How an Alaska Teacher Improved Student Attendance with Minecraft
How an Alaska Teacher Improved Student Attendance with Minecraft
It’s important to keep kids engaged in their learning, but how do we accomplish something that seems so abstract? Part of the solution has to do with making learning irresistible, and in my classroom, learning is driven by curiosities and interests. My students are 21st century students. It doesn’t matter that they are only second graders, and it doesn’t matter that they live on a small island in Alaska. I can motivate my students to learn by tapping into their interests.
And what are my second graders interested in, exactly? Minecraft, of course.
With encouragement from a graduate program at the University of Alaska Southeast and support from my district, I discovered that I could successful using my students’ interest in Minecraft to engage them in all kinds of learning—learning that went beyond a screen. But that wasn’t all. During this time, I also began to notice the positive effect Minecraft was having on attendance.
After conducting a classroom research study on game-based learning, I realized that I could strategically use Minecraft to improve attendance. When I incorporated Minecraft into my mornings, the number of unexcused absences and tardies were cut in half. Students didn’t want to miss any school.
Now, I know what you’re wondering. Minecraft? Attendance? How did I do it? And more importantly, why did it work?
Step 1: Doing the Research and Creating “Morning Craft”
The whole process began with a classroom Minecraft research project. This qualitative action research study examined the relationship between game-based learning and truancy in an elementary classroom. During this study, I looked for patterns in attendance behavior when Minecraft was played. The results? The data revealed positive changes in school attendance and engagement.
Prior to the study, I had been using Minecraft to enrich my students’ learning, but I hadn’t put much thought into the time of day I was using it. However, after the study, I realized that the morning was a great time to use the “sandbox game” because it was a great motivator—it got students to school and got their brains thinking right away.
Which my research in tow, I created Morning Craft, which is a simple reference to the “crafting” students would be doing in Minecraft at the very start of the day.
After I devised Morning Craft, I informed my students of the specifics:
- Morning Craft only lasts for the first thirty minutes of the school day
- If students arrive late, they miss part or all of their Morning Crafting time, depending on how tardy they are.
- Morning Craft is not an everyday thing—in fact, Morning Craft can be unpredictable, which encourages students to be on time every day.
Step 2: Crafting With a Purpose
When I first began Morning Craft, I had several days of Morning Craft in a row to test it out. But following, I started to spread these days out. In order to use my Crafting time strategically, we focused on projects. At the beginning of the initiative I chose projects students could jump into without much direction. That way, they could get as much out of the thirty minutes as possible.
However, I also wasn’t afraid to mix it up once in awhile. For example, I added hands-on making and coding activities to teach balance and enrich student learning. Here’s an example: We’ve used our Morning Craft time to building computational thinking with Minecraft Hour of Code by Code.org. And you never have to stop there—the opportunities for multidisciplinary learning are endless.
Step 3: Opening Up to My Classroom to Parents and Other Observers
Early-morning Minecrafting didn’t just excite the students about getting to school on time—it also engages the parents, who in many cases are the transporters. So, I invited parents, administrators and others in the community to watch our 21st century learning in action, as I felt like it was my job as an educator to help people understand the benefits of game-based learning.
It is important to show others how incorporating Minecraft into the classroom can be a great way for students to learn through active engagement in the curriculum. Being proactive and open from the beginning has helped me gain support and reduce misunderstandings—and that way, students can keep Morning Crafting.
Step 4: Thinking Outside the Box
Many schools around the country already recognize the interest students have in Minecraft, and some even hold after-school clubs devoted to the program. But based on the results I have seen in my classroom, perhaps schools should consider adding before-school Minecraft clubs.
In fact, my Morning Crafting practices are starting to spread to other classrooms in my school and beyond. I feel like I have unlocked a treasure chest with Minecraft and as an educator it’s my job to share the wealth, and I hope educators find success like I have. In addition to mentoring teachers, I recently presented the benefits of using Minecraft to educators from around the state at the Alaska Math and Science Conference. I also use a website I created to inspire teachers to use Minecraft—check it out here.
If you’re still on the fence about this, think to yourself: Are you more motivated to work on something you find enjoyable or interesting? Are you more likely to put in extra time and effort on tasks you find engaging? For most of us the answer is, yes—our achievement is driven by our interest. This is true even for children. Students who lack an interest in their education are at risk to become disconnected from school. And this disengagement can lead to poor attendance, amongst other things.
Don’t succumb to that disengagement. Morning Crafting has shown me that Minecraft can be used as an effective strategy for improving attendance, and it is time schools think outside the box and look to edtech tools as intervention programs.
Minecraft just might be the powerful intervention tool you and your school have been looking for.
How an Alaska Teacher Improved Student Attendance with Minecraft
‘Dragon Quest Builders’ Is Catnip For ‘Minecraft’ Kids
Dragon Quest Builders (Image: Square Enix)
Dragon Quest Builders combines Minecraft‘s open world, Terraria‘s loot and Dragon Quests‘ Zelda-like role-play to create cat-nip for kids.
Minecraft and Terraria come at the open world problem from different directions. Not only are they distinguished by their different axis of reality — Terraria offering only a 2D plane and Minecraft being full 3D — but they are played in very different ways.
Minecraft expects players to largely create their own story and adventures. It excels in offering a sandbox in which children create previously undreamed of adventures.Terraria expects players to pursue more linear achievements. Boss battles, weapon collecting and general progress through its cyclical story direct players in their leisure time.
Dragon Quest Builders is a new game causing a stir in Japan that has both ends of this spectrum covered. To look at it is very similar to Minecraft, even offering similar looking blocks and enemies.
Beyond the aesthetic though there’s a proper role-playing game plucked straight from the Dragon Quest universe complete with the characters, lands and enemies that come with it.
Researching the game one evening online I soon had my kids huddled round the MacBook intrigued by what this strange game was. “Is that the Minecraft update, it looks really different” my youngest inquired.“Wow, it;s like Terraria and Minecraft joined together” was my daughter’s response. Of course, they don’t get the Dragon Quest aspect of the game not having played that series. But the Terraria and Minecraft references are telling.
The popularity of the recent Minecraft Story Mode spin-off has proven popular amongMinecraft players hungry for more narrative meat on the sandbox bones of Microsoft MSFT +1.72%’s big hitting title. Add to this the growing following games like Terraria have online and the stage seems set of Dragon Quest Builders to find a large audience in the US.
Well, it would be set but currently the game only has a Japanese release. Nothing is currently planed to bring it to the west. While importing may be an option — and the impatience of my kids made me consider this — the level of text and dialogue in the game is hard to get around without understanding it.
The game is selling well in Japan. As Ollie Barder recently reported, it’s sitting high in the charts and looking like it will be there for some time. Interestingly it’s the Vita version that got the first release. This has now been followed by both PS4 and PS3 versions. All three continue to sell well.
However, despite the protestations of my children, it seems that for now we simply have to wait and see if it comes to the west.
‘Minecraft’ PS4, PS3 editions tops January 2015 downloads, new LEGO sets announced at Toy Fair 2016
“Minecraft” continues to dominate in the charts. Despite a long lifespan on the shelves even for its newer platforms, the fans base of the building game continues to grow.
As seen in the latest top downloads for January for the PlayStation platforms, the “Minecraft PS4 Edition” and the “Minecraft PS3 Edition” have both topped the charts, as per PlayStation Blog’s report. The next-gen edition has topped the likes of “GTA V,” “Call of Duty Black Ops 3,” “The Witness” and “Rocket League.”
The “Minecraft PS Vita Edition” may have been bested by “Bastion” and “Persona 4 Golden.” But it has retained the third top spot, besting out the likes of “Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair,” “Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster” and “Terraria.”
For the console versions of “Minecraft,” developer 4J Studios has also announced some bug fix updates rolling out for all five—the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PS Vita versions. These were rolled out sometime during the weekend, according to the developer’s Twitter, so best to check out if these have already hit in specific areas worldwide.
This comes in roughly at the same time as Mojang is releasing an update for “Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta” and the “Minecraft Pocket Edition.” The two versions are getting some redstone additions on top of new items and features, as well as bug fixes.
The success of “Minecraft” is not confined to just the videogame version. A new set of LEGO for “Minecraft” has been unveiled during the Toy Fair 2016. According to IGN, the new toy sets will be sold in retail, priced from anywhere between US$20 (approx. AU$28) and US$110 (approx. AU$154). A screenshot of a sample set can be seen in the link above
Fans will get to play LEGO with some of the characters from the “Minecraft” franchise. Additionally, there will be a couple of settings and locations for the game, such as the End Portal, the Jungle, the Fortress and the Tree House. This is not the first LEGO set unveiled for “Minecraft” recently. Previously, a LEGO Ghost busters set has been announced in tandem with the upcoming “Ghostbusters” reboot.
‘Minecraft’ PS4, PS3 editions tops January 2015 downloads, new LEGO sets announced at Toy Fair 2016
A Minecraft X-Wing, On Its Way to Blow Up the Death Star
Held together by Slime Blocks and Redstone, the Minecraft X-Wing blazes through the trench, heading towards the Death Star’s thermal exhaust port.
This is the video the GIF’s from:
As you can see, in real-time, the X-Wing actually moves a lot more slowly.
The video showcases a Command Block-based X-Wing made by MythicalSnowman, on Adrian Brightmoore’s Death Star map. Cubehamster, who put the clip together and submitted the trench run webm to Reddit, noted in a comment that the footage was sped up 32x to create the effect.
If you wanna have a look at it yourself, you can find instructions to summon the X-Wing in your Minecraft world here.
A Minecraft X-Wing, On Its Way to Blow Up the Death Star
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I love Minecraft and so, it seems, do school teachers
Kids love Minecraft.
I can’t lie, I love it too. While I don’t game nearly as much as I used to, if we are stuck in the house, Minecraft is one of the few games I feel okay with my son seeing or playing.
Mojang and Microsoft recently introduced an education edition of the game. When I hear about educational editions of popular games, I become a little skeptical (does anybody remember playing “educational” computer games we played in the 80’s/90’s)?
To be fair, the Mojang team isn’t saying that Minecraft should be a major educational tool in the classroom, at least not yet. Per The Verge:
That includes improving Minecraft’s mapping feature so that a class can actually find its way around, letting teachers lock in certain resources for students to use, and adding an in-game camera and scrapbook to handle screenshots for cataloging where you’ve been. Microsoft is quick to emphasize that its keeping the changes minor because it doesn’t want to make Minecraft into a straight educational product
But does Minecraft have legitimate educational applications?
That really depends on teachers and educationally-focused users developing areas and content that would be helpful in a classroom context. The whole experiment hinges on an educational community coming together to develop content. Another Minecraft educational group (which has been folded into the education edition) has been working on methods to teach programming language to children via the game.
How does a student learn to program playing the game?
Part of the game’s massive popularity is the ability to develop mods. Mods are like custom cheat codes that savvy players can create. Some educational groups want to leverage the mod system as a gateway to teach children programming.
I have to admit that is a good way to introduce the concepts of programming to younger kids and to get them interested in developing for themselves. Ultimately, programming is problem solving and the game certainly develops problem solving skills.
I think the Minecraft crew have a ways to go before the game can be classified as a true educational asset, but for the teams that are focused on using it as a gateway for programming, they are on to something and I could see using Minecraft to introduce programming to my son when the time is right.
NEW LEGO MINECRAFT SETS REVEALED
NEW LEGO MINECRAFT SETS REVEALED
LEGO has revealed all-new Minecraft sets at Toy Fair 2016.
The block-shaped toy sets based on the sandbox game, which uses textured cubes as its primary component for construction, will retail between $20 and $110 USD.
In related LEGO news, last week, a new LEGO Ghostbusters set based on the upcoming film directed by Paul Feig was revealed.
Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.14 Update will be Released Soon
Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.14 Update will be Released Soon
On February 11, Tommaso Checchi, a developer of Minecraft Pocket Edition has confirmed on his Twitter account that the Minecraft Pocket Edition will receive the update 0.14.0 very soon and he invited the players to head to Mojang’s official website, where they’ll find out more information about this update. Apparently, the update 0.14.0 will be focused mainly on redstone pieces, but if you want to read the entire changelog, you’ll find it on mojang.com.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition was firstly released on August 6, 2011, for the Xperia PLAY on Google Play, and it cost $6.99, then on October 7, 2011 it was available for the Android devices and the iOS users received it on November 17, 2011. Mojang continued to cover other platforms, by releasing this game for the Fire TV on April 2, 2014, Windows Phone on December 10, 2014 and Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, as Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta.
The version for PC has received many updates and soon, it will receive another one. Tommaso Checchi, the developer that works on Minecraft: Pocket Edition said that the update 0.14.0 will be more about redstone pieces, but he mentioned that the entire changelog was published on Mojang’s official website. So, these are the additions to update 0.14.0:
– Repeaters, dispensers, hoppers, comparators, droppers, trapped chests, minecraft with chest/tnt/hopper (pewh);
– Witches, which will throw splash potions at players, making them move slower or even poisoning them;
– Armour dying for the players who are tired of their normal look, as there will be available 10 000 000 colors;
– Item frames inside which will be placed maps to remember the endless journeys;
– Pumpkin and mob head hats, which are either too late or too early for Halloween;
– Bug fixes, but the developers can’t guarantee that the update is bug free, as others might have been sneaking in.
Play ‘Minecraft’ in a Movie Theater
“There’s a teleporter in here,” said a long-haired blond boy traipsing up the stadium stairs of the Camino Real theater, though it wasn’t clear whom he was talking to. “I’m gonna find it,” he said hauling his laptop — about half as big as he was — into an aisle seat.
From the back row another voice chimed in, “Where are you?”
The blond boy stands up, almost dropping his computer, and points up. “We’re dancing: Look.” Sure enough, two blockheaded avatars awkwardly spin each other on the big screen.
The occasion for all of this youthful high-tech play was a warm-up meeting for the Super League Gaming’s champion Minecraft play-offs. For un-initiates, Minecraft is a “sandbox game,” so called because of the freedom from strict rules of play afforded its users, though younger player accessibility clearly applies. In essence,Minecraft is a virtual Lego 3D building program, though the game also supports a combat mode. People can build extensive environments for fun, or they can get all multi-user and suffer and launch attacks on each other’s castles. Minecraft is deceptively simple, which loans it a mythology layer — stories tell of the game’s inventor, Markus Persson, known as Notch. It is also said that that one user built a Minecraft clock that actually worked.
“The kids play in both modes,” explained Super League Gaming’s Brett Morris out in the lobby of the Camino Real one recent Saturday morning. “They build but also play combat games, too.” The tournament, which lasts four weeks, mainly turns on the number of “kills” the young enthusiasts accumulate, though the parents I met like other aspects. Besides, Minecraft is nowhere near the overt violence of, say, Mortal Kombat addictions.
Inside the theater, about 20 kids are hunkered down on their laptops. The morning’s thrill included an appearance of YouTube celebrity ParkerGames (a pseudonym), who sat mid-theater surrounded by very young women. But most of the kids were furiously playing while Super League staff wandered around offering tips, working their own screens while the movie theater cycled through different game environments — a zombie war and a Hunger Games–like battle pop up at different times, cued by a machine voice. Periodically, the kids stop battling and build.
“The whole thing is a win-win situation,” explains Morris, president and COO of Super League Gaming. The kids get a chance to ramp up their skills, the parents like the socializing aspect and even the movie theater is happy that at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, popcorn-buying customers are there.
“I won a $5,000 scholarship,” said 10-year-old Julien Wiltshire later on the phone from his Pacific Palisades home. Wiltshire won last year’s Santa Monica–based competition. “I got a bunch of other stuff too. I like the building part, but I’m the best at getting kills.” Was it strategy? “No, I just have really fast reflexes,” he said.
Douglas Trowbridge from Santa Barbara likes both the creative aspect and the combat, according to his mother, Elisa, who is raising the 7-year-old boy alone and has a cautious love of theMinecraft obsession. “It’s better than so many of the other games,” she said. “And he knows he has to do his schoolwork first and then he can play.” Douglas will compete this year, though he’ll miss the first game for a family outing. “I’m gonna win,” he told me matter-of-factly and then reeled off other games he likes including one that features creepers that get in your virtual face.
“I think the best part of the whole experience is getting the kids out here,” Morris said, as we watch computer-engaged kids kill zombies. “A lot of these kids are, well, it’s all they want to do. I can’t tell you how many parents have thanked me for getting their kids out of the house.”
Kids can sign up for the $60 four-week league, which runs every Saturday at 4:30 p.m. from February 20 to March 12, until February 16. See superleague.com.
Minecraft Championship coming to White Plains
Calling all gamers! Don’t miss your chance at world domination…okay, maybe just in the world of video games, but you can do it live and on the big screen.
Starting Feb. 20, Showcase Cinemas together withSuper League Gaming—an in-theater video game league—will bring the popular Minecraft video game to select movie theaters across North America, including City Center 15: Cinema de Lux in White Plains, where a league is currently forming.
Minecraft junkies and gamers of all ages will have the opportunity to play face-to-face against other video game enthusiasts in the theater auditorium, as well as against thousands of others on the world leaderboard, while watching the action unfold live on the big screen.
This Minecraft experience called, “Galactic Mission,” is a custom, space-themed adventure in which gamers build and battle together in a fun environment inside a movie theater.
Here’s how it’s going down:
Over 80 theaters have installed Super League’s game server, specific-to-them, that plays the recreational league’s never-before-seen, custom-designed Mincecraft maps and mods.
For four weeks, players in participating theaters can play both individually and as a member of a team while the Minecraft game rotates between creative and survival modes. Gamers attend once a week and play alongside their team for 90 minutes. There are 4-7 gamers per team and players must bring their own fully-charged laptop, loaded with Mincecraft Version 1.8 or above.
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And if you are a parent or a caregiver of young gamers? Worry not. You are welcome to stay and cheer on your little competitors while they play.
What do you get after your four-week journey, you ask? Well, other than bragging rights (and free ‘Galactic Mission’ jersey) the ultimate prize, a Super League championship trophy AND a $15,000 team scholarship doesn’t hurt either.
If you go:
What: Minecraft Championship
Where: City Center 15: Cinema de Lux, 19 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains
When: 10:30 a.m. Saturdays, Feb. 20-March 12.
Tickets: $60 for 4-week league, available at superleague.com/showcase
To participate in the league, visit SuperLeague.com and for more information, visitshowcasecinemas.com.
Another Minecraft killer? 505 Games unveils sandbox adventure Portal Knights
Another Minecraft killer? 505 Games unveils sandbox adventure Portal Knights
Everybody is chasing Minecraft. The latest is 505 Games, the Italian video game publisher that is unveiling its Portal Knights sandbox adventure today.
The new intellectual property is a single-player and multiplayer game where you can build things and fight monsters in a cute, endless fantasy setting. It’s a crafting-focused action-role-playing game being built by Keen Games of Frankfurt, Germany. With Microsoft buying Minecraft game studio Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014, and the block-building game luring millions of players on home console, PC, and mobile, publishers are eager to tap into this lucrative player base.
The 3D title debuts on Steam Early Access on the PC on February 25. It has a pretty art style with lots of colors, akin to a Legend of Zelda game or Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs). It has dungeon-crawling, castle-building, and boss-fighting. It’s a little like Terraria or Minecraft, and 505 says Portal Knights is split into different islands. This modular environment makes it easy to add new sections, if the developers choose.
There are more than 100 different types of objects you can craft, and you can build your own home with dozens of different kinds of materials. The game isn’t necessarily dangerous at night, like in Minecraft. But you’ll want to build a house to store your loot. David Welch, the creative manager at 505 Games, has been working closely with Keen to create the kid-oriented, approachable virtual world of Portal Knights.
You can play as a warrior, mage, or ranger. Each character has talent trees and character progression, and you can modify your character’s appearance. You can play with up to three other players in multiplayer adventures. You can travel from world to world by collecting portal shards, which you can craft into portals. Then you can step into a new world.
The combat is fast-paced. You strike foes or dodge them. There’s no player-versus-player combat as the focus is on cooperative play.
Another Minecraft killer? 505 Games unveils sandbox adventure Portal Knights
Minecraft is overhauling its website with some new features
Minecraft is overhauling its website with some new features
Haha, the current site is classic
I still remember buying Minecraft in 2009, and the original site really hasn’t changed all that much. But Mojang (and thus, Microsoft) has really been making strides since the acquisition, finally releasing the game on Wii U, and it’s forging ahead with the Windows 10 edition of the game.
The newest step in the plan is to overhaul its site, which is now in beta format. Once everything is done you’ll be able to do everything you can on the old portal, like alter your account settings and access your PC copies. It’s crazy how well kept the old site was, though — I was surprised to log in over half a decade later to still find my account intact!
Newcastle to host Minecraft festival following success of event last year
Newcastle to host Minecraft festival following success of event last year
Nethermined weekend will let Minecraft fans meet celebrity games and provide information for parents
A family Minecraft festival is coming back to the North East after its success last year.
The second Nethermined event will allow fans to meet successful players of the game and will lay on education sessions for parents.
Minecraft is a block-building computer game which has ballooned in popularity and has a cult online following.
The game has a large and active online community which includes thousands of YouTube bloggers.
Nethermined is not an official Minecraft event but over its two days will feature opportunities to meet well-known YouTube bloggers, live gaming, and a “dedicated parents zone.”
The event will support the Evening Chronicle Sunshine Fund, dedicated to changing the lives of children with disabilities, with a raffle.
A spokesperson for the Nethermined said: “Not just about gaming, Nethermined is the result of an exuberant Minecraft fan demand for an event in the North East England, gearing up to be an exciting two days of Q&A sessions, chances to meet YouTubers, informative panels by some of the Youtubers, live gaming as well as multiple education sessions for parents as to why Minecraft is good for their kids to play!”
We also have a number of well known, talented, nationally renowned Minecraft Educators attending, to give parents a different perspective to the educational benefits of the popular computer game. There is even a dedicated parents zone where they can sit and talk Minecraft with the experts!
The event is scheduled to take place on March 5 and 6 in the Northumbria University Student Union Building.
Tickets are available now at nethermined.com for £15 a day.
Newcastle to host Minecraft festival following success of event last year
‘Minecraft 1.8.8’ Review: The Best Console Update Ever Breathes New Life Into The Game
Minecraft Console Edition has been available for a long time now, especially on the older consoles, but I have to admit… I still play it more than any other game. And the sandbox extravaganza recently received new life with the release of the monstrously massive Minecraft1.8.8 update, the largest ever for the Console Edition. The push brings the game closer to parity with the PC version than it has ever been before and brought tons of new features to Minecraft. And those new features have fully reinvigorated what makes the game so exciting.
Minecraft 1.8.8 Review: The Best Console Update Ever
Now available on all console platforms besides Wii U (for which the update will come later), Minecraft 1.8.8 introduces a whole slew of new features to the Console Editions of the game. It corresponds loosely with the Update That Changed The World and the Bountiful update. The new update also brings some key new features to the game… especially new biomes. Savannahs, red deserts, ice plains, ice spike plains, dark forests and deep oceans all joined the game, along with such local denizens as rabbits, acacia and dark oak trees and new types of stone (not technically denizens). Most of all, the update introduced Ocean Monuments.
Best of all, the changes are rolled out to existing worlds, although only into previously unexplored locations. That’s part of why the update is so fantastic: It incentivizes exploring, heading far off into the horizon to discover a new kind of world. AndMinecraft’s joy has always been in its simplicity. The mere addition of new kinds of treesand colors of wood opens up worlds of possibilities for beautiful new creations. Combine those with the backdrop of the new biomes themselves, and I feel like I have a whole new canvas to work on. It’s the same Minecraft, but fresh and new, with many new colors of paint available.
New biomes and the desire to settle them are the immediate pleasure of Minecraft 1.8.8,but Ocean Monuments are the endgame. They’re probably the toughest nut to crack in the whole game, but conquering them is only half the fun. The presence of Ocean Monuments further incentivizes exploring, but it also encourages settling and the creation of new bases from which to lead an expedition on the monument. For a player who hasn’t dealt with them before, Ocean Monuments are formidable indeed. Likepreparing for the Ender Dragon for the first time, getting ready for the Ocean Monument is a major undertaking, an exercise in logistics and redundancy and strategy and tactics and supply lines as much as anything else. And the rewards are massive: A whole bunch of entirely new blocks to make structures out of!
To the uninitiated, Minecraft 1.8.8 sounds like it just adds a bunch of new land types and blocks. To those of us who love the game, that’s the most exciting news imaginable. Variety is the spice of life, and Minecraft 1.8.8 brings variety in spades, and it has something for everyone from the hardcore Minecraft homesteader to the fierce warrior to the village trader. It’s truly the update that changed the world, and I’ll be playing it for a long, long time.
‘Minecraft 1.8.8’ Review: The Best Console Update Ever Breathes New Life Into The Game
Minecraft Receives A Skin Pack That Celebrates The Year Of The Monkey
Minecraft Receives A Skin Pack That Celebrates The Year Of The Monkey
The Lunar New Year is almost here and the Minecraft gamers are now able to get some new skins, in order to celebrate it in-game. The players will be able to dress up the Minecraft characters as the ones from the classic Chinese tale, Journey of the West.
Minecraft: The Journey to the West Skin Pack is now available and it includes 15 different character skins, such as Monkey King, Lord Hundred-Eyes or Princess Iron Fan.
If you want to purchase the skin pack, you will need to pay 1.99 dollars, but keep in mind that you will be able to download the characters Guanyin and Red Boy for free.
Minecraft: The Journey to the West Skin Pack is now available for Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition (the game that’s currently in BETA) and Pocket Edition on mobile devices. It’s not sure yet when it will come to the consoles, but Microsoft said that each version of Minecraft has different development schedules and timelines for new content and skin packs. They didn’t confirm that this skin pack will be released for the consoles, but they didn’t deny it either.
Here is the full skin list that the Minecraft: The Journey to the West Skin Pack comes with: Red Boy, Friar Sand, Guanyin, Jade Emperor, Lady Earth Flow, Lord Hundred-Eyes, Monk Pig, Monkey King, Pale Bone Demon, Princess Iron Fan, Black Wind Demon, Bull Demon King, Scorpion Demon, Spider Demon and Xuanzang.
We also remind you that Microsoft has purchased the third-party application “MinecraftEdu” and it seems that the company is planning to build a new version that will be dedicated to learning. There are also some gamers that are currently working at remaking the entire map of the GTA 5 game, inside the Minecraft game.
What are your thoughts about the new skin pack that has been released for Minecraft: Windows 10 and Pocket Edition?
Minecraft Receives A Skin Pack That Celebrates The Year Of The Monkey
‘Minecraft’ content and competitors update: While celebrations culminate with new content, a threat arrives
‘Minecraft’ content and competitors update: While celebrations culminate with new content, a threat arrives
“Minecraft” could be on a good start to 2016. Aside from improvements to their “Pocket Edition” and “Educational Edition,” a new skin pack arrives as part of Mojang’s welcoming the new year. However, there’s also the case of a new game which has been dubbed a ‘Minecraft killer.’
First, Game Spot’s report updates players on the issue of a new skin pack which brings improvements to “Minecraft’s” Windows 10 Edition. The said pack is dubbed “Journey to the West,” and it brings to the game a Chinese-themed pack of blocks and buildable structure true to the theme’s namesake, “Journey to the West.”
The pack, sadly, is only available for “Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition” and “Pocket Edition” on mobile. However, various platforms with the said edition stands to receive the latest from “Minecraft.”
In other news, Venture Beat got wind of a curious game in the making—”Portal Knights.” According to the article, the said game is sandbox-adventure in nature where players can build things and fight monsters in single-player and multiplayer games—making it sound like the gameplay of another game, “Minecraft.”
That’s the main reason why it’s being called a “Minecraft killer.” Furthermore, it’s set to be released in Steam’s Early Access on Feb. 25 for PC subscribers. It’s got a lot of elements from classic RPG; there’s dungeon-crawling, castle-building, and boss-fighting.
Players can choose between three classes—a warrior, a mage, or a ranger. They can then travel world-to-world by using ‘portal shards’ that are craftable into portals.
This early, it’s not clear whether this could effectively pose a threat to “Minecraft’s” dominance, but it’s good to see that there are other games which has been inspired by the sandbox-adventure.
Cube Life Battles Minecraft for Success in Japan
Cube Life Battles Minecraft for Success in Japan
Update 1.2 on its way soon
As you probably know Minecraft: Wii U Edition hit the Wii U in late December, and it’s doing particularly well in Japan. It’s the number one selling game in the Wii U charts in Japan at the moment.
That’s not discouraged publisher Cypronia from releasing its Minecraft-inspired title Cube Life: Island Survival into the Japanese territory, however. It launched there this Wednesday for only 1000 Yen (compared to Minecraft’s asking price of 3,888 Yen) and has already found successjumping straight to number 15 in the charts. That’s actually pretty impressive when you see the calibre of games in the charts which it is competing with!
Cypronia assures us it’s not resting on its laurels with the development of the game. Update 1.2 is currently under approval with Nintendo and should be released for free soon; this will offer the ability to share maps in a similar way to Super Mario Maker and lots more.
The battle of Minecraft and its clones still rages on.
The Solus Project looks like a story-driven Minecraft in space
The Solus Project looks like a story-driven Minecraft in space
Survival sandbox games feel a dime-a-dozen these days. And while plenty put their own twist on the genre by adding things like dinosaurs or player permadeath, The Solus Project aims to do something different: it wants to tell a story.
The Solus Project starts with you marooned on a strange planet. There are no creatures here, just plants, caves, ruins, and dangerous weather. There are also no other players to hunt you down – the game is meant to be experienced alone, just you exploring the environment, crafting the resources needed to survive and uncovering the planet’s secrets. It’s just spaceman Joe vs. the alien volcano.
The game is broken up into traditional levels, but each features both open-world exploration and crafting, as well as more linear story content. Judging from the trailer above, I’d say it makes me think of “walking simulator” narrative games like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, but with more ways to interact. We’ll have to wait for the game to come out before judging how well it successfully marries the concepts, but color me intrigued.
Developer GRIP Digital plans to release the game episodically via Steam Early Access and Xbox One Preview starting February 18 and February 26, respectively. The final launch, with all levels completed and polished, is planned for May.
The Solus Project looks like a story-driven Minecraft in space
New Minecraft Skin Pack Arrives to Celebrate
New Minecraft Skin Pack Arrives to Celebrate Year of the Monkey
It’s only available on PC and mobile devices.
[UPDATE] When asked if the Journey to the West pack would be making its way to platforms other than PC and mobile, a Microsoft spokesperson gave us this response:
“Each version of Minecraft has different development schedules and timelines for new skin packs and content. We look forward to releasing new and fun content for each in the future, so stay tuned!”
The original story follows:
The Lunar New Year is upon us and Minecraft is getting some new skins to celebrate. Players will be able to dress as characters from the classic Chinese tale, Journey to the West.
The Journey to the West skin pack is available right now and includes 15 different characters such as Princess Iron Fan, Lord Hundred-Eyes, and the Monkey King. The entire collection costs $1.99, but players will be able to download characters Red Boy and Guanyin for free.
The pack is only available for Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition (which remains in beta) and Pocket Edition on mobile devices. There has been no mention of it coming to other consoles, but we’ve contacted Microsoft and will update this story if more information becomes available.
You can check out the entire list of skins below:
- Black Wind Demon
- Bull Demon King
- Friar Sand
- Guanyin
- Jade Emperor
- Lady Earth Flow
- Lord Hundred-Eyes
- Monk Pig
- Monkey King
- Pale Bone Demon
- Princess Iron Fan
- Red Boy
- Scorpion Demon
- Spider Demon
- Xuanzang
In other Minecraft news, Microsoft has acquired third-party app MinecraftEdu and plans to build a new version that’s “dedicated to learning.” Additionally, fans are remaking the entire map from Grand Theft Auto V inside the crafting game.
New Minecraft Skin Pack Arrives to Celebrate Year of the Monkey
Minecraft Windows 10 Edition: What You Need to Know
Video games don’t get more popular than Minecraft. It’s charming blend of distinctive graphics and whimsical survival setup were unlike anything we’d seen before. Developers have tried to replicate Mojang’s success with Minecraft, but to no avail. Available along with the Windows 10 operating system itself, Minecraft Windows 10 Edition seeks to clean-up what was already a pretty stellar experience.
The classic versions of Minecraft have some rather unsightly requirements. First, purchasing and downloading the game isn’t as seamless and one would assume. That’s because Mojang maintains it’s own Minecraft purchase system separately from Microsoft, the company that purchased the studio a few years ago. Second, Minecraft on desktop has mods that can get a bit unwieldy. The underlying technology that it relies on, Java, can be confusing for some too.
Minecraft Windows 10 Edition takes steps to solve those nagging problems. Windows 10 users purchase the game directly from Microsoft’s Windows Store. Any credit card or store credit already on their account can be applied to the game. Instead of returning to the Mojang website for extras, users simply go back to the Windows Store to unlock skin packs and add-ons using the same system. Also, Minecraft Windows 10 Edition has all the stuff you need to get going. You install it and it works, there’s no separate software add-ons to maintain or manage. It does introduce a new wrinkle though, you don’t get to add any mods.
We’ve spent some time with Minecraft for Windows 10. Here are some tips for anyone thinking about purchasing one of the latest editions to the Minecraft ecosystem.
Connect a Controller
The first thing anyone playing Minecraft Windows 10 Edition needs to do is leave their keyboard behind. To be clear, playing with your mouse and keyboard can be great. The game also supports touch. Neither compare to the ease of a controller.
Luckily, Minecraft supports Microsoft’s own Xbox controllers. You can plug an Xbox One controller directly into your Windows PC with a microUSB cable or opt for the older Xbox 360 controller and a wireless adapter if you want. Other controllers are supported along with these. Microsoft recently released a dedicated Xbox Wireless Adapter that lets you play your games without a cable.
Why Minecraft Windows 10 Edition is So Cheap
Minecraft Windows 10 Edition is cheap, really cheap. In the United States, the game costs just $9.99 from the Windows Store. That’s a lot less than the $26.95 that the desktop version of Minecraft costs directly from Mojang’s website. Lots of people are wondering why that is.
Put plainly, Minecraft Windows 10 Edition is in open beta. This means that’s that what you’re buying isn’t necessarily a feature complete game. Instead of waiting to release it, Microsoft opted to make the game available at a steep discount, adding new features to the game when they’re done. Neither Mojang nor Microsoft usually discuss what features are coming before they’re available.
Minecraft Windows 10 Edition has a lot of nice features, but it’s running behind the Mac and regular PC versions. It’s also missing mod support, which is essential for creating the types of incredible things that people dream up in the game’s sandbox mode. You can add your own character skins if you want.
Note that you don’t have to choose either or. If you buy the regular version of Minecraft from the Mojang website, you unlock the Windows 10 Edition for free.
You Can’t Transfer Your Worlds to Minecraft Windows 10 Edition
Minecraft Windows 10 Edition does have one big caveat. You can’t transfer your worlds from other versions of the game to it. For that, Microsoft is still encouraging users to download the regular PC version alongside the Windows 10 version.
Don’t Worry About Updating
Microsoft’s internal team and the Windows Store app that you have installed on your device will handle all the heavy lifting related to Minecraft Windows 10 Edition. You’ll never need to go out and find a software update, the latest updates are published into the Windows Store, where your Windows 10 computer will then grab them and install them behind-the-scenes.
Introducing The Games Bar
Along with the Xbox app itself, Minecraft Windows 10 Edition supports Windows 10’s Games Bar. Press the Windows key and G key on your keyboard to get access to screenshots and video clip recording directly from your game. If you have a controller connected, the Games Bar is always available by pressing the Xbox logo on that controller.
Play Minecraft With Friends
Any other Minecraft Windows 10 Edition player on your same network can play along with you in your worlds. Microsoft revealed that it would add Xbox Live connectivity to the game in a future update so that users can play together across devices. The company said so in an FAQ about the game published at launch. The feature is now available, though it’s buried in the game’s Options area.
Already, the company has implemented some useful features and laid the groundwork. Minecraft Windows 10 Edition forces users to login into their Xbox Live account because it comes with Xbox Live Achievements. The Xbox app that comes installed on Windows 10 devices allows users to send messages over Xbox Live and start Xbox Live Parties with other Windows 10 and Xbox One owners.
Mojang and Microsoft keep the Minecraft community updated with news directly through the Game Hub in the Xbox app too. Go there for the latest news about the game and questions about your experience with it so far.
Good luck with Minecraft Windows 10 Edition.
Microsoft’s new Minecraft Education Edition – written in C++ – will outrun the Java version
Microsoft’s new Minecraft Education Edition – written in C++ – will outrun the Java version
The forthcoming Minecraft: Education Edition, written in C++, looks faster and smoother than the old Java version, but won’t be compatible with all the old mods. If Microsoft mis-handles the transition, a split could damage the Minecraft community that underpins the game’s stunning success….
This summer, Microsoft will release a beta of Minecraft: Education Edition written in C++ rather than Java, which looks like removing the performance problems associated with running the current version of Minecraft. The Education Edition should run well on the types of Windows laptop commonly found in schools, and in homes.
Microsoft announced the Education Edition at the BETT 2016 educational technology exhibition held last week in London. Microsoft also announced that it had purchased MinecraftEDU, an educational version of Minecraft, from Teacher Gaming LLC. (SeeMicrosoft acquires MinecraftEdu from Teacher Gaming.) MinecraftEDU will not be developed any further, but most of its features will be implemented in the Education Edition.
Minecraft: Education Edition also builds on and extends the Windows 10 version of Minecraft. This is based on the Pocket Edition of Minecraft (MCPE), which is written in C++, not in Java. At BETT, a Microsoft programmer told me that the aim for the Education Edition was to support all the features of the Java version. It will also include extra features that will enable teachers to control large multi-player sessions, including new commands such as Build Allow and Build Deny.
In schools and colleges that use Office 365, students will be able to log on to Minecraft using their Office credentials. Alternatively, the Education Edition can easily be set up on a peer-to-peer classroom network, without a server.
At BETT, early versions of the Education Edition were running impressively smoothly with high-resolution graphics settings on the Minecraft stand.
It remains to be seen how much of the Java version can be incorporated in the C++ version, which runs on Windows 10 PCs, tablets, smartphones and games consoles. It should be possible to import worlds, skins, maps and similar mods. However, mods written in Java code will not be compatible.
The Education Edition is both a solution and a problem for both Microsoft and the Minecraft community. It looks like providing the higher performance that Minecraft players have wanted for years. However, removing the ability to create Java-style mods might well diminish the community supporting the game. That would be extremely bad news for Microsoft, and for its $2.5 billion investment in Mojang, Minecraft’s developer.
What follows is speculation….
At the moment, it looks as though there will be two versions of Minecraft – a Standard Edition and an Education Edition – with the latter feeding off the former. At first, these will have somewhat different features and capabilities, and different target audiences.In the future, however, it seems likely that most Minecraft players will learn the new C++ version first, either in schools or on their own Windows 10 laptops, or via the Pocket edition on smartphones, tablets, and games consoles. The old Java version could therefore see a relative decline: its users may become just a small minority of the expanded market.
Obviously, Mac OS X and Linux have no problems running C++ code, but it remains to be seen whether Microsoft will port the Education Edition to these rival platforms. If it doesn’t, Windows 10 will have an advantage in the education market. If it does, it could be the beginning of the end for the Java version. Why support two code-bases if you only need
Microsoft’s new Minecraft Education Edition – written in C++ – will outrun the Java version
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