Is Minecraft the Most Available game ever? It seems like it’s out on pretty much every major platform going, and this week added yet another: Apple TV. Minecraft: Apple TV Edition costs $19.99, and comes bundled with a number of DLC packs, including the Holiday 2015, Town Folk, and City Folk skin packs, and the Plastic, Natural, Cartoon, and Festive 2016 mash-ups. However, it is missing two biggish features: Microsoft Realms and Xbox Live support. Developer Mojang says these will be coming “in the near future.”
And, Minecraft: Apple TV Edition will also come with the Ender Update, released at the same time for the Pocket and Windows 10 versions of the game. This update adds a chunk of single player gameplay to Minecraft in the form of an alternate dimension (the End), populated by various baddies and items (e.g., Ender Crystals and Ender Pearls), as well as the Ender Dragon itself.
As the name implies, the new Minecraft mash-up pack from Mojang celebrates the holiday season with new skins and textures inspired by festive celebrations from around the globe. Players can adorn themselves in Santa’s suit, or dress up like Krampus, and the new skins include plenty of other popular holiday imagery, like elves, reindeer or something called a Dishevelf. The Festive Mash-Up Pack even includes yeti and bigfoot skins. Hilariously enough, there’s enough a blue variant of Santa’s traditional red-and-white outfit called “ Cool Claus ”.
Unfortunately, unlike last week’s Ender Update, and the recent spate of holiday content we’ve seen for PC and console games, the Festive Mash-Up Pack won’t be a free download for Minecraft: Pocket Edition or Windows 10 Edition players. Those interested in the holiday content can purchase the Festive Mash-Up Pack from their preferred app store for $3.99.
For a closer look at the the Minecraft Festive Mash-Up Pack, take a few minutes to watch the new trailer from Microsoft and Mojang. Then head down to the comments section and let us know what mash-up pack you’d like to see in Minecraft: Pocket Edition and/or Windows 10 Edition next.
Minecraft is now available on PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS Vita, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, PC, iOS and Android.
Be sure to check back with iDigitaltimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more Minecraftnews throughout what’s left of 2016 and however long Mojang supports Minecraft in the years ahead.
The full version of Minecraft is finally coming to Apple TV, as the Pocket and Windows 10 editions of the game leave beta and see the addition of endgame content.
Owners of Apple’s miniature black box can get their hands on Minecraft now. To make up for it being possibly the last format in the tech world to receive the game, the tvOS release will come with seven pieces of DLC to bolster the core world-building game.
Per developer Mojang’s blog, buyers of Minecraft: Apple TV Edition will receive the Holiday 2015, Town Folk, and City Folk skin packs, plus the Plastic, Natural, Cartoon, and Festive 2016 mash-ups packs. The DLC is available “for a limited time”.
Apple TV was previously graced with Minecraft: Story Mode, the narrative driven episodic adventure developed by Telltale Games, back in June but this marks the first time the full sandbox gamehas appeared on the device.
There is one slight downside – the Apple TV Edition currently doesn’t support Minecraft Realms or Xbox Live log-ins. However, Mojang says the game will be updated to support both features “in the near future”.
Elsewhere, Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Windows 10 Editionhave finally come out of beta. Both are now running at version 1.0, with updates available to download now.
The full version brings with it the Ender Update. This expands Minecraft’s world with a whole new realm to explore – The End – and the iconic Ender Dragon, the game’s major ‘boss’. The new area, which can be accessed after players have found, repaired, and re-activated the End Portal, also features unique cities, ships, and locations to explore, along with new enemies.
The Ender Update also adds in new items and crafting materials, such as End Stone bricks and Purpur objects. The regular Minecraft world will also see additions and fresh recipes, including igloos and polar bears.
While Pocket Edition has been in development in various iterations since 2011, and Windows 10 Edition since 2015, anyone buying the Apple TV Edition gets to jump to the front of the queue – that version launches with the Ender Update already included.
“Microsoft Monday” takes a look back at the past week of news related to Microsoft. This week, “Microsoft Monday” includes details about Minecraft arriving on Apple TV, Dolby Atmos support coming to the Xbox One and Windows 10, the download speed increasing on the Xbox One, a roadmap for Cortana on IoT devices, the OneDrive for iOS update and much more!
Minecraft Arrives On Apple TV For $19.99
Minecraft / Image Credit: Microsoft
Back in October, Mojang announced that Minecraft will be coming to the Apple TV. And today Minecraft has officially arrived for the fourth-generation Apple TV at a price of $19.99.
“We’ve just released Minecraft for the slim black boxes. And, for a limited time, it comes with seven pieces of lovely DLC, giving you the chance to customize the fun to your liking. Minecraft: Apple TV Edition currently includes the Holiday 2015, Town Folk, and City Folk skin packs, along with the Plastic, Natural, Cartoon, and Festive 2016 mash-ups,” said Mojang’s director of creative communications Owen Jones in a blog post.
Minecraft for the Apple TV will also support the Ender Update. Unfortunately, it does not support Minecraft Realms or Xbox Live yet. But Mojang plans to add support for those platforms “in the near future.”
Dolby Atmos Sound Is Coming To Xbox One And Windows 10
Microsoft has announced that the Dolby Atmos surround sound technology will be coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs and tablets. What makes this announcement exciting is that Dolby Atmos is known for making gaming and video content sound extremely sharp and realistic.
“Xbox will be the first game console to feature Dolby Atmos and game developers are excited about using the new capabilities to make their games richer and more engaging. Atmos support for the Blu-ray app on Xbox is already available in Preview and will be released to GA soon – and we’re very excited now to offer Atmos support to games on Xbox One and Windows 10,” said Spencer Hooks, the Director of Gaming at Dolby Laboratories. “You’ll be able to experience Dolby Atmos in your home theater, assuming you have a Dolby Atmos enabled speaker system or soundbar. But you don’t need to have that kind of equipment – it will be possible to enable virtually any pair of headphones with the Dolby Atmos experience.”
Xbox Preview members can now access Dolby Atmos support on the Xbox One and Xbox One S through Blu-ray Bitstream pass-through. If you are an Xbox Preview member, you can set up the feature by making sure you have the latest Blu-ray player update under the “Updates” tab within the “My Games & Apps” section and then enabling “Let my receiver decode audio (beta)” under the “Disc & Blu-ray” settings page.
Xbox One Update Increases Download Speeds Up To 80%
In a recent Xbox One update, Microsoft substantially optimized the download speeds supported by the console. If you are on an Internet connection that is faster than 100Mbps, then you should see an increase of about 80%. On slower connections, game and app downloads should still see a boost of around 40%. The changes in the download speed depend on your ISP and connection configuration. But the download speeds won’t have as much of a boost if you are playing a game since the bandwidth is prioritized for that experience. The Xbox One update also includes optimizations to make downloads “more resilient to intermittent connectivity issues.” And the update contains performance improvements for wireless controllers and background music.
The Xbox One update includes optimizations to make downloads “more resilient to intermittent connectivity issues.” And the update includes performance improvements for wireless controllers and background music.
Microsoft Is Reportedly Expanding Cortana To Internet Of Things Devices
ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley noticed that Cortana will be coming to Windows 10 Internet of Things Core devices with displays, according to a slide presented at the WinHEC 2016 event in Shenzhen. The slide showed Cortana built into a refrigerator, a thermostat and a toaster.
“With upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update, Cortana will be available on Windows 10 IoT Core devices with displays,” says the slide. Windows 10 Creators Update is expected to arrive in March 2017. In the Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft is also adding “wake on voice from modern standby” and “far-field voice” with Cortana. This will enable hardware companies to build devices that can wake up Cortana with voice queries and it will be able to listen to people from different rooms.
Foley said that the Cortana on Windows 10 IoT Core will launch in English for the U.S. and U.K. markets first. And there are plans to roll it out in additional languages after that.
OneDrive For iOS Has Been Updated With Office Lens Feature And Instant Previews
OneDrive for iOS / Photo Credit: Microsoft
Last week, Microsoft released a OneDrive for iOS update with a few new features. Microsoft OneDrive for iOS now has the ability to preview Word, Excel and PowerPoint files within the app via the new instant previewers. Another new feature is the ability to digitize whiteboards, documents and business cards because the app now has Office Lens integration.
We’re on Apple’s magical black box, just in time for the holidays
Do you own one of those fancy Apple TV devices? Maybe Santa has his elves cooking one up in their high-tech workshop?
If either of those are true, I bring good news! We’ve just released Minecraft for the slim black boxes. And, for a limited time, it comes with seven pieces of lovely DLC, giving you the chance to customise the fun to your liking. Minecraft: Apple TV Edition currently includes the Holiday 2015, Town Folk, and City Folk skin packs, along with the Plastic, Natural, Cartoon, and Festive 2016 mash-ups. It costs $19.99 and is rolling out in all regions as I type.
One more thing – though Apple TV Edition doesn’t currently support Minecraft Realms or Xbox Live, we’ll update the game with those features in the near future.
44 new skins are included with Minecraft’s Fallout mash-up pack.
Minecraft and Fallout are coming together with a new mash-up pack for the sandbox game. The $6 Minecraft add-on will introduce 44 skins based on characters from the Fallout series, including Fawkes, Nick Valentine, Tinker Tom, Dogmeat, and of course Fallout’s mascot, Vault Boy.
It also adds new, irradiated environments to explore, complete with two-headed cows and massive, scary-looking spiders. Fallout’s ghouls and other mutants will also show up, as will familiar Fallout locations such as the Capitol Building and Tenpenny Tower.
Additionally, Minecraft’s UI gets a “retro-futuristic” makeover in the mash-up pack, while there are some Fallout songs also included with the expansion. Watch the announcement trailer above to see the new content in action.
This is not Minecraft’s first mash-up pack, as those already available are themed around gaming franchises like Halo, Mass Effect, as well as The Simpsons.
