Say Goodbye To Flying Animals In ‘Minecraft’ With The Latest Xbox One Title Update
On the Minecraft forums, the developer further detailed exactly what was fixed in this week’s minor title update. As 4J Studios previously confirmed, the latest patch fixes an issue where split-screen players could experience flying and floating animals within the Xbox One edition of Minecraft. The new Minecraft update also helps prevent several game crashes and improves performance inside network games. The complete patch notes can be found below for convenience.
- Fixed an issue causing flying animals in a split-screen offline game.
- Fixed a memory leak causing crashes after prolonged play sessions.
- Fixed a problem with dropped items sinking below the ground.
- Fixed an issue with TNT explosions.
- Fixed a problem with baby villagers collision height.
- Fixed a few issues with players joining a network game.
Xbox owners can also pick up all three currently available Minecraft birthday skin packs as 4J Studios is currently offering the free add-ons to honor the third anniversary since Minecraft was initially launched on the Xbox 360 in 2012. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the free birthday DLC packs are now available to download on both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One for a limited time.
Minecraft – Console Editions
Roger Carpenter, who has served as the lead producer on both Xbox editions of Minecraft, reminded fans to pick up all three anniversary skin packs since they will soon go away for another year. Carpenter confirmed that the free Minecraft DLC will no longer be available to download staring Monday, May 18.
“You only have a few more days in which to download the 3x free Minecraft Birthday Skin Packs on your Xbox One or X360! gone 18th May!”
Every year, 4J Studios has released a new free skin pack on the launch anniversary of Minecraft. While the content is only made available for a few weeks, the developer rereleases each of the birthday packs alongside a new DLC every year. This marks the first time that any of the birthday add-ons have been released for the Xbox One since this is the first anniversary that has transpired since Minecraft was released on current-gen platforms last summer.
Say Goodbye To Flying Animals In ‘Minecraft’ With The Latest Xbox One Title Update
Minecraft Tops YouTube’s 10 Biggest Games
Sandbox game beats GTA, League of Legends, and Call of Duty to become most-watched game of all time on YouTube.
Despite being a relative newcomer, Minecraft topped the list, beating out other household names like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, FIFA, and The Sims.
Minecraft’s dominance isn’t all that surprising, given that the sandbox game has frequented YouTube popularity charts before. In 2014, Minecraft was searched on YouTube more often than Beyonce or Taylor Swift.
Check out the top ten list below, but note that YouTube didn’t provide any details on how wide the gap is between titles in terms of watchtime.
- Minecraft
- Grand Theft Auto (series)
- League of Legends
- Call of Duty (series)
- FIFA (series)
- Garry’s Mod
- The Sims (series)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s (series)
- Puzzles & Dragon
- Dota 2
YouTube also announced today that Let’s Play videos, like the ones PewDiePie releases for his 36.5 million subscribers, have together generated “billions of hours of watchtime” to date.
Mojang Confirm A New “Dungeon” Is Being Made For Minecraft
Jens Bergensten, one of the Minecraft developers working at Mojang, has recently announced that the team is working on a brand new dungeon and new features.
Describing what he was doing Jens confirmed, via the social networking website Twitter, that the team is “working on upcoming features!” Without going into any details he went on to add that currently it revolves around “A new ‘dungeon’, with blocks and mobs, [which is] very different from the other dungeons.”
Jens, who took over Minecraft’s development from creator Markus “Notch” Persson in 2011 to become the lead designer and developer, has not yet revealed if these new features will be released as part of Minecraft 1.9. Up until now we have been lead to believe that the 1.9 update will be focused around combat, with Mojang even reaching out to fans for their thoughts and opinions.
While Jens has not confirmed if they are linked, he has also posted a screenshot (seen above) of what happened during the design process of a new feature. It seems to have a similar structure to that of existing dungeons, with a sprawling network of rooms to be explored by players. Alongside the image he simply put that when working on new features for Minecraft they “sometimes produce surprising
Minecraft videos – why are they so addictive?
Minecraft, the online world that most parents simply don’t understand, is now officially the most watched game of all time on YouTube.
According to the video-sharing site, the game that allows children to build worlds made out of blocks – a bit like Lego – has also become the most searched-for term, behind “music”.
It bears out earlier research from YouTube video research firms Newzoo and Octoloy, which found that Minecraft material notched up more than 3.9 billion views on YouTube in March 2015 alone.
None of this will come as a surprise to the many parents who have become ‘Minecraft-widows’, desperately trying to entice their children to go on a bike ride, throw a ball, visit the park – anything other than while away the hours watching other people build things with little green bricks on the internet.
The fact that parents are worried about the varying levels of enthusiasm/obsession/addiction that their children display when playing Minecraft has been well-documented.
In numerous posts and articles online, they complain that the game is taking over their children’s lives, that they become irritated when they aren’t playing it, they neglect homework, chores, even going to the toilet, to keep on playing.
It has led some parents to ban or severely curtail Minecraft time. One father, explaining his decision to limit his twin boys’ access to the game, said simply: “Minecraft, as with all successfully addictive games, is endless. My kids’ childhood isn’t, and I want them to spend it learning about the real world, not a virtual one.”
But for other parents, children playing the game is OK – at least they are doing something vaguely creative – but spending hours mindlessly watching others playing it represents a whole new level of obsession.
Living with Minecraft fans – by Mark Ward, BBC technology correspondent
I’ve got two boys who, it is fair to say, are closer to being Minecraft fanatics rather than just fans.
That means they spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos of other people playing the game in its various guises. Right now, they probably watch more YouTube than regular TV.
Do I mind? A little, but I’m aware of the place that Minecraft occupies among my boys and their peers. Cutting them off would mean severing a strong link to their friends.
And that interest has a positive aspect too. It’s made them intimately familiar with Minecraft down to its most esoteric commands, is nurturing a desire to make their own mods for the game, has led them to run their own game server, make and edit videos and curate their own YouTube channel. It’s by no means passive consumption.
There is certainly a rich vein of Minecraft-related content on YouTube – around 42 million videos that range from tutorials offering ideas on new things to create, “Let’s Play” videos, essentially footage of other people playing the game, and new ways to modify their Minecraft worlds.
There are also hundreds of channels devoted to Minecraft, including popular ones such as Yogscast and SkyDoesMinecraft.
Some, dedicated specifically to children, have become internet sensations. Stampy, a YouTube channel narrated by a cat has more than 5.6 million subscribers and nearly 3.4 billion views. In 2014, it was the fourth most popular YouTube channel.
Others are less appropriate, narrated by what one parent described as “helpful but sweary” adults.
Bec Oakley is founder of MineMum, a blog intended to help guide parents through the minefield that is Minecraft.
She is not surprised that it has become so popular on YouTube.
“YouTube is this generation’s television. It’s how [children] entertain themselves, learn, share. Watching others play Minecraft allows them to extend their experience of the game, to share it with others and to learn from each other,” she told the BBC.
“There’s a huge amount of content available, and much of it is incredibly engaging, educational or useful for kids,” she added.
She acknowledged that Minecraft is “definitely a game that kids can become obsessed with, and watching YouTube can be part of that obsession”.
But she added that she doesn’t think it signals a problem in itself. “A better indication of that is how much time is being spent, and the flow on effect on health and mood.
“It’s important for parents to help kids enjoy their love of Minecraft in healthy ways – to talk with them about things like how to be healthy gamers, how to identify when they need a break, and to set rules for healthy game play with rewards for sticking to them.”
Mojang, the maker of Minecraft, never designed the game specifically for children.
The brainchild of Swedish videogame programmer and designer Markus “Notch” Persson, Minecraft was inspired by a series of other games such as Dwarf Fortress, amusement park simulator RollerCoaster Tycoon and strategy game Dungeon Keeper.
Eventually Mr Persson founded Mojang, which last year was bought by Microsoft.
His firm has always encouraged fans to put videos up on YouTube.
While Nintendo uses YouTube’s Content ID copyright system to make its claim videos featuring its games – accruing any advertising revenue they generate along the way, Mojang has always taken a more relaxed approach.
“We’ve essentially outsourced YouTube videos to a community of millions of people, and what they come up with is more creative than anything we could make ourselves… There’s no damage to us from YouTube,” Mojang’s chief operating officer Vu Bui told the Guardian newspaper last year.
At the same time as Minecraft has become a sensation, so too has YouTube begun to appeal to a younger audience – in February 2015, nine of the top 20 YouTube channels were aimed at youngsters.
And it isn’t just Minecraft videos that they are watching. My son, who never really took to Minecraft, will happily watch videos of other people playing Fifa. Often for hours.
And children do get obsessed with things. There is a long list of toys and games that have been greedily coveted by kids, only to be discarded a few years later.
And maybe Minecraft will also end up in the back of the toy cupboard – and children will return to watching cats on YouTube like every other self-respecting citizen.
What effect does playing Minecraft have on the brain?
There have been many studies, some controversial, into whether gaming affects the brain.
Researchers in China, for example, performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies on the brains of 18 college students who spent an average of 10 hours a day online, primarily playing games like World of Warcraft. Compared with a control group who spent less than two hours a day online, gamers had less grey matter (the thinking part of the brain).
And, as far back as the early 1990s, scientists warned that because video games only stimulate brain regions that control vision and movement, other parts of the mind responsible for behaviour, emotion, and learning could become underdeveloped.
In terms of specific studies on Minecraft, an article penned by psychologists Jun Lee and Robert Pasin in Quartz magazine, suggests it may not be as creative as parents might hope: “In Minecraft, kids can build and explore new worlds and manipulate them with unprecedented control and precision.
“The underlying creativity is baked into the program – the combinations, tools and materials – so the players have only one task to complete: design ever more complex structures. Though this seems like the pinnacle of an imaginative play experience, the kids we studied said they felt edgy and irritable after Minecraft sessions.”
The game, said the researchers, becomes “less about open-ended play and more about working to complete the never-ending stacks of buildings.”
You Can Play Pokemon Inside Minecraft
To think, in 2013 we’d get excited about people building Pokemon maps in Minecraft. In 2015, it takes a lot more than that: it takes recreating Pokemon systems in the game, from Pokeballs to the little (and big) pocket monsters themselves.
Pixelmon has been around for years, but we’ve never written about it, so it’s time to fix that. It’s an attempt by fans to bring as much Pokemon to Minecraft as the latter’s code will allow. Which, Minecraft being Minecraft, is a lot.
You can choose a Pokemon, summon them then give them commands. Pretty cool!
In terms of how it all works, the animals of the game have been replaced with wild Pokemon, which you can walk up to and capture. You can then use them in fights against other Pokemon trainers; they’ll appear in the game world and go at it until one of them faints (as you can see below).
Just like regular Pokemon! Only on your PC, and in full 3D.
WOW! Flynn’s Log is on Choosy Bookworm today! Check it out! https://www.stonemarshall.com/FL1-CBW @choosybookworm
Thanks, Choosy Bookworm, for sharing Flynn’s Log with your readers.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
Paul Blart heads off to Las Vegas with his daughter in tow for a mall cop convention but, once again, they find themselves at the wrong place, at the wrong time, as she stumbles upon a gang of art thieves in the middle of a heist.
What we thought:
Kevin James’ losing streak of starring in terrible movie after terrible movie continues, as he once again dons the mantle of Paul Blart to deliver what is easily the worst mainstream film (it’s going to be tough to beat the arthouse awfulness of Saint Laurent) to come out so far this year.
It’s not quite the worst film that James has ever shown up in, as its not as offensive as those ghastly Adam Sandler movies in which he always takes on a thankless supporting role. This is, however, the point where there really is no more giving Kevin James the benefit of the doubt just because he was perfectly amiable in the equally amiable sitcom, The King of Queens. James has now reached the point where, like Sandler himself, his name alone is enough of a red flag to send all but the most hapless of masochists running in the opposite direction.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is nominally supposed to be just a bit of a light-hearted romp for younger audiences and, as such, nothing really to become too cross about. And yet, there’s no shaking the sense that this condescending attitude towards its young audience is every bit as offensive as the worst idiot-baiting sex comedies out there (and would you know it, there’s one of those out this week as well). Yes, I realise that kids today are raised on stuff like the seriously psychedelically creepy Teletubbies but, damnit man, kids are much, much smarter than anything in the cash-grabbing cynicism of Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 could ever hope to suggest.
It’s not just that the film is brain-dead and utterly unfunny to anyone over the age of ten, it’s that it’s hard to believe that even the most undiscerning of young kids (and they can’t be too young, it is rated PG after all) will think that this garbage stands up at all to genuinely funny, light-hearted romps like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series or to all but the absolute worst of the thousands of animated kids-movies to come out each year.
I freely admit to laughing at least a few times while watching something like Diary of a Wimpy Kid so it’s hardly the case that years of watching brilliantly intelligent and grown-up comedy like Seinfeld or Arrested Development has completely robbed me of the ability to laugh at decent juvenile humour – but, not only did I not laugh once, not even by mistake, during the entirety of Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 but there were a number of theoretically “humourous situations” where my jaw genuinely and involuntarily dropped at the sheer, pulverizing force of just how absolutely unfunny they were.
I’ve always believed comedy to be subjective, but these scenes seriously test that particular theory. So utterly anti-funny are these “comedic set pieces” that anyone who actually laughs at them should get to checking themselves into their local insane asylum post-freakin’-haste. And I’m only sort of kidding. I really, truly do not want to meet anyone whose brain is wired in such a way that they actually laugh at these… these…these…ugh. And, no, I can’t actually remember any of these scenes in any sort of detail, of course. Every time my memory comes within fifty miles of any one of these, haha, “jokes”, a defensive amnesia immediately kicks in to protect my brain from imploding in on itself. It’s not funny is what I’m saying.
But wait, there’s more. Not only is Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 utterly bereft of laughs and, as you may have guessed, badly written, badly directed, badly acted and dumber than a colony of Kardashians, it also has the temerity to try and pull at our heartstrings as we see our obnoxious, self-centred, childish, stupid (oh so stupid) “hero” try and come to grips with his only daughter getting the hell out of dodge and trying to move to a college that is only a couple of miles away, rather than, ya know, in another galaxy or something. “Why does my daughter want to live away from me? I can think of a reason or two, Mr Blart… And, yes, of course, these vomitous sentimental scenes are all set to the most gag-reflex-pressing instrumental scores imaginable. Of course they are!
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, of course there’s a kinda unbelievably “hawt” woman who does indeed spend the entire film trying to fight off her attraction to this unfathomably ghastly man-child. But then, you knew this already, didn’t you? It really is that kind of film.
Zoella and Minecraft battle back against demise of paper book
At the dawn of the e-book era, it was feared the advent of new technology would eventually see the demise of the physical page.
But those worries should be put firmly to rest, according to a study, as the rate of digital book sales is slowing enough to end the debate.
The chief executive of the Publishers Association declared the question over the future of the physical book “redundant”, as research showed that children’s books had their best year of sales since Harry Potter.
Furthermore, the rise, of 11 per cent, has been inspired in no small part by the digital world, with bestsellers including books inspired by the popular computer game Minecraft and a novel written by the YouTube “video blogger” Zoella.
Publisher sales of books: physical and digital
The Publishers Association’s annual report, which takes into account physical and digital sales from more than 100 British publishing houses, showed that the overall book industry is worth £4.3 billion to Britain.
Since 2010, physical book sales have fallen by 13 per cent. Digital accounted for 17 per cent of book sales last year, but the rate of its increase as a proportion of the market has slowed. E-books accounted for 15 per cent of sales in 2013, 12 per cent in 2012, 8 per cent in 2011 and 5 per cent in 2010.
Sales of children’s books rose 11 per cent to £349 million, making 2014 the most successful year for the genre since 2007, when JK Rowling’s final Harry Potter book was released. For the publishing market as a whole, digital and physical, sales fell 2 per cent last year.
Cally Poplak, managing director of Egmont UK who contributed to the report, said: “The decline of reading for pleasure and the rise of digital have dominated the headlines recently, but here is the real story: 2014 saw the best performance for the children’s book industry since 2007 – the year of publication of the seventh Harry Potter novel.
Best sellers of 2014
| 1 | Awful Auntie | Williams, David | September 2014 | 553,921 |
| 2 | Minecraft: the official construction handbook | March 2014 | 548,017 | |
| 3 | Minecraft: the official combat handbook | March 2014 | 466,897 | |
| 4 | Minecraft: the official redstone handbook | November 2013 | 406,132 | |
| 5 | Minecraft: the official beginner’s handbook | October 2013 | 387,647 | |
| 6 | The long haul | November 2014 | 381, 842 | |
| 7 | Girls online | November 2014 | 237,598 | |
| 8 | Gangsta Granny | Williams, David | February 2013 | 223,700 |
| 9 | Ratburger | Williams, David | February 2014 | 175,570 |
| 10 | Beano Annual 2015 | July 2014 | 167,014 |
“Children still love print; parents still value reading. The world of the child is squeezed for time, but books continue to have a special place. The golden age for children’s books continues.”
Hard copy fiction sales fell 4 per cent, although the Publishers Association still believes the book market is “buoyant”.
Richard Mollett said: “The main message from The PA’s statistics – as well as a variety of other quantitative and anecdotal data points – is that the question of how physical books will fare in the digital world is redundant; as is the corollary question of whether publishing will successfully adapt to the online age.
“Those who ever tried to maintain that this was a binary choice have been shown to be have been posing the question in the wrong way.
“It is not a question of either physical or digital winning out, but rather of the sector coalescing around a balanced marketplace where all formats have a place.”
Zoella and Minecraft battle back against demise of paper book
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Turns 3, Mojang Celebrates With Skins Giveaway for 20 Million Players
“Minecraft: Xbox 360” is three years old, and Mojang is turning the occasion into one, big, fun-filled occasion.
Company officials revealed this week it will be marking the momentous occasion by “giving 20 million players of Xbox 360 and Xbox One users a heap of colorful skins.”
From May 7-17, users will be able to download up to three packs for free. Among the selections are a brand-new Mojangstas bundle and a few cheeky extras from the second and first birthday Skin Packs. Company officials add that while some veteran players may already have some of the older packs, this marks the first time any of the features have been available to Xbox One users.
Shack News reports last year’s pack featured a number of Microsoft’s most iconic character creations, including Conker, Master Chief, and even Viva Pinata.
In its product description, Amazon salutes “Minecraft” as equipped with new features uniquely designed for 360 console users. “Crafting has never been faster and easier,” the promo adds.
In short, the console puts the parameters of the game in the mind and hands of the users, essentially allowing one to do whatever with the game that their imagination can conjure.
Back in September of 2014, Geek Wire reported Microsoft purchased Mojang in a deal valued at $2.5 billion that instantly gave the tech giant retailer a far wider presence in the ultra-competitive industry of video games.
At that time, Mojang officials explained creator’s Markuss “Notch” Persson’s decision to sell by noting it was never his intention to have the “responsibility of owning a company of such global significance.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft Xbox chief Phil Spencer celebrated the acquisition by raving, “Minecraft inspires millions to create together, connects people across the globe, and is a community that is among the most active and passionate in the world.”
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Turns 3, Mojang Celebrates With Skins Giveaway for 20 Million Players
Happy Birthday Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition!
Fire up your Xbox, load up Minecraft, then throw a freshly-baked cake at your television! It’s the most appropriate way to celebrate Minecraft: 360 Edition’s birth!1It’s three years old! If console Minecraft was a human it would be gaining independence and learning how to use zips.
To celebrate this monumental occasion2 we’re giving the 20 million players on Xbox 360 and Xbox One a heap of colourful skins. From today until the 17th of May three packs will be available to download for free. There’s a brand-new bundle featuring veteran Mojangstas and a few cheeky extras, our 2nd Birthday Skin Pack from last year, and our 1st Skin Pack from Minecraft’s first birthday.
Veteran 360 players might already have the older packs, but this is the first time any of them have been available on Xbox One. Be sure to snap them up, early(ish) adopters.
Big thanks to 4J Studios for doing such a great job on the console versions and massive thanks to you for playing our game, no matter your platform of choice.
Have a great day!
@bopogamel
[Video Games 101] What Is Minecraft and Why Do Kids Like It So Much?
Parents who aren’t in love with video games in the first place have a hard time understanding what all the fuss is about. They’re glad their kids are into something that’s supposed to be educational, but they’re worried their love of Minecraft is slipping into pathological territory—an obsession. Sometimes this fear causes parents to fall back on some not-so-helpful but oh-so-common behaviors—worry and avoidance. Or they overreact (“No more Minecraft for you, EVER!”), which can be just as bad.
Here’s how popular Minecraft is: there are at least 54 million copies out there. It’s available on PC and Mac, but also on Xbox and mobile. The game is HUGE.
Not only do kids love playing it, they love watching people play it on Youtube. The pint-sized fans of Captain Sparklez and Mr. Stampy Cat are legion.
How To Understand Minecraft Love
What you need is practical rules that fit your kids, but if you don’t know what you’re making rules about, you can run into trouble. Compare kids’ love of Minecraft to your love of a TV series, a musical group, or a sport. What if your loved ones were telling you that your fan favorites were bad for you, but they didn’t know a thing about them? Wouldn’t that cause a lot of unnecessary friction?
Sooooo, it makes sense, doesn’t it, that you should learn about Minecraft? You should talk to your kid about it? And you should try playing it.
Wait! It’s not that hard. Really! Check out the video. Simone is teaching Curtis about Minecraft from the very ground up so that he can understand why his son Sebastian likes it so much.
A blogger named Minecraft Mum has a list of excellent suggestions for how to set limits on Minecraft time. But she agrees with us: you really need to try playing it yourself to understand Minecraft love.
What Minecraft Is—Magic, Basically
Remember when you were a kid and you got a giant barrel of blocks or Legos or, if you’re really old, Tinker Toys, and you dumped them on your carpet and started building? Well, Minecraft is like that, except the blocks are magical and you make them yourself from an endless magical supply of ingredients. And any time you want, you can magically summon your friends to help you build. That’s right! They appear in your living room with their own sets of fresh magical blocks and you can work on cool structures together. You can talk and laugh and play make-believe with the things you build. That’s the appeal of Minecraft.
Minecraft is not really a game. It’s more like a toy. And it’s a virtual world where you can make just about anything. In Minecraft, people make games. And Minecrafters have made castles, villages, cities, ships, spaceships, and even fantasy worlds.
How Minecraft Works
If you watch the video, you’ll see from the beginning how it works. You’ll watch novice Minecraft player Curtis Vredenburg appear in a random landscape and find a tree. He punches the tree to make wood. He makes the wood into planks and makes the planks into a crafting table. (And once you have a crafting table, you can make anything.)
Curtis started playing in Survival Mode, but there’s another mode called Creative Mode that doesn’t have any monsters.
The Virtual World
Minecraft is its own world. It has physics just like the real world does. It even has a day and night cycle, and at night hostile creatures spawn. (It is possible to disable the day-night cycle, but most people don’t.)
Online Play
You don’t have to play Minecraft online with other people, also called multiplayer mode. You can play it in single-player mode.
Most kids like to play multiplayer because—friends! Duh, Mom and Dad! They get to chat with their friends and play with them making things or fighting monsters or just goofing around.
There are ways you can play Minecraft on a local-area network—that is, with only the people you want to play with. Novice parents probably shouldn’t get into that. For now, just get on a server and try it out.
Of course, like any online world, Minecraft has other people (of all ages) in it who will tease or bully others. This is not a Minecraft problem; it’s not even an Internet problem exclusively; it’s a human problem. Most everyone needs to learn to deal with bad behavior from others whether it’s online or in real life. Here are some tips.
The Benefits of Learning About Minecraft
It’s pretty simple: When you know about Minecraft, you can make rules that make sense to you and your child. It’s not good for kids to play Minecraft too much, but there’s probably a play schedule that makes sense for your kids and your family.
[Video Games 101] What Is Minecraft and Why Do Kids Like It So Much?
HoloLens was key driver of Microsoft’s Mojang acquisition
Augmented reality tech was a big reason behind last year’s surprise takeover
Back in September, Microsoft swooped for Mojang and purchased the Minecraft developer for $2.5bn.
Now the corporation’s new chief executive has revealed that HoloLens was a key driver in that acquisition.
The augmented reality technology was unveiled earlier this year, with the only gaming application demonstrated so far being a version of Minecraft that spans across the user’s living room.
In an interview with the New York Times, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said this device was a big reason behind the acquisition of Mojang.
“Let’s have a game that, in fact, will fundamentally help us change new categories,” he said. “HoloLens was very much in the works then, and we knew it.”
Despite the intriguing premise of HoloLens, Nadella is keen to avoid predicting what impact the technology will have, pointing to recent innovations that didn’t prove to be as influential as their creators expected.
“I don’t want to overhype it like Google Glass,” he said. “I want us to be deliberate about what it is.”
‘Minecraft’ club building at Olean Public Library
Minecraft
Jalethyn Miller (foreground) and Keegan Evans, along with 28 other children from the community, participated in the Minecraft Club on Wednesday at the Olean Public Library on North Second Street.
OLEAN — The children at the Olean Public Library shouted with enthusiasm when they found out they would build a battlefield or statue for their Minecraft Club project at the club’s final session Wednesday.
The new “Minecraft”-based event, which was held every Tuesday in April, will be offered again at 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays in June, said librarian Sheryl Soborowski. “Minecraft” is a video game that gives players almost complete freedom to shape the virtual world around them.
Soborowski said that in addition to fun, “Minecraft” promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics skills for players of all ages.
The free program was open to kids ages 6 to 14 and regularly attracted about two dozen youngsters. The youngsters used 16 laptop computers owned by the library, while others brought their own devices. The laptops, which are also used for adult tutoring, can access the Internet.
Librarian Jennifer Stickles said Wednesday’s challenge, picked at random by one of the children, asked the youngsters to build a battlefield or statue with “Minecraft.”
“We did one challenge a week,” Stickles said, noting the youngsters were able to pick from two challenges Wednesday because it was their final session.
Soborowski said the battlefield could be built from anything available in the vast array of “sandbox” inventory available through the game.
“It can be anything completely spawned from their imagination, which is what ‘Minecraft’ is all about,” Soborowski explained. “They can decide to make it a Civil War battlefield, a science fiction-based battlefield, and make aliens to match their battlefields” within a variety of backdrops.
A teen volunteer with the program, Jonathan Miller, said he was making a statue in a battlefield from materials provided through the game.
“You can do whatever you want,” Jonathan said. “There are millions of people (who play ‘Minecraft’), and each one has their own ideas for this game.”
His partner at the next computer, Ryan Dutcher, said he was creating a Civil War battlefield with Union and Confederate soldiers.
“It’s fun, yeah,” Ryan said while barely looking up from his computer screen.
Danielle Kielar of Olean said her daughter Lauren and twin sons, Thomas and Brennan, enjoy the program because of the other children at the event.
“They meet other kids who like ‘Minecraft’ … and it gets them to learn new techniques” on the computer, Kielar said.
Sarah Zalwsky said her son, Manoah, attended the session because he enjoys playing “Minecraft” at home.
“I love it because it gives him a chance to interact with other kids,” Zalwsky said. “They make new friends, and it keeps their minds going.”
Lori Tupper said her two boys, Jack and Oliver, 8 and 7 respectively, enjoy “Minecraft” because “it’s the huge craze right now.”
Playable Female Characters Are Important
Playable female characters in games are currently a novelty. The vast majority of games cast players as a male protagonist, and it doesn’t surprise anyone. However, when a game allows players to play as a woman, it is delightfully surprising – and that’s what’s wrong with it. We shouldn’t be surprised by the presence of playable female characters – we should be surprised by their absence. A study featured on the Washington Post website in August 2014 found that women make up 48 percent of the gaming population, while the remaining 52 percent are male. Adult women also outnumber boys under eighteen in the gaming community. The presence of women in the community is steadily increasing – in 2010, women made up just 40 percent of the gaming population.
Mojang recently announced that Minecraft will be getting a free update that will introduce the character Alex, a female equivalent to Steve. In the post that announced the update, Mojang said, “jolly old Steve doesn’t really represent the diversity of our playerbase.” This is completely accurate, as is shown by the statistics cited above. Mojang knows their audience, and they’re smart enough to realize that a sizable part of their playerbase is made up of female gamers who might not want to play as a man. From a business and customer service perspective, Mojang made a smart move that will undoubtedly attract more players to the game while exciting current players at the same time.
The announcement of Alex sparked headlines like “Minecraft Finally Added a Female Default Character” and “You can finally choose to play as a girl in Minecraft.” The key word that keeps popping up is “finally.” This is something that the community wants. The praise that Mojang has received for adding a female character is an indication that the inclusion of women in video games is a huge step in the right direction.
The Call of Duty series is usually seen as a very stereotypically masculine franchise. As a woman, people are surprised when I tell them that I’ve played nearly every game in the series. “I like to play online matches to blow off steam,” I say, but people are still a bit surprised. Treyarch, however, understands this. I am far from the only woman who plays Call of Duty from time to time. However, there has never been a playable female character in a Call of Duty campaign – until now.
Female soldiers were first announced for Call of Duty: Black Ops III in the game’s announcement trailer. A recent preview by GameSpot’s Chris Watters stated that Black Ops III “is the first CoD game that allows the player to choose the gender of the campaign protagonist, and while there is separate voice acting for both male and female characters, the script is roughly the same.” While 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts was the first CoD game to bring playable female characters into the game, this was only available in the multiplayer section of the game. Black Ops III allows players to experience the campaign through a woman’s eyes, and that is an extremely exciting feature.
Game developers have obviously been working on integrating women into their games, and both Mojang and Treyarch deserve the credit that they’re getting. However, the problem here is that a playable female character is news – it’s abnormal. The final reveal in Metroid is still seen as one of the most important and shocking moments in gaming, because it never crossed anybody’s mind that Samus was anything but male. Since then, we’ve seen mostly male protagonists. There are quite a few exceptions that have done especially well. Many RPGs (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, World of Warcraft, Neverwinter, etc.) have allowed female players to play through deep and exciting stories as characters that they can personally identify with. Having the choice between a male character and a female character also provides more role-playing opportunities for players of any gender identity. Games like The Last of Us, Borderlands, Resident Evil, and Alien: Isolation have shown gamers that female characters can be strong and fierce, just like male characters. The recent Tomb Raider re-boot transformed Lara Croft from a pixelated sex symbol into a role model. This is exciting! Things are slowly getting better in some aspects. However, if we want to take this issue seriously and inspire change, we need to keep discussing it – and discussing it means also talking about ways that the situation is not getting better.
I remember playing Forza Horizon 2 last year and being shocked that I couldn’t change the gender or appearance of the driver that’s supposed to be “me.” This isn’t a game like Halo or Gears of War, where the story relies on the protagonist being male, nor is it a game like Metroid or American McGee’s Alice, where the story depends on a female main character. Forza Horizon 2‘s protagonist is completely silent. Characters like this are just lenses through which we see the world that the developers have created. There’s really no reason for these types of characters to be gendered at all. But if someone feels like making the character’s gender clear, the player should at least choose whether they want to play as a man or a woman for the dozens of hours that they will spend playing. In Persona 3 Portable, the player was allowed to choose between a male or female protagonist. The change was so well received that it seemed obvious that Persona 5 would also feature the same choice. Unfortunately, as we have recently been made aware, it seems that the title will do no such thing.
It seems that for every step forward, there is a step back. With shadows of Gamergate still floating through the industry, it’s not exactly the best time to be a woman in the games industry, or even a female gamer – but we’re all still here. We love video games. We love the people that create them and the worlds that they craft. And, most of all, we love the way that gaming brings people together. By “we,” I don’t just mean women – this is about the entire gaming community. We have the power to take steps forward, to support the presence of playable female characters in games, to support the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters in games, and to support each other through our shared passion.
I’m not calling for any sort of intense action here. I just want to contribute to this crucially important conversation that the entire gaming community should be engaging in. Our love of games connects us, and we can use this bond to change things. If we can stand together as a diverse community with open minds, there is no limit to what we can achieve.
Hopefully, when a game featuring a female playable character is released a few years from now, nobody will be writing articles about it.
What video game would go in your hall of fame?
Which is better? Minecraft or FIFA? Pac Man or Pokemon? Sonic or Super Mario?
That’s the virtually impossible question that a panel of gaming experts have to answer.
Thousands of fans have voted to produce a list of 15 of the greatest games of all time.
They’ve been shortlisted for the first ever World Video Game Hall of Fame in America.
Here is the full list of finalists:
- Angry birds
- Doom
- FIFA
- The Legend of Zelda
- Minecraft
- The Oregon Trail
- Pacman
- Pokemon
- Pong
- The Sims
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Space Invaders
- Super Mario Bros.
- Tetris
- World of Warcraft
We’ll know which game’s made it into the exclusive club on 4th June.
You told us which game was your favourite.
Your comments
My favourite game is Animal Crossing: New Leaf because there’s always something new you can do.
Ellie, Pontypridd
I like FIFA because you can make transfers. You can also make your own team and develop it.
Musaab, London
The video game that I would choose to go in the hall of fame is Mario Kart because it’s a really fun game.
Jessica, London
I like FIFA because I love football and I also like Minecraft because you can explore new creatures and new castles.
Zakariya, London
I think Pokemon is the best game because you can catch as many Pokemon as you want.
Oskar, Scotland
Minecraft is my favourite game because you can do whatever you want and you can fight different monsters.
Eddy, Northampton
I love Minecraft, Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds.
Finlay
Kingdom Rush because I love the feel you get when you play the game.
Dylan, South Lanarkshire
I think Crash Bandicoot should be nominated. It is the best game ever, I used to play it when I was little and I loved it.
Dwayne, London
I think that it should be Minecraft because it’s like lots of games in one. You can modify it and when you do it’s like playing a completely different game! Definitely Minecraft!
Joe, Scotland
My favourite game is Terraria.
Jack, Basildon
Tekken, Spyro or Dino Crisis are my favourite games but from the list Mario bros has to be the best game because it’s challenging and fun. Even though it’s been around for years it’s still an Amazing game.
Ellys, South Wales
FIFA because I’m quite good at it and it’s just a great game!
Katy, Essex
Sims is my favourite game I’ve been playing it for ages. I had some of Sims 2, all of Sims 3, and now I’m on to Sims 4. I just love it that much.
Paige, Manchester
I think FIFA because it is really fun to play and you can learn new skills from it.
William, Buckinghamshire
My game to make the video game hall of fame is Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time because instead of following a path you explore a fantasy world.
Daniel
Minecraft and The Sims 3 and 4. I like these games because they’re really addictive and enjoyable.
Caitlin, Pontypool, Wales
My favourite game is not listed but mine is Animal Crossing New Leaf because there’s something new you can do everyday and so much fun I play on it for hours and hours.
Ellie, Pontypridd
I would put Terraria in the hall of game because it is awesome!
Into the Minecraft world
KIDS could get addicted to Minecraft. That is what I have heard. So, I dragged my feet when it came to allowing my daughter to play the game. But eventually, I caved in. This was after weeks that my daughter continuously watched videos on Minecraft, kept singing Minecraft song parodies and constantly begged us to get the game. It was her hard earned prize for improving her reading skill.
At first, I did not understand what the fuss is. I did not like the pixelated squares of everything in Minecraft. And then when you get into the game, there is absolutely no specific objective! I mean, in Plants versus Zombies, you kill all the zombies and Dr. Zomboss. In Clash of Clans, you attack and defend and level up.
In Minecraft, there is no leveling up. Sure there are monsters, but you don’t really have to kill them. And there is even the creative mode where there are no monsters at all.
I was like, “What kind of a game is this? And people get addicted to this?”
But in an effort to understand and guide our five year old in this Minecraft game and hopefully thwart addiction to it, my husband installed the game in each of our iPads. And because we are in the same wifi network, I can create my world or visit the world my daughter created and vice-versa. In effect, as a family, we can share the Minecraft experience.
And that is what we have been doing for several days now. And in the process, it has been an eye opener for me. For starters, I realized that in this game, our roles have been reversed. My daughter is the one guiding us in crafting, telling us the names of the different blocks that you get from mining and warning us of the different powers of the monsters. And she relishes the role! She feels so adult like in being able to discuss the mechanics of the Minecraft world to her parents.
And I was really blown away at how creative she can get in this game. She made waterfalls, cars and multi-level houses for her and her villagers. She created mazes and games for those visiting her world. And with the help of her dad, she made a video of a tour of her world.
And not only that. Through Minecraft, I got a good glimpse of how she understands and processes things. You see, one time she accidentally blew up her massive house and its many villagers and wolves with TNT. She cried and wailed at how sad she was. But later she showed me the grave that she made for those that perished because of her mistake. And she told me she made those graves in order to give her respect to them and so that she will always remember them.
And all these I learned because I played Minecraft with my daughter. My fear that she will be addicted to Minecraft is still there. And I still vigilantly monitor the number of hours that she spends in playing the game.
Some of you might think that it is a game that should not even be played in the first place. Some of you might even think that all types of computer or tablet games should not be played by kids at all.
I would love for my kiddo to play the same outdoor games I played in childhood. But I think that theirs is a slightly different generation in a slightly different world. It would be a futile endeavor to keep her from playing this kind of games. So I will do the next best thing – meet her halfway, play with her, guide her and enjoy the experience along the way.
Cheers to being our kids’ playmate!
Children dress up in their favorite Minecraft outfits
Ten-year-old Jillian and Colby Wagner love Minecraft and are dressed in their favorite Minecraft outfits.
Minecraft is an online video game that allows players to construct three-dimensional virtual worlds out of textured cubes. As they build cities, they combat villains, like the Creeper, an exploding creature whose attack is dreaded by all Minecraft players.
Although their parents, Brad and Jamie Wagner, have to limit the kids’ screen time, they like that Minecraft isn’t your typical video game.
“Minecraft allows the kids to use their imagination with building, and it teaches them survival skills by having them create resources like farms and crops,” Jamie Wagner said.
Jillian and Colby like it because they can play together; collaborating and helping each other build their virtual environments.
“I love Minecraft. It’s my favorite thing to play,” Jillian said.
Jillian and Colby are both wearing Minecraft T-shirts and stocking caps depicting a Minecraft creeper. Both were Christmas gifts from their grandparents. Jillian collects microfigures, and she is holding the Minecraft character Steve on a horse. Colby collects Minecraft Legos and plush toys.
“We wear our shirts to school a lot, but we can’t wear the hat in school, just to school,” Colby said.
Minecraft adds free female avatar to console versions
This week, Minecraft on all Xbox and PlayStation consoles will receive an update. While some of the new features will vary between the two platforms, they will all share one new addition in common: a free set of female “skins” for the game’s main character.
The “Alex” skin pack, which launched on the PC version in August and the mobile version in December, will broaden the default options for the game’s avatar for all console players on Wednesday. Alex’s default style is a mess of red hair tied up in a ponytail that has been drawn in such a way that it appears as pixels on her shoulder. Alex, just like the male “Steve” character before her, comes in eight versions in all, which means Alex also gets a “boxer,” “cyclist,” and even “Scottish” style. (There’s one exception: “Tuxedo Steve” is balanced with “Pantsuit Alex.”)
This news follows last week’s Temple Run 2 update, which added the series’ first free default female character. These changes come after a 12-year-old girl wrote a Washington Post story in March in which she concluded that most popular “endless runner” games on iOS and Android forced users to pay if they wanted to switch from a male character to a female one—and that over half of the games didn’t offer female characters at all. As that author concluded, “these biases affect young girls like me. The lack of girl characters implies that girls are not equal to boys and they don’t deserve characters that look like them.”
On Wednesday, PlayStation versions of Minecraft will also get the Simpsons skin pack that launched on Xbox in January, while the Xbox 360 version will be updated with more of the songs that newer-gen versions have already had for some time. (And if you care, there are more 360 achievements as well).
Minecraft Scores The Most YouTube Views Last Month By A Wide Margin
Newzoo and Octoly have begun tracking what games on YouTube are attracting the most views. The two companies have created a list that breaks down their total views, their share of the top 20 games on YouTube, and how the content breaks down between official sources and fan-made videos.
You can go to Newzoo’s website to see the full list, but the top ten games are as follows.
1. Minecraft – 3.934 billion views
2. Grand Theft Auto – 1.393 billion views
3. Five Nights At Freddy’s – 1.273 billion views
4. Call of Duty – 851 million views
5. FIFA – 770 million views
6. Garry’s Mod – 690 million views
7. League of Legends – 667 million views
8. Mario – 547 million views
9. Counter-Strike – 362 million views
10. Dota 2 – 282 million views
Minecraft Scores The Most YouTube Views Last Month By A Wide Margin
Australian Government Invites Minecraft Fans To Design National Park
The next Australian national park could be designed by Minecraft fans, in a new project by the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges natural-resources management board.
The South Australian State Government is inviting young fans to design their ideal national park via the sandbox game Minecraft.
The winning designs will guide the next national-park upgrades in the area, worth around $10 million. The competition is open for upper primary school students in years four, five, six, and seven in Adelaide and Adelaide Hills. Participants will be judged on their design’s sustainability and realism. This could include bike trails, wheelchair accessibility, and campsites. To be considered, all entries must include five screenshots of their creation and a short three-minute narrated video clip of the scene.
Australian Government Invites Minecraft Fans To Design National Park
Enter to win Flynn’s Log 1 in Paperback
Enter by Oct 31