Stone Marshall's Blog, page 76

‘Minecraft’ mod fosters a collaborative effort against climate change

A Minecraft modder has added some fresh gameplay issues for players to deal with in the form of climate change. Nick Porillo’s GlobalWarming mod alters the atmosphere based on certain actions like smelting ores. Temperatures will rise as carbon emissions increase, leading to violent storms, forest fires and a drop in snowfall levels as climate change takes hold.

You can combat the changes in the atmosphere by planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide. To combat the issue on a larger scale, you can purchase carbon offsets, which gives other players a tree-planting bounty to complete — that reflects one of the mod’s themes of working together to fight climate change.

“If the majority of players don’t agree to be near-carbon-neutral in how they play, then the carbon score will only continue to rise in-game. Once the damage negatively impacts the players, they will begin paying back that ‘debt’ they accrued,” Porillo told Motherboard. “The idea is if the players put a little more effort in from the start to not emit a ton, then they can entirely avoid the price to be paid later.”

He plans to add more features, such as a scorecard that lets you see who the least carbon-neutral players are, finding out your own carbon footprint and adding methane as a second greenhouse gas. The mod works with Minecraft’s Server Java Edition and you can download it from GitHub.

July 2018’s top 10 Minecraft Marketplace creations: Prison Escape leads summer success

The Minecraft Team at Microsoft has landed a major combination with its first Summer Sale and the launch of the Minecraft Marketplace on the Nintendo Switch. Those big moves have led to a growth spurt for the block-building game’s content store, which served up a massive 669,795 downloads in July. That’s up from 396,511 downloads in June, which was already impressive on its own. The Minecraft Team doesn’t share how much money the Marketplace generates each month, but most creations sell for around $1-to-$5. At a hypothetical average of $2 per download, the store could have generated more than $1 million in sales last month.

Minecraft’s Marketplace Summer Sale began July 19 and through the end of the month. The game’s development team worked with its partners, many of whom are small third-party content creators, to discount their Marketplace products by as much as 50 percent. That fueled intense interest from fans who wanted to get the most bang for their buck.

Recommended videosPowered by AnyClip

NOW PLAYING

Microsoft Patent Filing Hints At Wireless Charging For Future Surface PCs

How To Get An Xbox One For $22 A Month

HuggieBot Is A Robot That Hugs

You Cancel MoviePass And Get A Refund – Here’s How

Is Netflix Souring On “Binge-Watching”?

Walmart And Microsoft Partner To Tackle Amazon

HTC’s New Wireless Adapter For Vive Coming for $300

Russian hackers targeted U.S. Senate, think tanks – Microsoft

Customer Service Is Changing Rapidly

Happy Birthday Power Rangers! Amazon Celebrates With A One Day Sale

This reveals that many fans are aware of the Minecraft Marketplace and think about using it regularly, but they want to hold off for better prices. That’s something that Mojang, the studio responsible for Minecraft, and Marketplace creators can take advantage of.

But enough of all that, let’s get to the charts.

Top 10 most downloaded

4. City Life 4. City Life

Here it is in list form:

Kingdom Survival

Millionaire Mansions

Mineville High School

City Life

Castles & Dragons

Dinosaur Park

Isles of Aloha

Spring Mini-Games Festival

Dinosaur Island

Prison Escape

Top 10 highest grossing

4. Dinosaur Park 4. Dinosaur Park

Here it is in list form:

Millionaire Mansions

City Life

Castles & Dragons

Dinosaur Park

Mineville High School

Dinosaur Island

Wildlife: Savanna

Chroma Hills

Planes

Dwarven Mining Company

We’ll be back with more news from the Minecraft Marketplace next month.

Check Out This Fictional Japanese City Made In Minecraft.

Ever since the release of Minecraft seven years ago, players from young kids to full-grown adults have been incredibly creative in customizing the game’s world. However, nothing beats this realistic creation of Sayama City, which is a fictional Japanese city made entirely in the game.

At first glance, images of Sayama City can easily fool people that they are looking at actual real-life photos, which goes to show how detailed and realistic this Minecraft city is. The images were uploaded by a Twitter account named Sayama_City (via Kotaku), which has been uploading pictures of the project since 2015. Given all the attention that the fictional city is getting right now, it is expected that the creators of Sayama will upload more updates soon.

Check out the images of the project below by Twitter user Sayama_City:

What do you think of this fantastic Minecraft city?

Check out link: http://gametyrant.com/news/check-out-...

Minecraft for Nintendo Switch topped charts in Japan last week

Minecraft is a worldwide sensation which has sold millions upon millions of copies to date. The game is available on everything from desktops to mobile phones. A few years ago, Microsoft purchased the game from its creators and has since greatly expanded its scope. However, when it comes to games, the company has always struggled in the Japanese market. With Minecraft though, it seems like that’s changing.

According to a report in Nintendo Life, Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition sold 25,948 copies last week. So far, it’s sold over 212,170 units to date. Minecraft on Nintendo Switch beat games like Splatoon 2 and Mario Tennis Aces.

Minecraft on Switch was the #1 best-seller on the gaming charts in Japan last week. WOOT! https://t.co/qtP2xwewsj

— Aubrey Norris (@Chupacaubrey) August 24, 2018

A few weeks ago, Minecraft on Nintendo Switch was updated to the “Bedrock” edition. This allows players to access a lot of new features and play with gamers on other platforms like Xbox One and Windows 10. If you already bought the old version on Nintendo Switch, you can download it for free. Sony still doesn’t support cross-play so the Bedrock version isn’t available on PlayStation 4.

Hopefully Microsoft’s success with Minecraft will result in more visibility for the company in the country. If you look at console sales figures, the Xbox One only sells a dozen or so units each week. Maybe if there were more Microsoft experiences like Minecraft that appealed to Japanese gamers, it would be a boost for the company’s console ambitions.

See at Amazon

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

This Isn’t A Photo Of Japan, But A City Made In Minecraft

You are looking at Sayama City, a Minecraft-made fictional Japanese city with echoes of Osaka, Tokyo and more.

It’s like a photo.

Check out the detail.

The project’s official Twitter has been updating since 2015. Expect more jaw-dropping updates in the future.

You’re Not Dreaming, Mario Pikachu Is Officially A Thing Now

Super Mario and Pikachu are two of the most recognisable characters on the planet, but you know what’s better than both of these individuals? Mario Pikachu, that’s what.

No, you’re not dreaming. All of these images are real. Mario Pikachu isn’t a figment of your addled imagination, strained from hours of watching Nintendo Switch footage for clues about touchscreens and expandable storage. This is reality, my friends. It exists in the real world. It is, to put it bluntly, “a thing”.

e2ae56fef50986ba25c565b6710b428fb09252f2.jpg

10027ac8d63dcc753947e176ae58aaf9d811f12c.jpg

634e4e94f859989acf16ca3165fef29b4061fefe.jpg

c711a01025ff30c547128388f47f6267ce171be3.jpg

2a408c9060bf12cc29ad8b54553b91fec6f47a03.jpg

26b8db6de2d4007896fd1d42102120e8d28bdd02.jpg

36822bdbc36cdb8fdf36d132a4e9730a34d518a2.jpg

8d9570403ee662b747c7f48e333e1ae4219b822a.jpg

The range – which is real, don’t forget – includes plush toys, playing cards, shirts, notepads and even a 3DS shell. Sweet Lord above.

79462014e97f4e660fefbfff0e014156fa66b853.jpg

27b0f7f86c24d8f333b9c9b68940f9a59cd1ee72.jpg

0a2d1ea00bbb6e3fc238f2dba2cf44083c2884c4.jpg

87f087d21ee19224f43308485a039ce08515aec0.jpg

2d18ffb97cbd09b294b3acc5f95d60aa51c39122.jpg

ce57a5e2a32cbf717a1ff6530e94c70bc650f71d.jpg

Pokémon centers in Japan will be selling all of the merchandise shown on this page from October 29th. We’re seriously considering a trip to the Far East just to make sure this isn’t some elaborate joke designed to toy with our fragile minds.

Looks Like The Minecraft: New Nintendo 2DS Creeper Edition Is Coming To Europe

Releasing Minecraft on a popular but ageing New Nintendo 3DS was something of a masterstroke, but the recent news that Japan was getting a New Nintendo 2DS: Creeper Edition left us scratching our heads; surely a global launch was in order? Well, it seems that this may be happening – at least if Nintendo Russia is to be believed.

Images of the console, complete with age ratings for European countries, have been seen in a PDF file sent by Nintendo RU alongside other Gamescom 2018 news. It’s worth noting that Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition isn’t currently available in Europe, but the PDF has no other information about the game or the new 2DS console, leaving us with only pretty thumbnails to look at.

Minecraft 2DS Creeper Edition

Buried in official announcements, this gaffe went unnoticed by the Russian games media for the whole of Gamescom week, and no official announcements were forthcoming following the event. Was the PR pushed back at the last minute by Nintendo RU? Who knows, but the existence of packaging with EU age ratings would suggest that the Creeper console is indeed headed to Europe at some point, and it would make sense to finally launch the game in Europe at the same time.

Kenilworth Castle rebuilt Minecraft-style

Kenilworth Castle rebuilt Minecraft-style

The ruins of Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire have been “rebuilt” using the computer game Minecraft.

English Heritage commissioned the project as part of its Love Castles season.

14 Aug 2018

Minecraft convention Minefaire coming to Austin in September

Minecraft fans rejoice! The largest convention for a single video game is coming to Austin Sept. 15-16. Minefaire is expected to bring 15,000 people to the Austin Convention Center to celebrate the game.

What’s the big deal about Minecraft? If you have a kid in elementary school, you know.

See a video of the convention:

Here are some of the things you can expect to see at Minefaire:

Minecraft Virtual Reality Experience: Play Minecraft with virtual reality.

Learning Lab: Learn from Minecraft Education Global Mentors who use Minecraft in the classroom.

Build Battles and Challenges: Compete in live gaming arenas, code within the game and learn to solve problems in creative ways.

Minecraft Costume Contest: Dress up, dance and have fun on stage as your favorite Minecraft characters.

YouTube Meet & Greets: Meet Minecraft YouTube superstars who will share their favorite tips and tricks.

Nonstop, Live Stage Shows: Multiple stages will show different Minecraft experiences for different skill levels.

World’s Largest Official Minecraft Merchandise: Of course, there will be shopping.

Tickets are $49-$69.50, but kids younger than 2 are free. Find them at Minefaire.com.

Minecraft: Education Edition heading to iPad in September

Microsoft is bringing ‘Minecraft: Education Edition’ to the iPad, allowing the version of the block-based construction game for schools to be used via the iPad, giving educators another way to use the game in the classroom.

The educational version of the game will be accessible on iPad from September, around the start of the new school year for most students. The app will be a free download from the App Store, and is designed for use with the Education Edition subscription sold from Microsoft.

Made to combine teaching with the popular building game, schools are able to license it through Microsoft 365 for Education or separate volume licenses, with free trials also available. The edition offers teachers a number of resources to incorporate Minecraft into their classes, including lesson plans, courses, technical support, and mentorship.

Subjects available range from the traditional STEM areas to other areas, including languages, art, and history, among other topics. As well as allowing students to build within the game, the Education Edition also adds in extra features to monitor progress and to allow teachers to lead lessons in the tool.

The move to iPad expands the educational version from Windows PCs and the Xbox, enabling it to be used by schools who have embraced Apple’s tablets in lessons.

“Minecraft: Eduction Edition on iPad unlocks new and intuitive ways of collaborating and sharing and has revolutionized the way our students and teachers explore curriculum and projects,” said Kyriakos Koursaris, head of education technology for PaRK International School. “The features allow for deep and meaningful learning, and the values it promotes, from inclusivity to 21 century skills, empower everyone to use technology with extraordinary results.”

At the same time, Microsoft advises some features from the Education Edition will be arriving in the consumer version. Users of the Windows 10 and Xbox console versions of Minecraft will soon be able to use the Chemistry Resource Pack, which teaches lessons about elements and compounds, the periodic table, and allows the creation of new items including helium balloons, sparklers, latex, and underwater torches.