It hasn’t been that long since we got the 0.14 update forMinecraft Pocket Edition [$6.99], and yet I’m already waiting for update 0.15 to hit because I want those pistons for my completely-unnecessary secret chamber entry. After a relative silence of a couple of weeks, the developers surfaced once more with our first look at the pistons coming to MCPEhopefully in the 0.15 update. The animation looks smoother than the PC one (at least in my eyes), but that could be because I haven’t played the PC version in a while. Regardless of that, the fact that we are finally seeing pistons in action is a sure sign that technical issues are getting resolved and that we should (emphasis on should) get the pistons in the next update. I’m sure pistons will make a lot of you happy judging from how players have been asking for them constantly.

0.15 should bring more than just the pistons to the game; we might get texture packs (which I cannot wait for since I like clear glass), possibly new biomes, and maybe even the return of Pocket Realms. These are well and fun, but I really want to see music come to the game. It’s been my number one feature request for many, many updates, and I hope it’s not too far away. For me, the Minecraft experience is intertwined with that fantastic music, so I can’t wait for it. We don’t have any clues for when 0.15 will release, but hopefully it’s not too far away.

Here’s your First Look at Pistons in ‘Minecraft Pocket Edition’

Announced initially back in September, Oculus is bringing the ever-popular Minecraft to both the Rift and Gear VR. Next week at GDC 2016 we’ll get our first glimpse of the game’s mobile version.

During an invite-only event at GDC 2016, Oculus will be showing off Minecraft running on Samsung’s mobile Gear VR headset (which the two companies collaborated on). Famed developer and Oculus CTO John Carmack, who played an important role in bringingMinecraft to the platform, will be in attendance, likely to talk about the technical hurdles involved with optimizing the game’s Android version for virtual reality.

Back in September at Oculus’ developer conference, the company made the surprise announcement that Minecraft would be coming to the Oculus Rift and Gear VR. Carmack took to the stage saying that getting the sandbox building game into VR was his “quest.”

With more than 70 million copies of the game sold, Carmack knew that havingMinecraft ready for VR could be an important vector for bringing mainstream gamers to virtual reality.

“Minecraft was something that I was desperate to get into virtual reality, because I thought it would be critically important,” he said. Adding that the game already embodies “so many things people think about the Metaverse” while enabling exploration of the sorts of “magical vistas” that create lasting memories.

At the event we expect to go hands-on with the game, which will likely require a bluetooth gamepad to be played on Gear VR.

Oculus recently showed off the Rift version of Minecraft as well, which would seem to indicate that the company is slowly building toward a launch. However, release dates for either VR version of the game have not been announced.

Prior to the game’s official VR implementation, a prominent third-party mod known asMinecrift, which added VR capability to the game, had been in development for some time. Oculus actually offers the mod through their ‘Share’ games store, though it’s fate now is uncertain.

Oculus Showing First Look at ‘Minecraft’ on Gear VR at GDC Next Week

Amy Morley took full advantage of the extra day in February and popped the question to her partner David Pepper

Proposals are always romantic, sometimes surprising and, in the case of this marital message, thoroughly unique.

Taking full advantage of the leap year, Amy Morley, from Saltburn , went to all of the effort of popping the question to her partner David Pepper by designing a Minecraft video game – and he absolutely loved it.

Gaming fan David, 22, said: “We both love Minecraft and often play it together, so for Amy to make something so personal to us is really special.

“I knew she was up to something but I didn’t know what. After the first few seconds of watching the video I could see where it was going.

“Just as the words ‘Will you marry me’ appeared on the screen, I turned and saw Amy holding a ring. I couldn’t believe it.”

The rollercoaster video, which Amy, 24, overlaid with the song Love Is An Open Door from Disney’s Frozen film – has been a huge hit online, having been shared thousands of times.

The two minute clip is made extra special with a picture of the couple’s five-month-old son Joel asking the all important question.

And did he say yes? Of course he did!

“It was a really cute idea,” added David, who met Amy two years ago.

“A lot of people may find it embarrassing for a woman to propose to a man, but we don’t.

“I’m absolutely over the moon and can’t wait to start planning the future.”

Minecraft proposal: Watch unique way Saltburn woman took full advantage of leap year

“Microsoft MSFT +2.30% Monday” takes a look back at the past week of news related to Microsoft. This week, “Microsoft Monday” includes details about Windows 10 deleting apps, the HoloLens development kit now available for pre-order, the Band 2 price drop, the new “Bug Chicks” ad campaign, the new Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection feature, the new Whitepages ID app for Windows Mobile, Minecraft coming to the Oculus Rift, Xbox One longevity, the cancellation of “Fable Legends” for Xbox One, reported talks about acquiring Slack for $8 billion, Tim Sweeney’s opinion about the Universal Windows Platform and Steve Ballmer dunking a basketball.

Windows 10 Update Deletes Apps Without Permission

After you install a Windows 10 update, you may notice that there are some applications that have gone missing. Windows 10 has been removing apps that are outdated, have incompatibility issues or causes crashes. The program removal seems to happen after Windows 10 is upgraded to a new major version such as the November update, according to How-To Geek.

Fortunately, Windows 10 leaves the older Windows installation in a directory called “Windows.old” on the system drive — which may be under C:\Windows.old. It can also be found under “Previous Windows installation(s)” under Disk Cleanup.

Disk Cleanup / Photo Credit: How-To Geek

Windows 10 does not ask for permission to remove the files. But the Microsoft Services Agreement says that Windows may remove access to software and hardware. Users on aReddit thread reported that hardware utilities like Speccy, CPU-Z, HWMonitor and CCleaner were removed following the Windows update. The update also removed PDF readers and certain kinds of antivirus software.

Unfortunately the only fix seems to be reinstalling the applications whether you got it from a CD, an external hard drive or a website. And you may have to reinstall it again after the next major Windows 10 update.

You can also recover the program files by opening File Explorer and going to the C:\Windows.old folder. If the program was installed under Program Files, then you can find it under C:\Windows.old\Program Files. And the program application data may be stored under C:\Windows.old\Users\PROGRAM NAME\AppData. But it would be better to reinstall the program rather than trying to copy the program files over.

Microsoft Is Now Offering The HoloLens Development Kit For $3,000

Microsoft HoloLens / Photo Credit: Microsoft

In January 2015, Microsoft announced the cordless virtual reality headset known as the HoloLens. Last week, Microsoft said it will start accepting pre-orders from developers that applied for the HoloLens. The cost of the pre-order is $3,000 and it will start shipping to developers in the U.S. and Canada on March 30th.

Microsoft also announced several applications designed specifically for the HoloLens, including Skype and several games. The Skype app for HoloLens allows users to share their virtual reality experiences with each other. The HoloLens apps are Universal Windows apps so a majority of Windows 10 apps will work on the virtual reality headset, but there are a limited number of specially designed apps for it.

Over the last few months, Microsoft has been accepting applications from developers. It is unknown which of those developers will receive the HoloLens first. But Microsoft will be sending out invites in batches, according to TechCrunch.

The $3,000 HoloLens Development Kit includes the HoloLens, a charger, a carrying case, nose pads, overhead straps, a clicker to interact with applications and a microfiber cloth. The HoloLens is estimated to have about 3-4 hours of battery and around two weeks of standby time. It has 2 HD 16:9 light engines that provides a “holographic resolution” of 2.3 million light points.

Microsoft Band 2 Price Drops Down To $175

The price of the Microsoft Band 2 wearable has been dropped to $175, meaning it has received a price cut of $75. Originally priced at $250, the Band 2 has a continuous heart rate monitor that tracks heart rates, calorie burns and sleep quality. It also provides alerts for email, text messages, calendar events and phone calls. And the Band 2 has 11 sensors, including a GPS, a UV monitor and a barometer. The price drop — which is available at the Microsoft Store and Best Buy — appears to be temporary.

Microsoft has launched a new ad campaign that features two entomologists that talk about the advantage of Microsoft Surface and Windows 10. A woman in the video bashes on the Mac for not having a touch screen. The commercials also promote the capabilities of the Cortana digital assistant, the Inking drawing tool and the Hello facial recognition security feature. All of the ads end with “Windows 10 PCs do more. Just like you.” You can watch the ads below:

Microsoft Introduces Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection

Microsoft has launched a new tool called the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection to help detect cyberattacks. The tool looks at individual PCs to see if there are exploit attempts and unauthorized system file access. Then it recommends a solution to IT. Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection is being tested by beta users now, but it will be fully rolled out later this year.

Whitepages Launches Caller ID And Spam App For Windows Phones

Whitepages ID / Photo Credit: Whitepages

Last week, Whitepages announced that it has launched its Caller ID technology for Windows 10 Mobile. The app is called Whitepages ID and it is available for download in the Microsoft App Store now. The app is able to identify unknown incoming phone calls and text messages. This makes it easier to block spam calls and text messages. The app lets you report malicious and unwanted calls to help crowdsource a list of flagged numbers for all of the Whitepages ID users.

According to Whitepages, about 4 billion calls are made in the U.S. every day so caller ID is very important. About 30% of calls to mobile devices are from phone numbers are not from the address book of those users. The Whitepages ID app takes advantage of the 600 million phone numbers listed in the Whitepages database, of which 250 million are mobile phone numbers..

“We live in an age where people can feel uncertain and downright worried about answering an unknown call,” said Whitepages general manager of Communications Experience Stanley Kim in a statement. “With the release of the Whitepages ID app for Microsoft Windows 10 Mobile users, we are proud to bring our best-in-class caller identification technology to a new group of users to help them regain their peace of mind and confidence when answering a call from an unknown number.”

Other useful features in the app includes a call blocker, spam protection, phone book contact photos, True Contacts (adds names and addresses from the Whitepages directory to your phone book contacts) and Save Money (reduces the amount of minutes and text messages used per month).

At the spring Xbox showcase, Mojang revealed that Minecraft will be coming to the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Nick Statt of The Verge tested it out and said that it had a few issues.

“More often, however, a VR game will rely only on the position of your head and will take into account the fact that you’ll be stationary on a couch or in front of a computer,” said Statt. “Minecraft for the Rift tries to pull off both of those styles at once because it was designed to be played on a screen, and not one pressed up against your face. My head and joystick were in constant battle for control of my view. At times, I had to use the Xbox One controller to reorient the screen because the alternative was moving my whole body in dramatic fashion just to, say, round a sharp corner or turn to look behind me. It’s odd and discombobulating watching your view jitter left and right when you use the thumbstick while your head stays stationary. It’s a necessary though to have a wide-open game world you can’t explore by physically walking around a room.” Fortunately, there isn’t any blur or lag on Minecraft for Oculus because less processing power is needed to render Minecraft.

Minecraft will be available through the Oculus and Windows stores in the spring. And it will be an update to the Windows 10 edition of the game on the Windows Store.

Minecraft 1.9 Combat Update Includes New Enemies And Dual-Wielding Abilities

Mojang has released the patch 1.9 update for Minecraft recently, which supports dual-wielding. Ever since Minecraft was released, the controls have been clicking a button to swing a weapon. One of the most highly demanded features has been more combat controls. The patch 1.9 update includes a new inventory slot. The “off-hand” slot can be used to hold a shield so that you can block attacks from enemies. And you can place any of the new arrow types in the off-hand slot to easily pick your ammo. You can learn more about the update on the Mojang blog.

How Microsoft Plans To Extend The Xbox One Longevity

Xbox One / Image Credit: Microsoft

As you may know, Microsoft has been bringing some Xbox exclusive games to the PC such as Quantum Break and Tomb Raider. At the Xbox Spring Showcase, Phil Spencer said there will be more hardware innovation in the console space.

“You’ll actually see us come out with new hardware capability during a generation allowing the same games to run backward and forward compatible because we have a Universal Windows Application running on top of the Universal Windows Platform that allows us to focus more and more on hardware innovation without invalidating the games that run on that platform,” said Spencer via Forbes contributor Paul Tassi. “We can effectively feel a little bit more like we see on PC, where I can still go back and run my old Doom and Quake games that I used to play years ago but I can still see the best 4K games come out and my library is always with me. Hardware innovation continues while the software innovation is able to take advantage and I don’t have to jump a generation and lose everything that I played on before.”

What this means is that the Xbox One will be upgraded like a PC over time and the games developed on the Universal Windows Platform would stay backward compatible even with new hardware. The software platform is autonomous from the hardware so consoles can be upgraded without having to buy a console with a new generation of hardware. It is unclear how the “upgrade” system will work.

In a follow-up interview on Major Nelson’s podcast, Spencer clarified what he intended to say (via GameSpot):

“What I’m saying is as hardware innovations happen we want to be able to embrace those in the console space. And make those available and maybe not have to wait seven or eight years for things to happen. But right now, we’re not announcing hardware. I’m happy with the console we have and the platform we built on top of that console and the constant innovation and the games that are there. But as a longer-term vision statement I wanted to make sure people understood what we’re doing I think is good for the console space in addition to being good for the PC space.”

Upcoming PlayStation 4 Update Will Let Users Play Games On PCs And Macs

Back in November, Sony said that Remote Play support will be available for Windows and Macs through a home network. This feature should be coming soon because Sony recently said that PC and Mac Remote Play will be part of the next major system update, according to PCWorld. Last week, Sony rolled out a closed beta test for version 3.50 known as “Musashi.”

Remote Play currently works with Sony’s Xperia smartphones and tablets. And Remote Play also lets you stream games to mobile devices, which can be played using a DualShock 4 controller.

Remote Play for PCs and Macs is not included in the beta release, but testers will be able to use social features such as friend notifications, the ability to set your status to offline and the ability to schedule gameplay sessions with friends.

Microsoft Decides To Cancel ‘Fable Legends’ For Xbox One And Lionhead Studio May Shut Down

Fable Legends / Photo Credit: Lionhead Studio via Forbes contributor Paul Tassi

Microsoft has decided to officially cancel the game “Fable Legends” for Xbox One. Microsoft may also shut down Lionhead Studio, the developer behind the game. According to Forbes contributor Paul Tassi, the “Fable Legends” has been in development since 2012 and was announced in 2013. Then it was released in closed beta in 2014. The 4v1 asymmetric game was expected to support an F2P model with a 5-10 year lifespan on the Xbox One and PC.

Here is a statement Microsoft released about the game cancellation:

“After much consideration we have decided to cease development on Fable Legends, and are in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios in the UK. Additionally, we will close Press Play Studios in Denmark, and sunset development on Project Knoxville.

These have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams – we are incredibly fortunate to have the talent, creativity and commitment of the people at these studios. The Lionhead Studios team has delighted millions of fans with the Fable series over the past decade. Press Play imbued the industry with a unique creative spirit behind games like Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba, which both captured passionate fans. These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play.”

Microsoft’s Hyperlapse Mobile Android App Now Lets You Save Videos In 1080p

Microsoft Hyperlapse Mobile / Photo Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft has released an update to its Hyperlapse Mobile app for Android so that you can save your hyperlapse videos in 1080p resolution. And you can save the videos with a time-lapse effect on an SD card so that it doesn’t take up too much space on your device’s internal storage.

Microsoft’s Hyperlapse Mobile app for Android supports the ability to create a hyperlapse of any video you already shot with your phone. You can select from multiple speeds between 1x and 32x times the normal speed of the video. And there is a stabilize-only mode — which lets you select 1x for stabilization without time-lapse and you can keep the video’s audio track intact.

Windows 10 Update Includes Cortana Reminders And New Languages

Last week, Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 update to fast ringer testers with a few new Cortana features. Microsoft has expanded the list of Cortana’s supported languages to Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil) and French (Canada). Cortana now supports a total of 14 languages. Now Cortana also supports the ability to remember content whether it is reminders, book titles, etc.

Another feature added to the Windows update is the combination of the Windows 10 log-in and lock screen similar to how smartphone lock screens work. And several bugs have been fixed. You can find more details about the update on the Windows Blog.

Microsoft President Brad Smith Comments About Apple Encryption Case

Microsoft president and chief legal officer said the Redmond giant is in favor of Apple against its legal battle with the FBI. During an RSA security conference on Tuesday, Smith said via Mashable: “The path to hell starts at the backdoor, and we need to make sure that encryption technology remains strong.”

However, Smith said Microsoft would be willing to work with authorities. In fact, Smith said Microsoft received 14 information requests from the government about terrorist suspects. “In all 14 of those cases we were able to respond, determine that the orders were lawful, pull the content and turn it over and we did it in an average response time of under 30 minutes,” added Smith. “We do play our role as an industry.” Smith also pointed out that the U.S. courts need to define laws that are more up-to-date with current technology.

Microsoft Reportedly Considered Acquiring Slack For $8 Billion

Slack recently announced it would be offering voice and video services, meaning it would become more formidable of an opponent against Microsoft’s Skype. According toTechCrunch’s sources, Microsoft considered acquiring Skype for as high as $8 billion. However Microsoft co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates and current CEO Satya Nadella opposed the idea. Gates suggested that Skype adds more features to make it more competitive against Slack in the business segment.

Slack currently has 2.3 million daily active users and 675,000 of them are paying. And Slack reportedly received 8-10 acquisition offers last year alone. At Microsoft, the executive that was attempting to spearhead an acquisition of Slack was Qi Lu Lu. Qi Lu Lu oversees the productivity and information services at Microsoft, including research and development for Microsoft Office, Office 365, Yammer, Exchange, Bing, etc. Slack is currently hitting over $64 million in annual recurring revenue.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney Criticizes Universal Windows Platform

Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, is not a fan of the Universal Windows Platform. Epic Games is known for building the Gears of War franchise in collaboration with Microsoft. In an opinion piece on The Guardian.

“In my view, this is the most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made. While the company has been convicted of violating antitrust law in the past, its wrongful actions were limited to fights with specific competitors and contracts with certain PC manufacturers,” said Sweeney in his article in regards to the Universal Windows Platform. “This isn’t like that. Here, Microsoft is moving against the entire PC industry – including consumers (and gamers in particular), software developers such as Epic Games, publishers like EA and Activision, and distributors like Valve and Good Old Games.”

The Universal Windows Platform allows games to be played on Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One consoles. Other developers have expressed similar concerns about the Universal Windows Platform.

“My view is that bundling is a valuable practice that benefits users, and my criticism is limited to Microsoft structuring its operating system to advantage its own store while unfairly disadvantaging competing app stores, as well as developers and publishers who distribute games directly to their customers,” added Sweeney. “The specific problem here is that Microsoft’s shiny new “Universal Windows Platform” is locked down, and by default it’s impossible to download UWP apps from the websites of publishers and developers, to install them, update them, and conduct commerce in them outside of the Windows Store.”

Watch Steve Ballmer Dunk A Basketball

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is the owner of the L.A. Clippers and recently he bounced off of a trampoline and dunked a basketball. A week ago, the L.A. Clippers revealed a new mascot during halftime, but Ballmer dunking was the highlight of the event. The audience all won a pair of free Converse shoes because Ballmer successfully completed the dunk too. Ballmer bought the L.A. Clippers for $2 billion about three years ago.

Microsoft Monday: Windows 10 Update Deletes Apps, Xbox One Longevity Plan, Minecraft For Oculus Rift

It’s time for some wild speculation

Minecraft, the phenomenally successful block-building survival game, is going to get a new enemy (called “mob”) in its next major update. Considering the game has sold around 80 million copies, every little change like this is a big deal for the legions of Minecraft fans around the world. Now, those players are looking for any clue about what to expect. Lead Minecraft developer Jens Bergensten is using Twitter to tease players with hints.

Bergensten’s fellow Minecraft developer Martin Odhelius also added the following tease:

In Minecraft, you can encounter three kinds of computer-controlled nonplayer characters. These are aggressive, neutral, and passive. Aggressive and passive will always attack or will never attack, respectively. Neutral characters, however, will attack if you pester them.

The second part of Bergensten’s hint is a that the base texture color is equivalent to a light gray that looks almost white. Thankfully, Odhelius provided a little more perspective by pointing out that this new mob will also have something to do with noise, hearing, or ears.

These aren’t the most specific clues, and they could point to almost anything. But that hasn’t stopped the Internet from making some guesses. On Reddit, we’ve seen people guessing ghosts and yetis. Others have said they hope it is a whale.

But many don’t take into account Odhelius’s tweet. Once you start thinking about something gray with ears, well … I like this guy’s conclusion:

Microsoft Corporation is a public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through … read more »

Minecraft fans are trying to guess the game’s next enemy

‘Minecraft’ News & Update: New Update ‘1.10’ Already On The Works; New Mobs To Be The Focus Of New Update

‘Minecraft’ News & Update: New Update ‘1.10’ Already On The Works; New Mobs To Be The Focus Of New Update

‘Minecraft’ Update 1.10 Already In Development With A New Mob, Says Mojang Lead

‘Minecraft’ Update 1.10 Already In Development With A New Mob, Says Mojang Lead

The new Combat Update for MineCraft has arrived! The most recent update, which leaked back in April and was spoiled as “The Combat Update” includes a host of new combat mechanic tweaks to make fighting creepers, skeletons and zombies much more interesting.

Shields have been added to the game, and timing attacks have been made easier with the new combat cool-downs; the more rapidly a player swings, the less damage their attacks will do, effectively giving the game a “stamina” type of feature. There are now two item slots, and wielding in both hands is now possible. The player can swap between slots by the hotkey, which is bound by default to “F.” Several weapons have been reworked, and have been given special attacks. There is a new sweeping attack for swords and axes, as well as new reworked guaranteed critical hits which can be activated by falling down, and which require a certain cooldown threshold to actually activate – if you have attacked too many times recently, the criticals will not trigger.

The Skeleton AI has been reworked as well, and is a lot more vicious; it will attempt to back away from the player and prefer to stick to ranged combat. Sword blocking has been removed due to the implementation of shield, and tool damage was rebalanced to make axes a little more effective in combat and reduce the efficiency of items like hoes and shovels.

In addition to the new combat mechanics, there are a host of new blocks, new items, new particles (which are great in showing you how combat is going, and give the game that much needed pop in the thrill of combat), new status effects, and new enchantments. The most noteworthy enchantment is the frost walker enchantment, which can be enchanted to boots and will freeze a radius around the player as they walk on water. However, this can maybe get a little bit tricky as players and monsters can no longer walk through each other – they will instead bump off and collide.

The End, which is home to Minecraft’s “final boss” as well as being a cool end-game area, has also been reworked. The Ender Dragon boss, which is the final boss of Minecraft, has been reworked – the pillars used to damage him have been moved around and are much more fair. Most of the new additional items can only be found in End Cities as well, which are a new addition; End Cities and End Boats have been added, which hold some of the best loot waiting to be found by players. Among these is the Elytra item, which is an item that resembles wings which will allow for a player to glide. Gliding is actually controlled by looking around and the physics feel nice, which is a great addition to Minecraft; this is going to result in many shenanigans.

The care and attention Minecraft has received is great, and really has helped to give the game a long lasting legacy. Minecraft is the world’s most successful, and accessible, block-building and adventure game. Minecraft is friendly for almost anyone of all ages, and is available on several systems; unfortunately, the newest update is limited to the PC for the time being, which is typically the case. Minecraft has received some much needed additional features, as the game’s updates are becoming a little more sporadic as Mojang enters its infancy as a company and looks to release more successful titles to follow up Minecraft.

Minecraft 1.9 is Here! The Combat Update

Terraria on Wii U is taking its time to launch, but already out-does Minecraft in terms of Wii-U Gamepad features. It looks like the wait will be worth it.

Although Minecraft has been out on the Wii U for some time, it still doesn’t make very much use of the systems killer feature – the Gamepad second screen.

Getting hands on with Terraria Wii U it is immediately clear how much time and effort has been spent tailoring the game to fit Nintendo’s console. Of course you can use the stylus and touchscreen combo for more accurate building and fighting, this much I expected.

However, you can also use the Gamepad screen for a second player — leaving the other player free to use the whole of the TV screen. This is a nice innovation and not one I’ve encountered very often on the Wii U. In a family where you have more players sharing a console this additional screen real-estate will be welcomed.

Unfortunately this doesn’t enable five players to compete on a single system as we saw inSonic All Stars Racing.  Dean Scott, Producer from 505 Games, said that “Rendering five different Terraria worlds was too much for Wii U, it was important to keep the frame rate. But we do have up to eight players online.”

Terraria on Wii U

That eight player online mode also has a hidden gem. If you are a family with four children playing on a single system, you can go online with your Wii U and play with another family of four. Eight players with just two Wii U’s is certainly the sort of value for money that parents will appreciate.

There has also been thought put into which of the other Wii U controllers to support. “We made sure we supported the original Wii-Remote for split screen. There’s more likely hood of families having these lying around and they can use them for split screen as well as gamepads and pro-controllers.”

‘Terraria’ Outshines ‘Minecraft’ With Wii U Gamepad Features

First details about that Warner Bros. live-action Minecraft movie emerge

A vast private sculpture park showcasing work by some of Britain’s leading artists on a country estate near Edinburgh Airport is set to be turned into a new virtual reality experience.

Jupiter Artland for virtual reality treatment via Minecraft

Minecraft’s 1.9 patch—known as the Combat Update—has been in development at Mojang for well over year, and it’s arriving on PC today. So what exactly does it bring to the table? Let’s take a look.

Once you start playing, the first new thing you’ll notice will likely be the off-hand slot. This is a new inventory slot which you can use to dual wield items, like a sword and a shield, as in the GIF above, or a pickaxe and a stack of torches, so you can light up your mineshafts without constantly switching between items.

Of course, you can use your main hand and off hand items independently of each other.

You can also use the off-hand slot to choose what type of arrow you’ll use when firing the bow (yes, courtesy of the update, there are now multiple new arrow types). Otherwise, the game just randomly picks arrows from your inventory.

The patch changes the way combat works, too (hence the name). The damage you inflict is now determined by cooldowns: the faster you swing, the less damage you do. How quickly a tool returns to its full damage potential is decided by a new attack speed stat, which is different for each tool type and material. In practical terms, this means that generally, spamming left click no longer works all that well in a fight.

Tool types have been rebalanced around the cooldown mechanic, meaning you’ve got good all-rounder swords, slow but strong axes, and very fast but weak hoes.

Minecraft’s endgame dimension, The End, is getting a revamp as well. TheEnder Dragon, fittingly for the final boss of the game, got new breath and explosive attacks, which should make the fight—or fights, since it can now be infinitely respawned—a lot more interesting. There’s also a new type of dungeon called End city, found on infinitely generating floating islands around the central island. Here you can find the flight cape Patricia wrote about a few months back (they’re actually called Elytra), among other types of rare loot.

Those are the big ones, but it’s far from everything. Consult the full change log below, via Mojang’s blog, for a summary of what’s new in 1.9. A more detailed list is available at the Minecraft wiki. 

• Added shields
• Attacking now has a “cool-down” delay, making it more important to time your attacks
• You can now hold items in both hands (default quick key to swap items is ‘F’)
• Swords have a special sweep attack
• Axes have a special crushing blow attack
• Added the elytra
• New mob: Shulker
• Expanded The End
• Added Chorus plants
• New Purpur blocks
• New End Rod block
• Added dragon head block
• Ender Dragon can be resummoned
• Added beetroot and beetroot soup (from MC:PE)
• Added grass path block
• Added igloos
• Armor protection values have been lowered
• Added tipped arrows
• Added spectral arrows
• Added Frost Walker enchantment and frosted ice block
• Added a whole bunch of new sound effects
• Added sound effect subtitles
• Brewing Stand now requires Blaze Powder to activate
• Added skeleton riders
• We believe we’ve fixed MC-10 and a whole bunch of other issues
• Removed Herobrine

Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.

Minecraft’s Combat Update Changes the Game in a Big Way

Colossi: giant statues in the real world, gargantuan creatures in fiction. They terrify and inspire awe, even (especially) when they’re painstakingly built by hand in Minecraft. 

This particular colossus was built by PlanetMinecraft’s Divici, who’s otherwise known for his anime- and LOTR-related builds, over a two-week period. He actually made two versions of the colossus, with the first one called the Harmony Giant:

and the second one called the Supremacy Giant, which has giant turrets attached to it and is missing its horns. It’s also found on a winter map, frozen in the same pose as the Harmony Giant, which makes me think it’s the corpse of the Harmony Giant, but converted into a fortress of some kind. Sad.

You can download the two giants here, if you’d like a closer look.

In The Shadow of the Minecraft Colossus

It is the sense of scale that hits you. Despite intentionally blocky visuals, the open-world building game Minecraft has always produced landscapes of great diversity and beauty. To stand on a hillside and see the plains extend out for miles in all directions remains a great pleasure, even four years after its release.

But visiting the game in virtual reality, actually standing among the craggy chasms, being able to look up at the looming mountains, seeing them extend into the sky far above you … this is a new, rather breathtaking experience.

In September Oculus founder Palmer Luckey announced a new version of Minecraft would support his company’s VR headset, the Oculus Rift. The original Java version of the game has been unofficially running on the hardware for over a year thanks to the efforts of the fan community, but the results have been mixed. This one is being co-developed by teams at Mojang (the game’s original developer), Oculus and at Microsoft’s Redmond campus, using the new Windows 10 iteration of the game, which will be the default going forward.

“Just getting it on to the headset seemed hard to begin with, but that was just the start of the challenge,” says Mojang’s Tommaso Checchi. “We got it running in 2014, but then we had to go through and make the game actually work VR. It’s hard to hit a balance where the game is comfortable but still feels perfectly like Minecraft, and you can still play with other people on the same server. VR has one problem – it’s hard to pull off an experience where you can move and rotate freely in a vast open world.”

At the Xbox spring showcase in San Francisco, Microsoft is showing off a demo map, prepared especially to show off the potential of VR Minecraft. The first thing you see when you put on the consumer headset, is a Minecraft-esque room with a large TV screen showing the map you’ve just opened. You can actually sit down and play the game like this – on a 2D virtual display within the VR environment, as though you’re playing it on a normal TV. The development team sees this as a crucial part of the VR ‘on ramp’. “It’s overwhelming at the start,” says Microsoft’s Saxs Persson, who has also been working on the Hololens version of the game. “That’s why we start it in a living room, with a screen which is showing you Minecraft – because throwing you in there freezes people. This way, you get a chance to situate yourself, and it calms down the sensory systems, otherwise being fully immersed and moving around … it can be uncomfortable.”

What works in VR – and what doesn’t

A big part of the conversion process has been learning what works and what really doesn’t in a virtual reality experience. The VR development community is starting to establish a few basic rules, and one of them is that there can be no screen movement that isn’t instigated by the player – it’s a one way trip to nausea. “We’ve done a ton of user testing,” says Persson. “At first we just ported it over and put people in the world, and while it was technically Minecraft it wasn’t a good experience. I lasted about five seconds and then I was sick. It just isn’t made for VR: the controls, and simple things like screen shake when something his you – it throws you off kilter.”

According to Persson, the team went through and systematically tweaked how Minecraft works: “We changed the movement: how you jump and turn, how swimming feels and how hit reactions affect the screen. And we had to change the way boats and mine carts worked too.”

Some problems have been less expected though. “One thing we found out recently is that dimly lit caves can make you sick,” says Checchi. “We think it’s because people try to really focus on details, but things shift and blur in the darkness as you move. We’ve tried to fix that.”

Once you’re ready, you can select to enter the Minecraft map, and then you find yourself immersed in the blocky environment, able to look around in all directions, as though it’s a real place. The game works with an Xboxcontroller, which you use to move around and interact with objects in the usual way – it’s just that the very slick head tracking replaces the need to look around with the analogue stick. It takes a little while to get used to directing the cursor with your head, especially when trying to open a chest or use a crafting table, but you do eventually acclimatise.

The demo starts in a small field beneath a large mountain range. When you look up, you see a distant castle right at the top of a vast peak. For a second it seems almost impossibly distant and imposing – it feels like an epic journey away; when you play Minecraft on a 2D screen, the scale of the worlds, the heights, depths and lateral distances that the environment contains, are just numbers, but being inside the world, suddenly the distances are palpable.

Chris Smith, a Microsoft developer who spent a week designing this map, is an enthusiastic guide. He directs me to a minecart and when I clamber aboard the vehicle powers up and takes me very quickly up a steep incline along the mountainside. It feels like being on a rollercoaster simulator, and this was the only point where I began to feel a little bit of motion sickness (other journalists reported mild nausea at different stages in the demo). As you reach the top, you can look round in all directions and get this rather unsettling feeling of height – it’s something Smith plays with later, by featuring a high bridge created out of glass blocks: you look down as you walk and see the valley surface seemingly hundreds of metres below.

Smith also shows off some impressive red stone machines he’s made; one fires TNT crates into an enormous target which explodes and reveals a massive sculpture of an enderman modelled out of obsidian. We walk for a while among the trees while chickens flutter about around us, looking ridiculously cute and tangible in their new virtual forms.

Inside the castle though, the mood is darker. I very quickly run into a skeleton, which is often a slight shock in the 2D version of the game, but in the virtual world, with those dead eyes staring at you as it fires arrow after arrow, it’s actually pretty scary. Later, I’m rescued by some of the game’s giant Iron Golems, which tower above my character. Again, it’s a whole new feeling of scale and immersion – you get a sense of yourself as a rather puny physical presence in the world rather than a demigod-like figure.

‘You can look each other in the eye’

That sense of embodiment is also going to make this game interesting from a social standpoint. Players will be able to access any Minecraft server and play against people using standard 2D screens on PC and smartphone. But it’ll be fascinating when groups of friends are using Oculus and meeting together in VR Minecraft.

“One thing we’ve seen when playing with multiple people in VR is the heads are so expressive now, you can look each other in the eye – and that has certain connotations,” says Persson. “Some competitive multiplayer mini-games are just more fun now. Digging out underneath your buddy and then watching them looking up at you as they fall with these pleading eyes. It’s so different. And acting out, doing choreographed moves together, it’s super fun. It feels like you’re there, so the sort of things you want to do are slightly different.”

One problem with VR Minecraft as a social platform is that it doesn’t support keyboard input so it’ll be hard for people to communicate via text chat. The team doesn’t see this as a barrier though. “It’ll be interesting to trying new ways to communicate,” says Checchi. “For example, streaming your voice out of the character’s mouth. It’s technically pretty hard, but the Oculus has a microphone in it, so I guess they’re looking at that.”

As this VR experience runs in Windows 10 – like the Pocket, Desktop and Education iterations – it means most of the thousands of fan-made mods currently available won’t work. This makes it all the more important for Microsoft to start nurturing a refreshed creative community around its new Minecraft era. There are amazing possibilities here for completely innovative mini-games and adventures, but these will mostly come from amateur teams rather than Microsoft or Mojang – and most of those teams are still working on Java.

But for Persson, this is still early days for Minecraft VR and for virtual reality games in general. “There’s still so much to learn about how to make a good VR experience,” he says. “You have to unlearn a whole bunch of the simple things that you used to just take for granted. Then it’s one step at a time – that’s the fun part of it.

“With VR you can give people a new way to experience a world – which is what we set out to do. Very few developers have attempted open-world navigation in a VR space like this, but we’ve been forced to with this game. It’s exciting to be blazing trails. I’m not sure we have the answers to anything, but we’re further along the path than most.

“Just getting people immersed in Minecraft is the big step. We’ll see what happens after that.”

Minecraft comes to Oculus Rift – hands-on in the virtual world

Minecraft: Pocket Edition Beta 0.14.0 Free Download

If you want, you can tunnel all the way to the center of Portal Knights’ floating island world. There’s just one problem: it’s hollow.

Portal Knights hit Steam Early Access yesterday, and it’s been in the top ten best sellers ever since. If you find yourself thinking, “Gee, that sure reminds me of Minecraft, Terraria, Cubeworld, Trove, Starbound, and Mark Wahlberg’s upcoming foray into the genre, Blocky Block And The Voxel Bunch,” you’re not far off the mark.

Portal Knights is a game where you explore, collect blocks and seeds of various sorts, craft weapons and armor, and build fortresses (or, if you’re me, a single, finger-like pillar that scrapes the sky and pops a pimple on the face of God Himself). You can bring three friends along for the ride, or you can fly solo.

Instead of adventuring through one infinite procedurally generated world, you traverse an endless procession of smaller ones, all of which are connected by portals that you have to activate with special blocks. So there’s your basic formula: go to a place, kill stuff, maybe find a dungeon or a special treasure or a boss, collect colored blocks, put them in a portal, move on to the next place, repeat.

On the upside, the game has gobs of personality. I mean, look at this character creation screen:

There aren’t all that many options, but there’s an excellent selection of facial hair, and you can put handlebar mustaches on ladies! It’s all just so charming.

Unfortunately, in its current Early Access state, the experience runs out of Steam fast. Everything is simple and repetitive: classes, combat, progression, exploration, etc. Pieces of its design don’t fit together, either. Case in point: why build an elaborate fort if you’re just gonna portal to a new area in 15 minutes? The developers plan to add More Content (worlds, bosses, recipes, etc) before the full release, but I feel like it’s the foundation that needs work. If nothing else, they say that deeper RPG mechanics are on the way. That’s good, because what’s there now is as barebones as it gets.

Here’s 30 minutes of me playing the game and discussing why, despite a wonderfully whimsical presentation, I’m disappointed:

You’re reading Steamed, Kotaku’s page dedicated to all things in and around Valve’s wildly popular PC gaming service. Games, culture, community creations, criticism, guides, videos—everything. If you’ve found anything cool/awful on Steam, send us an email to let us know.

To contact the author of this post, write to nathan.grayson@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @vahn16.

Steam’s Popular Portal Knights Channels Minecraft And Zelda, Comes Up Short

Minecraft: Wii U Edition is getting a Nether-sized update tomorrow. This digital vitamin shot should bring the Wii U iteration of Mojang’s tremendous adventure / building game up to speed with other console versions of the game (or at least close).

According to a press release distributed by Nintendo earlier today, we’re looking at “a long list of new potions, blocks, mobs and biomes. (…) Players can also purchase the new Biome Settlers Skin pack, which brings 24 new settler characters into the game and even more biome-themed skins they can use to role-play with their friends.”

The Wii U version of Minecraft is a humungo hit on the eShop, particularly in Japan. While any good news about the Wii U is inspiriting — Nintendo’s spunky console is an underdog if there ever was one — Minecraft: Wii U Edition’s success inspires conflicted feelings amongst Minecraft fans because it’s a standing example of wasted potential.

The first bullet point on the list of game updates should be “You can use the Wii U GamePad for inventory management now!” Obviously, it’s not there. Neither can you use the GamePad as a screen option when playing local split-screen with a pal.

Granted, one of the biggest selling points for Minecraft: Wii U Edition is its off-TV play, which prevents families from igniting a small war whenever someone wants to watch TV but someone else wants to play Minecraft. It’s a good option, but it’s the only second-screen option for Minecraft Wii U, and that’s a darn shame. Someday game historians will write essays on the wasted potential of the Wii U GamePad, and Minecraft will be noted in the first paragraph (along with the Wii U’s baffling lack of Pokémon Snap 2).

But the list of disappointments for Minecraft: Wii U don’t stop at its lack of second-screen options. Nintendo should have latched onto the Minecraft property in the Wii U’s earliest days. It certainly didn’t have to do anything as drastic as buy Mojang (how ironic that we saw Minecraft on Wii U only after Microsoft snapped up the Swedish studio), but Minecraft’s Nintendo no-show until the tail end of 2015 is mind-blowing.

It also proved to be a bad business move. Minecraft is selling like crazy on the eShop, regardless of the fact the game has been around long enough to see release on PC, major consoles, handhelds, mobile, and electric toothbrushes (OK, not yet, but someday). What has Nintendo missed out on by not securing a Wii U version of Minecraft in 2012 or 2013?

Finally, Nintendo’s not doing a sufficient job of nurturing Minecraft: Wii U Edition now, even though the game is funneling money directly into its mouth (after Microsoft gets its bite, of course). Any version of Minecraft living on Nintendo’s real estate should offer players official character skins and world builds from day one.

Mario, Peach, the Inklings, Hyrule, Zebes, the Mushroom Kingdom — why can’t we access glorious chunkified versions of these people and places? When will we be able to, if ever?

We may as well take solace in the hope that Nintendo will know better than to ignore Minecraft when the NX launches. Regardless of how you feel about Minecraft, no one is going to argue that a version of the game packed with official Nintendo locations / skins would turn some heads at the NX debut.

Minecraft: Wii U Edition is Getting an Update, But It’s Still Lacking