by Stone Marshall | Dec 16, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Nearly a decade on, Minecraft is still bringing us jaw-dropping creations, including massive cities of such scope and scale that they shouldn’t be possible inside a humble block builder. But they are, and in an effort to justify the time we’ve spent browsing these creations on the clock we’re going to share some of the coolest things we’ve found with you.
The image at the top comes from the Sayama City Project, which Kotaku shared back in August – though the project itself has been going on for years. Every time it comes back up, it’s astounding, and as everyone has repeatedly remarked, it’s tough to tell the difference between this Japan-inspired Minecraft city and a real-world photo. You can download the town for yourself via Planet Minecraft, or check out a video if you prefer to admire from afar.
Now you’re probably thinking ‘sure, this all looks pretty, but how realistic can a Minecraft city be?’ Luckily, YouTube’s City Beautiful has us covered there. The channel breaks down urban planning in digestible ways, and its biggest hit came a few months ago with a quick let’s play of SimCity 2000. Now we’ve got a set of reviews on Minecraft cities.
Those projects include the Vancouver-inspired Mattuopolis, the self-proclaimed “largest city in Minecraft,” Greenfield, and perhaps most intriguing, the GDMC Competition, which aims to build Minecraft settlements through AI generation. You can follow those links to mess around with them yourself, or you can watch the video below to get some walkthroughs with a dose of education on real-life city building.
Check out the best Minecraft maps if you’re looking for more cool creations – whether those be cities, castles, adventure maps, or horror excursions. Be prepared to lose your weekend amid this reminders that Minecraft is very cool.
by Stone Marshall | Dec 16, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Sega and Paramount Pictures have released the first teaser image for the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie, due to arrive next year – and, well, Sonic’s weirdly lithe new look will certainly be haunting my dreams tonight.
Inexplicably, the production team has opted to transform Sonic’s smooth, slightly rotund classic look, into something resembling an excessively hirsute human with a bulbous Sonic-shaped head and a punishing anaerobic fitness regime. Who is also blue. The overall effect, I’d argue, is more ‘limbering up for a sweaty night out down at the fetish bar’ than ‘endearing reimagining of a beloved video game character for a new family friendly movie franchise’.
Sonic’s teaser reveal comes via IGN, and is accompanied by a few words from executive producer Tim Miller. On the subject of Sonic’s top-to-toe fur makeover, Miller suggested, “It would be weird and it would feel like he was running around nude if he was some sort of otter-like thing. It was always, for us, fur, and we never considered anything different. It’s part of what integrates him into the real world and makes him a real creature.”
More fascinating still is Miller’s brief mention of Sonic’s eyes, not shown in the reveal image. “I don’t think Sega was entirely happy with the eye decision, but these sorts of things you go, ‘It’s going to look weird if we don’t do this'”, he explained. So goodness knows what nightmare-inducing ocular monstrosities could be lurking among the shadows.
Sonic The Hedgehog is being directed by Jeff Fowler, and stars Parks and Recreation’s Ben Schwartz in the lead role. The movie is currently scheduled to launch in the US on November 8th next year and on December 26th in the UK.
by Stone Marshall | Dec 15, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 15’s multiplayer expansion, known as Comrades, will finally get its previously announced standalone release today, December 12th, in the US, and tomorrow in the UK.
Comrades, which originally launched at the tail-end of last year, unfolds six months after the concluding events of the main game. Players take on the role of a Kinsglaive soldier (conjured into being via a flexible character creation tool), and, starting at their base in Lestallum, must collect meteor shards to restore power to the kingdom of Lucis.
Meteor shards (as well as money for upgrading weapons and the like) can be acquired through missions, all playable co-operatively with up to three friends. Missions are predominantly focussed around monster hunting, using a modified version of the core game’s combat system, and turning in meteor shards will unlock new missions and more areas of the map.
When Comrades originally launched, it was available as part of Final Fantasy 15’s season pass on PS4 and Xbox One, or on its own for £15.49. Those that played it seemed to quite enjoy its distinctive take on brisk co-operative questing, despite its fairly unintuitive demands when attempting to gather friends together in order to actually start a multiplayer session.
Although Comrades previously required a copy of Final Fantasy 15’s base game to run, its new, completely standalone version on Xbox One and PS4 won’t. Square previously announced that this separate version will add new creatures, such as the powerful Daemon Melusine, and that all new features will be available as a free update for those that already own Comrades.
Last month, Square Enix announced the departure of Final Fantasy 15 creator Hajime Tabata, resulting in the cancellation of the majority of DLC episodes planned for 2019.
by Stone Marshall | Dec 15, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Microsoft has announced a new initiative to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund through Minecraft, starting with the launch of the new Paws and Claws costume pack.
Paws and Claws’ release follows the recent arrival Minecraft’s latest update, which adds bamboo blocks, scaffolding, and, more importantly, pandas and redesigned cats. The costume pack (or “Cosplay Pack”, as Microsoft would have it) features 17 cat and panda skin, and all net proceeds on every sale – that’s 62.5% – will be donated to the WWF until December 11th, 2021.
Additionally, Microsoft has pledged to donate another $100,000 USD to the World Wildlife Fund once players have managed to place a total of 10 million bamboo blocks in Minecraft. This follows a similar event last year, in which a donation was made to The Nature Conservancy after Minecraft players laid down 10 million coral blocks.
In order to get involved in Microsoft’s charity initiative, either via some dedicated block placing or by purchasing the Paws and Claws pack, players will need to be using Minecraft’s Bedrock Edition, which is available on Windows 10, Xbox One, Switch, iOS, and Android.
by Stone Marshall | Dec 14, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, may be not as busy in the world of video game development as he used to be, but he is quite active on Twitter where he has 3.69 million followers.
As you may know, Persson — also known as “Notch” — has found himself amidst controversy due to some of the content he has tweeted out in the past. For example, in 2017 he had some unpleasant words to say about people who don’t support Heterosexual Pride Day, though he eventually walked back the Tweet.
Later in the same year he once again found himself on the other side of a barrel of criticism for tweeting out “it’s ok to be white.”
Fast-forward to this month, and Persson is once again vocalizing some controversial and political takes. Here’s a drive-by of some of it:
Notch
✔
@notch
There clearly is an agenda against white men.
Jonathan Morales
@JonathanM0ral35
Replying to @notch and 2 others
notch why are you like this please stop acting like there’s an agenda against white people
8,483
4:01 AM – Dec 9, 2018
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2,397 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Notch
✔
@notch
They are what everything else that isn’t perfectly in line with the hard left is: russian nazi cis scum bots.
It’s literally evil versus the rest of us.
Pedro Paco
@MillionMistake
Replying to @notch
what about the right? where do they stand on the morality scale?
525
6:06 AM – Dec 6, 2018
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89 people are talking about this
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Notch
✔
@notch
If we were allowed to discuss IQ differences between populations, there’d be fewer conspiracy theories.
🇵🇱Scrable🇩🇪
@TherealScrable
@notch Do you love jews?
6,012
4:10 AM – Dec 7, 2018
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2,408 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Notch
✔
@notch
Reminder that the creator of Atari missed out on a lifetime achievement award because sexist dickfaces made up (proven lies) about him because gaming hadn’t “had it’s metoo moment yet.
If you’re still on the left, PLEASE wake up. You are evil.
6,861
5:54 AM – Dec 6, 2018
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1,964 people are talking about this
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As you may know, Persson is no longer involved with Minecraft. Back in November 2014 when Mojang — the company behind Minecraft that Persson helped create — was acquired by Microsoft for $2.5 billion, the creative left the company he helped propel to the top of the video game development world.
Since he departed Mojang, Persson has been much more, let’s say, vocal, on Twitter, and in a heightened political climate that has seemingly seeped into every facet of life, he has found himself in a fair share of controversy. Or, at least Internet controversy. Suffice to say, without being tied to Mojang — or more importantly, Microsoft — he has been able to share his takes as freely as he likes, which aren’t always inherently political.
Notch
✔
@notch
· Dec 9, 2018
Replying to @notch
These people are politicians, they’re large corporations.
They’re your crazy ex and your demanding parent.
They’re you, last weekend.
Notch
✔
@notch
Money is paper you think you have to value.
Words are vibrations you think you have to honor.
Relationships, friendships, movement, are all labels you think you can’t change without good reason, so you sacrifice yourself for man made label.
779
4:07 AM – Dec 9, 2018
Twitter Ads info and privacy
132 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Notch
✔
@notch
Boys and soys: do not fall for this narrative. Women are attracted to stable men who speak their mind and get stuff done. Be assertive in who you are and what your values are, be nerdy and excited about projects.
Your strongest currency is undivided attention.
emily dont care
@emichka7
Replying to @notch
dude u look like the classic fedora neckbeard type, just more put together because of the millions of dollars u have in ur back pocket, no ones gonna WANT to exchange contact info with u, in fact if someone that looked like u flirted w me id be extremely uncomfortable sorry lmfao
Read more online: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/12/08/minecraft-creator-markus-persson-twitter/
by Stone Marshall | Dec 14, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Today, Apple unveiled the list of the most popular apps and games (free and paid) for iPhone and iPad in 2018 and you’ll find below the top 10 charts for each category.
This year, Battle Royale-style games like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile dominated global gaming culture with exciting, last-player-standing action, while innovative apps like Fabulous, Shine, 10% Happier and Headspace expanded the practice of wellness around the world to make self-care more accessible than ever before, said Apple.
Atherton Research’s Take
In the free app category, Google’s YouTube was the most downloaded app on both iPhone and iPad, while Messenger, the Facebook app, Gmail, Netflix also appeared in the top 10 for both iOS devices.
On the iPhone, the most popular apps are predominantly for communication (Instagram, Snapchat, Messenger, Facebook, Bitmoji and Gmail), whereas apps on the iPad tend to be more video-oriented (YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Kids).
On the iPhone paid apps side, selfie-editor FaceTune ($3.99) and drawing iPad app Procreate ($9.99)—which was also awarded best iPhone app of the year by Apple “editors”— took the top spots.
In the free games category, Fortnite is the absolute winner on both iPhone and iPad. Hole.io, Rise Up, Helix Jump, Love Balls, and Rules of Survival were also popular on both iOS platforms.
Froggipedia is an augmented-reality educational app which explores the life cycle and intricate anatomical details of a frog and won Apple’s 2018 iPad App of the Year award.DESIGNMATE
In paid games, Heads Up! ($2.99) won the crown on iPhone—it was also the #5 most popular paid games on iPad—while Microsoft’s Minecraft ($6.99) was the most popular on the iPad and the second most downloaded app on the iPhone. Geometry Dash, Bloons TD 6, and The Game of Life were also popular paid games on both iOS platforms.
On a side note, Apple also named its own favorites apps, selected by “editors” working at the tech giant.
On the iPhone, Apple selected drawing app Procreate Pocket and Donut County (a story-based physics puzzle game where you play as an ever-growing hole in the ground) as its app and game of the year, respectively.
On the iPad, the Silicon Valley company chose Froggipedia (an augmented-reality educational app which explores the life cycle and intricate anatomical details of a frog) and puzzle-game Gorogoa as this year’s app and game, respectively.
Top 10 Free iPhone Apps:
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Messenger
Facebook
Bitmoji
Netflix
Google Maps
Gmail
Spotify Music
Top 10 Paid iPhone Apps:
Facetune ($3.99)
Kirakira+ ($0.99)
Dark Sky Weather ($3.99)
HotSchedules ($2.99)
PlantSnap ($2.99)
AutoSleep Tracker for Watch ($2.99)
Sky Guide ($2.99)
1 Second Everyday: Video Diary ($4.99)
The Wonder Weeks ($2.99)
Afterlight 2 ($2.99)
Top 10 Free iPhone Games:
Fortnite
Helix Jump
Rise Up
PUBG Mobile
Hole.io
Love Balls
Snake VS Block
Rules of Survival
Roblox
Dune!
Top 10 Paid iPhone Games:
Heads Up! ($2.99)
Minecraft ($6.99)
Plague Inc. ($0.99)
Bloons TD 6 ($4.99)
Pocket Build ($1.99)
Bloons TD 5 ($2.99)
Geometry Dash ($1.99)
The Game of Life ($2.99)
Papa’s Freezeria To Go ($0.99)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($6.99)
Top 10 Free iPad Apps:
YouTube
Netflix
Messenger
Facebook
Amazon Prime Video
Google Chrome
Gmail
YouTube Kids
The Calculator
Amazon Shopping
Top 10 Paid iPad Apps:
Procreate ($9.99)
Notability ($9.99)
GoodNotes 4 ($7.99)
Toca Life: Pets ($3.99)
Duet Display ($9.99)
Toca Life: After School ($3.99)
XtraMath ($4.99)
Toca Hair Salon 3 ($3.99)
MyScript Nebo ($7.99)
Toca Kitchen 2 ($3.99)
Top 10 Free iPad Games:
Fortnite
Roblox
Kick the Buddy
Love Balls
Helix Jump
Color by Number Coloring Game!
Bowmasters – Multiplayer Game
Hole.io
Rise Up
Rules of Survival
Top 10 Paid iPad Games:
Minecraft ($6.99)
Geometry Dash ($1.99)
The Game of Life ($2.99)
The Room: Old Sins ($4.99)
Heads Up! ($0.99)
Bloons TD 6 ($4.99)
Goat Simulator ($4.99)
Five Nights at Freddy’s ($2.99)
Lego Jurassic World ($4.99)
Terraria ($4.99)
Jean Baptiste “JB” Su is Vice-President and Principal Analyst at Atherton Research, a global technology consulting and intelligence firm advising clients plan, build and deliver successful go-to-market strategies. You can follow him on LinkedIn (https://goo.gl/z5zGlx) or Twi… MORE
Author: Jean Baptiste is a Vice-President and Principal Analyst at Atherton Research, a global technology intelligence firm advising clients deliver successful go-to-market strategies.
Read more online: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2018/12/04/apple-unveils-2018s-most-popular-apps-youtube-fortnite-minecraft-and-more/#d59c1460dcd8
