by Stone Marshall | Feb 6, 2015 | Minecraft News |
It came as a shock to hardcore gamers when mega corporation Microsoft purchased Minecraft developer Mojang, because the man behind the game always lauded independence and had balked at other corporate offers. The modest company with only a handful of staff was snapped up for a whopping $2 billion towards the end of 2014, but as expensive as the deal was, it’s already beginning to pay off.
Microsoft revealed this week that if they continue down the same trajectory they should start making a profit on that $2 billion before the end of they year!
The last set of financial reports revealed that their gaming sector revenue had increased by 79 percent thanks to acquiring Minecraft, which is now available on almost every platform imaginable.
The money began pouring in almost over night, with thousands of copies being sold from day to day. Even before Microsoft took over the sandbox building game had sold over 18 million copies on Windows and Mac in 2014, and another 10 million are expected to be sold by 2016!
Microsoft proved smart in making the original developers an offer high enough that they couldn’t refuse it. Amazon, Google and Facebook had all shown an interest, which Minecraft’s creator appeared to turn down out of principal, but at the end of the day the money did the talking and now it’s Microsoft that are reaping the benefits.
It’s still early days however, and it’s not clear what direction the corporation will be taking the property. Simply sitting on it and taking in the game sale revenue is one thing, but there are signs that they want to expand much further in to merchandise, books, and spin offs. There is even a Minecraft movie in the works, which will introduce a whole new audience to the game.
One area tied to this is the HoloLens technology, Microsoft’s answer to Google Glass. The virtual reality style glasses headset brings games and other media to life by projecting holograms right before the user’s eyes.
A Demo of Minecraft that works with the device, called “Minecraft in the living room” received a great reception and could further help boost sales.
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by Stone Marshall | Feb 5, 2015 | Minecraft News |
Thankfully, the discussion of media literacy is very prominent during Superbowl season. At this point, we are used to analyzing the commercials.
It must be one of the greatest accomplishments in advertising—talking about the ads is considered part of the tradition. People even say proudly, “I only watch for the commercials.” We start talking about the commercials weeks before they air. And people elect to watch them for fun on YouTube for weeks afterwards. It is absurd. Being sold stuff we don’t need has become an event.
I’m not unique in observing this. The conversation about body image and gender identity, in particular, is ubiquitous. Mostly, the focus is on girls and body image. But Common Sense Media leads the way with great articles about how to talk to your kids about gendered stereotypes during both the commercials, halftime and the actual game. Thankfully, they look at the impact on both boys and girls.
Here’s a quote from an excellent article entitled “What Are Boys Learning from the Super Bowl?”
Though there may or may not be a direct line between bone-crushing hits on the field and bullying at schools or between the objectification of women in commercials and the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses, I do believe it’s our responsibility to investigate how valuing hypermasculinity in such a prominent way — as we do during the Super Bowl — might reinforce unhealthy gender norms. That said, there’s room for multiple conversations to give our kids even a slight filter with which to consume this overwhelming flurry of gendered images and ideas. Not only should we point things out to our kids while consuming this media, but we should encourage our friends and colleagues to do the same.
It is easy to find this kind of excellent writing during Superbowl season. And even during the rest of the year there’s a pretty healthy discussion of gender and media available. In fact, I might argue that the only good thing about the GamerGate fiasco is that it has brought more awareness about sexism in video games to the forefront of our consciousness.
But this culture of accusation, although sometimes necessary, tends to do more to antagonize than it does to educate our children. If we really want to raise a generation of thoughtful consumers who think critically about the media they consume, we also need to constantly teach them critical thinking skills in an ongoing and systematic way. We must do it in ways that aren’t always critical.
In my house, I do as much as I can to encourage critical thinking about media by talking about the video games my kids love to play. But it is not enough to just talk about it, I also have to encourage behaviors that nurture critical awareness to media and video games. Here are 3 ways I do it:
1. Play Without A Controller
All games are basically simple mathematical puzzles assembled using a series of complex algorithms. But we don’t see that side of games when we’re playing them. To a player, the game is an immersive fantasy world full of challenges and obstacles. Put simply, games are made up of mechanic and narrative scenarios. The mechanics are the rules of the game, the challenges players are expected to accomplish. The narrative is the story that makes the game interesting.
Most of the thinking about representation in video games is about the story. I’ve written a bit about the ways messages get baked into the mechanics, as have exceptional writers like Ian Bogost and Jane McGonigal, but the majority of the critical writing around games focuses on the narrative tropes. That’s okay, the narrative is a great place to start.
It is important to get kids to begin thinking about these narrative components and one way to do it is to get them thinking about the games’ characters outside of their devices, beyond the controller. Encourage them to draw pictures of their favorite characters. Encourage them to write stories about their favorite characters. Encourage them to imagine the characters outside of the games’ particular scenarios. And encourage them to imagine other characters in the same game worlds.
What happens is that by imagining game characters behaving differently in various scenarios, or other characters in the same scenarios, kids start to see that the game they’re used to is only representative of one narrative possibility. They realize that it could also go in a plethora of different directions. This opens the door to conversations about the kinds of messages particular narratives send and teaches kids that the commercial or mainstream message is not necessarily “normal” or “correct.”
2. Construct Your Own Reality
The primary part of learning to think critically about video games is learning that they are constructed.
Young players don’t give much thought to the fact that teams of developers and designers have to construct the games which seem so perfect. Once you’ve gotten them to realize that the games’ narrative components are not assembled from fixed possibilities, but rather from an infinite pool of variables, how do you get them to realize that narrative messages and characters are actually just thrown atop complex code? Teach them to make their own games.
There are many platforms that aim to teach young kids to make games by themselves. My personal favorite is Gamestar Mechanic. It uses a simple drag and drop interface to let kids assemble interactive systems-thinking based scenarios. Scratch is another great platform that is not as game oriented. It was developed as part of MIT Media Labs’ Lifelong Kindergarten project. It focuses on teaching basic coding through a drag and drop interface.
Both of these great web based options allow children to construct their own interactive media. And when they construct their own interactive worlds they begin to understand the way that mechanics and narrative elements interact to create a game.
Once they begin to see how it all works, they’ll approach the games they play in a different way. Not only will they be players, along for the ride, they’ll also become critics as they imagine what it took to construct the game that they are playing.
3. Face The Music
What about the more subtle components of the game? How do you get your kids to be thoughtful about the less explicit parts of media?
Top Score with Emily Reese is a Minnesota Public Radio program about video game music. My kids and I have been listening to the podcast regularly for the past few months.
Emily Reese, the host, interviews composers of video game music to talk about how they compose scores. She also plays tons of clips and explains the way video game scores are assembled.
I trained as a classical musician when I was a teenager and I’ve spent a good deal of time in professional recording studios. Still, despite my familiarity with music theory, I knew practically nothing about scoring video games prior to listening. The jargon of modern scoring—words like “stems”—was completely new to me.
The real reason I Iove Top Score, however, has to do with the way it teaches my kids to be critical gamers. Before listening, even though they had thought about the narratives and constructed their own game mechanics, I’m not sure they really even considered the idea that someone wrote video game music. Now they are attentive to the way themes loop, the way sound effects integrate, and how feeling tones are manipulated.
This may not teach them to think about the political, social, and cultural ramifications of the games that they play, but it does nurture critical thinking skills in a way that doesn’t seem antagonistic or critical.
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by Stone Marshall | Feb 5, 2015 | Minecraft News |
Have you come across the series that teaches everything for dummies and newcomers?
It’s usually for TOEFL, SAT and many other competitive exams but now Minecraft for Dummies, a brand new teaching guide, is about to get launched.
The game has been really popular and is now available on almost every other platform you could think of. It got launched on the PC as another indie title by Mojang but today the game which has been purchased by Microsoft has grown to heights that it contributes to their overall revenue by over seventy percent.
That’s something unthinkable but this small title made it possible. Minecraft PS4 and Minecraft Xbox One are some of the popular titles on new gen consoles but it’s also there on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PS Vita and even Android.
Encouraging new players
Even though, Minecraft is largely popular, most people might find themselves lost because of the jargons and the gameplay techniques. It has an action packed first person game integrated into RPG and survival elements. For those who like to learn and join the community, this book is expected to be a really popular guide. With its launch, it wouldn’t be surprising if the game gains more followers and millions of new players play the game during the coming months.
Authors Behind it
Minecraft for Dummies has been conceived and written by Jacob Cordeiro. He’s not the only author of this hugely expected book but there’s also Jesse as well as Thomas, who are the popular father son duo. The authors confirm that even though the game will cover all topics for beginners as well as moderately experienced players, it will not be very confusing and it doesn’t have any jargon.
Another advantage of the book is that it will teach players how to play the game on all platforms and will have platform specific guidance as well. So, you can use it to learn how to play Minecraft on PS Vita, or on the android, iPhone as you please. Players can learn how to break the blocks, different types of tools, and learn ways to defeat the powerful Ender dragon. There will be specific tips for veteran players as well which makes it a complete book.
The Minecraft for Dummies book will be published both in printed as well as a digital e-book format in the month of February. It is expected to be priced at $15 but prices may vary in different regions.
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by Stone Marshall | Feb 4, 2015 | Minecraft News |
“Minecraft.” You may have heard of it. With 60 million copies sold across all platforms, your child has likely played the video game or will hear about it as soon as he or she makes it to school age.
The game, now owned by Microsoft, is one of the most addictive games ever created, but is it good for young children? And what do you need to know about it as your kid becomes obsessed?
Follow along on a guide to this popular game for parents and other adults who want to know more about the Creepers, YouTube videos and torches that fill their kids’ time.
The object of “Minecraft” is simple: create, explore, and above all, survive. Players wander through a virtually unlimited world that consists of cubes you can break apart or combine together, similar to Lego.
In survival mode, players must locate and manipulate simple materials such as wood, stone, soil and water. A typical approach is for a player to find a tree and break it apart into pieces of wood that can be used. Eventually, players need to build a shelter for the night to protect them from monsters that come out when it’s dark.
Even at its most simple stage, players quickly have plenty of choices. Create torches first? Build a house? Or fashion a pickax to mine ore? Don’t delay too long, though, because it sure helps to find a cave or build a house to protect yourself from monsters in the game.
“It’s very much like Lego, because there are so many ways to play the game,” said Ben Bajarin, a principal executive with San Jose-based Creative Strategies. “It is a very productive and educational game. It is similar to a digital version of Lego for a new generation of players.”
“If you can think of what you want to build, with enough dedication and time, you can build it,” said Jeff Haynes, a senior games editor with Common Sense Media.
The basic game is available on a variety of platforms, including personal computers, video game consoles such as the Xbox or PlayStation, and Android, Apple and Windows smartphones. To avoid spending too much on this hobby, attempt to buy the game for only one platform, but many parents end up purchasing “Minecraft” several times — the console game that is easier to play with two players in the same room and costs $20 to $30; the mobile game to keep them busy while on the go, which costs about $7; and the PC version that is the most capable for modifications and online use and costs about $27.
Simple modifications such as enhanced skins are usually free, though some cost $1 or more.
Once your child begins to play “Minecraft,” they may become obsessed, spending an exorbitant amount of time playing the video game or begging for help on more advanced tasks.
“Parents might be a bit concerned about the amount of time their kids are putting into ‘Minecraft,’ “ said Jeff Haynes, senior games editor with Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that provides advocacy and education for families about technology.
Instead of fighting this, it is possible to channel that energy into more productive avenues.
“’Minecraft’ has incredible learning value,” said Tanner Higgin, a senior manager of education content with Common Sense Media.
“Teachers have set up controls so that a lot of the elements of the game are learning tools. Chemistry, social, studies, physics, history and other subjects are being taught this way,” she pointed out, with tutorials for these types of activities available online.
People can play either self-contained games in which they are the only players, or they can engage in multiplayer games online. One possible concern with online games are risks from strangers, especially since “Minecraft” is popular for all ages, not just children.
“Like any online community, there is trolling, there is flaming, and there are bad apples,” Higgin said. “As with any activity, parents should look for moderation. But older kids do benefit because when people cooperate with each other, they can build extraordinary things they couldn’t create on their own.”
Aside from the actual game, many children flock to YouTube to learn how to accomplish specific tasks in the game, or to check out worlds others have built. While the gameplay exhibited in these videos is just as kid-friendly as the game, beware of bad language coming from the video creators or music and other entertainment they may be listening to while creating the video.
To be safe, you can find a specific “Minecraft” video creator who is kid-friendly and limit viewing to them — one of the most popular with younger children is Stampylonghead, who has many videos with more than a million views.
Just about the only practical limits to “Minecraft” are the imagination, creativity and persistence of players.
Independent tinkerers and gaming enthusiasts have wielded their creativity to fashion an array of worlds that go well beyond the basic environments through which people can wander and attempt to survive, as well as fresh codes that can introduce new characters and twists to the game.
More than a few of the independently created worlds available to visit and even help to build are straight out of the realm of popular television shows and real life, such as a “Game of Thrones” world and even a rebuilt Disneyland, while software patches can introduce new animals or other in-game treats.
“I like to go to the ‘Game of Thrones’ world,” said Tanner Higgin of Common Sense Media. “I love that server and it’s great to see how far they’ve gotten with that world.”
These “Minecraft” servers and modifications –”mods” in fans’ parlance — are for mainstream enthusiasts, and not merely a digital 1 percent of game creators, experts say.
“The consumer essentially has access to the same tools that game developers have,” said Jeff Haynes of Common Sense Media.
However, these advanced scenarios are likely going to mean parents getting more involved, especially for younger children — visiting public servers increases the chance of a child running into a bad apple, and downloaded mods can be bundled with, or actually be, dangerous and spammy software. And if your child wants to create his own “Minecraft” world for others to visit, you’ll need an advanced setup.
“You will need a certain type of server with plenty of capacity and speed, and you need a certain level of broadband,” said Ben Bajarin, principal executive with San Jose-based Creative Strategies, a tech market research firm.
Getting more involved can be beneficial, though, offering a bonding experience and teaching your child more about computers. Bajarin said he often plays “Minecraft” with his two daughters.
“It’s not mind-numbing, let’s dumb ourselves down with mindless entertainment,” he said. “It’s quite productive.”
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by Stone Marshall | Feb 4, 2015 | Minecraft News |
The next date and location for the next MineCon Minecraft convention was finally announced by Mojang on Monday. The convention took the year off for 2014, but it returns for 2015. Now the question is how it will look now that Mojang and the uber-popular open-world sandbox game are under the Microsoft umbrella.
The 2015 edition of MineCon will take place in London, England on July 4 and 5 at the ExCeL London Exhibition and Conference Centre. 10,000 tickets will be placed on sale by Mojang at the official
MineCon site sometime within the next two weeks. The tickets will go on sale in two separate batches on the same day with each batch containing 5,000 tickets.
Those that are able to snag tickets will be able to get discounted hotel pricing through Mojang. So, the developer suggests not booking any rooms just yet.
Mojang is also looking for MineCon volunteers, panel hosts and exhibitors. Information for volunteers and panel hosts will be made available soon, with panel submissions opening up in March. Exhibitors looking for booth space are asked to contact Mojang at minecon@mojang.com.
This will be the fifth MineCon convention hosted by Mojang. The very first was a small affair in 2010 that took place in Bellevue, Washington. There were only 50 people that attended that convention and got the chance to meet with Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson.
The 2011 MineCon took place in Las Vegas, Nevada and was the first for the newly founded Mojang. That event saw more than 5,000 people show up and it’s only gotten bigger since then.
MineCon 2013 in Orlando, FL.
Disneyland Paris served as the host for the 2012 MineCon, which came with plenty of unique challenges and weird anecdotes from the Minecraft creators. The book “A Year With Minecraft: Behind the Scenes at Mojang” detailed the troubles the game maker had with local French union workers who had no problems taking off before the show was completely setup. This sent the Mojang employees on-site scrambling to complete the work they could by themselves.
The 2013 MineCon was the last with Persson as the head of Mojang, though we didn’t know it at the time. It took place at Disney World in Orlando, Florida and was attended by over 7,500 fans. The studio then took 2014 off because it did not have the time or resources, and needed a break.
That brings us to 2015 where the landscape of Minecraft has changed greatly with its purchase by Microsoft. That should put even more resources behind MineCon, but Mojang’s note makes it clear that the convention will still be very much focused on and driven by the game’s community.
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by Stone Marshall | Feb 3, 2015 | Minecraft News |
Greetings Bleeding Coolers! Welcome to the fourth installment of The Geek Shopping Ninja Strikes. Each week I will be your personal shopper and provide you with five delightfully geek-tastic things that might pique your interest. This week’s theme is all things Minecraft! I still remember the day that I spent $15 dollars to buy the beta version. It was a glorious day filled with tons of gaming, and it’s amazing how large the empire has grown since then…
- 1. Minecraft Board Game T-Shirt from Threadless.com
($9.95)
I absolutely love the design of this t-shirt. It’s like Candy Land meets Minecraft. A very unique way to show your love of the game.
- 2. Minecraft Light-Up Torch from ThinkGeek.com
($19.99-24.99)
Light up your room with this essential tool! You can never have enough of these bad boys…
- 3. Minecraft Plastic Creeper Face Mug from Jinx.com
($12.99)
…especially when these dudes come around. Although it is kind of cool to drink your morning coffee out of a Creeper’s head.
- 4. Minecraft 5″ Baby Sheep Plush from HotTopic.com
($14.50)
It’s so fluffy and cute! Cuddle up with one of the most adorable (but drives me nuts because of the “baa”-ing in game) animals featured in Minecraft.
- 5. Minecraft Creeper Anatomy Deluxe Vinyl Figure from Jinx.com
($39.99)
I’ve been a fan of vinyl collectibles for a long time. This one in particular is super creative. It’s different than most of what I’ve seen out there, so if you’re a fan of the game…you should totally display this on your dining room table.
I know that there are so many things I have yet to discover about the advancements of the game, but I’m about to log on right now and start digging away at a new world. That’s the thing about Minecraft, for me anyway, I always like to start a new world when I’ve been away for a while. Do you guys feel the same? Thanks for joining me for the The Geek Shopping Ninja Strikes! Be sure to check back next week for some more tempting merchandise!
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