Minecraft
Minecraft is a 2011 sandbox video game created by Swedish game developer Markus Persson and later developed by Mojang. It allows players to build with a variety of different blocks in a 3D world. Other activities in the game include exploration, resource gathering, crafting, and combat. It was released on 18 November 2011 and since then there have been 3 different versions. These consist of a PC and Mac version, an Xbox version and a mobile phone version. Originally, Minecraft was a pretty simple video game. The goal you’d originally have when launching Minecraft was to spawn in, survive, and build a few structures. When Minecraft started out, you could really only place and break blocks. There was very little you could actually do. The additions to Minecraft like running and Redstone were added at the perfect time. Players felt the game was too slow without running and too simple without Redstone. After everybody seemed like they understood Redstone fully, Command Blocks were added to further complicate the process. As the structures players created were getting more and more complex, so did the updates that came out. New mobs were being introduced alongside new blocks, biomes, and even new dimensions like the Nether and The End. These various additions to the game shaped the way that players have created their new structures and have impacted the way they play. Minecraft tends to be played by children in the age range of about 7-15, whilst also some adults the ages of 30-45 also play the game due to their new found interest, but also because games such as Minecraft where not around when they were children. The majority of players tend to be male, yet there are some females who play Minecraft.
The game can educate people on how to code and create circuits whilst playing which helps teach the players some skills they may not have had before they started the game. It also creates a community in which people can gain friendships and connect with other people with the same interests as them. There are some advantages of Minecraft being owned by Microsoft, such as it means that more money can be put into the game to make it better due to Microsoft's wealth. However, Microsoft's previous products have been made for an older target audience so many worry that they may make the game less fun for the younger target audience.
It was created and designed by Markus Persson,
a game programmer, who also developed and
published the game through his company Mojang.
A full version of the game went on release in
November 2011. To date, well over 121 million copies have been
sold across all platforms, including over 27 million
PC copies, making it the biggest selling PC game of
all time.
Minecraft is a sandbox game, created and developed by Swedish based Mojang Studios. The game has been described as a virtual world of Lego that involves following simple instructions in order to play it: explore, mine and build. Users only have to log in and proceed to create a world full of textured 3D cubes. There are predominantly two game modes: Creative or Survival, although more recent additions include Adventure, Spectator and also Multi-Player modes.
Due to the original nature of the game, most players simply logged in to play Minecraft and didn’t need a physical copy of the game. When the Xbox and PlayStation versions were created there was often a chance to offer digital versions of the same game across the Windows 10 operating system to promote the Microsoft brand across home computers, a form of synergy. Users were often encouraged to download the full game through the cloud servers rather than a physical copy of the game which would incur more of a cost for the institution. The pattern of release for Minecraft shows that physical copies are often released six months after the downloadable version, most likely as a way to limit the impact of piracy, hacking and file sharing.
The cultural impact of Minecraft is significant and you could discuss ways in which much of Minecraft’s success was due to word of mouth and audiences sharing their own mods and game footage across web forums and video sharing sites such as YouTube. Different versions of Minecraft were released to entice different audiences, moving away from creation only narratives to include story modes, spectator modes and multi-player functionality across Minecraft Realms.
Further developments included the introduction of a physical Lego set to encourage younger audiences as well as merchandise opportunities and bonus content for buying more than one version of the franchise across platforms.
In 2019 there will be a joint venture with Warner Brothers to release Minecraft the movie, this will be anticipated as having as much commercial success as The Lego Movie, also a Warner Brothers Movie.
In 2016 a marketplace was created for communities to trade in maps, skins and texture packs.
The PC version of the game was noted for its modding scene where prosumers would alter the gameplay mechanics, change the assets and develop new skins and textures for other fans of the game to use.
There is evidence to suggest that mobile and hand-held devices are really driving the sales of Minecraft forward. For example, the release of the Playstation Vita version of Minecraft boosted sales of Minecraft by 79%, outselling PS3 and PS4 releases and making it the largest launch on a Playstation console. The appeal is being fuelled by a new generation of gamers who prefer hand-held devices over traditional consoles.
The continued development of fan made media across social media platforms and dedicated fan sites and blogs means that there is an active community of gamers who share a common interest linked to Minecraft.
Regulation – Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
New technologies (in this case the convergent devices with access to internet, Bluetooth, etc.) opens up opportunities and risks that complicate regulation.
Cultural Industries – David Hesmondhalgh
Explore how cultural industry companies attempt to minimise risk and maximise audiences. The game has a large fan base and is owned by a division of a global conglomerate. The purchase of Mojang for US$2.5 billion illustrates that Microsoft are clearly attempting to harness the popularity of this franchise to encourage sales both of the game itself and promote Windows 10 and their smartphone market.
Identity – David Gauntlett
Conducted a series of studies based around the use of Lego to create and share ideas and has also compared this to how audiences use the internet (one giant allotment). Making is Connecting is all about how people build a stronger sense of self-identity through creative practices. Minecraft adopts the same principles and shows how audiences are not only ‘making and connecting’ but are infinitely more creative through the use of the internet. The critical response of Minecraft as a media text highlights how the game is a way for people to socially create and interact is testimony to this idea.
Fandom – Henry Jenkins
Video games offer social experiences (online multi-player options) as well as communities outside of the core game experience. Jenkins’ key quote ‘if it doesn’t spread, it’s dead’ can be used as a discussion point to track the birth and popularity of the franchise. Minecraft has a strong, well developed fan base that could be researched in more detail in relation to Jenkins’ ideas about participatory culture.
Minecraft is a sandbox game, created and developed by Swedish based Mojang Studios. The game has been described as a virtual world of Lego that involves following simple instructions in order to play it: explore, mine and build. Users only have to log in and proceed to create a world full of textured 3D cubes. There are predominantly two game modes: Creative or Survival, although more recent additions include Adventure, Spectator and also Multi-Player modes.
Due to the original nature of the game, most players simply logged in to play Minecraft and didn’t need a physical copy of the game. When the Xbox and PlayStation versions were created there was often a chance to offer digital versions of the same game across the Windows 10 operating system to promote the Microsoft brand across home computers, a form of synergy. Users were often encouraged to download the full game through the cloud servers rather than a physical copy of the game which would incur more of a cost for the institution. The pattern of release for Minecraft shows that physical copies are often released six months after the downloadable version, most likely as a way to limit the impact of piracy, hacking and file sharing.
The cultural impact of Minecraft is significant and you could discuss ways in which much of Minecraft’s success was due to word of mouth and audiences sharing their own mods and game footage across web forums and video sharing sites such as YouTube. Different versions of Minecraft were released to entice different audiences, moving away from creation only narratives to include story modes, spectator modes and multi-player functionality across Minecraft Realms.
Further developments included the introduction of a physical Lego set to encourage younger audiences as well as merchandise opportunities and bonus content for buying more than one version of the franchise across platforms.
In 2019 there will be a joint venture with Warner Brothers to release Minecraft the movie, this will be anticipated as having as much commercial success as The Lego Movie, also a Warner Brothers Movie.
In 2016 a marketplace was created for communities to trade in maps, skins and texture packs.
The PC version of the game was noted for its modding scene where prosumers would alter the gameplay mechanics, change the assets and develop new skins and textures for other fans of the game to use.
There is evidence to suggest that mobile and hand-held devices are really driving the sales of Minecraft forward. For example, the release of the Playstation Vita version of Minecraft boosted sales of Minecraft by 79%, outselling PS3 and PS4 releases and making it the largest launch on a Playstation console. The appeal is being fuelled by a new generation of gamers who prefer hand-held devices over traditional consoles.
The continued development of fan made media across social media platforms and dedicated fan sites and blogs means that there is an active community of gamers who share a common interest linked to Minecraft.
Regulation – Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
New technologies (in this case the convergent devices with access to internet, Bluetooth, etc.) opens up opportunities and risks that complicate regulation.
Cultural Industries – David Hesmondhalgh
Explore how cultural industry companies attempt to minimise risk and maximise audiences. The game has a large fan base and is owned by a division of a global conglomerate. The purchase of Mojang for US$2.5 billion illustrates that Microsoft are clearly attempting to harness the popularity of this franchise to encourage sales both of the game itself and promote Windows 10 and their smartphone market.
Identity – David Gauntlett
Conducted a series of studies based around the use of Lego to create and share ideas and has also compared this to how audiences use the internet (one giant allotment). Making is Connecting is all about how people build a stronger sense of self-identity through creative practices. Minecraft adopts the same principles and shows how audiences are not only ‘making and connecting’ but are infinitely more creative through the use of the internet. The critical response of Minecraft as a media text highlights how the game is a way for people to socially create and interact is testimony to this idea.
Fandom – Henry Jenkins
Video games offer social experiences (online multi-player options) as well as communities outside of the core game experience. Jenkins’ key quote ‘if it doesn’t spread, it’s dead’ can be used as a discussion point to track the birth and popularity of the franchise. Minecraft has a strong, well developed fan base that could be researched in more detail in relation to Jenkins’ ideas about participatory culture.
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