating giant golden dicks, too – something LEGO Universe struggled with – as well as copyright infringements.

Anyway. Elsewhere in the interview Miyamoto talked about his drafting process and how he views himself as a designer of products, not works of art. Nevertheless, he said he designs gams with his three close colleagues at Nintendo based on what they themselves think is fun, and then see if it sells, rather than researching the market first.

Miyamoto also said he doesn’t really play many competitor’s games; he prefers to spend time gardening and practicing carpentry.

There’s heaps of other good stuff in there for anybody interested in one of Nintendo’s most important figures and how the platform holder functions; go check it out through the link above.

Nintendo made a game “very similar” to Minecraft for the N64

4 Reasons Why Minecraft Is Great for Teaching Kids Coding

by Stone Marshall | Dec 14, 2016 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions | 0 comments

Since its release in 2011, Minecraft has captured the hearts and minds of today’s youth. With the recent release of MinecraftEDU school version, this popular game is rapidly becoming the most important educational software of our generation and is now used to teach logic, problem solving, and geometry.

While many educators use Minecraft to teach project-based learning and other liberal arts topics, many don’t realize that Minecraft is one the best ways to teach students computer programming. Here are four reasons Minecraft is great for teaching kids coding.

Minecraft Motivates

Getting kids to try computer programming is surprisingly easy. Keeping them engaged, however, is a very different story. While kids will quickly adapt to the new stimuli, they rarely take the steps towards became masters of this new, albeit complicated skill.

But when it comes to this popular game, kids are more interested that you can imagine. Be introducing mods, you can engage kids by letting them change their own game. “Mods” (short for modifications) are changes to the Minecraft game that give its characters, objects, and landscapes new and surprising characteristics. In order to “mod” the game, students must learn to to code in order to make meaningful changes. When kids are able to imagine and code their own custom mods, they become focused and engaged.

Visual Block Coding Options

Hunting for keys on a keyboard can be frustrating for young learners. As a solution, some brilliant educators developed drag-and-drop visual block tools that allow kids to perform event-driven programming with with Lego-like function blocks. Alice and Scratch popularized this methodology, and in 2016 Microsoft and Code.org unveiled a Minecraft drag and drop coding platform.

Visual blocks represent important computer programming functions such as If Then statements, Loops, and more, and can help younger students learn the foundations of computer science in a visual way. Visual block coding is in some respects similar to training wheels on a bicycle. It is designed to be outgrown. For early learners, however, it allows students to focus more on concepts rather than syntax, and provides another great way to use Minecraft as a coding resource.

Modding Teaches Real Java

When kids are ready to take their skills to the next level, Minecraft Modding with Java can introduce them to real programming. One of the coolest byproducts of Minecraft’s open architecture is that it allows users to access Minecraft’s Java source code to literally create anything that they can imagine. While modding with Java, kids learn to create their own custom pickaxes, their own enemies, or their own dimensions. They can use Java coding to give their creations special properties and then try out their creation in the game that they love to play.

The “Ah Ha” moment in which a child plays with her mod in the game is a marvel to see, and once kids experience it, they want to learn more. Modding provides children with the additional motivation and persistence required to overcome common occurrences in programming – bugs, exceptions, and other technical glitches.

Courses Provide Numerous Options

Minecraft-based educational offerings keep expanding at breakneck speed, and there are many interesting resources that kids can use to learn coding. Microsoft’s investment in MinecraftEDU seems promising and they’re expected to build out more Minecraft visual block coding challenges.

Other providers such as CodaKid, CodeKingdoms, and LearntoMod are also producing interesting high-quality Minecraft coding courses that can help kids gain an understanding of important coding concepts and walk away with valuable 21st century skills.

David Dodge is the founder and CEO of CodaKid Online Kids Coding Academy. He is a former game designer for the Sony Playstation and PC, and the software architect of Tutorware.

4 Reasons Why Minecraft Is Great for Teaching Kids Coding

Nintendo Made A Game Like ‘Minecraft’; Super Mario Creator Regrets Nintendo Did Not Release ‘Minecraft’

by Stone Marshall | Dec 14, 2016 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions | 0 comments

The creator of Nintendo’s Donkey Kong, Pikmin and Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto, expressed his regrets that Nintendo was not able to release a game like Minecraft. The creator admits they had games designed like it but the project never realized to an actual game.

Nintendo Released A Game Like ‘Minecraft’

The ‘Minecraft’ project started with only one developer and suddenly became one of the hottest and most popular game in the world. But fans can’t help but think what could have happened if they have Nintendo to back them up.

According to Miyamoto, they had the same idea and design similar to it before. He reveals the game even have multiple experiments to polish the game as they plan to release it on N64. However, Miyamoto shares the team just didn’t have enough ideas to turn the idea into an interesting game. “That sounds to me like Nintendo prototyped some sort of sandbox builder but couldn’t figure out how to turn it into a compelling game.” Miyamoto said.

Why Nintendo Never Released the Game Like ‘Minecraft’

And it looks like ‘Minecraft’ didn’t really need a compelling idea how the game should be played as its players have their reason why they’re playing. Miyamoto says a lot of people never really figured out the purpose of the game but lots of them still play the game.

Minecraft has definitely captured the hearts of many gamers of every age. This is also the reason why more players are wondering why Nintendo never really released a game like this. But Miyamoto seems to understand now why it happened. Nintendo is strict in providing family-friendly games and with the freewill every player have in ‘Minecraft’, a clash between ‘Minecraft’ gameplay and the rules of Nintendo will clash at some point. For instance, the ability of ‘Minecraft’ players to create naughty images or anything not suitable for a child.

Nintendo Made A Game Like ‘Minecraft’; Super Mario Creator Regrets Nintendo Did Not Release ‘Minecraft’

‘Minecraft’ News & Update: Nintendo Almost Made the Game for N64; Here’s Why It Didn’t Happen

by Stone Marshall | Dec 13, 2016 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions | 0 comments

‘Minecraft’ News & Update: Nintendo Almost Made the Game for N64; Here’s Why It Didn’t Happen