by Stone Marshall | Feb 3, 2015 | Minecraft News, parent-news |
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 2, 2015 | Minecraft News |
Mojang, the game development studio behind Minecraft, has made a few massive announcements regarding their indie voxel-building game and another title of their’s within the past week. The studio has revealed Minecraft has achieved over 1.4 million concurrent players last weekend, and the Minecraft Xbox One version helped to contribute to that impressive player count. This shouldn’t be too surprising, as the indie title has been making waves for years now. The recent buy-out by Microsoft has only cemented the game’s status in the games industry.
Minecraft remains one of the most popular games, not just within the indie category, but of any category. With the recent release of Minecraft Xbox One and the PS4 version, the game is doing nothing but growing. Nathan Adams, a game developer at Mojang, spoke on Twitter, revealing last weekend the studio saw over 1.4 million players on at one time.
Saturday tends to be the busiest day for Minecraft across all systems, and Mojang previously almost beat their record for concurrent players earlier this month. However, only this past weekend has managed to surpass their previous player count achievement. This is certainly a milestone for the studio and one that really do need to celebrate.
The other piece of news Mojang announced was in regards to their title Scrolls, which is currently available within the most recent Humble Bundle for as little as $1. A portion of the money can go to charity, like most Humble Bundle bundles of games. If you’re feeling charitable and pay more than $12 you can receive the Scrolls Deluxe Pack.
by Stone Marshall | Jan 30, 2015 | Minecraft News |
Emma Watson’s new role as Belle in Beauty and the Beast has more in common with Hermione Granger than just being bookish
Emma Watson, best known for playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, has been cast in Disney’s live-action version of Beauty and the Beast and thus is stepping into another role as a beloved nerdy girl. Hermione and Belle are probably the two most well-known bookworms in pop culture — and it turns out they have a lot more in common than their mutual love for the written word:
1. They’re both bookworms
Obviously, the casting directors for Beauty and the Beast wondered, “What other female character spends all her time with her nose in a book?” The best they could come up with was Hermione.
2. Everyone thinks they’re strange
Because Belle and Hermione are both beautiful women who love to read, everyone thinks they’re weird — obviously. Hermione is ostracized by her peers (including her future husband Ron Weasley) in J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book for being a know-it-all, while the townspeople sing about Belle in the opening scene of Beauty and the Beast, “Look there she goes that girl is strange, no question. / Dazed and distracted, can’t you tell?” People are the worst.
3. They love beastly things
While Belle shows her affection for the Beast, a creature who repels most, Hermione is kind to the gentle giant Grawp, half-brother of Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. Grawp, however, never turns into a handsome prince.
4. They are humans that enter a magical world
When Belle comes to Beast’s castle, she finds an enchanted world where teacups and candelabras can sing and dance. Hermione is a muggle whose first major introduction to the magic is at Hogwarts where the ceiling can change from night to day and ghosts wander the halls.
5. They both live in castles
The Beast’s home and Hogwarts? They’re both massive, old and awesome magical castles. Emma Watson will feel right at home on the Beauty and the Beast set.
6. They both have major dress moments
Remember when Belle appears at the top of the stairs in a billowing yellow dress before her dance with the Beast? Remember when the exact same thing happens on top of another staircase as Hermione shows up in that gorgeous dress to the Yule Ball? They even have the same hairstyle! Here’s a reminder:
7. They’re friendly to all creatures
Belle defends her beloved horse, while Hermione is always a helper to the house elves (RIP Dobby). She even launched a Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.
8. They both get hit on by terrible men
Gaston, a detestable human being, is relentless as he hits on Belle. Hermione, too, must suffer through the amorous advances of Cormac McLaggen at Potions Professor Slughorn’s holiday party. Both are smart enough, of course, to run away from their loathsome suitors.
9. They love wandering into restricted places
Don’t tell these ladies where they can and cannot go. Belle wanders into the forbidden west wing of the castle even though the Beast warns her not to do so. Hermione passes off an autograph from Professor Gilderoy Lockhart as a note that allows her to enter the restricted section of the library in Hogwarts.
10. They’re judgey about table manners
Hermione makes fun of Ron for eating like a slob, just like Belle throws shade at the Beast for eating his oatmeal like, well, a beast.
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by Stone Marshall | Jan 28, 2015 | Minecraft News |
Microsoft wasn’t afraid to talk about potential videogame applications for its Windows Holographic technology and the HoloLens head-mounted display (HMD) at a reveal event earlier today. In fact the company even teased a new version of the ever-popular Minecraft series, which it acquired for $2.5 billion USD back in 2014, would be coming to the platform. Surprisingly, it appears that there isn’t just one Minecraft HoloLens project in development however; there are in fact two that are apparently very different.
That is according to developer Mojang’s Jens Bergensten, who revealed as much following the reveal event. “I’ve tried 2 Minecraft projects on #HoloLens,” Bergensten wrote on Twitter. “One is a toy, one is closer to the game, both are awesome! Very much wip [work in progress], but definitely real.” His comments seem to suggest that Mojan itself might be developing these project.
It could be that both of these versions were on display in the reveal trailer for HoloLens. Minecraft was shown in two instances. One saw a player bring the series’ iconic blocky landscape into the middle of a living room while the other had a player tap some explosives appearing on a wall, creating a crack through which the world of Minecraft could be seen. It’s more than possible that this was an early glimpse at two different Minecraft experiences.
VRFocus will continue to follow HoloLens and all of its projects closely, reporting back with any further updates.
-END-
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by Stone Marshall | Jan 28, 2015 | Minecraft News |
Minecraft fans, your suffering is almost at an end. It appears an announcement about the next MineCon is at hand.
Just a short while ago, Vu Bui, the chief operating officer of Mojang, the Swedish company that develops Minecraft (the best-performing paid mobile game in the world, and one of the most-played best-sellers on PC and console), tweeted the following:
As all fans of the block-building and survival-based sandbox game know, the entire year of 2014 passed without a MineCon, the convention that’s about all things Minecraft. The last MineCon was way back in November 2013 in Orlando.In September last year, Microsoft acquired Mojang. But in a blog post last August, before the Microsoft deal was announced, Bui said the next MineCon was being delayed because “we want to make sure we can give it the attention it needs.”
“I wanted to let everyone know that it won’t be until some time in 2015,” he wrote. “I’m shooting to have it in the spring in London!”
Will it be London? Hopeful fans everywhere were making last-minute pitches for their country on Twitter. But in any case, we should know for sure … “soon.”
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