Stone Marshall's Blog, page 111

New Minecraft Skin Pack Adds Master Chief, Banjo to Switch and Wii U Versions

By Shabana Arif Minecraft’s Xbox characters are finally coming to the Switch and Wii U versions of the game. The popular skin pack will bring a plethora of Xbox exclusive character skins to the Nintendo platforms.

The latest update on Minecraft’s official site details that the character skins include Master Chief, Banjo, Cole Train, ‘Splosion Man, heroes from the Fable series, and more, all ready for their first trip to Nintendo consoles.

The update will also see the addition of the Moana Character Pack, featuring Moana, demigod Maui, and even the perennially dumb chicken.

Various islanders and sea creatures will also be included in the pack, which you can download on the Marketplace.

Now you can enjoy the novelty factor of seeing Xbox characters like Master Chief swanning about on your Switch. This follows the Better Together update which allows for cross-platform platform play between PC and consoles – with the exception of the PS4.

You can find the new Switch and Wii U Skin Packs on the Marketplace.

New Minecraft Skin Pack Adds Master Chief, Banjo to Switch and Wii U Versions

Hidden gems on Netflix all action fans need to see

Much like the horror genre, action cinema demands a slightly different critical analysis than other categories of film. An airtight plot and compelling thematic undertones aren’t nearly as important as good editing and innovative fight choreography. Hammy acting will get a pass (and maybe even be encouraged) if the actor has impressive martial arts technique. And breaking new narrative ground isn’t nearly as important as doing something simple well, even if that something simple has been done a dozen times before. There’s a whole slew of worthwhile action films on Netflix that remain underappreciated to this day. If you’ve got a subscription and prefer roundhouse kicks to Oscar-worthy performances, you’ll have a blast with these.

13 Assassins (2010)

If you’re a fan of Audition or Ichi the Killer, here’s another classic from Takashi Miike. This one’s less brutal than those films but was favorably compared to The Seven Samurai, which is about the highest praise it could get. Taking place near the sunset of feudal Japan, our group of samurai gather together to defeat a sinister lord before he takes the throne. With 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, this might become a new action favorite.

The Finest Hours (2016)

Chris Pine stars in this tale of a daring 1952 Coast Guard rescue. Based on a true story, the film received some pretty positive reviews but kind of fell off the radar. Maybe because The Finest Hours is pretty generic for a title. It might as well be called A Heroic Movie. But this real-life tale is full of thrilling moments and moving drama. There’s even a little bit of a love story, but don’t worry–it doesn’t bog things down. So before The Finest Hours slips from your memory again, give this fine historical drama a try.

Alive (1993)

You have to see Alive, which is based on the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team struggling to survive in the Andes after a plane crash. After only 25 people live through the initial accident, the team members go to desperate measures to stay alive. If you didn’t already guess, yes, this is the movie where the survivors end up eating each other. But it’s not some bloody horror film. Watching these people struggle with the idea of eating their dead team members and grasping at hope through the very worst conditions is fascinating and harrowing. Though the movie sounds kind of gross and possibly depressing, it’s actually an uplifting tale of survival and the unbelievable strength of mankind.

Super (2010)

If two installments of Guardians of the Galaxy wasn’t enough to satisfy your love of James Gunn films, luckily Netflix has a classic waiting for you. Know that before you watch Super, Gunn’s first superhero film, that it is very dark. Very dark. It’s rated R for a reason; not a good one to watch with the kids. That said, it’s an incredibly interesting comedy about a man (Rainn Wilson) who decides to dress up as a superhero to save his ex-wife. This may not have the budget of Guardians, but you can see Gunn’s flare for action and humor shine through.

Trollhunter (2011)

A crew goes out to find real trolls in the frozen tundra of Norway in Trollhunter. After our heroes find out that the existence of trolls has been covered up by the Norwegian government, they make it their duty to capture the elusive monster on film. This is no Troll 2. These trolls look amazing, are actually scary, and don’t have to turn humans into plants to eat them. Shot like a mockumentary, the film is often hilarious, though not without its tense moments. Moira MacDonald, film critic at the Seattle Times wrote, “Those fog-draped fjords provide a distractingly pretty backdrop to this tale of mysterious, massive creatures who roam the forest by night, searching for Christians on whom to munch.” You’re not going to find a better movie about massive monsters eating religious folk, so stream it on Netflix now.

Zombeavers (2015)

Don’t worry, Zombeavers is a movie that knows it’s a movie about zombie beavers. Thankfully, it’s a fun horror parody that makes the idea of undead beavers as funny as it could possibly be. Critic Tim Brayton called it “the funniest horror-comedy since, at the very least, The Cabin in the Woods.” If you want a campy, diverting comedy that’s full of laughs and gross-out gags, Zombeavers is exactly what you’re looking for.

Welcome to the Punch (2013)

Mark Strong and James McAvoy star as a criminal and cop who team up to uncover a conspiracy. This movie is straight-up action. Since the stars are amazing actors, they lend a bit of seriousness and depth of character to the story, but we’re watching this for awesome chase scenes and gun fights aplenty. Welcome to the Punch is pretty violent, but you’d probably expect that from a film that invites you to a beating in the title.

Skin Trade (2015)

Tony Jaa. Dolph Lundgren. Ron Perlman. Michael Jai White. Throw in Peter Weller for good measure. Do we have your attention, action fans? If we don’t, you should check your pulse. That’s a dream action movie cast if we’ve ever seen one, and Skin Trade delivers on its promise in spades.

Lundgren plays a cop hellbent on catching Ron Perlman’s mobster character, so relentless in his pursuit that when Perlman escapes to Thailand, Lundgren follows him (with partner Michael Jai White in tow). Once there, they have to catch the well-connected mob boss while simultaneously avoiding Jaa’s detective character, who’s trying to catch the two cops as they’re operating outside of the law. The plot is pretty flimsy, but the thrill of seeing these action cinema legends all in one place doesn’t wear off. Lundgren manages to keep up with the much younger and more agile Jaa in some wild action scenes, and Jai White is, as always, a magnetic onscreen talent. Come for the talent lineup. Stay for the insanity of Dolph Lundgren fist-fighting Tony Jaa

Kill Zone 2 (2015)

For fans of modern martial arts cinema, a film in which Tony Jaa (Ong Bak) and Wu Jing is a match made in heaven, and Kill Zone 2 lives up to the promise of the pairing in a big way. Bearing no real connection to the prior entry in the Kill Zone series (Wu Jing, who appeared in the first, plays an entirely new character in this one), it starts fresh with a breakneck story about black market organ dealers, a father desperate to cure his daughter’s leukemia at whatever cost, and a cop who finds himself stuck in a private prison on the authority of said organ mob. While the whole film brims with unreal stunt work, the final battle is one for the ages and easily stands among the best work by all involved. If you’re coming for the action sequences, you won’t be let down, but you’ll likely find yourself surprised by how well the story is handled. It’s relatively simple, but there’s a lot of heart behind its spin kicks and Muay Thai strikes.

Savage Dog (2017)

Scott Adkins is pretty much the (ahem) undisputed king of direct-to-DVD action movies these days, and Savage Dog is an impressive and unique entry in his filmography. We rarely get to see Adkins in what is, effectively, a period piece, and the film stands out as unique and worth checking out for that alone. But beyond the unusual setting and aesthetic, Savage Dog is still something special.

Featuring narration by the great Keith David (who also has a role in the film), Savage Dog opens with the unbelievably cool image of Adkins’ character digging his way out of a shallow grave. He’s been left for dead, but the bad guys clearly should have stuck around a little bit longer to make sure it stuck. The film then takes on a nonlinear form, catching us up to the moment of his burial and then sending him on a brutal path of revenge featuring some gut-churning violence and stunning fight sequences. Adkins’ oeuvre is littered with cool action hits, but Savage Dog is a clear-cut high point.

Death Sentence (2007)

Modern horror master James Wan, of Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring fame, took a brief hiatus from the genre in 2007 in Death Sentence, a Kevin Bacon vehicle that follows a tried-and-true narrative of a man out for revenge. When his son is murdered in a gang initiation ritual, Bacon’s Nick Hume decides to take the law into his own hands, waging a one-man war on crime in his city and protecting his family from the death sentence that gang puts on them.

It’s nothing action fans won’t have seen before—Death Wish is the clear prototype—but you haven’t seen it directed by a wiz like James Wan or with an actor so effortlessly good in everything as Kevin Bacon. Bacon channels Nick’s relentless drive, grief, and rage in stunning, understated fashion. Throw in John Goodman as the film’s seething villain and you’ve got yourself a good time. It may be well-trodden ground, but it’s worth visiting, no matter how familiar it may feel.

Bullet to the Head (2013)

Walter Hill, director of cult classic The Warriors, dropped this little gem in 2013. It’s pure grindhouse fun, which is exactly what a Walter Hill action flick starring Sylvester Stallone should be. Having already directed the first entry in the Undisputed franchise, Hill is right at home making movies about tough guys solving their problems with their fists and firearms.

The film features Stallone teaming up with Sung Kang, of Fast and Furious franchise fame, as a hitman (Stallone) and a cop (Kang) forced to team up and bring down some bad, bad dudes. And bring down bad dudes they certainly do. Bullets fly, bodies drop, and cars are blown to bits over the course of this romp. It’s a great time, solidified by Jason Momoa’s role as the film’s villain, which he plays with devilish glee. And then there’s the big climactic fight between Stallone and Momoa, which is one for the books. All we’re saying is one of them has an axe. You don’t want to miss it.

Boyka: Undisputed (2016)

Scott Adkins holds together the later installments of the Undisputed series as Yuri Boyka, a prison inmate who participates in a brutal underground prison fighting ring. His role in the second film in the series was as the antagonist, though the next installment saw the focus shift to him as a new unlikely good guy. Boyka: Undisputed takes Yuri out of prison and into the real world and examines how a man like him, one who stakes his claim on this earth through violence, functions in the real world.

Undisputed sees Boyka fighting professionally under legitimate terms when he accidentally kills one of his opponents in the ring. He soon finds that said opponent’s wife is in trouble and takes on a series of fights to keep her out of it. It’s not unfamiliar ground for action cinema, but it sees Boyka grappling with some real internal struggle and evolving into a more complex icon of modern action movies than he has any right to be. Adkins is, of course, a physical specimen and his fight sequences are brutal, choreographed with just enough flair to keep things flashy and grounded enough to feel authentic. Four movies in, Undisputed is as fun as it’s ever been. Bring on the next one.

Small Soldiers (1998)

Children of the ’90s are likely to remember the toys that spawned from director and horror legend Joe Dante’s Small Soldiers, though the film has become something of a forgotten gem. Rewatching it now is a blast. It’s incredibly strange for a big-budget film from the ’90s, and kind of worth seeing for that alone, effectively playing out like Toy Story for high school students.

The film tells the story of a war between armies of toys with military technology that has given them sentience. One is a crew of G.I. Joe-esque soldiers and another an alien race, the Gorgonites, with an environmentalist message. The film is definitely made for a younger audience, but an action movie is an action movie, and this one is a lot of fun. Small Soldiers is weird, campy, and features some wild action sequences in which action figures go to literal war with one another. It’s a bizarre trip and absolutely worth revisiting. That this one hasn’t already become a cult classic is astounding.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

In a just world, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow would have been a box office smash and ushered in a new era of elegant, stylistic action cinema. Despite the fact that we do not live in the world in which that happened, we still have the film itself, and what a film it is. It was one of the first releases to pioneer the digitally-composed soundstage filming method later utilized by Sin City, giving it an astonishing, ethereal visual sheen.

Drawing heavily from pulp cinema and comic books, Sky Captain is a wild comic book-style romp through a steampunk reimagining of a pre-World War II world. The titular Sky Captain is a charismatic ace pilot who leads the daredevil Flying Legion. Played by Jude Law, he’s joined by reporter Polly Perkins (Gwenyth Paltrow) and a brief appearance by Angelina Jolie as an eyepatch-sporting Royal Navy officer, Franky Cook. It’s a killer cast heading up a fun, visually inventive action film that deserves a far larger fan following than it has today.

Officer Downe (2016)

Want to watch the craziest movie on Netflix? Officer Downe has got you covered. Adapted from the comic by writer Joe Casey and artist Chris Burnham, Officer Downe is that rare instance where you read a comic and can’t at all imagine a film or television adaptation. There shouldn’t be a way to translate its insanity from page to screen. And yet, under the direction of Slipknot’s M. Shawn Crahan, the film manages to pull it off. And if a movie is directed by a guy from the band that plays heavy metal in nightmarish monster masks, you know you’re in for quite the ride.

Starring Kim Coates of Sons of Anarchy fame, it’s a hyperkinetic neon thrill ride that plays out like Dredd on mescaline. It’s tough to describe this movie without sounding like a Stefon sketch from Saturday Night Live, but this movie has everything: drug dealing nuns with shotguns, an unkillable super cop, mutilation, and a hidden government conspiracy. It’s the kind of movie you’ll immediately text your friends about when the credits roll, imploring them to come over the next weekend with some beers and check it out. Run to Officer Downe’s sweet embrace as soon as possible.

Fighting (2009)

It’s kind of hard to remember these days that Channing Tatum wasn’t always a megastar who guaranteed a film’s success. Fighting is one of the movies that came out during the No Man’s Land of his career, that awkward patch between Step Up and Magic Mike when the actor was still finding his place in Hollywood and figuring out what kind of roles suited him best. And before he teamed up with director Steven Soderbergh and we realized he’s a pretty killer character actor, Tatum appeared in this little-seen gem.

Tatum plays the tough-as-nails Shawn, a hustler who discovers he’s a prodigy as a street fighter. The film follows a prototypical pro fighting narrative, with his character finding an opportunity to make something of himself through fighting, but quickly ending up in over his head with the wrong people. Said fight scenes are brutal, no-holds-barred affairs that channel the intensity of street fighting to the screen very well. Honestly, Fighting is by no means an egregious Oscar snub or anything. But it’s a very interesting note in a talented actor’s career. Plus it’s got Terence Howard sleazing it up as a fight promoter, and that alone is worth your time.

Hidden gems on Netflix all action fans need to see

Master Chief Lands on Nintendo Switch via Minecraft

Halo‘s Master Chief is (finally?) heading to a Nintendo system. No, the Switch is not getting a port of a Halo game. Instead, the Xbox’s beloved mascot is coming to everyone’s favorite handheld/console hybrid by way of Minecraft. The “Halo mashup pack” will soon be available on Switch and every other edition of Minecraft (minus the PlayStation version, of course).

Master Chief isn’t the only Xbox character making his way to Switch. Expect to see pixelated versions of characters from Fable, Gears of War, and Banjo Kazooie. The inclusion of Banjo characters is interesting given how the franchise originally started on the Nintendo 64. The Switch is Nintendo’s main console these days, but if you own Minecraft on Wii U, you’ll also have access to these characters when you download the new skin pack. Master Chief is simply too big for one single Nintendo console to hold.

As EuroGamer points out, the Halo mashup pack has been available on Xbox for a number of years now. Microsoft’s systems (in this case the Xbox 360 and Xbox One) used to have the Minecraft: Xbox Edition, but this version was discontinued sometime ago. It was replaced by the current edition of Minecraft, which is available across many platforms. Interestingly enough, the now-defunct Minecraft: Xbox Edition recently got a new skin pack based on the Disney film, Moana. Because… why not?

Master Chief’s Nintendo sojourn can be seen as the only way to play a “new” Halo game. Microsoft hasn’t said anything regarding when a new entry in their most well-known series will release. Given the lukewarm reception to Halo 5, it’s possible 343 Industries (the current developers of Halo) are taking extra time to ensure the next game is everything fans of the franchise want. Perhaps we’ll get some type of Halo announcement during this year’s E3. For now, Halo fans will simply have to make do with this low-res version of Master Chief to tide them over.

Master Chief Lands on Nintendo Switch via Minecraft

Minecraft Snapshot 18W07A Adds Turtles, Other Underwater Content

Minecraft will receive an influx of new underwater content this week, and more slated to arrive in the near future, as we continue down the road to Update 1.13 (or the Update Aquatic if you’re a Steve Zissou fan). Additions include seagrass, kelp blocks and an equippable trident. But Minecraft’s new turtles will probably absorb the most attention from the community.

It’s always exciting when Mojang adds new content to Minecraft. The sandbox game is very mod-friendly and the community has added plenty to it over the years. Still, millions of gamers prefer “vanilla” Minecraft. Now, they finally have more reason to spend time exploring large bodies of water than the ocean monuments added in 2014. Longtime Minecraft developer Nathan “Dinnerbone” Adams says more aquatic content is on the way in upcoming snapshots. Mojang still hasn’t determined the final slate.

Snapshot 18w07a also introduces the Phantom, formerly known as the Monster of the Night Skies. The flying, manta-like creature will spawn at high altitudes and prey on players who go “many days” without sleeping. Phantoms currently drop leather, which suggests they aren’t meant to be especially tough to fight. However, Mojang says that reward could change in the future, presumably in response to feedback from the Minecraft community.

Here are the complete patch notes for Minecraft snapshot 18w07a:

Sea grass

Generates in all oceans, but this is temporary
Also exists as tall sea grass

Kelp blocks

Kelp doesn’t generate in deep oceans, but this is temporary
Kelp can be smelted to get dry kelp

Edible for half a hunger bar – can be consumed much faster than regular food
Fuel source
Craftable into dried kelp blocks


Grows upwards into multiple blocks tall plant

Stripped logs

Strip logs by using an axe on them
Stripped logs act like regular logs

Squids now shoot ink particles when attacked

Added stairs and slabs for all 3 kinds of prismarine

Maybe: Underwater stone brick structures

Turtles

Only spawn on warm beaches, but this is temporary
They lay eggs on their home beach throughout various biomes for baby turtles to hatch from

Baby turtles will scamper down to the water
Can be picked up using silk touch
Cracking texture in 3 stages
Up to 4 eggs per turtle egg block
Hatch during the night
Can be trampled, will be trampled intentionally by zombies

Zombies will also attack baby turtles




Turtle shells wearable as helmets

Constantly give 10 seconds of water breathing effect (while not underwater)
Crafted from turtle shell pieces

Also used for brewing




“Turtles are known for their strength, not their speed”
Drop sea grass

Maybe: Cavern-like structures with wooden walkways

Contains oak bark blocks

Maybe: Features that affect combat

Maybe: Shields disable when used frequently

Swimming animation

“Sprint underwater!”

Maybe: Warm, cold and frozen ocean biomes

Different kind of terrain
Ice bergs

Bubble columns

Underwater magma blocks will produce bubbles
Items and other entities fall down into bubbles

Items float on the surface otherwise


Shakes and sinks boats
Underwater ravines/deep sea vents
Hearsay: allow breathing
Doesn’t generate anywhere currently

Trident

Throwable and melee weapon
Works under water and when raining
Enchantments

“Loyalty” makes tridents come back to the thrower
“Riptide” pushes the player forward when thrown while swimming
“Impaling”: “very useful against creatures of the sea”
“Channeling”


Player model animation for throwing
Currently unobtainable in survival, that will change
Super overpowered, to be balanced later
UI icon is not yet implemented

Water rendering

Slabs, fences, tall grass, etc share a block space with water
Not fully designed yet
Implemented using minecraft:hacked_water block tag

Maybe: Multiple variants of shipwrecks

Loot inside

A new mob, one of four options voted on at Minecon 2017

“The Phantom” – old names: “The Monster of the Night Skies”, name not final, titled mob B for the Minecon vote
Manta-ray-like flying monster
Spawns at high altitudes
Attracted to insomnia: seeks out players who haven’t slept for many days, swoops down in groups and bites
Hearsay: only attacks players high above sea level
Maybe: Dying resets time awake statistic
“Bad things happen to those who don’t sleep… they start to hallucinate, and see what’s really there.”
Spawns in the overworld and the end
Drops leather, but this may change

Fixed some bugs

Fixed the big tree generator handling tree height variable incorrectly
Fixed being unable to insert charcoal into furnaces
Fixed the “Balloon oak” tree variant generating upside down
Fixed furnace recipes working in crafting interfaces and interfering with crafting recipes
Fixed a random crash in snow biomes: java.lang.NullPointerException: Exception ticking world
Fixed horses, rabbits, parrot, llamas and sheep generating in their default color/variant only
Fixed chorus plant generation being broken
Fixed the game crashing when pressing “show craftable” in the furnace recipe book
Fixed large oak trees not generating with the new generator
Fixed the debug world not generating
Fixed the world generator not being fully cleaned before making new world

Minecraft is available on pretty much anything that plays video games, from PS3 and Xbox 360 to iOS, Android and the Switch. Snapshot 18w07a is available via the Minecraft launcher.

Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Minecraft news in 2018 and however long Mojang supports Minecraft in the years ahead.

Minecraft Snapshot 18W07A Adds Turtles, Other Underwater Content

Minecraft Chemistry Update Goes Live

Minecraft: Education Edition has received a new resource pack designed to let students learn chemistry within the game itself. Resources also include new lessons and activities, a teacher lab book, a downloadable world and community support.

The Chemistry Resource Pack includes a range of features for teachers and students to explore science within the game, including an Element Constructor, which allows users “to create elements based on their atomic structure with sliders to choose the number of protons, neutrons and electrons. By using the Element Constructor, you can create 118 elements from the Periodic Table as well as over 400 stable isotopes,” according to the developer.

Other tools include:

Compound Creator, which lets users build 30 different compounds (like soap and hydrogen peroxide);
Lab Table for making items “by combining elements and compounds in a grid. For example, adding water and sodium hypochlorite makes bleach, which a player can use to turn wool white”; and
Material Reducer, which lets students explore the components of items within Minecraft.

Lessons and activities range from tips for the classroom, such as watching out for hazards in the lab and using Minecraft, to full-blown instructional resources covering topics like properties of matter, chemical reactions, atomic structure and the scientific method. (As of this writing, there were 10 individual lessons and activities available.)

The Teacher Lab Book is a resource to help educators teach with the Chemistry Resource Pack.

The Chemistry Resource Pack also includes a complete, downloadable world for using the chemistry resources. It can be downloaded at aka.ms/chemistryworld.

According to Minecraft: “Science education is driven by hands-on learning, but only half of fourth graders in the U.S. do hands-on science once a week. In low income schools, the numbers are even lower, as students have less access to labs and equipment. Chemistry in Minecraft allows teachers to introduce chemistry concepts without the costs of lab equipment in the engaging Minecraft world that will inspire more girls and boys to explore the subject.”

The Chemistry Update for Minecraft: Education Edition is available now globally. Complete details can be found on the Minecraft Chemistry portal.

Minecraft Chemistry Update Goes Live

Minecraft Snapshots 18w08a, 18w08b Deliver More Aquatic Content

A pair of new Minecraft snapshots are out this week, offering a more complete (but still unfinished) preview of what to expect when the Update Aquatic rolls out later this year. But there’s still no word on when Minecraft Update 1.13 will be ready for the general public.

Last week brought our first look at some of the most exciting content developed for the next Minecraft patch. Mojang’s beloved sandbox game received an influx of new material, including turtles(!!), wearable turtle shells and a new Trident weapon that can be thrown or used as a typical melee weapon. This week, Mojang followed that release with another pair of snapshots that introduce 10 new ocean biomes, new underwater features and a plethora of fish we’ll now see scurrying around below the water’s surface.

Water visibility also got a second pass during the creation of Minecraft snapshots 18w08a and 18w08b. Players’ ability to see underwater will improve over time, mimicking our own eyes’ ability to adjust to new lighting conditions, and will diminish quickly after resurfacing. Ocean floors will also have greater variation determined by the temperature of the water. Puffer fish have also been reworked in the new snapshots, receiving new spawn points and a slight change in behavior.

Here are the complete patch notes for Minecraft snapshot 18w08a, via Jens Bergensten:

More ocean biomes

10 different ocean biomes
Oceans are now split into five temperatures: frozen, cold, normal, lukewarm, warm

In addition to deep vs shallow


World generation should stay the same, but old chunks will only have normal oceans
“We’ll be using these for something real soon!”

Underwater ravines/deep sea vents

Caves under the ocean can be filled with water
Ravines will appear in all oceans
Some ocean ravines cut deep, exposing lava to the seas

Some of the lava is turned into magma blocks instead of obsidian


Added a clickable link to the /locate command output

Fixed some bugs

Fixed items getting deleted when the inventory is overflowed by using the recipe book to return items from a crafting table
Fixed items laying on the ground for a long time when not picking them up after /give
Fixed /enchant being usable by non-ops
Fixed a crash when generationg woodland mansions (Exception generating new chunk “Not yet implemented”)

And here are patch notes from snapshot 18w08b:

Actual fish

Added new fish item icons
Some fish items exist as mobs

Cod will spawn in moderate oceans (cold/normal/lukewarm)
Salmon will spawn in frozen/cold oceans and rivers
Puffer fish will spawn in lukewarm/warm oceans

Expand when near players, give poison on expanding
Shrink down to their normal size after expanding, three sizes in total




Cod and salmon are sideways when on land
Cod and salmon are very social and prefer to swim in groups
Can be caught with water buckets, yields a bucket with water and non-despawning fish inside
Concept art
Not complete yet, more changes coming soon (tropical fish, clownfish!)

Changed natural water visibility

Respiration & Water Breathing no longer directly change your visibility underwater
You can see better the longer you stay underwater

Maximum visibility is achieved after less than a minute


If you go back out of water, you’ll quickly lose your water vision

Warm and lukewarm oceans now have sand floors

Removed deep warm ocean biomes, warm oceans can only be shallow now

Fixed some bugs

Fixed testing for a score of x or a minimum of x doesn’t work in execute if/unless score
Fixed taking an item out of the output slot of a furnace giving the player the recipe for the item in the input slot
Fixed clicking into the first seven inventory slots cancelling the smelting recipe preview
Fixed dried kelp block not being craftable
Added recipes to turn dried kelp into storage blocks and back again
Fixed a crash when logging into multiplayer without logging into single-player first
Fixed the furnace experience rewards depending on the item in the cooking slot, rather than output slot

Minecraft is currently available on every major gaming platform and pretty much anything else with a screen attached to it.

Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Minecraft news in 2018 and however long Mojang supports Minecraft in the years ahead.

Minecraft Snapshots 18w08a, 18w08b Deliver More Aquatic Content

Minecraft Bedrock Edition revealed for Nintendo Switch

Minecraft Bedrock Edition also known as cross platform Minecraft appears to be undergoing the finishing touches for Nintendo Switch version and Microsoft has decided to show almost two hours of footage.

Microsoft have also announced the Minecraft Bedrock Edition for Switch will be free to all players who own it on the console before release. The Switch edition is nearly done and is in late stages of development where polishing is the main focus.

Watch Terrific Tuesdays: Bedrock on Switch SNEAK PEEK! from Minecraft on www.twitch.tv

Justin Woods, the Bedrock producer, noted that the Xbox version may have come out too soon and was not as finished as he hoped so they are taking things slow with the Switch version.

MojangThis Mario may have had one too many blocky mushroom.

This time around they are focusing on making the launch smoother, as well as making the transition from easier from Switch Edition. This appears to be true and not just empty talk, as the Bedrock Edition seemed to run at steady 60 FPS on stream, and Microsoft said it can display 14 chunks of game world compared to only 6 in the current Switch Edition.

Several Bedrock features are shown to be operational during the stream, like the store. Hurry, get the microtransactions working or the world might explode any second! Microsoft have also confirmed you will need a Microsoft account in order to play with people on other platforms, but the same limitation does not apply when you want to play with other Switch users.

MicrosoftGameplay looks smooth and steady.

There is also a part of the stream that shows touchscreen support for Switch’s handheld mode where you can navigate menus, type with the on-screen keyboard or manage your inventory.

Throughout the stream, a lot of emphasis was put on the release being handled ”by the book” in order to provide a smooth launch instead of a rushed product like it was on Xbox. An official release date has not been mentioned but Microsoft have confirmed that the game will be coming to Switch ”soon”.

Minecraft Bedrock Edition revealed for Nintendo Switch

New DOOM update on Switch adds motion controls, multiplayer parties, and more

Bethesda silently updated DOOM today for the Nintendo Switch, adding in a bunch of new improvements and gameplay updates.

One of these unexpected features was the addition of motion controls, giving Switch owners a unique way to kill hordes of demons on the go.

The controls work in a similar way to Nintendo’s Splatoon 2 games. When players move the console, Doom guy aim tracks the movement. The left analog stick still controls movement but physically moving the Switch is the only way to aim with the crosshairs.

Motion controls had been a widely requested feature since the game launched on Nintendo Switch a few months ago, so it’s good to see Bethesda actively listening to the community and making constant changes to the game post-launch.

Alongside the new motion controls, Bethesda has also added a multiplayer party system to the game to make it easier for people to group with their friends on online deathmatches.

The update also added a bunch of improvements to the overall experience, fixing a ton of bugs that once crashed the game and improving the overall performance of DOOM in both docked and handheld modes.

New DOOM update on Switch adds motion controls, multiplayer parties, and more

The best Minecraft PC servers to cater to all your crafting needs

Minecraft is an experience that’s best shared with others.

Players can create a random generated server to craft, explore, and survive the night by themselves, or they can choose to join up with friends online to do whatever their imagination desires.

Depending on what you want to do in Minecraft, there’s something for everyone. You can face off against your friends online in daunting survival challenges, catch small creatures to help protect your homes, or just build a house with a couple of friends.

With that in mind, we scoured the internet to find a small selection of the best and most popular servers used by fans, gamers, and YouTubers alike for you to join and experience for yourself.

Joining Minecraft Servers

Joining a server on Minecraft for PC is easy.

First, find a server that you like and get its IP address. The address will either be a series of numbers or a small web HTML link. Load up Minecraft, click multiplayer, and then click the “Add Server” button.

Paste the copied link into the IP address option and then click “Done.” The server will then appear in the list right above the “Add Server” button for you to join whenever you want.

Server List
Hypixel Network (Mini Games)

Server: mc.hypixel.net

The Hypixel server is packed with a ton of different Minecraft-themed mini games for players to take part in. Paintball, Bed Wars, and Walls are just some of the game types that you can jump into from the start by using the server’s helpful menu system.

Shotbow (MineZ and Hunger Games)

Server: us.shotbow.net

The Shotbow server is the home of two of Minecraft’s most popular game modes—MC Hunger Games and MineZ.

In Hunger Games, players are forced into a battle to the death while scavenging for items, and the last player alive wins. As for Minez, players are dropped into a huge map and are forced to scavenge for food and resources to keep themselves alive for as long as possible.

Journey Gaming (PixelMon)

Server: play.journeygaming.com

Have you ever wanted to craft a house in Minecraft while capturing Pokémon at the same time? Well, now you can with this Pixelmon server.

In order to join the server and play Pixelmon, however, you’ll need to download the mod and a special version of Minecraft, which can be found on the Pixelmon website and Minecraft Forge website. Each website has guides for how to install and play the mod, so be sure to check those out.

Corba Craft (Vanilla)

Server: play.corbacraftmc.com

Corba Craft is one of the best Vanilla servers around. These servers are specifically designed to stop griefers and give you a safe environment to play the classic Minecraft game mode. The server sometimes resets, however, which means your creation might not always be there when you return.

Potterworld (RPG)

Server: PotterWorldMC.com

Here’s your chance to be a wizard and explore the world of Harry Potter to your heart’s content. Potterworld is a unique take on the Harry Potter world, offering its own unique story and housing system.

Players learn to become a wizard before flying off to Hogwarts and answering a set of questions to be put into a house. They can then work together with other players in their house in battles, quests, and more to try to win the House Cup.

The best Minecraft PC servers to cater to all your crafting needs

Nintendo server maintenance will disrupt Minecraft, eShop this week

Nintendo is going to perform some server maintenance this week that will cause some disruptions for certain gamers. Minecraft is the first scheduled for a disruption, which will start tonight for players in North America. That’ll be followed by disruptions to some online gameplay for some unspecified games, trouble purchasing from the Nintendo eShop later on this week, and more.

Nintendo has warned its Switch console owners about the maintenance via its support website. According to the website, the company will start server maintenance affecting Minecraft starting tonight at 9PM PT / Midnight ET running through 10:30PM PT / 1:30AM ET.

During those times, Nintendo says Minecraft’s network services on Switch will be unavailable. Server maintenance planned for tomorrow night will have a similar effect for Switch owners, taking down some network services for “some software.” That maintenance will start tomorrow at 8:50PM PT / 11:50PM ET and last through Midnight PT / 3AM ET.

Nintendo Switch owners will likewise deal with a disruption to the eShop on February 26 starting at 5PM PT / 8PM ET running through 7PM PT / 10PM ET. That will result in “some network services” being unavailable to Switch owners with the use of credit cards being the aspect affected.

Finally, the Nintendo Game Store on the Web will also be affected by maintenance on February 26 with the credit card processing part being disrupted. That will run from the same time as the eShop maintenance and disruption for Switch owners. Click the link below for Nintendo’s status page to keep an eye on current maintenance.

Nintendo server maintenance will disrupt Minecraft, eShop this week