Minecraft Wii U Receives Super Mario Skin Pack
Minecraft is one of the most popular games out there and it is now available on consoles, desktop PCs and even on smartphones and tablets. Minecraft was also released for Wii U consoles back in December 2015 and it seems that a skin pack is about to be released for it, as well. This game is continuously evolving, so we should expect more skin packs and patch updates to be released for the Minecraft: Wii U in the near future.
Minecraft: Wii U is almost identical to the game on other platforms, but Nintendo has announced back then that it’s planning to release new content for this game in the near future. Well, the company has now announced that the Minecraft: Wii U version will receive Super Mario themed content, which includes 40 different character skins, new textures for the world and Super Mario 64 music.
In addition, the skin pack will come with a pre-made Mario world which was designed using all of the new content that the players can explore. The skin pack will be totally free and it will be available on May 17, 2016. Nintendo has also announced that it will release a retail version of the Minecrat: Wii U version on June 17, 2016, which will contain with the new Mario add-ons on the disc.
We remind you that Minecraft has many licensed skin packs, such as Doctor Who or The Simpsons, but this is the first time when Nintendo’s property is making its way to this popular game. Here is a trailer about the Super Mario Skin Pack for Minecraft: Wii U version:
Minecraft was launched in 2011, being created by Swedish programmer Markus “Notch” Persson and published by Mojang. In November 2014, Microsoft bought Mojang for $2.5 billion and continued to improve the game.
Are you playing Minecraft on your Wii U console? Tell us your thoughts about this awesome game!
Thompson: Mining for Minecraft Mods
Excuse me if I seem a little tired. I was up late again last night, desperately trying to load a new Mod into Minecraft.
What’s a “Mod?” Well, I’m glad you asked … because I have no earthly idea. Could stand for “modification.” Possibly. Or “my obedient dad,” as in, “My obedient dad is going to stay up all night pulling his hair out while trying to load this thing onto my computer game.” It’s anyone’s guess.
My daughter has become a maniac for Minecraft, that video game that lets players construct whole worlds and travel through them while whaw, whaw-whaw, whaw, whaw. (I don’t actually know what Minecraft is all about, as I tend to tune out when she explains it.)
What I do know is that everything looks like it’s made of square blocks — the land, the people, the animals, the buildings.
“Oh, look how cute,” my daughter will say. “It’s an ant!”
I strain my pixel-challenged eyes and say: “No, it isn’t! It’s six black squares walking around. These graphics are terrible!”
Apparently I’m missing something. Because Minecraft is incredibly popular. It is a game of imagination. Of building and creating. You develop vast worlds and construct your own houses and lands. My wife has sent me articles that talk about why it is wonderful for developing minds like children.
But has anyone done a study on what loading Mods — which gives you extra animals or maybe put the Taj Mahal in your carrot garden — is doing to the minds of parents like me? I can feel my little brain cells pop like sizzling bacon.
There’s no simple way to do it. Minecraft developers make it intentionally hard so parents feel stupid. You have to download a file and save it in a specific location. No wait, actually that’s not right. First you have to change this setting and click that, then open the game while neutering a bat born in summer solstice. Do it in the wrong order and part of the Arctic ice shelf (the real one!) breaks off and floats away.
Even searching online for Mods can be treacherous. Click on the wrong thing and you can download a computer virus that will send all of your credit card information, plus your left kidney, to the Russian mob.
Next thing you know it’s 4 a.m. and your computer no longer works right.
Swell!
But say you get it working? Well, I tell you it’s all worth it in the morning when that kid gasps at being able to create salamanders and raccoons and — the pièce de résistance — an elephant!
“Oh, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, my obedient dad,” she says while clapping. Then she turns around and does the most remarkable thing: She hugs me!
Suddenly, the Russian mob stealing my identity doesn’t seem so bad.
Xbox Boss Says Partnership With Nintendo Has Been Great, Following Super Mario Bros DLC For Minecraft
In 2014, Microsoft acquired Mojang, the game developer of Minecraft, for $2.5 billion. Some market observers believed that following the acquisition, Microsoft may not continue support for Minecraft on non-Xbox consoles from rivals. However, Xbox as well as PlayStation gaming consoles have received the DLC and updates for Minecraft.
In December 2015, Nintendo and Mojang also announced that Minecraft was coming to the Wii U.
“Minecraft is launching on Nintendo’s Wii U console on Dec. 17. It’ll cost $29.99 or equivalent, will be available to download on the eShop, and comes bundled with six of our most popular add-on packs. There’s even a Festive mash-up included just in time for the holidays,” said Mojang.
Nintendo has also announced that it will release the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack as a free update for the Wii U edition of Minecraft on May 17.
Many Minecraft and Mario Bros. enthusiasts are waiting for the new theme and Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, also expressed his content regarding the partnership between the two companies via a tweet.
This is not the first time that Spencer has applauded a release for another gaming platform. In March this year, the Xbox boss also tweeted that the PS4 exclusive Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End would be a great game.
Although Spencer has been appreciating other game titles for rival gaming consoles, the latest tweet from Spencer could be taken as a reassurance for Nintendo fans that Microsoft may bring more Minecraft support to the Wii U in the near term.
Nintendo has also revealed that the retail disc version of Minecraft: Wii U Edition will hit the shelves on June 17 at a price tag of $29.99. The disc will include the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack as well.
– See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/158200/20160514/xbox-boss-says-partnership-with-nintendo-has-been-great-following-super-mario-bros-dlc-for-minecraft.htm#sthash.We965C5x.dpuf
Minecraft Pocket Edition Offers New Alpha Update For Android Devices
Android devices with Minecraft Pocket Edition installed have a new alpha update they need to download. The update lets players play a new Minecraft Realms feature, which is a paid service that gives users the ability to own their own cross-platform server.
Basically, players can buy a server from Mojang that lets them play with their friends who also have the Minecraft game on their Windows 10, iOS or Android devices. The server is online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, allowing users to go offline and return at a later time – any time and friends can play together through the server.
Minecraft 0.15.0 is thought to have an array of features, but it’s not known if those features will make it into the alpha version. Once the release of Minecraft 0.15.0, it will have resource packs, commands, sticky pistons and a host of other things for users to enjoy. Mojang will also have more features to the game: new biomes, recipes for sliced, cooked mutton, etc. and horses.
There’s been no official news regarding the final version release for Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.15.0. Still, it shouldn’t be too much longer with the release of the alpha build. Until then, players should wait patiently for the day it happens.
Minecraft Pocket Edition Offers New Alpha Update For Android Devices
Minecraft: Wii U Edition will Receive Super Mario Textures this May
Minecraft: Wii U Edition gets some fresh paint this month with a Super Mario texture pack, pulling from classic games like Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. This pack includes 40 Mario skins, and 15 tunes from Super Mario 64. Classic baddies will get the Minecraft treatment, and players can run around as Mario, Peach, Luigi, and even Bowser. Just don’t try to jump on any hostile mobs, we promise it won’t end well. A randomly-generated Super Mario world awaits you, but new item textures will allow you to create your own Mario themed worlds.
Minecraft: Wii U Edition has become one of the top selling titles on Nintendo, and a Minecraft/Mario mashup is likely to keep it high on the list.
The Super Mario Mash-Up Pack arrives on Minecraft: Wii U Edition as a free game update on May 17th for those of you with a digital copy. The physical copy releasing June 17th will come with the Super Mario pack already included.
Read original article here:Minecraft: Wii U Edition will Receive Super Mario Textures this May
Minecraft Now Available on Oculus for Gear VR
Welcome to the Minecraft Metaverse!
We’re excited to announce that Minecraft: Gear VR Edition is here. You can get it on the Oculus Store starting today for $6.99.
We worked closely with the Minecraft team to let you step inside your Minecraft world with friends. Now you can build, explore, battle mobs – and all your other favorite Minecraftactivities – with the power of mobile virtual reality.
John Carmack shared his thoughts about why this is an exciting moment for mobile VR:
“Minecraft is a game that you can both figuratively and literally lose yourself in. In fact, my strongest memories of being inside VR are from the time I’ve spent exploring Minecraft on Gear VR. Experiencing it in virtual reality changes it from an abstract activity to a visceral one – it goes from a sense of playing the game to one of being inside your world, and spinning around to find a creeper sneaking up on you leaves a powerful impression. Infinite worlds have been explored, shaped, and shared by millions of people, and now in VR; that sounds a bit like the fabled Metaverse.”
Welcome to the Minecraft Metaverse.
Minecraft: Gear VR Edition supports all the features of Pocket Edition, including Creative and Survival modes, skins, and multiplayer. You can choose between the more comfortable default theater view or the more intense and immersive first-person view that lets you stand beside your creations.
The mobile freedom of Gear VR gives you the opportunity to examine what you’ve built inMinecraft as you would in the real world. You’ll need a gamepad (sold separately) to move through and interact with Minecraft, and we recommend the SteelSeries Stratus XL.
Go forth and explore your favorite creations in Gear VR from every vantage point possible. See you in Minecraft!
– The Oculus Team
Review: ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Shows the Best and Worst of Marvel Movies
“Captain America: Civil War” isn’t necessarily the best Marvel movie — directing duo Joe and Anthony Russo fail to deliver even a fraction of the scale, grace, and ineffable sense of joy that Joss Whedon brought to “The Avengers” — but it’s nevertheless the Platonic ideal of a Marvel movie.
More so than any of the previous episodes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Civil War” is a soap opera in spandex. In part, that’s because of the film’s refreshing (if not fully realized) emphasis on emotional turmoil rather than global destruction; while plenty of buildings blow up, most of the collateral damage is caused by the good guys as they argue with each other and threaten to go their separate ways. This isn’t just about killing time before the Infinity Wars, it’s about fulfilling the ultimate goal of the MCU: A film franchise so immense and self-perpetuating that a plot’s greatest possible conflict is no longer the end of the world, but rather the end of the brand.
The story begins, as most Marvel movies do, wherever the hell it wants. The profound sense of guilt that began to fester inside Tony Stark (still Robert Downey, Jr.) after the attacks on New York City has been intensified by the death toll from the fight against Ultron in Sokovia. And Stark isn’t the only one who’s afraid to look in the mirror. Early in the film, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) is devastated when a brawl in Lagos claims a handful of innocent bystanders. With various world governments on edge about the continued existence of the Avengers — whose formation seems to have invited a never-ending series of calamities upon the Earth — U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) draws up the Sokovia Accords, which would essentially put the superhero task force under the command of the United Nations.
Stark, an Oppenheimer type who’s desperate to share the burden of guilt, is ready to sign. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a product of WWII who believes that the Avengers are capable of policing the planet on their own, is not. Stark thinks that they need regulations; Rogers thinks that they are the regulations. While the MCU is largely inspired by story arcs that were drawn long before the 21st Century, these movies have nevertheless used 9/11 as their north star, and “Civil War” is a natural choice of narratives for a saga that’s so preoccupied with the United States’ evolving role on the world stage.
The philosophical differences between the two Avengers are enflamed when a bomb detonates during the signing of the Accords, killing the king of Wakanda (a fictional African nation). All signs point to Bucky Barnes as the culprit, but Rogers refuses to believe that his old pal is capable of such evil.
The villain is clear from the start, and he’s far more innocuous than you might think. In fact, for the first time in a Marvel movie, the main antagonist is justsome dude. Sure, he’s hatched from comic book mythos, but he doesn’t have a super-suit or electric whips or a menacing red face — his name is Helmut Zemo, and he’s pretty much just Daniel Brühl. Zemo’s most ominous characteristics are his German accent and his penchant for eating bacon — and only bacon — for breakfast. He could just as easily be the villain from a mid-’90s thriller starring Clint Eastwood. His scheme is to agitate the Avengers into fighting each other, and it works.
Stomping on the carcass of its competition can only get a film so far, but it goes without saying that the rift between these two superheroes is considerably more nuanced and better-developed than that between Batman and Superman. Iron Man and Captain America have some serious shit to work out, and their disagreements aren’t resolved out of convenience or in order to rally together against a common foe. In fact, the Russo brothers are so invested in the ideas that bond their characters together (and tear them apart) that Zemo becomes an afterthought, the most forgettable villain in a franchise whose antagonists include Dark Elves and several different bald white men.
What makes “Civil War” so emblematic of the MCU is that it cuts to the heart of what the brand is all about: humanity. “Spider-Man 2” predates the dawn of the MCU, but these movies have never forgotten that film’s bittersweet parting thought: Compassion is both our greatest strength, and our greatest liability.
On the flip-side of that coin, ideology is the MCU’s most consistent foil (hence the series’ dramatically stultifying preoccupation with mind-control, which reaches a painful nadir in “Civil War”). The tension between the potential generosity of strength and the corruptive nature of power also explains why so many of the jokes in these movies — and almost all of the unfunny ones in “Civil War” — boil down to “Superheroes: they’re just like us!” So far as Marvel is concerned, they are and always will be.
Rogers and Stark are two sticks of old dynamite wrapped around a single fuse, and all Zemo has to do is light a match. He recognizes that the Avengers’ individual guilt is pushing them towards the blind comforts of ideology, just as he recognizes that ideology never leaves much wiggle room. As Rogers puts it: “Compromise where you can. And where you can’t, don’t.”
“Civil War,” bursting with fun characters and drawing from a rich mythology, is also the most convincing proof yet that the MCU can compromise just about everywhere. For Marvel, a studio that essentially uses the same score on every movie and fired Edgar Wright from “Ant-Man” because his creative vision deviated from party lines, compromise has become an aesthetic unto itself.
That’s never been more evident than it is in “Civil War,” especially during the fight scenes. Marvel has always excelled at expressing character through action, and so it stands to reason that the characters suffer if the action becomes less expressive. The combat in “Civil War” is so clumsy that it actually undercuts the drama. The justification behind many of the film’s tiffs are hard to believe as it is, but only when the characters actually drop the gloves does it get hard to remember why they’re fighting.
Watching “Civil War,” it’s easy to understand why the MCU is so hung up on the fight in New York — it’s the franchise’s only great action sequence. Joss Whedon’s visceral understanding of cinematic geometry and his symphonic flair for choreographing movement allowed that marquee set-piece to galvanize the separate threads of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a unified whole. On the contrary, every action beat in “Civil War” is such a discrete hodgepodge of close-ups and medium shots that they might as well exist in a vacuum — at times, this feels like the first movie ever made entirely out of gifs. The problem becomes gallingly clear during a battle royale in which more than a dozen different superheroes square off on an airport tarmac.
Not only does the flabbergasting lack of wide shots completely diminish the scale of the fight — it’s like the Russo brothers forgot half of their lenses at homes — but it also limits the action to one plane at a time. It doesn’t help that the factions feel so arbitrarily determined. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) gets to have a handful of great moments, but not even he seems to know why he’s trying to make life difficult for Tony Stark.
On the other hand, it makes perfect sense that teenage Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is so endearingly overeager just to be there. But the Russo brothers can’t juggle two slivers of parallel action — 100% of their attention is focused on the foreground at all times — let alone smoothly re-introduce an iconic Marvel character in the middle of a massive brawl. Holland’s precocious zip makes him a wonderful Spidey, just as Chadwick Boseman’s stoic strength suggests that his Black Panther will have no trouble carrying his own movie, but just because these new characters feel right in this world doesn’t mean that they’re provided a proper place in this movie. When the action cuts to either one of them, Captain America and Iron Man suddenly feel a million miles away, and “Civil War” dissolves into nothing more than an advertisement for the MCU’s next round of spin-offs. There’s no room for context in these shots, just bodies.
It’s hard to believe that Tony Stark is being eaten up by something that happened in a different movie if you can’t connect two things that happen in the same scene. It’s all just empty talk, and “Civil War” becomes a civic lesson that’s punctuated by one-liners and explosions. The bigger these movies become, the smaller they feel. The more aggressively they reach for greatness, the more clearly they prove that its beyond their grasp. Marvel movies don’t get much better than this. The trouble is, they don’t want to.
Review: ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Shows the Best and Worst of Marvel Movies
Popular video game Minecraft goes VR
“Get your goggles ready!” Mojang declared on Wednesday as it launched its virtual reality edition of Minecraft that can be played on Gear VR-compatible Samsung phones.
Minecraft in Virtual Reality requires the action of using a pickaxe to mine. (Source:https://t.co/BmdA5sCYeN) pic.twitter.com/5UGaJ8ZHBz
— Loot Gaming (@LootGamingHQ) April 21, 2016
“With a VR headset on, coming face-to-face with monstrous mobs takes on new meaning; creeping into dark caves inspires even greater trepidation thanks to 3D audio; and the light of a gorgeous sunrise seems to envelope you more completely,”added Mojang.
The Gear VR version supports cross-platform play with both the non-VR mobile game as well as the Windows 10 release.
“It works by slotting your Samsung phone into the Gear VR and displaying one whole Minecraft world to each of your eyes!”said the company in a statement.
Learn how to play Minecraft on VR(Virtual Reality)! https://t.co/ibrRzTlPpXpic.twitter.com/J5CrasrrGg
— LEET Servers (@leet_cc) April 15, 2016
The video game Minecraft enables players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D generated world. Other activities in the games include exploration, resource gathering, crafting and combat.
The virtual reality edition can be supported by Galaxy S6/S6 Edge, Galaxy S7/S7 Edge and Note 5, and the screen resolution “is pretty fabulous,” according to the company.
“[It’s always amazing to plug yourself into the world of Minecraft without any cables tethering you to a PC,” said Mojang.“Just make sure you don’t tread on the cat!”
Las Vegas hotels testing 3D porn virtual reality devices https://t.co/934YpatSx5pic.twitter.com/0wh9ynnXZU
— RT America (@RT_America) April 20, 2016
The company recommends reading up on the safety information and suggests regular breaks as “longer sessions can make some players feel a bit icky or strain tired eyes.”
#Apple awarded patent for virtual reality headset http://t.co/9ffRbvs2Oppic.twitter.com/PTqXc5svfC
— RT America (@RT_America) February 19, 2015
Minecraft was created in 2011 by Swedish programmer Markus “Notch” Persson, and later developed and published by Mojang. Microsoft purchased Mojang for $2.4 billion in 2014.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition Latest News Update: Major Update To Feature Multiplayer Gaming Across Platforms
Minecraft Pocket Edition has gained immense popularity and is now the top gaming iPhone app in Canada. A major update is expected to take the game to greater heights (and more devices!)
The 0.15.0 update is expected to bring several things new to the game. Realms, a paid service that allows gamers to play others across platforms, is included in the free alpha for android that is available for download.
“Minecraft Realms will support cross-platform play between the iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 10 editions of Minecraft. We’re using Xbox Live logins to make that possible,” Minecraft maker Mojang said earlier this month. The pricing is yet to be announced. An Xbox Live Gold subscription is not necessary to play realms, Mojang said.
According to Pocket Gamer which did a roundup of everything that has been teased, taller 256 block worlds and friendly villagers you can trade with are on the anvil in the 0.15 update. Avid gamers are speculating worlds could get bigger but given the resources constraint of mobile devices, it is unlikely that they could get bigger than the 128 blocks featured in MCPE.
New archers, fire charges, and villages that look different are also said to be some of the changes part of the update. Besides Realms, another major update is Command Blocks that help gamers program into Minecraft to make just about anything they want.
Minecraft also released 1.9.3 Pre Release 1 for desktop with four big fixes which promises performance improvements for most players.
Try a free strategy game from the makers of ‘Minecraft’
Like ‘Minecraft’ before it, ‘Crown & Council’ was developed by one person.
Developer Mojang might be best known for wildly popular and influentialMinecraft, but it’s no one-trick pony. Which brings us to Crown & Council, the studio’s latest that, from the sounds of it, is a fast-paced strategy game in the vein of Risk or Civilization. In the tradition of Minecraft, the studio says that the game was developed entirely by one person, Henrik Pettersson. It uses a charming 16-bit style of pixel art and maybe best of all, it’s absolutely free on Steam. Need something new to play over the weekend? Now you’re all set.
‘Minecraft’ News, Updates: Education Edition In The Works; No More Mods? [VIDEO]
‘Minecraft’ News, Updates: Education Edition In The Works; No More Mods? [VIDEO]
(Photo : Saucer C/ Pixabay)
Since “Minecraft” is already a big hit in schools and universities, Microsoft intends to release another update of its building block video game in order to be suitable for education. In May, hundreds of schools will commence testing the Education Edition of the game.
However, the tech giant did not reveal how much the schools will cost final version, or when it will be released. Microsoft creates the software as well as the projects to teach the instructors to use it.
Microsoft revealed via Cnet, “During the summer months, we are also going to be focused on working with educators on building out lesson plans, sharing learning activity ideas and creating reusable projects.”
One factor that made “Minecraft” suitable to almost everything from computer, programming to art and history, is its “endless possibilities.” Particularly, students take their own initiatives to study the game by themselves, Education World reported.
This development for “Minecraft Education Edition” is a slice of the giant leap for the game. Mojang, Swedish developer started by utilizing Java programming language for the said project. That has been known for people who like to create changes, named mods that modify how “Minecraft” works. On the other hand, “Minecraft” Pocket Edition that operates on Apple iPads and iPhones, tablets and smart phones powered by Google’s Android, are encrypted in the C++ language, Tech Times reported.
The game’s Education Edition will utilize the same language, according to Micrsoft. This implies no mods. Microsoft plans to include command blocks and mods, which is next to the C++ version. This will need Apple’s OS X 10.11 El Capitan and Windows 10.
The C++ foundation is also used in the updated Microsoft’s reality headset, Hololens and Facebook’s Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
Are you excited for the Education Edition of “Minecraft”? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below.
‘Minecraft’ News, Updates: Education Edition In The Works; No More Mods? [VIDEO]
Play ‘Minecraft’ in a Movie Theater With Super League Gaming (Sponsored)
Play ‘Minecraft’ in a Movie Theater With Super League Gaming (Sponsored)
This is a pretty slick idea – setting up a Minecraft server and projecting gameplay on a movie theater screen, letting teams of gamers compete and have fun in a custom environment:
Now your family can play Minecraft in select movie theaters across the nation with Super League Gaming. In this four-week series, Super League brings together gamers of all ages for a fun, social, face-to-face gameplay experience on the big screen with superhero themed maps and mods in a custom Minecraft adventure called, Rise of Heroes.
Your gamers will play, collaborate and socialize on teams with 4-7 members their own age as they build, battle and use their creativity and imagination. Minecraft encourages teamwork and helps develop skills like reading, organization, planning, and problem solving.
Super League even provides all the tech help and support making this a great family-friendly event. Parents and siblings can watch for free and cheer their gamer on making this fun for all. Each player gets a free gaming t-shirt encouraging team building and camaraderie.
There’s even an opportunity for the winning team to evenly split a college scholarship. League starts April 30. Check superleague.com for a schedule of locations and times.
Even better, since they’re sponsoring us, you can get a special code and save some money. Use the coupon code “GeekDad10” to get $10 off the ticket price. For more info, you can follow them on Twitter,@joinsuperleague or Facebook.com/JoinSuperLeague to get updates and news.
Play ‘Minecraft’ in a Movie Theater With Super League Gaming (Sponsored)
The one big reason why ‘Minecraft’ is both super-popular and super-good for kids
Last week, the New York Times published “The Minecraft Generation,” a deep look into how millions of kids all over the world are learning about programming from the smash hit game — even when it was never intended to be used that way.
“We have never done things with that sort of intent,” Minecraft lead developer Jens Bergensten tells the Times. “We always made the game for ourselves.”
Microsoft bought “Minecraft” developer Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014, making the company the steward of a game that also qualifies as a cultural phenomenon. Kids and adults alike are completely enraptured by Minecraft and the creative freedom it offers.
“The Minecraft Generation” is a lengthy read, but it’s a fascinating glimpse into how Minecraft’s steep learning curve, combined with its deceptively complex systems, are actually a benefit: Kids treat the game like one big puzzle, where figuring out something really cool or finding something unexpected can make you a hometown hero.
That aspect makes “Minecraft” a prime candidate for teaching computer literacy and fundamental programming concepts. Indeed, that’s why Microsoft itself is investing in making “Minecraft for Education.”
The game is open-ended, challenging players to keep mining and building and discovering what else the world has to offer. But the coolest stuff in “Minecraft” involves “redstone,” a mythical mineral that acts like electrical wire. Crucially, anything wired together with redstone acts like real electronic circuitry, to the point where you can build very basic logic-based systems and computer processors.
RedditSome smart-alec built a fully functioning, playable version of “Pokemon Red” in Minecraft.
It means that with a little sweat and a lot of patience, “Minecraft” players can rig together ever-more-complex mechanisms that use some real computer logic under the hood.
The result of all of this is that when kids go onto YouTube or take Minecraft encyclopedias from their local libraries, they’re also learning the rudiments of architecture, electronic systems design, and debugging.
And so, kids are using Minecraft as their entryway into computer science education, or even graphic design, since advanced players can customize the look and feel of their worlds.
Ultimately, “The Minecraft Generation” just demonstrates what my nephews already taught me: The power of Minecraft is serious business, and it’s a good thing.
The one big reason why ‘Minecraft’ is both super-popular and super-good for kids
Microsoft financials: Minecraft’s doing better as Xbox revenues falter
Today Microsoft released its financial results for its third quarter of 2016, the three-month period ended March 31, 2016.
Minecraft sales drove up its game software business 9 percent, but Xbox hardware revenues slumped 26 percent in the quarter, due to the one-two punch of Xbox 360’s continued obsolescence and lower prices on Xbox One hardware.
Microsoft announced this week that it will cease to manufacture the Xbox 360, which was originally released in November 2005.
Xbox Live revenue grew 22 percent during the quarter due to an increase in subscriptions and transactions, as well as a higher value per transactions, which seems to correlate with the shift to digital downloadswe’re seeing during this console generation.
The company said that in March, global hours spent on Xbox One increased 89 percent year-over-year. The company has however declined to provide hardware sales numbers in recent times, preferring to share “engagement” numbers. The last time we got a solid number for the Xbox One install base as in January, when EA CFO Blake Jorgensen pegged it at 19 million — roughly half of Sony’s PlayStation 4 install base at the time.
The company overall had a disappointing quarter, as it missed Wall Street estimates for its earnings. It generated $20.5 billion in revenue, but analysts were expecting $21.6 billion. Operating income hit $5.3 billion. Revenues also decreased year-on-year, down from $21.7 billion.
Microsoft financials: Minecraft’s doing better as Xbox revenues falter
What Minecraft can teach the Health Care system
EIGHTH WONDER VIA YOUTUBE
The US health care system can learn from Minecraft.
From outside the door to their command and control center, I discreetly observed the team, taking care not to disturb them. They stared intently at the moonlit landscape littered with hidden traps and vertiginous fjords displayed on the large console in front of them, tracking their own progress and that of 10 other far-flung teams as they collectively navigated through the complex virtual environment toward a common goal.
When one team seemed to get lost or momentarily confused, a colleague on another team would grab her smartphone and offer concise video guidance. It was a remarkable demonstration of using technology to coordinate teams in complex tasks without prior training.
Even more remarkable, no team member was older than 11. The software they were using was Minecraft, the virtual reality navigation game that has addicted millions of users worldwide.
I was filled with envy for these middle schoolers — and not only because what they were doing looked like so much fun.
I’ve spent my career working in some of the world’s most advanced hospitals, and now chair Harvard Medical School’s Department of Biomedical Informatics. I can tell you with assurance that the use of team technology in the American health care system lags decades behind the seamless coordination that Minecraft players take for granted.
How often, in your experience as patient, family member, doctor, or nurse, do all the members of the care team actually know what the current plan is, and who else is on the team? How easily can all team members monitor activities, figure out if the care is on the right track, and instantly conference to organize a course correction if needed?
Modern electronic health record systems don’t come close to this functionality. The typical medical record amounts to a dry diary of a patient’s care. Had it been built by Minecraft, it would show the likely trajectory of the disease, who is on the team, and what each team member — including the patient — could do to fight the disease. And it would even let team members interact.
Can we make our health care system more like Minecraft? Right now we face three substantial obstacles.
Unique systems. We’ve convinced ourselves that the information technology we need to care for patients must be unique. To that end, we have created cumbersome solutions that are less secure, less versatile, and more expensive than they need to be, and that often have trouble communicating with each other. This has stifled innovation that could transform clinical teams and their relationships to their patients.
Billing gets in the way. Our medical records conflate billing with clinical care. The current model of reimbursement puts a premium on scrupulously documenting what has been done so providers can request reimbursement for their services by health insurers, rather than emphasizing improved communication and decision-making.
Clinicians only. Patients have largely been excluded from the decision-making process, even though pioneering initiatives, such as the OpenNotes project at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, suggest that care actually gets better when patients read their medical team’s notes.
Fortunately, there are big-picture solutions underway. Several national initiatives are heading in the same direction. With names like the Blue Buttonand Sync For Science, they extract patient data from the health record, freeing it to be processed in innovative ways that will allow Minecraft-like visualizations and interactions. (Faculty members from my department have worked on both of these initiatives.) Once clinical data is freed and under individual control, an entire new industry will spring up to serve our needs, much as an ecosystem of applications grew once consumers were able to directly access their own financial data.
By getting involved in these apparently arcane national initiatives, you — patient, clinician, payer, or policy maker — can alter the future.
Both the Blue Button and Sync For Science have the support of and funding from our government. But if they are to succeed, all of us must actively help. Patients should ask for their data delivered not as a stack of paper but as an electronic package under their control. They could share it with clinicians for their care, or donate it to research projects they choose to participate in. When patients are transferred from one health care institution to another, providers should demand that they be accompanied by their full electronic health records, not just verbal or textually summarized handoffs. Electronic health record system vendors should make their software packages as complete and comprehensive as possible. Payers should insist on comprehensive data flow — including to the patient — as a condition for reimbursement.
The technological bar to succeeding in these initiatives is not high. Instead, institutional inertia is the big hurdle. If we overcome this inertia, there will be no reason that a patient’s history, diagnoses, and next steps can’t be presented in a way that makes as much sense to adults as Minecraft intuitively makes to 11-year-olds.
Everything that’s been teased for Minecraft Pocket Edition’s 0.15 update
Minecraft Pocket Edition is once again getting a huge update that will bring the mobile version of the game closer to its PC counterpart.
And, as usual, Mojang has teased a bunch of new features through the majestic medium of Twitter. Some are “hey we’re doing this in the next update” while others are “this would be cool I guess?”
And all that leaves us with a list of features that maybe kinda sorta possibly might end up in 0.15. We’ll find out.
Resource packs
Way back in February, MCPE top dog Tommaso Checchi was already teasing possible new features for 0.15. And it all started with a tweet that said…
“I’ll be in Seattle for a while to plan out 0.15, too, and there’s a lot of cool stuff coming up… resource packs anyone?”
Resource packs allow players to easily customise textures, models, music, sounds, fonts and more, just by downloading and installing a few files.
Who knows whether they will be like resource packs on PC where players can freely distribute and download new files, or more like the mash-up packs on console where Mojang sells themed packs of resources as DLC.
Pistons
Pistons are an important part of any redstone engineer’s toolbox. You can use these components to push blocks around, letting you build handy factories or traps.
Mojang dev Daniel Wustenhoff tweeted a video of pistons in action back in March, which means they’re likely to appear in the game’s next major update.
Realms
Realms are the big new addition for 0.15, and are already available in the update’s first alpha test.
According to Mojang itself, “Minecraft Realms is a paid multiplayer server hosting service, provided by Mojang, designed to be easily set up and used by up to ten players at a time”.
You can already make an online server in MCPE but it’s a bit of a pain – Realms will make the process painless, in exchange for £5.59 per month.
Taller worlds
Mojang is also working on worlds that can be 256 blocks tall. The first attempt was, ahem, not a success. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the team can fix those bugs in time for 0.15.
Trading with villagers
Right now, villagers just walk around, look at you suspiciously, and sometimes make a weird honking noise. Well that’s set to change!
Checchi teased the possibility of trading with villagers – and more – in a tweet that says “Today’s idea: a NPCComponent you can give to any mob to have a dialog tree with them”.
That would certainly allow for trading, but maybe other possibilities too. Could you make a text adventure in a Minecraft world for other players to experience?
This one sounds super vague right now, but maybe start saving up those emeralds. You might be able to use them to trade with villagers sooner than you think.
Fire Charges
Only eagle-eyed viewers will spot what’s new in Minecraft developer Jason Major’s screenshot.
It’s the Fire Charge, of course. This item lights blocks on fire when used. It’s not quite as good as the Flint and Steel but charges are renewable and stackable.
Plus, chuck one of these in a dispenser and it will shoot out fireballs. Bang, you’ve now got your own version of Bowser’s castle.
Horses
In that same screenshot, you might also see an extra spawn egg (used in creative mode to magic up a mob of your choosing) not currently in MCPE.
It’s barely even visible, so take this with a grain of salt, but the colours match up to the horse spawn egg from Minecraft proper.
If they were added, you’d be able to tame and ride horses to cross great distances in no time at all.
New archers
A brand new mob has been teased for Minecraft 1.10 and MCPE 0.15.0. They look like scary wraith-like archers who are gonna mess you up, son.
The game already has archer units of course, in the skeletons with bows. Who knows how these guys will differ.
Command blocks
Command blocks essentially let you write programming code in Minecraft. With some of these blocks and some redstone, you can make crazy tools like teleporters and mob spawners.
They might not appear in 0.15, but Minecraft boss Jens Bergensten told CNET “our ambition is to reach feature parity as soon as possible, including command blocks.”
Checchi added “Don’t expect all of that to be as powerful as PC for a while, because we’ll start small. But that’s the direction!”
Mutton
Cows, rabbits, pigs, and chicken all drop meat that you can eat or cook. But sheep just give you wool. You can’t eat wool. Well, you can but it’s not very tasty.
So it looks like sheep will soon drop raw mutton that you can cook for sustenance. We don’t know if, like in other Minecraft versions, it can be used to breed and heal tamed wolves.
Biome-based villages
Villages look the same everywhere you go. Bergensten says the team is testing an idea where villages would change depending on what biome they’re found in.
That means villages in jungles or mesas or deserts could be built from different materials. Neat!
You might also get new biomes – depending on if you would “hate if we made a new world generator with new biomes, but you need to create a new world to get it”.
More options
Expect more ways to tweak your Minecraft experience – including the ability to set the level of anti-aliasing if you’re playing on Windows 10 or VR. “Not as needed on phones because they have insane DPI,” says Checchi.
Everything that’s been teased for Minecraft Pocket Edition’s 0.15 update
Amazon marks GTA5, FIFA 16, Minecraft and more as “exclusively for Prime members”
You now need a Prime subscription to buy games such as Grand Theft Auto 5, Rainbow Six: Siege or FIFA 16 direct from retail giant Amazon.
The bizarre change, spotted by Videogamer, appears to have quietly taken effect overnight.
But there’s a big caveat to the above. All of these games are still available to buy via Amazon through third-party sellers, whether you have Prime or not.
To many customers, little will actually change.
Note the new warning box on the right, but also the third-party sellers which are still available, and cheaper than Amazon itself.
Amazon uses third-party sellers extensively itself, listing many as being the option it uses to fulfill orders. Again, these are still available to non-Prime subscribers.
Still, the change is notable for the worrying precedent it sets and because it appears to be targeting a very specific section of its customer base – those who play video games – at least initially. It’s not hard to imagine a future where some games are locked behind Amazon Prime completely.
Other games affected by the change include Minecraft, Far Cry Primal, Dishonored: Definitive Edition, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Elder Scrolls Online, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, Battlefield Hardline. Even Farming Simulator.
An Amazon Prime subscription currently costs £79 per year.
Amazon marks GTA5, FIFA 16, Minecraft and more as “exclusively for Prime members”
‘Minecraft’ News, Updates: Education Edition In The Works; No More Mods? [VIDEO]
Since “Minecraft” is already a big hit in schools and universities, Microsoft intends to release another update of its building block video game in order to be suitable for education. In May, hundreds of schools will commence testing the Education Edition of the game.
However, the tech giant did not reveal how much the schools will cost final version, or when it will be released. Microsoft creates the software as well as the projects to teach the instructors to use it.
Microsoft revealed via Cnet, “During the summer months, we are also going to be focused on working with educators on building out lesson plans, sharing learning activity ideas and creating reusable projects.”
One factor that made “Minecraft” suitable to almost everything from computer, programming to art and history, is its “endless possibilities.” Particularly, students take their own initiatives to study the game by themselves, Education World reported.
This development for “Minecraft Education Edition” is a slice of the giant leap for the game. Mojang, Swedish developer started by utilizing Java programming language for the said project. That has been known for people who like to create changes, named mods that modify how “Minecraft” works. On the other hand, “Minecraft” Pocket Edition that operates on Apple iPads and iPhones, tablets and smart phones powered by Google’s Android, are encrypted in the C++ language, Tech Times reported.
The game’s Education Edition will utilize the same language, according to Micrsoft. This implies no mods. Microsoft plans to include command blocks and mods, which is next to the C++ version. This will need Apple’s OS X 10.11 El Capitan and Windows 10.
The C++ foundation is also used in the updated Microsoft’s reality headset, Hololens and Facebook’s Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
Are you excited for the Education Edition of “Minecraft”? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below.
‘Minecraft’ News, Updates: Education Edition In The Works; No More Mods? [VIDEO]
Fan Creates Sleep Train Arena in Minecraft
The popular computer game Minecraft allows players to live without traditional structure or direction. Thus, gamers are free to create whatever they want inside of the Minecraft world.
User “The Greynation” did just that, by creating popular, NBA, MLB and NFL stadiums via Minecraft building blocks.
Prior to the start of the final season at Sleep Train Arena, he made a near-exact inside/outside replica of the venue the Kings have called home since 1988.
Check out the video below of the numerous in-arena entertainment setups as envisioned by “The Greynation:”
MINECRAFT SELLS 10,000 COPIES PER DAY — TEACHES COMPUTATIONAL THINKING
For those not in the know, Minecraft is a bestselling open world game where players can explore and interact with a world of blocks (each carrying different attributes inside that world). The phenomena has spread far and wide, laying the foundation for one of the most creative digital playground in the world. A recent report from The New York Times reveals that the game is selling 10,000 copies per day. Considering that the game was first launched five years ago, that’s a very impressive sum.
Most games enjoy remaining relevant during a release window spanning no more than the first few months, which is when games tend to sell the most. Meanwhile,Minecraft has sold over 100 million units to date, helped in no small part to its availability on a multitude of platforms.
Given its simple graphics and enormous creative possibilities, it’s no surprise thatMinecraft also has seen huge success in the younger generation. These blossoming gamers can mine blocks and then use them to create defenses against enemies, or they can play around freely and create whatever they want. You can choose one of five different game modes, but you can boil it down to either playing or creating. The game’s creative mode is the component that engages players to recreate things like the U.S.S Enterprise from the Star Trek series, or the main capitol from Game of Thrones.
For kids, a playground that allows for all these different creations is driving their understanding of computational thinking. The report argues that this is one of Minecraft’s most powerful effects. It’s no surprise then that Microsoft announced Minecraft: Education Edition.
Minecraft’s worlds are enormous; an unaltered world consists of up to 60 million blocks. The block that drives this computational thinking is primarily the redstone, which allow players to experiment with logical functions and create other games inside the game itself. Some players have even created functioning computers. These stones basically work like electrical circuits, and specific objects you create inside theMinecraft world will be activated and perform a predetermined action when activated by a redstone. Of course, you can also connect redstones to one another, opening up a whole slew of possibilities. Working like this requires a lot of rewiring, and things won’t always work the way you imagine.
Kids are learning to engage in a visual form of debugging, where they have to experiment and find the issue. The report mentions a fifth-grader that tried creating a redstone door that didn’t open when activated, so she had to track down the failing component of her redstone setup and fix it manually.
Young gamers are learning problem solving by playing around in digital worlds, and they’re doing it in a way that resembles programming logic. Thus Minecraft is, perhaps, teaching our kids to learn programming more effectively than our educational systems.
MINECRAFT SELLS 10,000 COPIES PER DAY — TEACHES COMPUTATIONAL THINKING
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