Minecraft
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'Minecraft' is making its way to China
Players around the world log hundreds of hours in Minecraft each day, but not gamers in China. Today, Minecraft developer Mojang announced it's creating a whole new version of the game created specifically for Chinese consumers.
'Super Mario' is coming to 'Minecraft: Wii U Edition'
Minecraft is available on almost every platform known to man, so when the Wii U version launched last December, most people responded with a shrug. Heck, you couldn't even use the GamePad for inventory management. To makes the console edition a little more attractive, Nintendo has teamed up with Mojang for some special Mario-themed content. It'll be available as a free update in May and offer a bundle of character skins, item textures and music ripped from the portly plumber's world. There will also be a pre-made Super Mario-themed map, just in case your thumbs aren't up to the challenge of crafting one from scratch.
Microsoft thinks disorientation is the key to touch in VR
To manipulate virtual objects in VR, you have to use an Oculus Touch or other "virtual wand" controller like some kind of hands-off, digital tong. To get an actual "haptic" or touch experience, you need real objects, but it's computationally challenging because the system needs to precisely track each one. Researchers from Microsoft, USC and the University of Waterloo have discovered that by manipulating how you see your body and the world in VR, they can make you think that a single physical object has magically multiplied.
'Minecraft' arrives on Samsung's Gear VR headset
Last month, during GDC 2016 in San Francisco, we learned about Microsoft's plans to release Minecraft for Gear VR. Still, details such as pricing and availability were unknown at the time. But that's changing today: Oculus has announced that the open-world hit is now available on Samsung's virtual reality headset. Officially dubbed Minecraft: Gear VR Edition, the game is said to support the same features as the Pocket Edition, including its creative, survival and multiplayer modes, as well as the character skins your familiar with.
'Minecraft: Education Edition' launches this June
Microsoft's official Minecraft: Education Edition will begin its life in an early access program (kind of like how the original game did) in June. The idea here is to allow educators a chance to give the blocky building game a test run over summer break so they can see how it'd fit into their curriculums, providing feedback along the way. This will also help in the development of additional lesson plans.
Group of 10- to 14-year-olds win $15,000 playing 'Minecraft'
If your kids are going to play video games anyway, then you may want to make sure they're really good at it. Why? Well, take for example this group of grade and middle school kids from Maryland who got a $15,000 shared college scholarship for winning the second Super League Gaming World Championship in Minecraft. Super League Gaming is a four-week league wherein participants play games in theaters. The 10- to 14-year-old players calling themselves Live2Craft bested 450 other groups of all ages (mostly grade- to high school-aged, though) from 68 cities across the US.
'Minecraft' on mobile to get mods and command blocks
On the desktop, command blocks are useful tools for experienced Minecraft players. Enter a forward slash in the chat window and you can enter some pseudo-programming to teleport, change the weather and more. They're not available in the Pocket Edition, a separate version for phones and tablets, but that will soon change. In an interview with CNET, Minecraft lead developer Jens Bergensten confirmed that command blocks are coming to both the mobile and Windows 10 versions of the game.
'Minecraft' gets its first live concert
Minecraft has had its share of real-world crossovers, but nothing quite like this. Norway's annual The Gathering tech conference is hosting a live concert both in real life and in Minecraft tonight at 9PM local time (4PM Eastern), with volunteers mimicking the artists in Minecraft as they parade around the stage. And this isn't a small production, either -- AlunaGeorge, Broiler and Lemaitre are on deck, so you should be in for a good time whether you're looking at the real artists or their blocky avatars.
'Minecraft: Story Mode' gets three extra episodes in 2016
The first four episodes of Minecraft: Story Mode came out in quick succession, giving players a tightly crafted tale before Christmas. But with one episode remaining, developer Telltale suddenly went quiet about when its adventure would be wrapping up. Today, we have a date -- and it's not quite what we were expecting. Episode five will launch on March 29th, followed by a further three episodes later this year. These are being described as "additional escapades" and won't form part of the season pass, so you'll need to pay a little extra if you want the complete story.
How a startup is making it easy to build virtual reality worlds
My most recent virtual reality experience was created by a 9-year-old. That's according to Martin Repetto, CEO of Voxelus, a platform that lets you build, share and play your own VR games. As I roam through this Minecraft-like world, steered by a Gear VR headset, Repetto tells me that a kid is the one who designed what I'm seeing. But for Voxelus, which launched last year at the Oculus Connect 2 conference, there's a clear goal: to let anyone, young or old, make VR games without a single line of code.
Microsoft is opening up the world of 'Minecraft' to Gear VR
The Oculus Rift isn't the only virtual reality platform getting a piece of Minecraft's pie. Today, at a GDC 2016 event, Microsoft and Oculus are set to announce that the open-world phenomenon is also coming to the Gear VR, a spokesperson for the companies confirmed to Engadget. For many people, Samsung's headset is a far more accessible option than the consumer Rift, so this is good news for anyone who wants to play Minecraft in VR without breaking the bank.
Microsoft wants you to train AI with 'Minecraft'
AI has mastered the complex game Go, and if you're willing to teach the machines to beat you at Minecraft, too, Microsoft wants your help. Researchers from Project AIX want to use the open-world game to improve its artificial intelligence systems. Unlike Go, which is very rule-specific, Minecraft requires what researchers call "general intelligence," a formidable challenge for deep learning systems. "Minecraft is the perfect platform for this kind of research because it's this very open world," says Katja Hofmann from Microsoft's Cambridge labs.
'Minecraft' update puts items in both hands
It's often the little things that make a big difference. Mojang has released a combat-focused Minecraft update that lets you carry items in both hands, dramatically streamlining how you play. You can carry both a sword and a shield (also new) when you're expecting a rough fight, or place torches while you're digging tunnels with your pickaxe -- no more switching back and forth for some mundane tasks. This may take some time to get used to if you're a veteran, but it promises to make your virtual life considerably easier.
'Minecraft' gets its own official monthly swag box
Monthly subscription boxes are a curious idea: subscribers pay a fee to receive things like t-shirts, toys, merchandise, makeup or food that they have no choice over. Companies like Loot Crate, Fancy, Graze and Dollar Shave Club all utilise the model, but there's a new entrant on the scene: Mojang. That's right, Minecraft now has its own swag box.
'Grand Theft Auto 5' outsold almost every game in January
Rockstar Games is reaping the rewards of keeping GTA Online fresh with things like heist missions and holiday-themed events for these past few years. Grand Theft Auto 5 was the number two selling game last month amid slowing console hardware sales, a bizarre fact considering it debuted almost two-and-a-half years ago. September 2013, to be exact. Of course, that evergreen gateway to GTA Online's multiplayer has also benefitted from a staggered release starting on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, later coming to PC and then PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Regardless, how crazy this is wasn't lost on the NPD Group's David Riley:
Make massive mechanizations with Minecraft's Overworld update
Following on from last fall's update to Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition beta and Minecraft: Pocket Edition, which saw the introduction of basic redstone components, Microsoft today announced that the game's next update will deliver even more advanced mechanisms as well as new enemies and achievements. Players will also be able to more easily share their favorite worlds with a new map import/export function.
'Minecraft' creator wants you to go on a kaleidoscopic trip
Markus "Notch" Persson, the creator of Minecraft has something to show you, but you might not be ready for it. Okay, "your browser might not be ready for it" is probably the more accurate statement. The project? A kaleidoscopic "ray marching fractal generator" that'll run in virtual reality on certain browsers, or just plan old 2D on basically everything else. Road to VR linked to the mesmerizing geometry project (dubbed Unmandelboxing) apparently only weighs about 3.5 KB.
'Minecraft: Story Mode' comes to the Wii U on January 21st
Those of you with a Wii U have been missing out on Minecraft: Story Mode, created by Mojang and Telltale Games, the indie developer behind The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones titles. But that's changing soon. Today, Telltale announced that Minecraft's narrative-based series is coming to Nintendo's console in just a few days, on January 21st.
'Minecraft' fan finds a way to program BASIC code in-game
You may have seen Minecraft used to teach programming or even mods that allow some in-game programming, but writing BASIC code inside Minecraft? That's virtually unheard of... until now. SethBling has developed a BASIC interpreter that lets you compile and run simple programs and scripts within Mojang's world-building game. It boils down to using many, many command blocks, but it really works. You can not only print text, but have in-game robots ("turtles") perform tasks. Need to dig a long tunnel? Just start a digging script and let the bot do all the hard work.
10-year-old kid becomes first Minecraft National Champion
eSports are here to stay. And as part of this growing culture, Super League Gaming, a firm that sets up tournaments in theaters across the world, recently launched the first ever Minecraft National Championship. The eventual winner? A 10-year-old-kid named Julien Wiltshire, who beat more than 1,000 other players in the US -- many of which were in high school and "far more experienced," according to Super League Gaming. Over the course of a six-week season, the Minecraft tournament tested participants from 40 US cities on their creativity, critical thinking and teamwork in a series of custom game mods.
