The ones and zeroes used by computers as the basis for all programming are represented by alternating blocks – either dirt or stone.
However, the emulator is too slow to actually be playable – a single game could take months.
Mr Bling’s console comprises a giant screen, which gradually updates as the game animates, and a huge field of blocks that form the virtual console’s memory.
He has also designed game cartridges for Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Pac Man – in the form of huge Minecraft blocks that are scanned as though being read by the original hardware.
Two thousand command blocks – which can perform operations on other blocks – form the system’s processor. They manipulate blocks in the memory just like a physical processor operates on data in a computer.
But the processor works very slowly, drawing frames to the screen 60 times every four hours. The original console ran at 60 frames per second.
“Because of the structures that exist within Minecraft […] you could, weirdly, in an Inception-like way, build a Minecraft within Minecraft,” said Tom Crick, professor of computer science and public policy at Cardiff Metropolitan University, referring to the film.
The possibilities, he added, were more or less boundless.
“You could very easily construct a modern Intel ARM microprocessor – it would be very slow but it would functionally correct and complete,” he told the BBC.
He pointed out that, in the physical world, Lego also allows people to build all kinds of mechanical devices on a large scale.
Learning with blocks
The game’s developer, Mojang, released an educational edition of the game earlier this year and parent company Microsoft recently unveiled a one-hour online tutorial, built entirely in Minecraft, that teaches students to code.
But last month, the UK government’s “behaviour czar” Tom Bennett told The Times newspaper he was “not a fan” of Minecraft in lessons.
“This smacks to me of another gimmick which will get in the way of children actually learning,” he said.
Prof Crick said Minecraft was not a magical tool that solves educational problems, but added, “The fact you can create essentially anything is a very powerful thing.”
Mojang will give Minecraft players the ability to change their name on February 4th. While it’s a pretty simple process, there are some important rules to be aware of.
“The only thing you need is a Mojang account. If you currently sign in to Minecraft with an email address, you’re all good!” said Mojang today.
To change your name, do the following:
1. Go to your Mojang account page. 2. Click the “change” link next to your Minecraft name. 3. Choose your new name.
Older Minecraft accounts will need to be migrated over to Mojang before they can perform this change. You can migrate your account for free here.
Both the spelling and capitalization of your user name can be changed. Put some thought into your choice. While it’s free to change your name, you’ll have to wait 30 days until you can do it again.
Minecraft names are still unique so you can’t choose one already in use by someone else. Even if you convince them to change their name, you can’t switch to their old one right away. Their old name will become available 37 days after they switch to another.
Back in the early years of Minecraft, it was possible for players to register a username before they actually bought the game. These usernames will soon be deleted from Mojang’s system, though, so paying customers can snatch them up. If you have one of those unpaid user names, here are the steps recommended by Mojang:
1. Be sure that you have access to your old, unpaid Minecraft account. You will need access to its registered email address. If you cannot access that username, you can contact customer support, provide your registered email address or physical registration location, and we will set it to a new email address.
2. If you haven’t already, register a Mojang account at account.mojang.com/register. You cannot have more than one Minecraft username per Mojang account.
3. Purchase Minecraft with a gift code from minecraft.net/store or through a Minecraft prepaid card from a retail store. Old usernames can only be upgraded with gift codes or prepaid cards.
4. When redeeming your gift code or prepaid card at account.mojang.com/redeem, an option to import an old username will be available.
If you can’t complete this process before these unpaid accounts are purged, you could still register the name normally. However, you run the risk of someone else grabbing your preferred name before you manage to do so.
Name changes won’t wipe other parts of your account. If you’re banned from a server, you’ll stay banned. You’ll also retain whitelist and op status on servers along with your inventory, pets and stats.
Mojang adds that name changes should work fine with thegame’smanymods. However, they add that they’re not responsible for any issues that arise.
I have just read your 2015 guide, What’s the best laptop for running Minecraft?, and wondered if you could update it for 2016. My 10-year-old son adores Minecraft, and his Chromebook isn’t cutting it. He’s really into Pixelmon, so I was thinking about spending approx £300, though I’m willing to go up a bit if it gets something that will grow with him. He is using the web and the usual office tools a lot, and he’s increasingly keen to learn coding. Claire
This has been a common query for three or four years, and when buying a Minecraft machine, the basic rules never change. First, get the fastest processor you can, within your budget. Second, go for the fastest graphics card you can afford. Shop around, but I doubt you’ll find anything under £300, unless you are willing to buy a refurbished or second-hand laptop.
Minecraft platforms
It’s actually quite easy to run Minecraft. There are versions for most platforms including Apple iOS and Google Android tablets, and for Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation games consoles. There’s also a free trial beta version that runs as a “modern” app in Windows 10. All these are great. The drawback is that they don’t support “mods” or modding platforms such as Pixelmon.
The main version of Minecraft runs in a Java virtual machine, which enables the same program to run on Microsoft Windows, MacOS and Linux (which you can install on an Intel-based Chromebook). This is the version that supports “mods” and Pixelmon. Unfortunately, it consumes a lot of resources, which means you need a reasonably powerful PC to get good results.
It’s therefore best to run full Minecraft on a desktop tower if possible. Tower PCs have lots of space inside, and cooling fans, so they can use hot, fast processors. They also have expansion slots so you can add a graphics card that wasn’t supplied as standard.
Laptops are cramped for space, so manufacturers install slower processors that run cooler. And because Windows laptop manufacturers compete heavily on price, they rarely fit dedicated graphics cards. Instead, they rely on the “integrated graphics” that come with the processor. These also use the computer’s main memory for graphics, instead of having their own fast memory chips.
The good news is that integrated graphics have improved a lot in the past 5-10 years. To benefit, go for the newest processor you can afford.
Either way, aim to buy at least 4GB of memory – preferably 8GB – and at least 64GB of storage for Minecraft. This eliminates most of the laptops in the £150-£250 price bracket. Also, buy a good USB mouse.
Intel chip choice
Intel makes two main ranges of processors. Low-end laptops use low power Atom designs, which are branded Atom, Celeron and Pentium. These are fine for most purposes, including running full-screen videos and Microsoft Office. However, more powerful Core processor are needed for tougher jobs, such as video editing and gaming.
So far, Intel has released seven generations of its Core range, and the generation is shown by the first number in the processor name. In other words, a seventh-gen chip will have a number in the form i5-7xxx while a sixth-gen chip will be i5-6xxx. If you’re relying on built-in graphics, aim for a sixth- or seventh-gen processor.
The three main lines of Core chips are designated, BMW style, the Core i3, i5 and i7. The i7 is out of your price range, while the Core i3 is a little underpowered, and lacks the “burst mode” (short speed boost) feature of the i5 and i7. The Core i3-6100U is unusually fast for an i3 chip, but may not save much cash compared with the superior Core i5-6200U.
Some gamers prefer AMD processors because they have more cores and are easier to overclock. In general, however, they are slower and run hotter than Intel processors.
There are lots of laptops for just under £300 – it’s a popular price point – but it requires compromises. For example, the Asus VivoBook A540 at Currys PC World (£299) has a Core i3-5005U but only 4GB of memory, while the equivalent Asus X540SA at John Lewis (£299.95) has 8GB of memory but a much slower Intel Pentium N3700 processor. Unless you can find something in the sales, you should aim to pay a little more.
Your best bet could be the 15.6in Lenovo IdeaPad 310 laptop with a 1920 x 1080-pixel Full HD screen, Core i5-6260U processor, 8GB of memory and 1TB hard drive. This is available from both John Lewis and Currys PC World for £379, but John Lewis includes a 3-year guarantee.
You could get the same laptop with a Core i3-6100U processor, a lower-resolution 1366 x 768-pixel screen and a two-year guarantee for £349.95. However, it’s not such good value, and only saves £40. You could drop further down to an IdeaPad 305 with 4GB of memory and a fifth-gen Core i3-5005U for £329.95, but you’d be losing even more power and £50 worth of memory to save £20. The Asus VivoBook A540 has the same spec for £299.
Incidentally, Lenovo sells these machines direct. The Core i3-6100U version costs £349.99, with Core i5-7200U models at £449.99 and £479.99, and a Core i7-7500U for £579.99. The 2.5GHz i5-7200U laptop (£449.99) is faster than the 1.8GHz i5-6260U model that John Lewis stocks (£379), but probably not worth the extra £70.
If you can make it to a shop, you can compare the IdeaPad 310 with the HP 15-ay167sa, Asus and other machines, to see how you like the screen, keyboard and general build quality. The HP 15-ay167sa has the latest Core i5-7200U processor but a lower screen resolution (1366 x 768) for £399.
Dedicated graphics?
The improvements in Intel integrated graphics have pushed dedicated graphics cards out of low-end laptops, so they are now rather hard to find. However, eBuyer is offering an Acer Aspire E5-573G with a Core i3-5005U and Nvidia GeForce 940M graphics for £409.98, while Laptops Direct has an Asus X556UB-DM262T with a Core i3-6100U and GeForce GTX 940M graphics for £479.97. The main appeal of this machine is that it has a 128GB SSD instead of a traditional hard drive, but it’s way over budget.
Minecraft settings
As mentioned, Minecraft will run on almost anything. However, high graphics settings will bring most mainstream laptops to their knees. OptiFine and other optimisations can help. However, your son needs to understand that the settings he chooses for graphics, lighting, textures, render distance, and screen size – plus the number of mods and plug-ins installed – can all slow the frame-rate. If the graphics start to judder and lag, he will need to dial back the fancy effects until he gets a good playing experience. Hitting F3 shows the frame rate. I’d aim for at least 50-60 frames per second with Minecraft full screen. As usual, more is better.
SethBling, a YouTuber known for pulling off crazy hacks of popular games, might have outdone himself yet again with this one: He’s gotten an Atari 2600 emulator running in Minecraft.
Let’s say that you’re a normal person and so you have no idea what this means. An emulator is a software program that lets one computer act like another computer. That’s how we can play Super Mario Bros. on an NES Classic; the hardware is pretending to be an NES. Minecraft, the block-building creativity game, has an item called a Command Block, which allows players to enter and execute rudimentary code instructions. SethBling strung enough of these together to create a program that acts like the 1977 Atari 2600 game machine, which is a rather simple computer.
Of course, turning on an Atari with no game in the cartridge slot produces a whole lot of nothing, so you need game data. SethBling recreated the ones and zeroes of three Atari game ROM files—Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong—using standard inert Minecraft blocks. The command blocks read the data by scanning down each row of bricks, execute the code, and then as if by magic Pac-Man appears in the Minecraft world. He can even edit the system’s RAM on the fly… with a pickaxe.
The emulator runs at a brisk speed of about 60 frames every… four hours. But that’s okay, because there’s no controller, so it’s not playable, either. It was only created to show that it could be done, not to any functional purpose. In other words: art.
“The Sims 4” will offer players some Christmas spirit in-game with the release of the “Holiday Celebration Pack”. The new feature comes with lots of new items and goodies that should set the mood right for the Yuletide season plus some bug fixes to boot.
Among the new items included in the “Holiday Celebration Pack” for “The Sims 4” include stuff like a holiday table, a fireplace, nutcrackers, and a centerpiece. The patch notes detail the new changes for the game, most expected to make game play a whole lot more enjoyable.
“The Sims 4” players will need to download the latest version of the game to see the changes. The update should automatically take place but gamers need not worry in case it doesn’t.
All “The Sims 4” players need to do is right-click on the game title and select “Update”. Take note that mods and customized content will temporarily be disabled once the update is applied. Players can simply re-enable them once everything has settled down, per reports.
Looking through the patch notes for “The Sims 4”, a lot of bugs have finally been addressed. The list includes things like dishes placed outside boundaries, seeing a residential lot with to a generic type of a lot, and character behaviors. The complete patch notes can be viewed at Sims Community Info.
The “Holiday Celebration Pack” for “The Sims 4” follows the success of the previously released paid add-on “City Living”. While that add-on offered lots of things to do, “The Sims 4” gamers can look forward to more content to set the mood and tone of their Sims for the Holiday season.
It should be interesting to see if these new content can help improve “The Sims 4”. As most know, EA has been trying to make ends meet by adding content to the game which sorely faltered in terms of sales which places the fate of “The Sims 5” on shallow waters as mentioned in a previous post.
“Minecraft” console players are in for a treat this holiday. The game developer Mojang has prepared a spectacular holiday gift for console gamers. Here’s a sneak peak of your holiday goodies.
Since the last PC update of “Minecraft” last February called Combat Update – which changed the game intensely, this holiday update is much awaited for console gamers in all platforms. The long wait is almost over since the Holiday Update is within reach by this time.
This “Minecraft” Holiday Update will reportedly make the console version in close comparison with the PC version. Mojang unveiled four big features of the Holiday Update: Elytra, the magical gliding wings; the End Cities, which can be found after defeating the Ender Dragon; Lingering Potions, made from dragon’s breath, which can be thrown. These potions leave a bubbling slick behind which can be used as a trap. The Amplified Terrain, which has been in the PC version for a long time, is also part of the update.,
According to reports, “Minecraft” Holiday Update will also bring improvements to UI and introduce some new items, status effects, blocks and mobs. Aside from these sneak peaks Mojang has revealed, the game developer said that there are more surprises to look forward to. Though they won’t discuss more in further detail. There is one important part that is yet to be confirmed: the Combat Update for consoles.
This “Minecraft” Holiday Update is indeed exciting for PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Wii U gamers. This holiday update is free to all “Minecraft” Console edition owners. There are still a lot of features to look forward to in this latest update and we just have to wait until it will be released. Moreover, “Minecraft” Holiday Update is slated to launch before December ends this year. For more “Minecraft” latest news & update, only here in Gamenguide.
