Xbox Live Goes Free For The Weekend Alongside Xbox One’s Minecraft

Xbox Live Goes Free For The Weekend Alongside Xbox One’s Minecraft

Considering Minecraft has sold an outrageous 121 million copies as of February 2017, chances are good that you’ve already tried it once or twice. But if you want to take a spin in Minecraft on Xbox One, that version is free to play this weekend. In addition, the Xbox Live online service is currently free for everyone on every game until May 21.

If you own an Xbox One, you can now download Minecraft for no cost from the Xbox store. In addition, players who don’t subscribe to Xbox Live have the opportunity to play any multiplayer game on Xbox One or Xbox 360.

There’s only a short window to check out Minecraft or play with your friends; once it hits 11:59 PT on Sunday, May 21, you’ll have to shell out $20 for the game and $60 per year for Xbox Live.

This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has offered free weekends; the company has offered Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, NBA 2K17, and Rocket League, among others,Xbox Live Goes Free For The Weekend Alongside Xbox One’s Minecraft in the past. Meanwhile, on PC, Guild of Dungeoneering currently has a free weekend going on.

Xbox Live Goes Free For The Weekend Alongside Xbox One’s Minecraft

Minecraft will patch parrots to protect real-life pets  That’ll save a large bill.

Minecraft will patch parrots to protect real-life pets That’ll save a large bill.

Minecraft maker Mojang has confirmed it will patch the game’s parrots in response to a recent fan outcry.

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Parrots are a relatively new addition to Minecraft, and currently are fed using the game’s existing chocolate cookie item.

Feed two nearby parrots, like any other Minecraft animal, and they will pop out a baby.

In real life however, far from being an aphrodisiac, chocolate can be lethal to parrots. Because of this, many Minecraft fans have raised concerns the game might encourage young players to feed pet parrots a sweet cookie treat and inadvertently kill them.

A reddit post calling for Minecraft’s parrots to be patched has now received 37k upvotes on the official Minecraft subreddit – enough to become the board’s most-upvoted post of all time, and for Mojang to take note.

“If Minecraft has any effect on children’s behavior, we want it to be a positive one,” Minecraft lead creative designer Jens Bergensten told Motherboard, “so we’ll change the item used to breed parrots.

“Our reasoning for originally using cookies was twofold; it gave cookies a reason to exist within Minecraft, and it was a subtle reference to the Nirvana song ‘Polly.’ However, we didn’t consider what the chocolate ingredient would mean to real life parrots!”

Parrots are currently only available in the game’s PC version. There’s no word yet on when they’ll land on console – or what they will soon be eating instead.

Minecraft will patch parrots to protect real-life pets That’ll save a large bill.

Minecraft fun at libraries!

Minecraft fun at libraries!

Minecraft activities will be taking place at libraries in Tenby, Haverfordwest and Pembroke Dock during May half-term, giving children the opportunity to get together and chat about all things Minecraft!

Meet new friends, share ideas, and learn new tips and tricks from our selection of Minecraft books.

Children can bring along their own tablets if they are already using Minecraft at home, with a limited number of iPads available for anyone who is new to the world of Minecraft.

All of the events are suitable for children aged eight and over, with parents and guardians very welcome to join in the fun!

Booking is essential due to the limited availability of equipment. Refreshments will be provided.

For further information or to book a place, please contact Kath Woolcock on 01437 776 098 or e-mail kath.woolcock@pembrokeshire.gov.uk

The sessions are as follows:

Tuesday, May 30 (3.30-4.30 pm) – Minecraft at Tenby Library; Wednesday, May 31 (3.30-4.30 pm) – Minecraft at Haverfordwest Library; Friday, June 2 (3.30-4.30 pm) – Minecraft at Pembroke Dock Library.

Minecraft fun at libraries!

Nintendo Switch NEWS: Console hit by BIZARRE bug following blockbuster game release

Nintendo Switch NEWS: Console hit by BIZARRE bug following blockbuster game release

NINTENDO Switch users have discovered a strange new bug that has cropped up since the Minecraft release date.

Nintendo Switch owners have been hit with a strange new bug since the release of Minecraft Switch Edition.

According to reports, the Nintendo Switch appears to be capturing screenshots at random.”I’ve been noticing an issue lately where the Nintendo Switch will take a random screenshot while in the main operating system menus or in-game without touching or pressing the screenshot capture button at all,” reads a Nintendo forum post (via IGN).”I noticed this all started happening after installing Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition when it started taking random screenshots while in-game.

“I figured it was maybe a Minecraft bug, but then it was taking the random screenshots within the Switch’s operating system menus while the Minecraft app was closed and not running.

“So now it is very slowly filling up my storage with screen captures that I never took.”

Bizarrely, the issue first cropped up during a Minecraft developer livestream, although it doesn’t seem to be limited to the app.

Nintendo is yet to officially acknowledge the issue, but fans can expect a fix soon.

 

Nintendo Switch NEWS: Console hit by BIZARRE bug following blockbuster game release

Minecraft takes away cookies from parrots following an outcry on Reddit

Minecraft takes away cookies from parrots following an outcry on Reddit

Parrots are set to arrive for Minecraft’s PC version in the upcoming 1.12 ‘World of Color’ Update. However, the colorful birds have already been available in the game’s development versions since snapshot 17w13a.

Earlier this week, a user on Reddit going by the name 1jl pointed out a problem with how players breed parrots, which involves feeding the birds cookies. The issue is that in real life, chocolates can be lethal to birds, and since Minecraft cookies appear as chocolate chip cookies, the user had concerns of kids feeding their pet parrots chocolates and causing harm.

The post quickly blew up, with it currently boasting over than 37,000 upvotes and becoming the highest upvoted post ever on the Minecraft subreddit.

Yesterday, in a statement to Motherboard, Minecraft Lead Creative Designer Jens Bergensten said another food item would replace the cookie based parrot breeding mechanic in an upcoming update.

“If Minecraft has any effect on children’s behavior, we want it to be a positive one, so we’ll change the item used to breed parrots before the 1.12 update is released,” said Bergensten.

In effect, the new update is now live, dubbed 1.12 pre-release 3, where players can now breed parrots using seeds instead, and feeding a cookie to one will instantly kill the bird, with some added poison particles for good measure. Let’s just hope kids punching trees will not become a concern at a later date.

The pre-release’s full changelog is found here; in addition to parrot dietary changes, the update includes quite a number of bug fixes.

Minecraft takes away cookies from parrots following an outcry on Reddit

Nintendo Switch NEWS: Console hit by BIZARRE bug following blockbuster game release

Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition screenshots

Available for £19.99 from the Nintendo Switch eShop, Minecraft Switch Edition contains the base game, as well as the Super Mario Mash-up Pack from the Wii U version.

The Super Mario Mash-up Pack contains additional content inspired by Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine.

This includes 40 new Super Mario-themed skins such as Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, as well as Bowser, Wario and all seven Koopalings.

There’s also a selection of Super Mario textures, a Super Mario World to explore and music from Super Mario 64.

But what really sets Minecraft Switch apart from its predecessors is the ability to play in lots of different ways.

Ahead of Express Online’s Minecraft Switch review, check out the screenshots above.

 

Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition screenshots