As part of the company’s big show at E3 Microsoft talked about the latest Minecraft update.
The“Better Together Update” unifies console, mobile and Windows 10 versions of the game.
The new update also features better graphics and cross-platform support to let Windows 10 and mobile Minecraft players play the game together.
As part of the update, Minecraft is ditching any special branding associated with Minecraft for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, mobile games or VR — they’ll all just be known as “Minecraft”. There’s a ‘Minecraft: Java Edition’, which is the original PC game (still supported).
The unified branding is designed to let buyers know they’re all getting the same game, that they can play with anyone no matter what device they’re using, the company said.
Supported devices for unified game play include:
Windows 10
iOS
Android
XBox One
Nintendo’s Switch
If players own Minecraft for mobile or VR, they’ll get an update for the summer. Minecraft for Xbox One or Nintendo Switch owners will get a new update for free, and the existing worlds that gamers have created are going to be available on the new game.
The new update also means that any downloadable content will be available across all devices. So a pack bought on mobile will also be available on Xbox and Windows 10 editions too.
As an additional added perk, Minecraft is throwing in a server browser to its latest update. Launching with four servers, Lifeboat, Mineplex, InPVP and Cubecraft — which lets players join public servers that have monthly users numbering in the millions according to the company.
It’s different from Minecraft Realms, which are privately cloud-hosted servers available for smaller groups.
Finally, there’s a new graphics pack for 4K viewing — better lighting, shadows, and water effects, the company said.
For years, the Electronic Entertainment Expo has been an event that caters to trade professionals, but this year the showcase in Los Angeles was open to the public for the first time. Fans who were able to snatch up tickets got an inside glimpse of a Disneyland for gaming.
For those who were unable to go, here are highlights coming out of E3 over the past few days:
Microsoft had the biggest announcement, as the tech giant officially revealed the newest member of its console family — the Xbox One X. It’s not exactly the fourth generation of the device; it’s more of an upgrade to the existing systems. It’s a console built for 4K televisions with HDR (high dynamic range), the bleeding-edge screens of today.
HDR displays more colors than predecessors, upwards of a billion at last count. That gives images a more realistic, rounder look. And that’s what made games pop off Microsoft’s screen, with BioWare’s “Anthem” and Turn 10’s “Forza Motorsports 7” turning heads.
These games show off the potential of the Xbox One X, but to actually enjoy the technology, players may have to sell their first-born. A 4K TV with HDR costs more than $700, and the Xbox One X costs $499. It’s a pricey proposition, but an investment in technology that is supposed to hold up through five years from now and perhaps beyond.
Sony’s briefing focused on games and highlighted the company’s dominance. The PlayStation is indeed home to some of the best software on the planet, a fact highlighted by its three tentpole games for the upcoming year: “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy,” “Days Gone” and “Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds,” an expansion of possibly the best new IP this year.
What’s interesting is that two of Sony’s major releases, and a few others, focus on stronger female characters. Gone are the days of the old sexualized Lara Croft and male-only avatars. Character’s such as Aloy from “Horizon Zero Dawn” and Chloe Frazer from “Uncharted” are often more complex and daring than any female characters in the past.
There’s even diversity, with Janina Gavankar, an actress of Indian descent, playing the lead role of Iden Versio in the single-player mode of “Star Wars Battlefront II.” When it comes to games with customizable avatars, “Far Cry 5” and “Forza Horizon 7” include female options, as well as males.
Sony’s event also spotlighted a bright future, headlined by what’s likely to be the best “Spider-Man” game ever made. A new “God of War” and “Monster Hunter World” look like legitimate rebirths of long-running franchises. The wait for these games will be excruciating; some won’t see the light of day until 2018.
Not to be outdone, Nintendo unveiled big news, too. Riding the wave of the successful Nintendo Switch launch, the venerable video game company announced more support for the console.
Nintendo has leaned heavily on its portfolio of beloved franchises, and some of its major announcements here focused on those. The biggest news was the resurrection of “Metroid.” Samus Aran is returning in a big way with “Metroid Prime 4” on the Nintendo Switch and a remade version of “Metroid 2,” a title that was originally released for the Game Boy, on the Nintendo 3DS.
Also announced was a new “Pokemon” for the Nintendo Switch, which could further boost the console’s success. That news, along with stronger support from third-party developers such as Ubisoft and Psyonix (creator of “Rocket League”) bode well for Nintendo.
But the game carrying E3 for the company was “Super Mario Odyssey.” Coming later this year, Mario’s latest adventure features a magical hat called Cappy, which can take over enemies and objects. If Mario throws it on a frog, he becomes the frog. If he tosses it atop a Bullet Bill, he becomes that character, flying through the air. Cappy seems to be the main mechanic for the game, opening up interesting possibilities and a fresh take on the “Mario” franchise.
If you’re looking for a late father’s day gift that’s friendly for the kiddos or just because, right now is the right time to grab it. This is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen on a new Xbox One S yet, so snag it before it sells out. Online consumer electronic store Newegg is running the sale. Did we mention there’s free shipping too?
The $50 price cuts to the Xbox One consoles prior to the Xbox One X reveal just ended yesterday; this sale does not seem related.
The Xbox One S is the second iteration of the Xbox One console. It’s 40 percent smaller, has 4K media output, and HDR gaming and movies. It’s intended for the casual gamer who prefers a little more portability and finer details in their games than the original Xbox One could offer. Make sure to check out our review here.
The recently announced Xbox One X isn’t for the average joe however; it’s a beastly machine meant for the most hardcore of gamers. For more on that iteration of the Xbox One, head on over here.
Minecraft is getting a big new update soon that unifies it across most platforms (except for PlayStation devices). As a result, Minecraft players on Nintendo Switch will be able to play with those on Xbox One or PC. One of the interesting consequences of this new, unified platform is that Nintendo Switch owners will have to log into Xbox Live to play the game online.
Head of Xbox confirmed the news today while speaking on the Giant Bomb E3 2017 live show. In a discussion about cross-platform play, Giant Bomb’s Jeff Gerstmann asked about logging in, and Spencer replied that it’ll be the same system across all devices. “It’s an Xbox Live account; that’s our gaming social network,” he said.
“We use Xbox Live as the way to make sure we know who our players are, controls around parental controls and other things that we put into our platform are there. And as you’re buying things in Minecraft, you want to make sure you have them available on other platforms, so we have to know who you are. If you have a realm that you’ve created on the PC and you want to get to it on the Switch, we have to have an identity system and we just use Xbox Live.”
Gerstmann also asked if players will be able to earn Achievements. “I don’t know yet,” he replied. “I’m guessing no. And this is a collaborative relationship between Nintendo and I; they don’t have Achievements on their platform. If they want us to, I would love to be able to do it… The relationship with Nintendo is incredibly strong. We obviously did the Mario mash-up pack into Minecraft; that doesn’t happen that often.”
Have you played Minecraft? Sorry. Yes. Of course you’ve played Minecraft – it’s the videogame equivalent of asking if you’ve ever played Tic-Tac-Toe or hopscotch. It’s this gaming generation’s most ubiquitous title, available (initially freely) on everything from PCs to low-end smartphones to the newly announced Xbox One X. It took an age, but Microsoft even eventually saw fit to bring it to its own mobile OS, hoping the Minecraft brand’s licence to print money would rub off on the flailing smartphone platform.
For the hardcore fan (of which they’re many – the game’s been bought more than 100 million times, and inspired Microsoft to buy the game outright for $2.5 billion), they’re probably seeing Minecraft blocks in their sleep, playing the game religiously and spending almost as much time trawling the pages of YouTubers and Twitch streamers for the latest news and builds in the game.
It’s easy to see what’s made Minecraft so popular, an alchemical mix of simplicity and creativity. Gamers are given free reign to use its block-based building system to create essentially any structure they can think of, from simple shacks to complex minecart systems and even a working in-game smartphone.
Although it’s since spawned many imitators over the course of its eight-year life, it was massively refreshing upon release, a taste of what an infinite digital LEGO box could be like – other brick-based games are available.
Block rocking beats
Its simplicity is key. Limiting the game world to blocky objects not only meant it could run on a huge number of devices without taxing a high-powered GPU, it also aesthetically separated it from the pack.
Bold, colorful and far removed from the grim-dark shooters that can dominate the gaming landscape, you could go as far as using the so often-misappropriated description and apply it to the Minecraft style: it was, it is, iconic.
Which makes Microsoft’s E3 Minecraft announcement of a new 4K-optimised ‘Super Duper Graphics Pack’ so groan-worthy. Designed to spruce up the Minecraft visuals in a way that takes advantage of the growing graphical grunt of 4K gaming systems (including, of course, Microsoft’s own Xbox One X) it gives Minecraft a significant makeover.
“Dynamic shadows! Directional lighting! Edge highlighting!” boasts the Minecraft blog, all coming as a free update to the game in the Fall of this year.
This all seems to be missing the point. It’s never been about the polygon count. It’s never been about the fidelity of the shadows, or the number of visible blades of grass. Minecraft’s appeal and its charm lay in its lo-fi chic.
You’re not drawn in by what the game presents to you (at least visually), but what you can present to the game through your creations. The simpler the palette, the more amazingly unexpected the eventual culmination of your greatest Minecraft works.
Mona Lisa overdrive
From humble beginnings come great achievements, and that simple original Minecraft aesthetic points to the promise of your imagination, rather than how many ones and zeroes are being pushed under the hood of your machine.
It’s like saying you’re going to give the Mona Lisa an HDR makeover – wholly inappropriate, not simply because it’s anachronistic, but also because it undermines the quality of the original work. Or, to use a more recent example, take the Star Wars: Special Edition remasters – tweak a beloved work too much, and you risk diluting the homebrewed charm of the original.
A few still shots of the new update.
In Microsoft’s defence, it does state that this in an optional look, “just one aesthetic vision for Minecraft – not THE vision for Minecraft,” according to Marsh Davies, Minecraft’s Creative communications manager.
“Our beloved pixels are going nowhere – and we’re thinking about ways to give you more choice over your game’s look in the future.”
And Microsoft did make one undeniably positive Minecraft announcement at E3 – the chance for cross-platform play for the game, expanding the ways gamers can play together, no matter what console they own, prefer or can afford.
Minecraft is a long play for Microsoft, with arms reaching out to education and design sectors as well as gamers. So it must evolve for it to survive long term. But while that’s being supported by smart moves like cross platform play, the Super Duper Graphics Pack suggests it may be losing sight of what makes Minecraft so special in the first place.
E3 is the world’s largest exhibition for the games industry, stuffed full of the latest and greatest games, consoles, and gaming hardware. TechRadar is reporting live from Los Angeles all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicatedE3 2017hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar’s world-class analysis and buying advice about the next year in gaming.
