Notch now owns a $70 million Beverly Hills mansion, but we bet he’d rather live in this swank Minecraft recreation of the property…or maybe not. We can’t say what he’d really like.
Last week, Minecraft creator Notch bought a $70 million Beverly Hills mansion before Jay-Z and Beyonce could snag the property. We all stared in awe at the extravagance, but now we can stare at awe at this Minecraft recreation of the home. Notch’s life has started to come full circle; pretty soon his entire life will be inside the matrix.
Minecraft has been making a lot of news this year with the game debuting on a number of consoles. One of the biggest news involved Mojang studio being bought by Microsoft.
The game’s 1.6.4 update was recently released exclusively on the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
This move did not surprise many as Microsoft now owns the game and will naturally look to provide updates to its own consoles first.
Earlier this year, the game debuted on next generation consoles such as the PS4 and Xbox One. A subsequent update titled “Horses” was then reported on the way. Then last week it was announced that Mojang, the studio responsible for producing the game, had launched a collaboration with Telltale Games to create a whole new game titled “Minecraft: Story Mode.”
“Story Mode” will follow the formula of other games released by Telltale such as “Game of Thrones: Iron From Ice” and “Walking Dead.” The games concentrate more on solving puzzles and decision making, which will in turn influence how events in the game play out.
As for the 1.6.4 update, it comes with a new “Tutorial World” where players can learn more about the game’s existing and new features. As for the update’s main feature, it involves the addition of horses which players can tame and ride. Additionally the horses can use their own armor.
The update also brings new enemies for the players in the forms of Witches, Wither Skeletons and Bats. Fireworks also make an appearance in this update and they are programmed in such a way that they are launched at certain times during the day.
Cinemablend says Mojang plans to release the 1.6.4 update for Playstation consoles in the U.S. shortly and it could even happen within the next few weeks. Those who have Playstation consoles in Europe have already received the update.
At long last, kids ruled in 2014. Books aimed at them have often figured in the top 10 of the all-year sales chart for printed books, but in the respective heydays of JK Rowling, Stephenie (Twilight) Meyer and Suzanne (The Hunger Games) Collins the rest of the elite group usually consisted of grown-up titles and there was always a chance that one such mega-seller – by Dan Brown, say, or EL James – would pip them to the top spot.
This year, in contrast, seven of the top tier books including the No 1 – by John Green, David Walliams and Jeff Kinney, plus four Minecraft manuals – are for children or young adults and an eighth, Guinness World Records, is predominantly aimed at them.
The Minecraft books (2, 5, 6, 7) are 80-page guides to a hugely successful video game in which players either build structures or battle enemies; launched in Sweden in 2009, it passed 100 million registered users in February this year. Published by Egmont (the UK arm of a Danish media group, the name possibly signalling Beethovenian ambitions), the four titles spearheading this new Viking invasion achieved combined sales of around 1,700,000.
What’s fascinating about this is that there should be a market for video game spin-off books at all, let alone such a stunning one. There’s no shortage of Minecraft tutorials on YouTube, in its own online domain, but rather reassuringly young gamers en masse evidently felt a need for a hardback handbook opened next to their PCs – a demand reflecting the relative robustness of manuals of all types and children’s books, compared to other genres whose print sales and revenue have been hit harder by readers’ inexorable (though possibly slowing) flight to ebooks.
Being a hit on screen first, or as well, is not a phenomenon confined to the Egmont quartet. Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid existed first in an online version before becoming a book. Walliams was a TV writer and actor long before taking up children’s fiction. Green has a sideline as a video blogger, or vlogger; whereas that’s Alfie Deyes’s (29) day job, with his jokey book as a spin-off.
If you took the Minecraft books away, 2014’s top 10 would look very similar to 2013’s: the latter also included Walliams’s and Kinney’s latest offerings, Guinness World Records and Dan Brown’s Inferno (then No 2, now No 8). The Fault in Our Stars, Green’s 2012 love story narrated by a teenager with cancer – widely seen as a YA book, though not officially classified as one – was at No 17 a year ago, and owes its spectacular subsequent ascent to the screen adaptation. Similarly, Gone Girl, also originally published in 2012, is at No 4 two and a half years later (it was No 3 in 2013) thanks to David Fincher’s film. Its author Gillian Flynn is the only woman to make the top 10.
Just like YouTube idols transformed into writers, reminiscing celebrities capitalise on their screen fame (usually on television) to win publishing deals; but the 2014 list confirms that the public long ago got out of the habit of seeing the resulting books as ideal Christmas presents. Besides the late Lynda Bellingham’s autobiography (12), two sports books, by Guy Martin (32) and Roy Keane (37), are the only hardback memoirs in the top 100. Yet publishers still seem in denial about the once-mighty subgenre’s slump, shelling out for much-hyped autumn offerings from John Cleese, Stephen Fry, John Lydon, Graham Norton and others that all flopped.
More surprising is the decline of cookery titles, which until recently gave crime and children’s fiction a good fight for the highest positions. The genre’s talisman Jamie Oliver, who up to 2012 routinely occupied a top 10 spot and for several years running was the Christmas-week No 1, now languishes at No 23. Mary Berry is ahead of him at No 13, but you’d expect her to be higher, given The Great British Bake Off’s vast audience. Advertisement
The Hairy Bikers (47) and Tom Kerridge (77) are well below their 2013 positions, while other TV cooks who once seemed set for annual hits – Lorraine Pascale, Nigel Slater, Paul Hollywood – are nowhere to be seen. It appears counterintuitively possible that, while Minecraft addicts are turning to print manuals, their parents are turning away from them, increasingly getting their recipes online rather than from food-stained Jamie or Nigella recipe books on the kitchen table.
With memoirs and cookbooks both ailing, this has been another annus horribilis for non-fiction: ever fewer “serious” factual titles do well enough to make the top 100 – in an especially feeble 2014 showing, only Bill Bryson’s One Summer (54) really qualifies besides Alan Johnson’s Orwell prize-winner, This Boy – while at the other end of the spectrum once-bankable genres are losing their commercial potency. Both less serious and less sellable, then: not a good combination.
Non-fiction’s woes have allowed fiction to surge into the positions vacated, notably the places just below the top 10 where celebrity cooks and comedians formerly roamed in packs. Here can be found, not just commercial crowd-pleasers, but literary titles feted by critics and award judges – though some are missing.
There is, for example, no sign of the winners of the Folio, Baileys Women’s fiction or Man Booker prizes (George Saunders, Eimear McBride and Richard Flanagan, respectively), or indeed the 2013 Booker winner (Eleanor Catton) in paperback; all were probably seen as too forbidding. Yet the Costa awards did much better, with Kate Atkinson’s novel prizewinner (11) and Nathan Filer’s first novel and overall winner (26) both well placed. Shoppers also picked out two attractive losing finalists, Donna Tartt (14) from the Baileys shortlist and Karen Joy Fowler (42) from the Booker last six.
Amid these garlanded titles can also be found Girl Online (28), by (or rather “by”, as it was ghost-written) Zoe Sugg, AKA Zoella, another YouTube vlogger. The book, and Penguin’s handling of its authorship, have been much criticised but it pulled off something remarkable in being the third highest placed 2014 novel; outselling the likes of John Grisham, James Patterson, Sophie Kinsella and Jodi Picoult, even though these authors’ efforts were paperbacks available for most of the year and hers was a pricier late-November hardback.
Loot Crate is a monthly service in which you receive geek-friendly merchandise at a discount, grouped around a particular theme. The anniversary theme continues with Tetris, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. To celebrate, Loot Crate included Tetris stickers.
The funny thing about Tetris is that in two-dimensional format it’s a lot like Minecraft, 147 of them to be precise. Which of course means my seven-year-old boy claimed it. The accompanying booklet tells you how to make the alphabet, a heart, and a skull. My son plastered his carrying case for his Minecraft books with his initials, a skull, an electric guitar, a sword, and a man. Minecraft, you continue to bolster the geek kid economy. The boy gave it five stars.
Want your own Loot Crate? Sign up at LootCrate.com ($19.37/month for one month) and use code SAVE3 to receive $3 off.
The announcement this week that Telltale Games are turning to one of the most popular video games of all-time, the Mojang-developed Minecraft, for their latest series came completely out of left field.
With little details emerging other than a promise to make the game “an entirely new Minecraft experience” that still manages captures the spirit of the massive sandbox title, speculation has been rife as to what exactly gamers can expect from Minecraft: Story Mode’s 2015 premiere.
With several members of our staff here at Power Up Gaming classing ourselves as diehard fans of both Minecraft and Telltale, we’re discussing today whether or not we think the game has serious potential to become another masterpiece in interactive storytelling, or if it’s simply a shameless cash-in. Do we think The Walking Dead developer have bitten off more than they can chew, or has Minecraft’s freedom handed them a great opportunity?
Harry Bowers: Telltale’s announcement of their latest series, Minecraft: Story Mode, comes as pretty topical to me, because Minecraft PS4 is just about all I’ve been playing for the past few weeks. I’ve fallen deep into that block-sized hole all over again. For this reason, the announcement has filled me with equal parts dread and optimism. On one side I see a game completely unconducive with the Telltale treatment; but on the other, I’m looking at two studios responsible for some of gaming’s greatest adventures.
What is Minecraft without its trademark open-ended hijinks? The answer feels pretty uncertain right now. Minecraft is distinct from Telltale’s previous fancies – The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones – in that it deals, not in blood and back-stabbery, but learning and whimsy. Sure, there’s dark dungeons and the cold, hard necessities of survival, but everything is realised in a charming, kid-friendly dressage. Exploration is the driving force; heavyweight narrative punches need not apply. In fact, Mojang’s announcement infographic, the charming Info Quest II, hit the nail on the head:
“Telltale’s other games are awesome, but they’re usually set in universes packed with cool characters and narrative arcs. Minecraft doesn’t have those things.
“Our games has consistent physics, a bundle of mobs, and a distinctive look, but no real story to speak of. You make it yourself through playing!”
That, for me, is where the premise starts to get shaky. Will the cartoony antics of Steve and his whole block-headed entourage be able to recapture the emotional heft that Telltale have been acclaimed for? It’s pretty unlikely. What little information we currently have all seems to point towards a very different game to what we’re used to. For Telltale, this is uncharted territory. What’s going to keep die-hard Telltale addicts coming back for more? Telltale need to master a radically different form of entertainment, fast. To make things even harder, they have to do so in a way which will keep players compelled for upwards of a six-month release window.
Telltale have built themselves a huge mountain to climb; the methods unknown and results uncertain. But, in some weird way, it feels right exactly because of this. Telltale proffered acclaim back in 2012 with The Walking Dead: Season One because they did something no one else was really doing. Moreover, it was truly fantastic. The birth of Minecraft: Story mode strikes me as nothing less than a bold continuation of this rich legacy. Outside of the comics, outside of the show, The Walking Dead completely stood up by itself as an unforgettable narrative. Why can’t Minecraft: Story Mode do just that, too?
Of all the projects Telltale have undertaken in the past, Minecraft offers the most opportunity for creative license. Watching the proven minds behind Telltale get that little extra leg room to be even more brilliant is an exciting prospect. Even more importantly, Minecraft: Story Mode marks these guys taking one more timid step toward crafting their very own IP. So, no matter what the outcome, I can’t help but look eagerly at Minecraft’s latest iteration as one big golden promise of future brilliance.
I don’t for one second doubt that Minecraft: Story Mode will be a good game; but I worry that, thanks to the nature of the beast, it won’t quite reach the ‘great’ heights that we have come to expect from Telltale. I anxiously wait to be proven wrong.
Chris Mawson: Like so many others, Mojang and Telltale’s announcement of Minecraft: Story Mode took me completely aback earlier in the week. My first reaction was to check the calendar… nope, definitely not April 1. As a great lover of both Minecraft and Telltale’s narrative-rich adventure series, including The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us, you’d think I’d be overcome with excitement at the news. And though while I am looking forward to seeing where the developers go with the concept, my position is more that of a cautious optimist.
With Telltale’s recent releases in Tales From the Borderlands and Game of Thrones, I was already beginning to question whether or not the time is nigh for the developer to try their hand at their own IP, rather than cashing in on (though admittedly treating successfully, and in many cases, reinvigorating) an existing franchise. Their announcement this week further provokes my skepticism.
On the other hand, while the developer could be accused of playing it safe by turning to yet another popular property for their latest effort, little else gives them as much freedom to put their own stamp firmly on the game as Minecraft is able to. Yes, it’s undoubtedly and transparently a cash-in that Telltale will hope will draw in Minecraft’s gargantuan audience. But with a proven track record and clear respect for the fans of Mojang’s title – collaborating closely with the developer and promising to take on board the ideas and wishes of game’s existing fan base – I’m looking forward to seeing what they’re able to do with the themes and ideations expressed in the hit sandbox game.
To create a game that adequately lives up to the Minecraft name is a massive undertaking. But if anyone can pull it off, Telltale can.
Scott Russell: Ever since playing Tales of Monkey Island, I’ve loved Telltale’s awesome brand of story-centric adventures; that one in particular had some hilarious moments of piracy. They may dabble around with clunky mechanics, but in no way does that diminish their expertise in producing games that grip, shock and amaze. The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us are just two instances that highlight Telltale’s ability to deliver wonderful experiences with varying themes and styles. This can only be a benefit for Minecraft: Story Mode, especially when you consider the blocky, and abstract, nature of the source material.
Invigorating different intellectual properties is definitely Telltale’s bag. The Walking Dead franchise is no lacklustre affair by any means, but the story of Lee and Clementine brings life to a world that is solely at its best in the static pages of a comic book; Fables (the series on which The Wolf Among Us is based) has been significantly improved upon through a deliciously smooth art style and a brilliant cast of fairytale denizens; and the already frantic suspense of Game of Thrones has increased thanks to Telltale’s pressing, and oppressively frenetic, systems of choice.
Minecraft is a game that houses a universe; it’s infinite. But Story Mode could bring something that adds to its infinity: a truly fascinating and original narrative. Now, I have no idea what that could entail; it could lead me on a trail to make some tough decisions regarding sand, but don’t take that as gospel. Though there is one thing that I am certain of: it that will contain heart, excitement and a whole load of Minecraft charm. Oh, and that clunkiness I mentioned before? Perfect for shambling over blocks.
