Scholastic says it will stop distributing a fan-fiction Minecraft book that compares an Indian character’s name to a fart.
A Toronto mother tweeted a photo of a page in Diary of a Minecraft Zombie, accusing the book of “modelling racist behaviour for my kids.”
‘I was really troubled by the idea that my children, who have long and complicated names, might end up reading something like this.’ – SailajaKrishnamurti, St. Mary’s University
In the passage, the protagonist’s mom tells him he’s about to room up with foreign exchange student Rajit Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta — an Indian name also famous for being the longest railway station name in India.
“It sounded like my mom farted,” the boy reacts.
Sailaja Krishnamurti says she worries about how her own children would react to reading a passage like the one in Diary of a Minecraft Zombie. (Sailaja Krishnamurti/@DrSailajaK )
When Halifax’s Sailaja Krishnamurti first came across the passage on Twitter, she became concerned about her own kids.
“Certainly my son loves to play Minecraft, and they’re of an age where they could be reading on their own without my looking over their shoulder,” Krishnamurti told As It Happens host Carol Off.
Krishnamurti is a religious studies professor at St. Mary’s University in Halifax who studies representation of South Asian culture in children’s literature.
“And so I was really troubled by the idea that my children, who have long and complicated names, might end up reading something like this on their own and not really know how to process how that might make them feel.”
Contacted for comment, Scholastic at first denied responsibility for the book’s content, noting it was not published in-house, but rather by a company called Herobrine Books.
‘We are grateful for letting us know about this issue and want to apologize for any offence or harm it may have caused anyone.’ – Nicole Zaccagnini, White Water Agency
However, the company later responded to say it would no longer be shipping the book.
“Our partnership with Canadian schools and families is a privilege, and one that we take very seriously,” Scholastic told As It Happens in an email.
“The author has been made aware of your comments and is deeply troubled that the text has been construed as racist, as this was never intended, and he is eager to make editorial changes to be sure the text is corrected. Further on in the story, the character recognizes and apologizes for his bad behaviour and the two characters become friends, with Zombie learning a valuable lesson in friendship, diversity and acceptance. ”
But Krishnamurti said the story’s positive ending “doesn’t excuse the racism that’s being enacted right at the start of the book.”
Nicole Zaccagnini, publicist for the Herobrine series, apologized for the passage and told As It Happens they have “already made steps to remove the offending statements from our book so that no one will be hurt by this in any way.”
“We are grateful for letting us know about this issue and want to apologize for any offence or harm it may have caused anyone,” Zaccagnini, an account executive at the public relations firm White Water Agency, said in an email.
“We believe that all cultures, religions and groups in which people identify with are all special in the building blocks of our society.”
Krishnamurti, meanwhile, said this whole debacle just shows the importance of diversity in children’s literature.
“I think it’s an instructive moment for all of us as parents and as people who are thinking about children’s literature to really advocate for more diverse representations in the books our children are reading.”
The long-awaited Discovery Update for Minecraft: Pocket Edition has gone live for Android users. This is a huge new update for Mojang’s popular sandbox game, with a bunch of new content and features. The biggest new addition is the Marketplace, an in-game store where players can purchase new content provided by talented Minecraft creators.
As we previously reported, the Marketplace offers a way for players to buy new in-game skins, texture packs, maps and more to help extend their Minecraft experience. It will also help Minecraft creators earn money for their efforts. Marketplace items are purchased with Minecraft’s new in-game currency, Minecraft Coins, which in turn are bought using real-world money.
Adding an in-game store would be big enough for Minecraft, but there’s tons of additional new items and content included as part of this Discovery Update. As the title suggests, players will be encouraged to explore the game world to find new maps, monsters and puzzles, including finding treasures in the Woodland Mansions. You will also encounter new creatures, including helpful llamas that will carry much of your found treasure for you. You can check out the entire change log for the Discovery Update at the official Minecraft site.
What are your impressions of the Minecraft: Pocket Edition’s Discovery Update? Do you like the new Marketplace feature? Let us know in the comments!
Pocket and Win 10 gets Marketplace, mansions and more!
The long-awaited 1.1 update for Pocket and Windows 10 is out today. We’re calling it the Discovery Update – and not just because we like the way it sounds! There are new features and secrets to explore, not least the spooky Woodland Mansions. What treasures lie within – and what peril? That’s for you to find out (or shamelessly look up on the wiki)!
There’s loads more. Llamas. Shulker Boxes. Dyable Beds. New blocks, like glazed terracotta and concrete. New enchantments, like Frostwalking and Mending. Ingot Smelting is a thing. Add-Ons are now additionally exciting, and will let you remix movement properties. You can now get the Skyrim Mash-Up Pack, too! Find the full changelog below.
Of course the big headline is… Marketplace! It’s a place where Pocket and Windows 10 players can browse, buy, download and play cool community creations from within the game itself. You can get a rundown of what kind of stuff you’ll find on there at launch in this quick guide to Marketplace! There’s also a nice video to tell you all about how it works. Lovely.
Anyway, here’s the full 1.1 changelog!
New Features:
Minecraft Marketplace
Skyrim Mash-up Pack
Llamas
Shulker Boxes
Woodland Mansions
Cartographer Villager & Exploration Maps
Illagers (Evokers & Vindicators)
Vex
Concrete & concrete powder
Glazed terracotta blocks
Dyeable beds (and you can jump on them, too!)
Iron and Gold tools can now be smelted into Iron Nuggets and Gold Nuggets
Adventure Mode
New game rules: DoFireTick, DoMobSpawning, DoTileDrops, MobGriefing, DoEntityDrops, KeepInventory, DoMobLoot, DoDaylightCycle
New achievements
Mending & Frostwalking enchantments
Totem of Undying
Off-hand slot (only works for arrows & Totem of Undying)
Tweaks:
Changes in world generation. Seeds which contain pre-generated structures such as ocean monuments & igloos may generate those structures in different places now
The sun now rises in the East and sets in the West
CanPlaceOn & CanDestroy are now supported in the ‘/replaceitem’ command
Dampened the vertical look speed when using a controller
Improved navigation of the settings screen when using a controller
The X button can now be used to clear the hotbar on the Creative inventory screen when using a controller
Improved controller input when selecting items on the Creative inventory screen
Maps are now numbered so you can tell which map is which!
Empty Maps with Compasses have been renamed to Locator Maps to distinguish between Empty Maps without Compasses
New sleeping animation slowly lowers you into serene slumber
Updated color palette for wool blocks and carpet
Stained clay blocks have been renamed to terracotta
Improved lead rope physics
Cave Spiders now attack with poison time based on difficulty
Worlds will now show a screenshot preview in the main menu
1 melon block can now be crafted into 9 melon slices
1 cobweb can now be crafted into 9 strings
Eating animation can now be seen in third-person camera
/locate command will now find more structures
The screen safe area can now be adjusted in Video settings
Add-Ons: movement properties are now data-driven
Bug fixes:
Woah, woah, woah! There are far too many fixes to list here! My favourites:
Good news for Elytra fliers – You can now shoot yourself with a bow and arrow (and can splash yourself with potions again, too!)
If you’re one of the few people in the world never to have played Minecraft, then now might be a good time to see what all the fuss is about.
Minecraft lets players shape worlds and build elaborate structures one block at a time. It’s a game about adventure, discovery and survival, as players try to stay alive long enough to uncover its many secrets.
A true phenomenon that has claimed the social lives of over 100 million players, it’s out on pretty much every platform under the sun, from PS4, Xbox One and PC, to Apple TV, PlayStation Vita and even Raspberry Pi.
Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition sits somewhere between the home console versions and the iOS, Android and Vita editions. It offers all the convenience of the tablet versions, but with the superior controls that you get on consoles.
It’s not as pretty as the PS4 and Xbox One ports, the world aren’t quite as big, and it’s not as deep as the PC original, but it does provide more flexibility.
And that’s why, even as somebody who has pumped hundreds of hours into Minecraft on PC and PS4, Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition still holds a certain appeal.
On paper, Minecraft’s basically an unlimited Lego simulator. Yet, thanks to expansive worlds, Survival mode, and countless mods, the virtual sandbox has become one of the best-selling games of all time, winning over the hearts of adults and children alike. Of course, it was only going to be a matter of time before Minecraft finally reached Nintendo’s latest console, the Switch.
While lacking the modifications available on PC — many via the game’s feverish fanbase — Switch Edition has quickly proven itself the ultimate handheld version of Minecraft. Building houses, defeated Nether monsters, and conceiving contraptions has never been so easily playable. Forget the iPhone version with difficult controls and lacking features, Nintendo’s latest has almost everything you could possibly want from Minecraft.
Without boring you with exactly what Minecraft is — if you’re not sure, either you’ve been living under a rock or missed our ‘what is Minecraft’ article — Survival and Creative modes are both playable on the Switch, as are some fun mini-games, Battle and Rumble. Thanks to running on a Nintendo product, the quite brilliant and extensive Mario skins are also available, coming with a built-in adventure mode to explore.
That’s everything you pretty much expect from a Minecraft game. Where Switch Edition lacks is mainly the draw distance which cannot match its PS4 and Xbox One counterparts but manages to beat last generation consoles. If you do own Minecraft on other consoles, you also won’t be able to port maps over. Another disappointment; when docked, the game also doesn’t run on 1080p, currently being locked to 720p.
On Switch, Minecraft remains the same fun and creative game the world has come to love. Nintendo’s latest console offers a brilliant portable versio, the only major drawback being that — unlike some other Switch games — you need another set of Joy-Cons, or a pro-controller, to play multiplayer. Playing two players with one set would have made Switch Edition almost perfect. As it stands, Switch Edition is another must-have for Minecraft’s gigantic fanbase and a fun sandbox for those who have never indulged in Minecraft.
Minecraft is no stranger to crossovers with other popular franchises and such, with a recent example being the Fallout 4 Mash-Up Pack. Today, Minecraft players will be able to grab the brand new Adventure Time Mash-Up Pack, bringing the acclaimed animated Cartoon Network series to the game.
The pack is said to include a host of character skins from the series, including Finn, Jake, Ice King, Marceline, Princess Bubblegum and more, with the announcement going on to describe what else arrives with the pack as follows:
This isn’t just another skin pack – goodness no – as the entire land of Ooo takes over your Minecraft world! Take Fionna and Cake on a tour of the Candy Kingdom, fight Ice King in the Ice Kingdom and even take a trip with Flame Princess to the Fire Kingdom! And much much more!
In celebration of this crossover, the announcement blog post even includes an interview with the creator of Adventure Time animated series, Pendleton Ward, regarding his gaming experiences.
The Minecraft Adventure Time Mash-Up Pack is now available for the Console Edition, costing $5.99. However, the pack will be delayed on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch by, at most, a day, with the Pocket and Windows 10 Edition slated to receive the pack at later date.
Meanwhile, the Magic: The Gathering skin pack is also now available for purchase on the Minecraft Console Edition with a $2.99 price tag. The skin pack was initially available only for the Pocket and Windows 10 Edition.
