Minecraft
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Kinect meets Minecraft, animates a giant statue in your honor (video)
This isn't the first time Kinect and Minecraft have crossed paths -- scavenge the 'nets and you'll find plenty of user interface examples. What Nathan Viniconis has done, however, is different. What you're looking at above is rendered instantly by way of using what the Kinect sees and constructing an in-world monument in real time. Not only that, but the project has now evolved into a sort of stop motion animation. It's pretty impressive, even for those who have little to no idea what Minecraft is. All the nitty gritty details are available on the project page. The video, of course, is after the break.
Kinect hack: Minecraft statues (now with animation!)
Building upon the previous Kinect hack that allows you to scanify yourself into MineCraft, this latest update allows you to scale said model and, even better, now supports animations for up to three seconds. Imagine it: your faithful recreation of BioShock can now have an actual moving, talking head of Andrew Ryan greeting you upon entry into Rapture. Who wouldn't want that? Or you could just tease your cat with a laser pointer like in the video demonstration past the break, we guess.
Block mesa plays Portal's 'Still Alive' in Minecraft
This is a triumph: Using the musical blocks introduced in the latest version of indie world-builder Minecraft, YouTube user Tritex989 has managed to re-create Portal's theme song, "Still Alive," in its entirety -- minus some notes and with some transposing, due to the blocks' two-octave limitation.
Minecraft dispensers rigged to exchange cake for death
Need some inspiration for exciting applications of Minecraft's recently added Dispenser block? Why not use it to distribute delicious cakes to hungry adventurers? Also, why not hook up that cake machine to a ten-story-tall wall of flaming arrow cannons? Watch the video below for a deadly demo.
Minecraft beta 1.2 update adds new recipes, squid and cake
As if we needed more reasons to love Minecraft, along comes update 1.2 which manages to somehow set the bar even higher. Not only does the update add note blocks with which players can create full musical instruments -- we're excited for the impending video of Dexys Midnight Runners' "Come On, Eileen" recreated in the game -- but there are also dyes you can harvest from flowers and a new Lapus Lazuli stone, plus additional crafting recipes including dessert-time staple, cake. We're less excited for the impending Portal jokes. Give it up, already! The update also adds squids (to harvest black ink from as part of the new dye mechanic) and squashes several bugs, including better multiplayer synching and crashing when loading levels. There is a lot about this update that is still uncovered and if you want to join in on the hunt, we suggest you start with this thread on the official forums. Happy crafting!
Minecraft becomes a million-seller
As of the writing of this post, the Minecraft stats page shows that 1,000,049 people have purchased Markus "Notch" Persson's indie construction sensation -- 31.5 percent of all of the registered players. The total currently doesn't count unredeemed gift codes, either, of which there are probably more than a few in this post-hoiiday season. That's an awful lot of copies sold of a game that just hit beta. Conversely, that's an awful lot of people willing to pay money to alpha- or beta-test a game. If you'd like to get in on this phenomenon on the ground floor (and then build the rest of the floors out of stone cubes), it's still on sale for €14.95, a 25% discount active for the duration of the beta.
Kinect Hacks: Build a monument to yourself in Minecraft
Behold, a singularity of internet phenomena! Nathan Viniconis has modded Kinect to capture images that are imported into Minecraft, creating gigantic monuments out of household objects. "Household objects?" Who are we kidding -- you're going to turn yourself into Mount Rushmore.
This week on The MMO Report
This week on The MMO Report, intrepid host Casey Schreiner kicks things off with a bit about Duncan Jones' take on the World of Warcraft film, a story we mentioned earlier this week here on Massively. He also takes a look at the final class roster video for BioWare's Star Wars The Old Republic. The clip focuses on the trooper class, and Casey can't help but mention the "blaster inaccuracy and downright buffoonery" associated with the iconic white armor thanks to the original trilogy. Next up is a blurb about GamersFirst's plans for APB Reloaded, followed by a look at RIFT's release date and subscription options. Casey also touts the indie smash Minecraft as showing the world that "the MMO community is begging for a new kind of game experience" and asks developers to take note of what one man (Minecraft designer Markus Persson) managed to do sans a multi-million dollar budget. Finally, in the absence of reader mail, Casey turns the requisite mailbag segment on its head by reading his own personal letter to the audience. Check out all the shenanigans after the cut, and be sure to catch The MMO Report every Thursday on G4TV.
Independent Games Festival 2011 competition finalists announced
Out of nearly 400 entries, the 2011 Independent Games Festival has narrowed down finalists into six categories for another year's festivities, culminating in the actual awards presentation on March 2. Featured prominently in this year's awards are world creator Minecraft and the terrifying Amnesia: The Dark Descent, both taking three category nominations. Supergiant Games' Bastion and QCF Design's Desktop Dungeons each earned two. Aside from being granted free passes to this year's Game Developer's Conference (where the IGF awards show happens), finalists must present "playable versions of their game to all GDC attendees at the IGF Pavilion on the GDC Expo Floor from Wednesday, March 2nd through Friday, March 4th." That means, after winning the $20,000 grand prize, that team has to stay on the show floor and contain their explosive excitement for the next two days, while dullards like ourselves ask questions about this and that. The ultimate game? Perhaps! Head past the break for all the finalists broken down by category.
Best of the Rest: Richard's picks of 2010
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow There are more than a few complaints floating around that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow isn't a real Castlevania title. I would argue that Lords of Shadow is more Castlevania than many recent entries in the series. I think fans tend to forget (or overlook) that Castlevania began as a linear action title. For me, the series has never been about completing the map. It's about exploring wonderful and sinister places, which Lords of Shadow packs in spades. When I played the 8-bit Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest as a child, I saw lots of blocky pixels, but what I imagined is perfectly represented by Lords of Shadow. From stinking bogs to dark forests and forgotten castles, all is so meticulously and lovingly crafted that my seven-year-old self was enthralled with every moment. I'll take that over the same 13-year-old sprites any day.
Watch this incredible Minecraft machine burn a Creeper in effigy
It's hard to convey just how magical this video of a Rube Goldberg machine running in Minecraft actually is, so we won't even bother. Just click the link and come enjoy all of the work and care put into this beautiful six minute sequence of Minecraft's elements interacting towards a common goal.
Best of the Rest: Griffin's picks of 2010
Cave Story I am mad at everyone I've ever known for not telling me to play Cave Story before I grabbed it late last year. Within two months, I had beaten it four times across two different platforms. It's arguably the most charming game I've ever played, with deep layers of Metroidvania-esque exploration and a level of difficulty which expertly straddles the line between challenging and frustrating. It's one of the most polished games I played during the year, and if you find yourself with an overabundance of virtual Nintendo currency, you absolutely need to own it. Twice, if you have the means.
Zelda: A Link to the Past given a bit more depth in Minecraft
It's hard for us to be very proud of our charming little log cabin in Minecraft when people keep creating masterpieces like this: YouTube user DoubleOBond recently unveiled a recreation of the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past overworld, a project that took over 100 hours to create.
Minecraft enters beta, nears 850K units sold
Indie game sensation Minecraft has now entered ... beta. Consequently, the "pre-purchase" price has been raised from €9.95 to €14.95 ($19 and change). Once completed and "released," Minecraft will retail for €20 and -- if history is any indication -- will go on sale through Steam the following week for $5 (okay, maybe it'll be a month later). This past weekend, in the last stretch of its alpha phase, Minecraft surpassed 800,000 unit sales, and the game is approaching 850K as you read this. At this rate, it could easily surpass the million-sold mark before Persson and company craft a gold master.
Scribblecraft mod gives Minecraft that hand-drawn look
Some might call Minecraft's simplified graphics charming, but a new mod shows us that the game can be far more visually striking. Scribblecraft is a texture pack mod created by Kristopher Bel that swaps out the game's textures for his hand-drawn substitutes. If you wanna grab the mod, hit the link below -- just make sure you install the HD Texture Fix first.%Gallery-110585%
Official t-shirts provide uniforms for Minecrafting
In what might be the first official merch release for a game that hasn't even hit beta, you can now express your appreciation for indie sensation Minecraft by wearing some real-world Minecraft ... crafts. ThinkGeek is selling two officially-licensed t-shirts, one featuring the Creeper and another bearing the logo of a fictitious Crafters union. Each shirt is available for $20 in sizes up to XL, with XXL and XXXL versions available for an additional dollar per X. Either is a great gift for the Minecraft fan in your life -- but if you don't have the money for t-shirts, you can always give the thoughtful gift of personal assurance that monsters can't knock your house over.
Minecraft to enter Beta phase Dec. 20, modder support coming in future updates
Our little procedurally-generated, co-operative world-building indie gem is growing up so fast -- Minecraft creator Markus Persson has announced on his blog that his super successful title will enter its Beta phase on December 20. The change will be reflected by "a larger focus on polish and content," and will add oft-requested elements like modder support, more late-game goals and "some kind of non-intrusive narrative." Thank goodness -- we've had to create our own narrative up 'til now, and it makes absolutely no sense. (Those pigs -- they have a dark secret.) Look sharp, though -- Persson explained that when the game goes into its Beta phase, he'll be removing the section in the game's license which "promises all future versions of the game for free." Don't worry: If you purchased the game while still in the Alpha phase, you'll still get future updates on the house. In addition, the game's price will be increased to €14.95 once it enters Beta, so it really pays to get in on the ground floor while you still can.
EVE Online player creativity -- Gallente shuttle in Minecraft and more
Over the years, the EVE Online community has produced some stunning creative works. From epic videos that have been years in the making to fictional stories or artwork, EVE has inspired some fantastic creative efforts. Last month, CCP posted the first of a new monthly series of devblogs highlighting the creative efforts of people in the EVE community. In last month's installment, CCP Fallout looked at two of her favourite fan-run websites -- EVE News 24 and Skill Training Complete. In this month's second part of the series, Fallout is joined by CCP Zymurgist to discuss some of the awesome things players have done throughout November. The report kicks off with some videos of the awesome new Incursion character generator in action, produced by players on the EVE test server. Also in the news is a list of player-run podcasts called the EVE Pod Pack, maintained in a similar manner to CrazyKinux's EVE Blog Pack. The highlight of this month's piece, however, is undeniably the video of a full scale Gallente shuttle faithfully reproduced in Minecraft.
Mr. Minecraft is a god in Super Meat Boy
With players barreling through the PC version of Super Meat Boy, Minecraft's main character ("Steve") has been discovered to be ... more or less omnipotent. You could say he breaks the game ... or you could say he's totally boss. We're going with the latter.
Kinect Hacks: Playing Minecraft with Kinect
At first blush, using Kinect to control Minecraft might seem like a great idea. This latest Kinect hack, created by YouTube user leparlon, allows players to look and walk in Minecraft. It certainly looks neat, but we can already think of a problem: We're really not looking forward to using our hands to chop down trees for hours at a time. Just think about it: You're using physical motions to control a game solely about manual labor. Maybe leparlon's next Kinect project will hack in a few turbo buttons.
