Minecraft Methods to Die – Try to Avoid Them

People play violent games, where they kill characters in the most horrific ways. In other games, the murder scenes are not explicit, but only the thought that your characters will “die” is troubling the players. Minecraft is not necessarily a sadistic game, but many deaths happen in it and the players want to know in how many ways they can die.

By The Ghast

Ghasts stay around the Nether, they’re floating and their eyes and mouth are closed and they might trick you to believe they’re cure and harmless with those sounds they make, imitating cats or infants. They have the size of 4x4x4 blocks and their tentacles have the size of a player, and when you’re in their attack range (within sixteen blocks), ghasts will open fire and kill you. Also, these things will make other mobs attack you, but they will never attack mobs.

By TNT

TNT is a cube with an edge length of 0.98 and when it’s activated, it’s spawn at the center of a powered TNT block. If it’s activated by redstone/fire, its fuse lasts 40 redstone ticks, and it’s destroyed by an explosion – a number between 10 – 30 game ticks. Primed TNT’s texture blinks and the texture will alternate between the normal texture and a pure white one. Primed TNT can be pushed by water and when it’s shot through lava, it catches on fire. TNTs can be used for traps such as land mines, which generate naturally in desert temples, and they activated when they’re placed by a dispenser, hit by a fire charge fireball, in contact with fire or lava etc.

By Drowning

Players can’t breathe under water, so they will drown for sure when their air supply value drops. It’s recommended to keep a solid block (cobblestone or dirt) somewhere on the toolbar, so when mining into a spring or ocean and making a hole, the player should use that block to block it. This way, they will not drown.

By Falling

Players can’t fly either, so if they will fall from a height equivalent to 23 blocks, they will surely die, even if they are protected by their armor. The only thing that can save them is an armor enchanted with Feather Falling or Protection.

By The Enderdragon

This is the boss that appears in the end and the death won’t be pleasant! It throws out fire, it’s very healthy (the purple health bar appears at the top of the screen), it can regenerate itself using Ender crystals and when you’re destroying an ender crystal when the dragon is being healed, it will take a 10 damage.

Minecraft Methods to Die – Try to Avoid Them

Top 10 Minecraft PE Skins

 

minecraft-pe-skin (1)

Minecraft is probably the next best thing after Lego when it comes to building something out of blocks. It’s not every day that those blocks you piled would be under threat as soon as the sun goes down, anyway. You might also need to battle awful things in The Nether if you want to defend your creation.

Well, fighting your nemesis would look much better if you dress the part. And there isn’t a shortage of skins in this game.

Best Minecraft PE (Pocket Edition) Skins

Are you looking for skins for Minecraft 0.11.0? Here are some of your best options.

Arab Man

Regardless of what you associate with the Arab Man, it is a fact that playing the game garbed in the traditional than would be interesting. Do you feel like making your own oil depot and silo all of a sudden?

Sheriff Woody

Ah, who doesn’t love Woody from Toy Story? You must be crazy if you don’t have the hearts for him. Although Buzz Lightyear is pretty cool too. But hey, nothing beats a cowboy boots and hat to go with the Wild West look.

Groot

“I am Groot!” Well, don’t believe every word said, because “I am Groot” can be anything. But, as one of the coolest characters in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, you would not be the only one rooting for Groot. Get it?

Squid Man

Have you always wanted to be the Kraken or…Squidward? In Minecraft PE, the closest you can get to making your dreams come true is to have Squid Man as your skin. Just bear with the squid water mobs style. You would be able to swim very fast, anyway. Part of the skin’s secret feature.

Rana

Previously an old mob that was removed in Minecraft in 2010, Rana is back! But, as a human skin. No reason to be disappointed, right? Better a Rana skin than no Rana at all.

Derp

What rhymes with burp, but sounds more like twerk? Derp! Nothing about the riddle makes sense. But so does having a strange face attached to a human body. Why can’t it be just a normal face? Just leaves you wondering, is derp man or not?

Pumpkin Boss

Think of this Minecraft PE skin as a huge improvement with the scarecrow. Because now he’s wearing a suit instead of rags, although the pumpkin would still give anyone nightmares, especially those that aren’t a fan. Hey, you can use that as a strategy. All you need to do is find out which if your opponents are scared of scarecrows with a Jack O’Lantern for a head.

Tree

Isn’t Groot a tree as well? What makes this skin different is that it can pass as an actual tree in Minecraft. This means you can camouflage yourself as one and then attack. Very few might see you coming.

Barry the Bear

Unlike the usual bear, Barry the Bear is more cute than scary. But because he’s in Minecraft, you can’t trust him to be all that warm and cuddly.

Clown Boy

How many clowns have turned murderer in movies? Well, Clown Boy is just as scary, and being killed by him in survival games can be downright frightening.

Top 10 Minecraft PE Skins

MINECRAFT: STORY MODE EPISODE 4 – A BLOCK AND A HARD PLACE REVIEW

A Block and a Hard Place, Episode 4 of Minecraft: Story Mode, is another middling chapter in Telltale’s kid-friendly Minecraft tale. Its attention to Minecraft detail and satisfying, action-packed climax keep it from being a complete bust, but these highs aren’t enough to overcome the rest of the episode’s predictable plot twists, inconsequential story, and often uninteresting dialogue.

This dichotomy is encapsulated in Episode 4’s first major event: a quest in which Jesse and his posse have to travel to the “Far Lands” to retrieve a MacGuffin that will hopefully allow them to defeat the Wither Storm and save the world. The Far Lands are a real Minecraft concept – if you can manage to reach the edge of the (nearly) infinite map, Minecraft can glitch out and strange things can be seen. It’s a cute and clever to see this fabled place discussed and eventually explored by a group of people that actually live in this world. And as usual, the set itself is massive and detailed.

Unfortunately, this is an example of real dialogue experienced while making the long and arduous journey: “Is it much further?” “Not too much further.”

Riveting stuff, I know.

“The dialogue commonly succumbs to cliche.

In addition to often feeling flat and uninteresting, the dialogue commonly succumbs to cliche. “How long have you been standing there?” One character is asked when walking in on the second half of an incriminating conversation. “Long enough,” is (of course) the reply.

A Block and a Hard Place continues Story Mode’s emphasis on the past, to mixed results. Its explorations of themes like the dangers of hero worship and how ego or hubris can ruin friendships is well done, and a welcome bit of thoughtfulness in an otherwise fairly light story. But in practical terms, this means Story Mode spends a whole lot of time focusing on characters and conflicts that aren’t directly related to Jesse, instead focusing on the legendary heroes The Order of the Stone. This puts us in the back seat, often taking a passive role in the drama.

Thankfully, the final showdown manages to satisfy on multiple levels. The victory for Jesse and company feels well earned – they come up with a plan, and execute on it via fun, and occasionally actually challenging, QTE button-prompts. By the end, it genuinely feels like this group of heroes really is a group of heroes, even though they started Episode 1 as a bunch of goofballs. The entire sequence is also well-directed and acted. It’s a satisfying end to Story Mode’s overarching threat.

Unfortunately the iffy storytelling returns to the forefront as the episode draws to a close. Multiple story threads that have spanned the entire series are wrapped up off-screen thanks to a small time jump. Amnesia? Gone. A friend’s life-threatening illness Jesse kept promising he would fix? It fixes itself. This neat wrap-up is especially disappointing because, like Story Mode’s other episodes, the adventure is fairly short at around an hour and 45 minutes.

As for what’s next… well that’s the big question, isn’t it? We know a fifth episode is coming, but A Block and a Hard Place ends the current story arc. We’ll have to wait and see what this means for our motley crew, and for Story Mode’s potential long-term future.

The Verdict

Telltale’s love and deep understanding of Minecraft combined with a thrilling satisfying climax keep Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 4 – A Block and a Hard Place from reaching a new series low at the hands of poor dialogue and a meandering plot. It’s still a little too slow-paced and predictable to recommend wholeheartedly.

 

MINECRAFT: STORY MODE EPISODE 4 – A BLOCK AND A HARD PLACE REVIEW

Mojang’s Minecraft follow-up Cobalt gets release date

To date, Mojang has enjoyed remarkable success almost exclusively from the strength of one game — Minecraft. The Microsoft-owned Swedish studio is about to test its luck with its next major game though, finally setting a release date for the delayed Cobalt.

The side-scrolling action game, developed by three-person studio Oxeye Games and published by Mojang, will launch on Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 on 2 February. It’ll set you back $19.99 “or equivalent”, although UK specific prices haven’t been set yet.

Cobalt was originally set for release around October 2015, but was held back at almost the last minute because Oxeye said it was “buggier than we’re comfortable with”. The delay has not only allowed for those kinks to be worked out, but for the console launch to arrive simultaneously with the PC version. It also means the game dodges the glut of releases vying for Christmas purchases.

Despite the Minecraft connection, don’t expect it to be anything like the open-world sandbox. Instead, Cobalt offers a blend of run-and-gun combat and fast-paced 2D platforming with cartwheeling cyborgs, upgradable weapons, and slow-motion gameplay mechanics that let you punch enemy fire right back at them. It also packs in an eight-hour story campaign, and multiplayer modes including “capture the plug”, deathmatch, survival, and the Counter-Strike inspired TeamStrike, where each player only has one life. Oh, and tameable space hamsters, of course.

Will Cobalt be the new Minecraft? No, almost certainly not — but only because Minecraft is a certifiable phenomenon. This is aiming more for the competitive gamer, with the real draw being its potential for long-term post-release versus play.

If you can’t stand to wait just over two weeks to get your hands on it, you can buy the alpha version — which Oxeye admits is “remarkably dated” — for PC now. Anyone who’s purchased the alpha will get an upgrade to the full Steam version upon release.

Mojang’s Minecraft follow-up Cobalt gets release date

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Allll aboard Shy Guy’s Perplex Express. It’s a bit blockier than usual but there’s plenty of sights to see.

This faithful (with a few alterations) Minecraft recreation of the Perplex Express comes courtesy of Nathan_Oneday of WalschaertsBuilds. It’s a scale recreation, under construction since early December. There’s some secrets to find since, as the creator put it, he “couldn’t resist hiding a ton of things around the train.”

You can download the map here if you wanna explore the train yourself. If not, here are a couple shots I snapped ingame:

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

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

Exploring the Train From Mario Party 8 in Minecraft is Pretty Fun

Technobubble Wrap: Disney Infinity 3.0: Force Awakens, Minecraft and Ratsel BT speaker review

Technobubble covers games, gadgets, technology and all things geek. Follow Technobubble poobah Jason Hidalgo’s shenanigans on Twitter @jasonhidalgo

Oh. My. Gosh.

Is that a non-video game review I see squeezed into the weekly Technobubble Wrap? Why yes, yes it is.

I admit, I haven’t been as prolific with the gadget reviews for some time. But I’ll try to squeeze more of the stuff in, especially now that the year-end video game rush is over.

Now let’s get this week’s game and gadget party started, shall we?

Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Play Set

Spoiler alert!

That’s actually something you ain’t gonna see in the campaign of the “Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Play Set.” Thanks to a campaign that does its darned tootin’ best not to spoil as many details as possible from “Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens” movie, fans of the blockbuster will find themselves having, well, a bit of a different experience.

Graphically, the game’s three main areas continue to be an improvement over the drab cityscapes of “Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes.” Gameplay also remains solid, particularly for action lovers. Each character typically employs a unique fighting style that can be upgraded and customized via skill trees for adding combo extenders, powering up moves and beefing up a characters’ health bars, for example. I also like how the two base characters included in the playset play differently from each other. Rey, for example, is more of a melee character who especially benefits from improving his staff-based moves. Finn, on the other hand, is awesome with firearms  — especially once upgrading his shooting skill tree. Folks who buy the extra packs also can get pilot Poe Dameron and the film’s resident emo force user, Kylo Ren.

If you liked the original Disney 3.0 experience, The Force Awakens Play Set gives you more of the same while allowing you to experience the franchise’s new characters. The not-exactly-canon story might disappoint some folks and the campaign itself is pretty short outside of the side missions. If you’re a fan of the series, however and are itching for more content to play or add to your Toy Box for 3.0, then this game gives you more of what you love.

Minecraft Story Episode 4: A Block and Hard Place

After the Debbie Downer that was “Game of Thrones Episode 6: The Ice Dragon,” I needed some serious positivity to bring a much needed ray of sunshine into my life. After all, a man can only take so much soul-crushing sadness before he throws up his hands and says, “You know what? Those Morrissey songs weren’t as depressing as I thought.”

This makes “Minecraft Story Mode Episode 4: A Block and A Hard Place,” a much welcome change of pace. Oh, look at those cute blocky people doing cute blocky things. I think everything’s going to be just alright.

Not that Episode 4 doesn’t have its share of serious moments, mind you. In fact, it’s probably the most serious episode of the bunch and includes what’s arguably the most powerful moment of entire series. Even with all the serious stuff going on, though, the series still manages to sneak in some chuckles. It’s obvious that this is a game aiming to satisfy more than one audience, comprising of of Minecraft’s stalwart base of young kids on one side as well as older gamers who love their point-and-click adventuring.

It’s a double-edged sword to be sure as its propensity to please two masters makes it appeal to a wider audience but also blunts its storytelling impact in a way that, say, “Tales From the Borderlands” didn’t have to worry about. The end result is that it’s a great series for young Minecraft fans, who will like its familiar blocky look, item crafting nods and witty storytelling. The same can’t be said for older audiences, however, who might find it lacking the extra punch they expect in their story-driven games.

Thonet and Vander Ratsel BT

We kick off the return of gadget reviews with the Ratsel BT speaker from Thonet and Vander. I remember positively gushing about the last Thonet and Vander speakers I reviewed in this space, the Kurbis BT. I actually really liked those. A lot.

As such, I had high expectations for the Ratsel BT, which diverges from the double speaker setup of the Kurbis and includes two mini towers and one serious looking subwoofer instead. So far so good. It even includes a control tower that lets you adjust volume, bass and treble settings separately, which is always a plus for control freaks like me.

Admittedly the speakers didn’t sound that great the first time I listened to them. After using them for about a week during the holiday season, however, the sound improved a lot. I know some folks say that speaker break-in is a myth and, honestly, I wonder myself sometimes but for whatever reason, it worked for this set of speakers. Obviously, it still won’t sound as good as some serious component speakers but for its size and class, the Ratsel BT stacks up well against its competitors. Having both wired and wireless options also are a plus.

One downside is that it appears to be prone to interference. I noticed a faint buzz, for example, when I placed it by my home workstation, where all my other gadgets and ginormous TV are. Placing it at a different corner, however, alleviated the problem. Another is the lack of input controls on the control tower. Instead, you have to use the remote to switch from wireless to wired, which is mightily inconvenient for some such as myself. It also means you’re screwed if you ever lose the remote.

If you don’t have any issues with those two main niggles, the Ratsel might still work for you. Otherwise, I recommend opting for the Kurbis instead.

Technobubble Wrap: Disney Infinity 3.0: Force Awakens, Minecraft and Ratsel BT speaker review

Someone has built a BASIC interpreter in Minecraft

BASIC is a programming language, and Minecraft is a video game. If you used a Commodore 64 or Amstrad CPC464 back in the 1980s, you probably have some vague familiarity with the language. Anyway, someone has built a BASIC interpreter in Minecraft. It doesn’t work very well, and you’ll probably never want to actually use it, but the fact that it exists is its own reward.

It’s the work of one SethBling, who does a great job of explaining what it is and how it works in the accompanying video. It’s made in vanilla Minecraft, and utilises hundreds (or maybe thousands) of command blocks. You can download the scripting here, if for some reason you actually wanna use it, but I feel like it’s better just to watch, and to marvel at what’s possible.

Cheers, Kotaku.

Someone has built a BASIC interpreter in Minecraft

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers Getting Free DLC Exclusively for PS4, PS3

At last, I’m free to speak about one of the most exciting things that we’ve been squirreling away on at TT Games for LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, outside of everything that already makes the game such a fun and authentic Marvel title (Yes, Squirrel Girl reference intended… sorry!).

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers is getting some free DLC content exclusively for all PS4 and PS3 players. What’s even more awesome is that this content is based on the brilliant Marvel’s Ant-Man movie and also one of my most anticipated films of 2016, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. And yes, believe it or not I’ve managed to keep a lid on this. I’m not quite sure how… but I have.

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers already features content from six epic Marvel films (and a plethora of content from the rest of the Marvel Universe, including a ton of characters from Marvel Comics), however, now PlayStation gamers will be able to add content from two more movies to their experience.

So, I hear you all asking: what is this content exactly, and what makes it so exciting? Well, first up we have the Captain America: Civil War Character Pack, which will be available at launch on January 26th and includes nine characters — yes, nine characters — featured in the upcoming movie: Captain America, Iron Man (Mark 46 armor), Black Panther, Winter Soldier, Falcon, War Machine, Scarlet Witch and my personal favorites, Crossbones and Agent 13. It’s a great pack that will hopefully get everyone as excited as I am about the film. Obviously before you ask, yes, you will be able to take all of these characters into the main game, into the various levels or into the eight different open world locations.

LEGO Marvel AvengersLEGO Marvel Avengers

The second is the Ant-Man Character & Level Pack, of course based on the Ant-Man movie, which will be available later this spring. This pack features an awesome level based on a section of the film. It also has eleven great characters, including Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Ant-Man (Hank Pym), Ant-Thony (Flying Ant), Cassie Lang, Darren Cross, Scott Lang, Hank Pym, Hope Van Dyne, Luis, The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), and Yellowjacket.

We are really bringing Ant-Man and Yellowjacket to life with all the abilities that you’d expect them to have. The team and I here at TT Games are positive you will really enjoy this DLC offering. But, not only are we bringing you the characters and the level content, the part of this pack I’m most excited about… Ant-Thony the Ant! You’ll be able to fly around on Ant-Thony within the DLC level and then into the main game as well.

When I watched the movie with the team, we really enjoyed it, so much so that I went back to watch it again the next day, and then saw the amazing playsets that LEGO created for the film so to now be able to pair those together and bring them to life in LEGO Marvel’s Avengers is yet another reason why this game has been an absolute delight to work on.

In addition to the movie and comic content in the game, we’re really looking forward to hearing what you all think of the many new features in LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, specifically the Avengers Team-Ups. When you think of the Avengers, you think of teamwork, pulling together against adversity as a team. So, now you can team-up characters to perform incredible combo moves to take down the bad guys.

LEGO Marvel Avengers

Teaming up core Avengers results in unique moves based on the pairing so we hope you enjoy trying out all of the various combinations to see which is your favorite. For us, it’s yet another reason why LEGO Marvel’s Avengers has been such a pleasure to develop. All of us on the team here are Marvel fans so make sure you look out for the various references and nods we’ve put into the game to make it the most authentic and fun experience.

We think that this is our best game yet — more humor, more characters, more features, more open world gameplay, more abilities, and of course, more movie content exclusively for PlayStation fans.

On behalf of myself and the team, we hope you have many hours of enjoyment when you play LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, and if you love it as much as we think you will, keep an eye out for the season pass content that we’ll be bringing your way featuring classic comic content as well as content from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Minecraft players given free rein to build up, tear down Ottawa

In the real life version of Ottawa, Parliament Hill looms over the downtown, the Rideau Canal bisects the city, and the Senators take to the Canadian Tire Centre ice way out in Kanata.

In Minecraft Ottawa, none of that’s set in stone.

The recently-unveiled GeoOttaWow lets Minecraft players explore and refashion Ottawa’s streets, houses, train tracks, as well as major buildings like Parliament Hill and City Hall.

“I think we’re one of the first in Canada to do this, so that’s a good thing,” said Coun. Rick Chiarelli, chair of the city’s information technology sub-committee, on CBC Ottawa’s All In a Day Friday afternoon.

For those unfamiliar with how the game works, Minecraft lets players dig (mine) and build (craft) nearly anything they want using Lego-like blocks and bricks.

The game — which has no levels to complete or mandatory objectives to accomplish — has proven immensely popular. In 2014, its Swedish designers Mojang were bought by technology giant Microsoft for $2.5 billion.

GeoOttaWow came about after a staff member took the city’s open data and uploaded it over the holidays, said Charles Duffett, the city’s chief information officer.

Duffett told All In A Day host Alan Neal that the freedom of being able to shape the nation’s capital to your liking gets people — especially young people — invested in the future of their city.

Game teaches ‘principles of civil planning’

“Now you have kids who are experimenting with basic principles of municipal planning. So if they think, for instance, that an outdoor stadium should be somewhere, they can build one — and then they can look at what impact it would have on that area, and what the concerns would be,” said Duffett.

ottawa-chiarelli-220

Ottawa is one of the first cities in Canada to be made available on Minecraft, said Coun. Rick Chiarelli, chair of the information technology sub-committee. (CBC)

“They may discover they’re learning some principles of civil planning.”

Other places in the real world have made themselves available on Minecraft, perhaps most notably the entire country of Denmark, which can be torn down and built back up according to players’ whims and desires.

According to Chiarelli, in one important way, the Minecraft version of Ottawa is even better than the real thing.

“It also shows all the streets plowed.”

Minecraft players given free rein to build up, tear down Ottawa

Minecraft ripoff skyrocketed into the App Store’s top 5

There’s an old saying about a sucker being born every minute. If you need proof, you only have to look as far as the App Store, where Minecraft Pocket Edition 2 recently stormed into the top 5.

What’s that, you say? You don’t remember hearing anything from Mojang or Microsoft about an all-new mobile Minecraft game being released? That’s because they didn’t release one. No, Minecraft Pocket Edition 2 was just another scammy app uploaded to the app store by someone looking to make a quick buck, and $10.99 less Apple’s cut, it probably wound up being quite a few quick bucks. Lots of times apps with scam-riffic names get bounced at the door. Sometimes they get discovered shortly after being approved and are unceremoniously yanked.

minecraft-scam

Minecraft Pocket Edition 2 managed to stick around in the App Store for several weeks — long enough to fool enough Minecraft-crazed iOS users into installing it that it climbed all the way up Apple’s charts to the number four spot. Apparently someone finally clued in to the fact that PE2 wasn’t an official release.

The app’s name wasn’t the only clue it was bogus. The developer’s name was also pretty suspicious: Scott Cawthorn. It’s only one letter away from being Scott Cawthon, who is far too busy printing money with his Five Nights at Freddy’s games (and donating to charities) to bother building a Minecraft ripoff. Still, you put the right name on an app and slap a familiar-looking dev on it and you’re going to fill your trap pretty fast.

Eurogamer figures they know the real name of the guy behind PE2. Ironically enough, they found his name — Viktor Todorov — on the game’s copyright screen.

Minecraft ripoff skyrocketed into the App Store’s top 5

‘Minecraft: Pocket Edition’ top paid iPhone game app in Canada

Top 10 free and paid game apps for the iPhone and iPad in Canada for Jan. 4-10.

Top Paid iPhone Game Apps

1. Minecraft: Pocket Edition (Mojang)

2. Geometry Dash (RobTop Games AB)

3. Heads Up! (Warner Bros.)

4. Plague Inc. (Ndemic Creations)

5. Minecraft: Story Mode (Telltale Inc.)

6. Cut the Rope: Magic (ZeptoLab UK Ltd.)

7. Bloons TD 5 (Ninja Kiwi)

8. The Game of Life Classic Edition (Electronic Arts)

9. Terraria (505 Games (US), Inc.)

10. True Skate (True Axis)

 

Top Free iPhone Game Apps

1. Clash Royale (Supercell)

2. Geometry Dash Meltdown (RobTop Games AB)

3. Color Switch (Samuel Ratumaitavuki)

4. Candy Crush Jelly Saga (King.com Ltd.)

5. Piano Tiles 2 (Don’t Tap The White Tile 2) (Cheetah Technology Corp. Ltd.)

6. Traffic Rider (Soner Kara)

7. Mobile Strike (Epic War LLC)

8. Swing (Ketchapp)

9. Surfingers (Digital Melody Games Kitajewski I Stalewski Spolka Jawna)

10. Solitaire (Harpan LLC)

 

Top Paid iPad Game Apps

1. Minecraft: Pocket Edition (Mojang)

2. Geometry Dash (RobTop Games AB)

3. Minecraft: Story Mode (Telltale Inc.)

4. Escapists – Back in Prison: Survival Hunter Mini Block Game with Multiplayer (Noah Mason)

5. Cut the Rope: Magic (ZeptoLab UK Ltd.)

6. Terraria (505 Games (US) Inc.)

7. Draw a Stickman: EPIC 2 (Hitcents.com, Inc.)

8. Heads Up! (Warner Bros.)

9. Bloons TD 5 HD (Ninja Kiwi)

10. Plague Inc. (Ndemic Creations)

 

Top Free iPad Game Apps

1. Clash Royale (Supercell)

2. Candy Crush Jelly Saga (King.com Ltd.)

3. Geometry Dash Meltdown (RobTop Games AB)

4. LEGO Nexo Knights: Merlok 2.0 (LEGO Systems Inc.)

5. World Chef (Social Point)

6. Piano Tiles 2 (Don’t Tap The White Tile 2) (Cheetah Technology Corp. Ltd.)

7. Subway Surfers (Kiloo)

8. Sky Burger (NimbleBit LLC)

9. Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes (Electronic Arts)

10. Solitaire (Zentertain Ltd.)

 

Top Paid TV Game Apps

1. Galaxy on Fire: Manticore Rising (FISHLABS)

2. Beat Sports (Harmonix Games LLC)

3. Golf Pro 2016 (Inlovewith AB)

4. Does not Commute TV (Mediocre AB)

5. Riptide GP2 (Vector Unit)

6. Battle Supremacy: Evolution (Atypical Games)

7. Oceanhorn (FDG Mobile Games GbR)

8. Snowboard Party 2 (Ratrod Studio)

9. Alto’s Adventure (Snowman)

10. Dumb Ways to Die: Wire Walk (Metro Trains Melbourne Pty Ltd.)

 

Top Free TV Game Apps

1. Just Dance Now (Ubisoft)

2. PAC-MAN 256 – Endless Arcade Maze (BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe)

3. GT Spirit (Eden Games Mobile)

4. Crossy Road – Endless Arcade Hopper (Hipster Whale)

5. Strike! Ten Pin Bowling (Touch Mechanics)

6. Despicable Me: Minion Rush (Gameloft)

7. Asphalt 8: Airborne (Gameloft)

8. Rayman Adventures (Ubisoft)

9. Beach Buggy Racing (Vector Unit)

10. Jetpack Joyride (Halfbrick Studios)

These game apps are available from the App Store on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch or atwww.itunes.ca/appstore.

The Canadian Press

‘Minecraft: Pocket Edition’ top paid iPhone game app in Canada

Everything you need to know about ‘Minecraft’; a guide for all ages

If your kid has been swept up in the “Minecraft” craze, you’ve probably come to realize that resistance is futile. It isn’t only the game itself that kids obsess over. There are Minecraft YouTube videos, “Minecraft”-like games, and lots more.

Here’s the know-how you need to engage with your kid on one of the coolest games out there.

A GUIDE TO THE “MINECRAFT” GAMES BY AGE

One of the best-selling, independently developed and published video games, Minecraft immerses kids in creative thinking, geometry, and even a little geology as they build imaginative block structures. Here’s the scoop on the games that make up “Minecraft’s” offerings:

_’Minecraft,’ age 8; platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows, Xbox 360

“Minecraft” is an open-ended, exploration- and creation-focused environment. Players can create items and buildings from scratch using materials they harvest from the world around them. Given carte blanche to sculpt virtually any creation of their choice in this 3-D space, kids can try tons of possibilities while working toward simple objectives. An option to work with others on larger building projects can help kids develop collaboration skills.

_’Minecraft-Pocket Edition,’ age 8; devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire

“Minecraft-Pocket Edition” is a mobile version of the popular PC game. Players can build essentially anything in this game, so long as they’re able to mine the appropriate resources.

‘Minecraft: Story Mode,’ age 10; platforms: Mac, Nintendo Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iPhone

Though part of the fun of “Minecraft” is creating the story as you go along, “Story Mode” offers a storyline, characters, and plot for kids who prefer a narrative. This game offers positive messages about teamwork and diplomacy, and its learning curve isn’t as steep as the original.

‘MINECRAFT’ ON YOUTUBE

Since Minecraft is a game that spans many ages – and has infinite possibilities – not all YouTube videos will be appropriate for your kid. Here’s one of our faves for young players.

‘Wonder Quest’ (for age 6+)

This YouTube program is inspired by “Minecraft,” and its central character hails from creator Joseph Garrett’s other Internet hit, Stampylonghead. The videos do an excellent job blending comedy, adventure, and quality educational content under the premise of its heroes’ efforts to thwart a villain’s plan and return a collection of gems to their town. There are even social lessons that promote cooperation, kindness, and perseverance.

GAMES LIKE ‘MINECRAFT’

Because of its complexity, mild violence, and online community, we recommend “Minecraft” for kids age 8 and up. So what if your younger kids want to play but aren’t quite ready? These games can occupy them with a very similar style, without some of the tougher stuff.

‘Blox, 3D Junior,’ age 5

With a style similar to “Lego” and “Minecraft,” this app’s 3-D creation environment empowers kids to create, encourages visual acuity, and fosters critical thinking.

‘The Robot Factory,’ by Tinybop, age 6

This exploratory app for early elementary school-age kids is tailor-made for players who love to create, design, and experience free play.

‘Toca Builders,’ age 6

“Toca Builders” offers sandbox-style play where kids can create worlds. It’s easier to pick up and play than Minecraft, and there’s no fighting or monsters.

“Hovercraft – Build Fly, Retry,” age 7

Kids can learn about physics and problem solving as they design, test, and rebuild a hovercraft.

Common Sense Media is an independent nonprofit organization offering unbiased ratings and trusted advice to help families make smart media and technology choices. Check out our ratings and recommendations at www.commonsense.org.

Everything you need to know about ‘Minecraft’; a guide for all ages

Today’s Feat of Minecraft Engineering: A Working Submarine

Admittedly it looks and moves more like a worm (it’s even partly made ofslime blocks), but hey, it’s underwater and it keeps you dry. A bit proof of concept-y, but it’s a Minecraft submarine.

Designed by Minecrafter Alex_you, the sub is constructed out of slime andredstone blocks and glass, with glowstone for lighting and pistons that actually move the cabin forward. The start/stop mechanism is operated by way of flint & tinder, as the video shows:

Looks like a bumpy ride. Still, some engineering. If you wanna give it a try yourself, a download link to the map with the submarine in it can be found here, in the video description.

Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest, funniest game-related screenshots and art we can find. Send us suggestions if you’ve got them.

Today’s Feat of Minecraft Engineering: A Working Submarine

Oculus is giving early backers a consumer Rift for free

It’s nearly Rift time! This is the year that Virtual Reality becomes the next big thing in videogames or at least embarrasses itself while trying to, like your drunk uncle trying to dance to Las Ketchup’s Asereje at your sister’s wedding reception.

Depending on who you talk to, Virtual Reality is wither the thing that’ll make games genuinely exciting again, or the most expensive video gaming gimmick, one that’s destined for catastrophic failure.

The very necessary head-mounted displays that’ll drive Virtual Reality are coming soon. Though HTC’s Vive was delayed to April, and PlayStation VR (along with its Wii-sized external processor) is expected at around the same time, we still have no idea when the frontrunner and progenitor of the current craze, Oculus’ Rift is out. Nor, critically, do we know what it’ll cost. For some though, it’ll cost nothing.

In one of the most generous bits of technological good will, Oculus has said that those who bought in to the original Rift Development Kit, backing it on Kickstarter in the early days, will be given a special Kickstarter Edition consumer headset for no extra cost. Like the standard consumer one, it’ll come bundled with two games; Lucky’s Tale and EVE: Valkyrie.

The caveat here though, is that you’ll have to reside in one of the twenty launch countries for the headset. As we in South Africa are so used to technological disappointment, it should come as no surprise then that we’re not one of those countries.

These are:

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States.

“For those who don’t live in one of those 20 countries, we’re working on an alternative,” Oculus says – so you may yet be in luck.

Pre-orders for the Rift go live later today in those territories. We have no idea what it’ll cost or when it’ll ship.

According to the chaps at Superdata, the market for VR this year could reach $5.1 billion in 2016, and they suggest that the user base will reach 56 million in 2016. Before you roll your eyeballs so hard that they break free from the constraints of your skull, they do think that the majority of the market will be taken up by what they call “Light smartphone” VR.

Initially, affordable smartphone devices will drive the bulk of sales as consumers first explore virtual reality before committing to the more expensive platforms,” said SuperData Director of Research Stephanie Llamas. “After this first wave, consumers will likely move more high-end VR devices on PC.”

Those who haven’t vomited themselves right out of existence thereafter would perhaps migrate towards the more expensive, premium VR tech that will soon be available; stuff like Vive, PlayStation VR and the Rift.

Oculus is giving early backers a consumer Rift for free

Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 4-A Block And A Hard Place Review

It was only in the third episode of Minecraft Story Mode that I actually started to care about the blocky characters I’d been barely controlling since I started playing this latest in Telltale’s increasing library of adventure games that are all largely the same. The Last Place You Look introduced something that resembled character development, and started to explore the bubbling frustrations that the group holds below the surface.

Minecraft: Story Mode\

There’s a bit more of that here, along with Telltale going for their signature one-two emotional punch that could leave particularly sensitive players, and the game’s intended younger audience distraught, on the brink of tears. The problem is that it feels both cheap and obvious – something that carries through in much of the rest of the episode.

Minecraft: Story Mode

When we last encountered Jesse and friends, they were well on their way to becoming the new order of the stone; a new set of heroes. Faced with a gargantuan Wither storm that just doesn’t seem to want to die, our friends and heroes start this episode escaping the aftermath of their unsuccessful attempt to destroy the black and purple beast that’s swallowing up the world and its denizens.

As has happened with just about every episode thus far, the adventure takes us to another wonderfully referenced are that ties in to Minecraft’s lore. This time, it sees our new heroes make their way to The Far Lands, which as Minecraft aficionados will tell you is where the limits of the game proper’s procedurally generated worlds.

Minecraft3

It’s here that we learn about the true nature of the Order of the Stone. We learn why it is that some characters – like the much maligned Ivor who caused all of this mess I the first place – have been motivated in their actions and why the rest of the order are so damned insufferable. It’d be a great plot twist if it wasn’t so blindingly obvious thanks to the signposting that’s portended it all.

A bigger issue I’ve had is that it still doesn’t feel like my actions make all that much of a difference. Sure, some of my choices have led me to have different shiny, enchanted weapons, or given me slightly differing ways of finding my inside the pervasive wither storm – and maybe a choice or two about who I spend my adventuring time. Beyond that though, it really feels like all choices lead to the same outcome.

Minecraft7

As far as gameplay goes, it’s more of the same, which is to be expected. A handful of QTE’s, a sprinkling of fisticuffs, some simple crafting and the usual barrage of timed dialogue choices. There’s also a bit of light puzzling that’s not too difficult if you pay attention to the dialogue, though it may flummox younger players. There is, however, a frustrating maze section that I feel has to be called out for its silliness; thanks to poor lighting and the perspective shown, it’s far harder to navigate than it really ought to be.

There’s something odd about this latest episode in Minecraft Story mode. The change in tone set by the last episode continues, and for a while is darker and sombre than a children’s game should be. And, by the end of it, it feels like the story’s come to a close, though there’s still another episode left. There’s very little that needs wrapping up, so I’m left suspecting that whatever happens in the last episode is little more than set-up for a second season. It’s either that or it’ll be odd padding for the sake of it, which would be a bit of misstep for Telltale.

Minecraft6

Conclusion

A Block and a Hard Place isn’t a terrible episode – it’s certainly better than the fumbling second one – but it caps the adventure with a mild fizzle as opposed to the great big bang I’d been expecting. One of the biggest problems with it though, is that I don’t really care what happens in the concluding episode
7.0

Minecraft Story Mode: Episode 4 – A Block and A Hard Place was reviewed by Geoffrey Tim on a Xbox One

Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 4-A Block And A Hard Place Review

Review: Minecraft: Story Mode: A Block and a Hard Place

Denouement-craft

What a weird episode. After the high energy of The Last Place You Look, this one slows down the action shortly into it, and it doesn’t really pick back up until the very end, which feels like the end of a season. But then, there’s still another episode after this.

It’s hard to fault Telltale for switching up the formula a bit, but it feels like the first season is essentially complete at this point, and anything that could happen during the final episode will just be a lead-in to the next season. It might be better if this were just a four-episode series.

Minecraft: Story Mode: A Block and a Hard Place (iOS, Mac, PC [reviewed], PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Released: December 22, 2015 (Mac, PC)
MSRP: $4.99, $24.99 (Season Pass)
Rig: AMD Phenom II X2 555 @ 3.2 GHz, with 4GB of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5700, Windows 7 64-bit

Where the first two episodes in the season induced apathy, this one causes ambivalence. It’s a fine distinction: I was struggling to care about Jesse and his friends at first; now I care enough but find myself disappointed with the final result. For every beat Minecraft: Story Mode hits well, it stumbles once or twice.

On the one hand, the more deliberate progression of this episode can be a good thing. It opens up the gameplay to include actual (albeit easy) puzzles along with the standard dialogue trees and quick-time events. Also, without lulls in the action, it could be bombastic to the point of grating. If it’s always high energy, then it’s all the same.

On the other hand, the plodding of the first half of this episode is as dull as can be. There’s a horse travel montage near the beginning illustrating just how far it is to get to the Farlands, and protagonist Jesse has the option of the classic whine “Are we there yet?” Even with the cuts of the montage, I felt the same. I get it; it’s far. Let’s move on.

Once the action finally does pick up at the end, it still treads a questionable path. The full story about The Order of the Stone is revealed, and it plays out as foreshadowed. It’s always a little awkward when a story treats something like an earth-shattering reveal when most would see it coming from the hints in previous episodes. Perhaps if I had led the life Jesse did, it would have been more impactful.

Then, almost as if checking off all the Telltale boxes, we get another character death. This loss feels more important than the one in the third episode, since it’s a likable character. Death in children’s entertainment is nothing new (see: Bambi, The Land Before Time, Transformers [1986]), but it generally comes with a purpose. While we’ll have to wait for the fifth episode, my sneaking suspicion is the only reason this death was written in was a cynical attempt at eliciting emotion.

The really strange part of the whole scene is that in the middle of the mourning (when I have a full pout on my face), Story Mode lets loose a visual gag referencing the source material. Admittedly, it’s probably the funniest thing in the whole episode — so few of the jokes are worth even a chuckle — but it feels wrong to have it punctuate the rest of the sad scene so bluntly.

With the Wither Storm properly defeated, Jesse and the gang are proclaimed to be the new Order of the Stone, and A Block and a Hard Place ends with the vague promise of new adventures coming in the next episode. Unless it’s tightly written and self-contained, I’m not interested. More likely, the last episode will open up a can of worms that won’t get resolved until Season Two.

This episode could very well be considered the finale for the first season. It wraps up the Wither Storm saga, it answers the questions about the Order of the Stone, and it delivers a semi-happy, hopeful ending for the crew. If only it did that without an utterly boring first half and the clumsy insertion of mandatory Telltale story elements, it might have also been a good ending.

Review: Minecraft: Story Mode: A Block and a Hard Place

The Story Behind ‘LA’s Most Extreme Home’, Bought for $70M Cash by Minecraft Founder Notch

It seemed like an insane gamble: Spend millions upon millions of your personal fortune to build a house that’s so off-the-charts indulgent – $200,000 “candy wall,” $1 million-plus security system, quarter-million-dollar sculptures (plural) – that the Los Angeles Times won’t feel too hyperbolic declaring it “L.A.’s most extreme home.”

Then charge $85 million (£57m) for it and let the market have its way.

That the market certainly did. The 23,000-square-foot Beverly Hills gargantumansion notoriously sold a year ago for $70 million (£47m) — cash — to Minecraft founder Markus “Notch” Persson, a Swede who sold his Mojang game company to Microsoft and crossed into the billionaire club. Notch reportedly outbid Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Yahoo Real Estate spoke at length with Bruce Makowsky, the ultra-rich man who put a sizable chunk of his personal money and reputation on the line to build the spec house.

And we have to say, the way Makowsky explained his venture, we started to see his logic (though we wouldn’t have gambled our millions … lesson one, perhaps, in why we still don’t have any).

But first you had to think like a billionaire.

The property occupies just shy of an acre in Beverly Hills’ Trousdale Estates.

More Money Than Time

Makowsky had no problem thinking like a billionaire. He wasn’t one, but he wasn’t far off, members of his team told Yahoo Real Estate. He made his fortune in handbags and other women’s accessories, which you might have seen everywhere from QVC to Bloomingdale’s.

“I have a big mega-yacht and toys and planes,” Makowsky told us. “I kind of understand what very wealthy people want.”

Take yachts. (Bear with us, because this circles back to his real estate thinking.) He sat in the Beverly Hills gargantumansion with a prospective buyer who had a mutual interest in boats – who had, in fact, ordered up a 300-footer, at a cost of about $200 million (£136m). Makowsky asked how often the visitor sailed. About eight weeks a year, the visitor replied. The operating costs on that yacht were about $8 million (£5m) a year, or a million for each week of use.

Admittedly, we’re not sailors, but that seems mind-boggling: a boat that’s about twice as expensive as the most expensive mansion ever sold in America (and a mansion comes with land!).

What is so special about a $200 million yacht? we asked Makowsky.

He said that, in a nutshell, “every detail inside that boat is spectacular.” Every single detail. You don’t spend a couple hundred million on a yacht, hire a world-class chef and then tell a guest who wants pizza that you’re out of pepperoni, he said. On a billionaire’s yacht, you can’t ever be out of pepperoni; your fridge had better be big, and it’d better be stocked with every staple imaginable, plus some ingredients you’d barely dream of.

We’ll be honest. We weren’t entirely convinced that 24-hour personal pizzas equal $200 million of special. So he cited too the punishing saltwater, the unremitting barrage of ocean waves, the systems and craftsmanship required to keep the boat afloat.

As he spoke, though, it dawned on us that maybe the truth is something he can’t say out loud, at least not to a non-billionaire: Maybe yachts aren’t exactly $200 million worth of special, but to a billionaire, does that really matter?

“A lot of the wealthy people have more money than time,” he said, and “wealthy people are getting wealthier.”

There’s a backlog for mega-yachts that’s “incredible right now,” Makowsky told us. “I have a big boat – and I take it down to St. Bart’s and I’m the smallest boat in the marina.”

The Lure of the New

So you’re a billionaire, and you’ve spent $200 million on a yacht and $100 million on a jet and maybe a few million on your car collection. By now you may be making money almost faster than you can spend it: At a measly 1 percent interest, a billion dollars would generate $10 million a year.

Your real estate agent, meanwhile, keeps showing you houses that are $20 million, $30 million, maybe $50 million. They don’t knock your Cervelt socks off. Compared to the kind of money you’ve been spending, they might even seem a little, well, piddling.

And while 10,000 square feet may have been considered a big house a decade ago, that attitude has changed among the super-rich, who now demand “super-large,” Makowsky said. The mansion he built is more than twice that size.

There are “a lot of nice homes” out there, “but they’re tired,” he said. “Nothing brand-new.”

Is newness that important to the ultra-wealthy? we asked.

“They want to feel like they’re the first person in that house. … They want to feel like it’s theirs,” he said. That’s why, he said, he didn’t hold any open houses, or even one of the parties that’s become more common for high-end L.A. real estate. He wanted to preserve its untouchability.

Makowsky was emphatic. “People. Want. New.”

The natural conclusion might seem that they should build their own dream house, tailored to their tastes and desires. But remember to think like a billionaire who has more money than time. (And remember, too, that billionaires might easily own a dozen ultra-luxury properties at once; that’s how many homes most Americans have in a lifetime. As ultra-high-end developer Nile Niami says: “Nobody buys a 100,000-square-foot house as their principal residence to use every day.”)

They’d have to scout out the perfect lot – and in Los Angeles, promontories with downtown-to-ocean views are so coveted that a nearby family reportedly refused an offer of $75 million for their house, which developers intended to bulldoze. Then they’d have to get all the necessary local permissions and build the place. It takes “four to six years to do what we did here,” Makowsky said.

Not only that, they’d have to devote time and attention to all the hundreds of details that accumulate as luxury. On a yacht, luxury is made up of sea-hardiness, of masterful design in deceptively limited space, of laid-in pizza supplies. At the mansion Makowsky built, it’s mirrors placed so that wherever you are in the master bath, you can see downtown Los Angeles behind you, right down to the mirror backing within the medicine cabinet; it’s the drawers you open to discover they’re lined with crocodile; it’s “the most beautiful hangers” dangling in the closet.

Makowsky’s idea, in other words, was to “bring mega-yachts to land,” packaged up and ready to go, right down to the administrative staffing.

Which was an interesting proposition, because if billionaires were willing to spend $200 million plus $8 million a year on a boat they rarely used, what would their limit be for the right house?

‘The Air Is Absolutely Thin Up There’

The particular audacity of Makowsky’s venture is that the spec house Notch bought represented only Phase 1. Two more estates were in the works, and he said they’d be even more expensive. “I want to be like the Four Seasons of residential building,” he told us.

We think it’d take nerves of steel to build one spec house priced so high. How many billionaire prospects could there be?

“The air is absolutely thin up there,” he acknowledges, but he says 4,000 people worldwide are worth at least $500 million. Forbes counts a record 1,645 billionaires on the planet.

Meanwhile, brand-new, ultra-high-end houses like his are scarce. “Other than Donald Trump building something down in Palm Beach, this is the second-highest[-cost] spec house ever built in the United States.” We checked with Zillow, and only about 30 homes nationwide are publicly listed at more than $50 million. Just seven of them are asking $75 million or more. (Important caveat: This doesn’t include so-called “pocket” or “whisper” listings, or any other kind of off-market listing.)

So maybe Makowsky is onto something. His fellow L.A. developers sure seem to think so: Locally, there’s a bit of a stampede toward gargantumansions asking $100 million or more.

And one of them, Nile Niami, is expected to list a 100,000-square-foot spec house at half a billion dollars in the next year or so.

The Story Behind ‘LA’s Most Extreme Home’, Bought for $70M Cash by Minecraft Founder Notch

Minecraft PC Reaches New Sales Milestone

The PC/Mac version of Mojang’s sandbox game Minecraft has now sold 22 million copies, according to the sales ticker on the title’s official website. In the last 24 hours, almost 14,500 copies of the hugely popular game were sold. The game passed 22 million over the recent holiday weekend, according to IGN.

PC was Minecraft’s first platform, but the game has since spread to PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as mobile devices. That is to say, sales of Minecraft on PC/Mac represent just a portion of the game’s overall success. The game is regularly a top-performer on consoles, while App Annie’s charts show that the iOS and Android versions of Minecraft are also at the top for their respective platforms.

In June 2014, Mojang announced that sales of Minecraft surpassed those for PC. Notably, this was before the game launched on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.

Just today, Microsoft announced that Minecraft is the highest-grossing paid game in the Windows 10 store. It’s held the No. 1 spot since the game launched there in July 2015. Microsoft also said nearly 1 million existing Minecraft players made use of the offer to get the Windows 10 version free.

Microsoft acquired Minecraft and developer Mojang in September 2014 as part of a $2.5 billion buyout. Since then, revenue from Minecraft game and DLC sales have regularly boosted Microsoft’s bottom line.

Minecraft already has numerous non-gaming extensions in the area of merchandising. The franchise is also moving to the movie space with a film directed by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Rob McElhenney. Night at the Museum‘s Shawn Levy was at one time attached to direct a Goonies-style adventure take on the game, but Mojang vetoed this idea and Levy exited the project.

A release date for the Minecraft movie has not been announced.

Minecraft PC Reaches New Sales Milestone

I spent Christmas Eve playing ‘Minecraft’ with kids — and I learned something important

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Microsoft demos “Minecraft” on a HoloLens headset.

I spent much of my Christmas Eve this year playing “Minecraft” with my nephews — the same ones who taught me the ins and outs of the blockbuster game, which Microsoft bought for $2.5 billion in 2014.

This time, they weren’t really explictly teaching me anything about “Minecraft,” but I learned something anyway: “Minecraft” is a lot more than a video game. It’s a cultural touchstone; a thing that so many kids have in common that it just becomes a part of their lives.

This Christmas, we were joined by the kids’ cousins, who live a few hours down the road, meaning that they only see each other a handful of times per year. “Minecraft” gave them a common language. They just had to pull out their iPads, and they were off and playing.

Oh, sure, they play more action-oriented games like “N.O.V.A. 3,” a first-person shooter with robots in the “Titanfall” mold. Or they have this car racing game that I can never seem to remember the title of.

But they always come back to “Minecraft,” where they work together to build things, explore caves, and cause the ocassional explosion, forest fire, or massive volcanic eruption. Even though they were attached to their screens, they were still managing to spend quality time with each other.

GameBoy Minecraft

(Reddit)
A working Game Boy made entirely from “Minecraft” bricks.

And because they were able to visit each other’s “Minecraft” worlds, they were able to show off the things they had built, the villages and cave systems they had discovered, and the armor and weapons they had forged. They experimented and tried building new things.

Looking back, it’s probably a little healthier than all the hours that my cousins and I sunk into games like “Mortal Kombat Trilogy” and “GoldenEye 007” at family gatherings.

Then there’s the other thing I learned: One of the kids found and used an unauthorized app that lets them cheat at Minecraft, getting all the items and supplies they could ever want in the game’s more challenging Survival Mode. In a game that’s supposed to be about building, it’s a letdown that kids would want to short circuit the process. But also totally expected.

Ultimately, though, I find it really heartening that kids have settled on something that’s ultimately constructive as the defining video game of a generation. They could be shooting each other or running each other over, but they’re choosing to build instead.

I spent Christmas Eve playing ‘Minecraft’ with kids — and I learned something important

Teen Minecraft entrepreneur makes first £10,000 before his 16th birthday

Brandon Relph, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, spends a few hours each night on his business – and now employs 23 people across 13 countries

A tech entrepreneur has built up a computer game business employing more than 20 people and made £10,000 at the tender age 15.

Brandon Relph, who started his business last year, employs 23 people across 13 countries who help him build whatever his clients want in the mega-popular game Minecraft.

Brandon, who started his business goCreative with a German teenager called Florian, said: “I was first introduced to Minecraft when I was about 10 or 11.

 Minecraft entrepreneur Brandon Relph.
Entrepreneur: Brandon Relph has already made his first £10,000

“The game cost me £10. That was the best £10 I have ever spent.

“My aim now is to make £10,000 by my 16th birthday and I am already there with that one.”

 Minecraft entrepreneur Brandon Relph.
Plan: The boy combines his business with school and a busy social life

The teen began coding at the age of ten and since the age of 15 has spent a few hours each night working on his business, while still finding time for his homework.

Brandon, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, and Florian are currently reinvesting their profits with a hope to expand further.

Brandon added: “We both live with our parents and we don’t really need to take much of an income from the business.”

 Minecraft entrepreneur Brandon Relph.
Dream: The young man wants to become a spy

Businesses pay goCreative to advertises their products or services within Minecraft.

For instance, a film production company may want to recreate a scene from their film within the game.

Ambitious Brandon is aiming for A* grades in his GCSEs and hopes to study computer sciences at either Oxford or Cambridge so that he can fulfil his dream of being a spy.

Teen Minecraft entrepreneur makes first £10,000 before his 16th birthday