After architect Andrew McClure received a lesson from his cousin on how to use Minecraft, he went to work making a slick looking house in the sandbox game in just two hours.

Check out video here:

The beauty of Minecraft is that it’s an absolute sandbox in which you can accomplish just about anything your brain can dream up. Gamers have taken on massive architectural projects in the game, like a realistic Japanese city, the world of The Witcher 3, the area seen in Spirited Away, and many other impressive feats. Minecraft can turn anybody into an architect, but what happens when an actual architect tries building a house in the game? That’s what BuzzFeed decided to test in a new video, and the results are interesting (via Geekologie).

Andrew McClure, a designer who specializes in custom high-end residential design, approached this endeavor as a self-described Minecraft noob, so his hope was that some of the software he uses to design homes for work would have some overlap with the tools available in the game. He was given two hours to build whatever he wanted, and he approached it very much like a real job.

He began by surveying the area, its lighting, and other factors that are important to consider when designing a building IRL. Once he got a lay of the land, he got to work, explaining parts of his process on the way. What resulted from this experiment is a modern, nicely designed house with a focus on light, function, and aesthetic. If anything, this video reinforces the fact that Minecraft is a versatile space and can be used for silly fun or more seriously thought-out projects.

What do you think of this Minecraft house? What’s the best thing you’ve ever built in-game? Let us know down in the comments!

YouTube gamer Callum Knight, a.k.a SeaPeeKay, is a knight by name, but also became king of the castle by achieving the Fastest time to build a castle in Minecraft creative mode (PC edition).

The attempt took place at Guinness World Records’ London HQ on 21 March 2018, when we challenged him to build the custom castle.

After three attempts, he managed to clinch the title with a time of 4 minutes 20 seconds.

However, even directly after his success full attempt he was thinking of ways to shave seconds of his time.

SeaPeeKay gameplay 2 – article

“I was being very careful to not misplace blocks, which I think slowed me down,” he said. “I feel I could’ve knocked more time off if I’d worked out the quickest and most efficient way to place the blocks.”

You can take that advice and run with it, as Callum’s castle record is up for grabs in the Minecraftreader challenges, which can be found in Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2019.

Callum Knight – Fastest Time To Build A Castle In Minecraft-4-article

Callum has had a taste of record-breaking before – and currently holds two titles.

At last year’s Guinness World Records Gamer’s Showdown, Callum set the record for Fastest time to build a house in Minecraft in survival mode, with a time of 3 minutes 54 seconds.

However, this record has since been broken twice and the current record-holder is Christopher Rüsch from Germany with a time of 3 minutes 24 seconds.

Callum Knight – Fastest Time To Build A House in Minecraft-article2

Along with fellow gamers N60Sean and TommyT999 and showdown presenter Sam Homewood he also set the record for Most coins collected in a single round of Coin Runners team of 4 in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with 53.

“I didn’t have any records until about a year a go, and then I managed to get my first two in one sitting!

“It’s a really cool thing, I love having the titles!”

From left to right: SeaPeeKay, Sam Homewood, Adjudicator Louise, N60Sean and TommyT999 at the Gamer’s Showdown
From left to right: SeaPeeKay, Sam Homewood, Adjudicator Louise, N60Sean and TommyT999 at the Gamer’s Showdown
His appetite for record breaking is only growing – and he suggests there may be fewer Minecraft records in store.

“One of my Guinness World Record titles is for Mario Kart, which isn’t necessarily a game I’m known for playing – maybe I can find some more Mario Kart ones to smash!

“I think it’s cool to have titles in games that people don’t associate with me. I’m a very competitive gamer, and I like to challenge myself and play a lot of things.”

In fact, when Callum started his YouTube channel, he hadn’t ever played Minecraft before.

“I started my channel on horror games, and then met some friends who played Minecraft and they were like ‘you should try it out!’ and here I am, five years later.”

Callum shifted his focus onto creating mainly Minecraft content due to the endless opportunities he felt the game offered.

“The possibilities in Minecraft  are limitless. There are always new things to do every time you load up the game.”
So, what is the secret to Callum’s success?

“There’s no real inner secret. It’s about working hard, there’s no quick path really.

“Enjoy it, but keep doing the important things, like work and school – and hopefully it goes somewhere.”

Callum_Knight_-_Fastest_Time_To_Build_A_Castle_In_Minecraft -article

Callum always tries to inject fun and laughter into his videos – something which motivated him to begin his YouTube channel in the first place.

“I always wanted to go some sort of comedy, but I didn’t want to do stand up. I’d always liked video games, so I decided to try and mix the two together – comedy and video games!”

When starting his channel almost 6 years ago, Callum never envisaged that he may hold records like the ones he read about as a child.

“I definitely read it a lot… I had the Guinness World Records book every Christmas, and now it’s like, my records could be featured!”
However, Callum’s dreams have come full circle, as his records feature in Gamer’s Edition 2019 on page 96, 102, and 104!

TEXAS – A popular video game will have fans flocking to Texas for a unique experience.

“Minecraft” has taken the video game world by storm gaining enough success that it now has its own festival, Minefaire.

One of the creators of the fair, Gabe Young, stopped by the Spectrum News studio to discuss the event. In the video above they discuss their inspiration for the festival.

Minefair is in Austin on Sept. 15 and 16 at the Convention Center.

Event features:

YouTube creators
Tournaments
Build battles
Costume contest
Live stage shows
Minecraft education mentors
Minecraft merchandise

Tickets range from $45 to $69.50.

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Target is about to pack even more Minecraft-related products into its stores. The retailer and The Minecraft Team announced today that they are collaborating on merchandise and fan parties. More than 75 new Minecraft items are coming exclusively to the big-box chain.

Microsoft’s block-building game is nearly 10 years old. Over the last decade, it has attracted an audience from across a diverse spectrum. Target has locations in cities, colleges, and suburbs to reach those consumers. The companies plan to have products for every taste as well. You can get apparel like shirts and PJs. Fans will find a new Minecraft Lego set among other toys. You can even get Minecraft-branded furniture and bedding.

Minecraft, Tomb Raider, FIFA, Call of Duty are just some of the latest gaming phenomenon’s to have been recognised in the eighth edition of ‘gaming bible’ Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2015, out on Thursday 6 th November.

Spaniard Rodrigo Martin Santos, who owns a staggering 2,383 related Tomb Raider items, has earned him the record for the Largest Collection of Tomb Raider Memorabilia.

The 27-year-old’s collection was counted and approved by Guinness World Records this year.

Rodrigo_Martin_-_Largest_Collector_Of_Tomb_Raider_Memorabilia-111.jpg

Rodrigo was inspired by the creator of Lara Croft, Briton Toby Gard. The original computer games helped build his collection and his most prized assets include the original costume worn by model Rhona Mitra in Tomb Raider 2 and a life sized Lara Croft and Rose statue of which only 50 were ever made.

Austrian Minecraft endurance player Martin Fornleitner played the crafting game for a staggering 24 hours and 10 minutes on his Sony Xperia Play handset earning him the record for the Longest Videogame Marathon on Minecraft.

Martin_Fornleitner_-_Longest_Videogame_Marathon_On_Minecraft-0321.jpg

Remarkably, the 19 year-old achieved the record in a glass container in Vienna back in 2011 under the watchful eye of the public and claimed tiredness was his biggest battle throughout the record attempt. Martin suggests a lot of practice is needed if anyone was ever interested in taking on his record and, also, a good music playlist to keep you interested (and awake).

In the world of football simulation, FIFA is king – and in the world of real football, Germany is king. Combine the two, and you get Patrick Hadler, aged 19, from Hannover, who replicated his countries success at this year’s World Cup, by achieving the record for the Highest Margin of Victory against the Computer on FIFA World Cup 2014 with a 321-0 scoreline!

Patrick_Hadler_-_Highest_Score_On_FIFA_World_Cup_2014_001.jpg

Patrick believes commitment, focus and a keen eye for goal was at the heart of his success and wanting to feel as good as the real life Germany football team.

Hecaterina Kinumi Iglesias (aka Kinumi Cati), is a specialist in the science and fantasy field of gaming and holds two endurance based records for the Longest Videogame Marathon on Final Fantasy ( 38 hours 6 minutes on July 28 th 2013) and Longest Videogame Marathon on World of Warcraft ( 29 hours 31 minutes on March 30 th 2014).

Kinumi_Cati_-_Longest_Marathon_On_Final_Fantasy-074.jpg

Hecaterina’s inspiration behind her records came from wanting to be recognised as a ‘good gamer’ and to grant her more exposure on her Youtube channel, where she also shares videos of her singing.

Other gaming records include:

Best-selling Eighth Generations Console – PS4
Most “Game of the Year” Awards – The Last of Us
First Mobile Game Series to Reach 1 Billion Downloads – Angry Birds
Fastest Car in a Videogame – Gran Turismo 6 – The Red Bull X2011 can travel at 622 km/h (386 mph)
Longest-running Sports Videogame Series – There have been 30 Madden NFL games across 26 years
First Fish to “play” a Videogame – US College students managed to make Pokémon respond to a fish
Most Costly Pac-Man Game – “Google Doodle” was played for 500,000,000 hours in total, distracting office workers everywhere and costing businesses an estimated £85 million in lost productivity!
This year’s Guinness World Record’s Gamer’s Edition is packed full of new features covering topics as diverse as the toys-to-life phenomena, gaming firsts, zombie games, Alien games videogame fashion and the big titles you’ll likely be playing over the coming months. It also looks at handheld gaming from Mattel’s Auto Race in 1976 to the innovative mobile gaming scene of today and how to become a record holder yourself with expert gaming tips.

Craig Glenday, Editor in-Chief, Guinness World Records, said: “Gaming is so dynamic and fast-moving that there’s never any shortage of exciting new superlatives for Guinness World Records to explore. Speed runs, high scores, technical achievements, collections, cosplaying… you’ll find it all the new Gamer’s Edition. And this year, we’re focusing on the most popular games as chosen for by our readers, peppered with interviews, features, hardware profiles and annual awards. Video gaming is sure to become the most significant art form of the 21 century, and the Gamer’s Edition – now in its eighth year – is committed to recording and documenting the increasingly impressive progress being made.

Guinness World Records 2015 Gamer’s Edition is out now. To find out where to buy it in your country, head to www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gamers

It was a thrilling day of videogames action, live record-breaking and social media fandom at the inaugural Legends of Gaming event last Saturday, as multiple new Guinness World Records were smashed for Minecraft and Rocket League.

The packed-out live show saw seven of the world’s biggest YouTube stars descend on London’s Alexandra Palace to battle it out in such games as Splatoon, Mario Kart and PES 16.

Included in the line-up were current Guinness World Record holders Ali-A and Dan The Diamond Minecart, both of whom hold viewing records for their hugely popular Call of Duty and Minecraft channels, respectively.

Meanwhile, GWR was celebrating the launch of Guinness World Records 2016 Gamer’s Edition by inviting members of the public to try and beat Ali-A’s recent Minecraft record for ‘Most wood collected in 3 minutes’.

Given that the record-breaking area was mobbed throughout the day, it was perhaps little surprise that Ali-A’s record of 78 blocks of wood was smashed not just once, but FOUR times over as competitive levels for the quick-fire challenge hit fever pitch.
Minecraft-record-holder
At 11am, in the day’s first official adjudication, 10-year-old Rhys Flynn pipped Ali-A’s record by collecting 79 blocks of wood. Then at 1pm, Dylan Kalabza celebrated his 13th birthday in style by bagging 91 blocks of wood, and therefore snatching Rhys’ moment of glory.

However, Dylan’s own record was to last only two hours as Nathan Dowdall raised the benchmark even further by collecting 98 pieces of wood, much to the delight of his mates who mobbed him with hugs as his timer reached zero.
Minecraft record holder mobbed
As subsequent record attempts ended in failure, it seemed that Nathan would go home an undisputed Minecraft record holder, but there was to be one final, unexpected twist.

At 8:50pm, at the very last adjudication of the day, Enkil Fernando Ceron Alvarez provided a spectacular climax by collecting 99 blocks of wood – and thus gazumping Nathan’s seemingly unassailable score by just one block of wood.

But it wasn’t just the public setting new Guinness World Records in gaming. Onstage, social media superstars Dan TDM and Syndicate smashed in 11 goals in the popular vehicular football game Rocket League, to set the standard in ‘Most goals scored in a game of Rocket League for a team of 2’.

As a brand new category, GWR had given the guys a minimum of 11 goals to score against the computer, which they just about managed. Dan TDM netted 10 of the duo’s goals – much to his teammate’s noticeable relief.
Syndicate-and-Dan-TDM
However, with Rocket League being a huge hit with gamers across the globe, GWR is welcoming applicants to try and better the duo’s record. And if you do, don’t forget to send in the evidence!
Syndicate and Dan TDM with Stephen Daultrey
Syndicate and Dan TDM with Guinness World Records Gamers Edition Editor Stephen Daultrey

Elsewhere, twin brothers Jake and Liam Thompson aka TWiiNSANE were presented with a certificate for their ‘Fastest time to capture the flag on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (shared controller, team of two)’ record, which they set back in June 2015.
Twiinsane with Stephen-Daultrey
Twiinsane with Stephen-Daultrey

All in all, the first Legends of Gaming event was a resounding success – and a fine testament to the power of these YouTube gaming personalities.

Guinness World Records 2016 Gamer’s Edition which is out September 10. To find out more about the book and pre-order your copy, head to www.guinnessworldrecords.com/2016

Microsoft has made its Minecraft: Education Edition available for iPad for the first time. Designed for ages K-12, the special edition features over 400 lesson plans, assessment features, and much more.

Previously teased last month, Microsoft has now made its popular Minecraft: Education Edition available globally for iPad.

Schools will need a Microsoft 365 licensing agreement to get access to Minecraft: Education Edition, which is available from the App Store now.

Microsoft offers a slew of tutorials and other free resources on how to implement and best use the education edition in the classroom.

For teachers who aren’t sure if their school is set up to use Minecraft: Education Edition, Apple recommends getting in touch with their IT administrator.

The game’s release notes share more details about the special education edition:

DESIGNED FOR CLASSROOMS EVERYWHERE

Designed for students of all learning styles, ages K-12 and higher education
Supports development of key 21st century skills including STEM
Over 400 free lessons and tutorials available on our website
Special features allow for formative assessment, teacher controls and classroom collaboration
Online educator community provides peer support
SPECIAL LESSONS & WORLDS

Chemistry features allow students to build an in-game periodic table
Update Aquatic introduces marine life to the Minecraft oceans
Treasure Island and Roald Dahl worlds bring novels to life
In-game features like camera, book and quill, and chalkboards help students document their work
3D export tool for mixed reality and 3D printing
WHAT IS MINECRAFT?

Minecraft is so much more than just a game about breaking and placing blocks – it’s an adventure where players work together to create and explore wonderful, imaginative worlds. Now, Minecraft is transforming how people teach and learn in over 120 countries with over 100 million players worldwide.
Minecraft: Education Edition brings the creative and immersive environment of Minecraft to classrooms around the world. Educators are empowered to use game-based learning and inspire students to express their ideas, explore and build amazing worlds and write their own stories. The possibilities for learning are endless!

For console and PC players

To get our challenges up and running, we’ve let “SeaPeeKay” have a go at this one already. He set a time of 4 minutes 20 seconds, but we know you can do better! Your task is to build the same castle as in our main picture. It must have four walls, four turrets with battlements, an opening to the castle with a portcullis, a water-filled moat and a wooden bridge. Your last act before the clock stops is to make the castle your own by placing a coloured banner (any colour will do) at the top of it.

Fastest time to build a rocket in Minecraft Survival mode
For console and PC players

To prepare for this one, create a superflat world in Creative mode, then stack blocks of ice into a tower until the coordinate readout says Y: 50 – this is the point your rocket has to reach.

Break all the blocks (except the one at Y: 50), fill your hotbar only with the material for your rocket, then switch to Survival mode. Start timing and build a rocket of any design (the one pictured is just an example). With the rocket built, get in and launch it. Stop the clock after you reach the ice block and break it with your fist.

Fastest time to saddle and stable 10 horses in Minecraft Survival mode
For console and PC players

Howdy, pardners! Before you can channel your inner cowboy or cowgirl, you’ll need to prepare. To start with, create an enclosure of 50 x 20 blocks. Use fence blocks at the four corners of the enclosure and create a fence gate wall every 12 blocks (to create three jumps). Finish the structure by building 10 stables at one end of it.

Next, spawn 10 horses and tame them using golden apples. Once that’s done, empty your inventory of everything except for 10 saddles and then switch to Survival mode. Start the clock, grab the first horse and bring it back to your stable – leaping the three fences as you go. The clock stops once all of your horses have been stabled.

astest time to build an igloo in Minecraft Survival mode
For console players only

Before you build your very own igloo, you’ll need to create a superflat world with layers of snow, oak wood, cobblestone, coal ore, white wool, black wool and bedrock (make sure you create them in that order). Once you’re done, load the world in Survival mode. Then, with the clock ticking, mine the necessary resources to create your igloo, which must include a bed, a crafting table, a furnace and four torches.

Your igloo must be 7 blocks wide x 5 deep x 4 high. Once it’s built, cover the floor with black carpet and add the bed, crafting table, furnace and torches.

How to attempt the records
If you think you’ve set a new record, you’ll need to submit your evidence to Twin Galaxies.

Once registered, follow the steps to upload your attempt under the relevant challenge, making sure you detail significant moments in your video (e.g. time stamps for when the attempt starts and finishes).

Please make sure direct capture footage is uploaded as that is required for evidence review, however you can support that with other videos such as Twitch stream links and photos.

Then sit back and relax while the Twin Galaxies community will now adjudicate your record attempt. Keep checking the challenges leaderboards to see how the adjudication is getting on and to see if you could potentially be a record holder!

There’s also more detailed information about how the Twin Galaxies process works.

Good luck!

Microsoft is making it easier than ever for players to enjoy “Minecraft” together with the announcement of the “Minecraft Master Collection” and “Minecraft Starter Collection.”

The “Minecraft Starter Collection” is a $29.99 bundle that includes the “Minecraft” base game, along with 700 Minecoins, that opens up the ability to purchase various skins, texture packs, mash-ups, and other items from the game’s marketplace. It’s aimed at new players looking to jump into the game in an expedient fashion who aren’t looking to spend extravagantly, but want a taste of what’s on offer.

The “Minecraft Master Collection” is $49.99, and offers all the content of the “Minecraft Starter Collection” along with 1,000 Minecoins and various content created by “Minecraft” Marketplace partners. You can select experiences like the PureBDcraft Texture Pack by BDcraft, the Winter Mini-Games Festival by Noxcrew, and several others. This set is meant more for players who have already dabbled in the game and want a bit more to play around with.

Additionally, Microsoft has announced the new Xbox One S Two-Controller Bundle to make it even simpler to round up other players to jump into “Minecraft” with. These special sets are geared toward facilitating “Minecraft” gaming nights, but an extra controller on hand is useful for a variety of different things, especially with the various couch co-op experiences out of the box out there on the system at this time.

Incidentally, Xbox One is one of the platforms that supports cross-play with “Minecraft,” so these sets can also help players connect with friends on the Nintendo Switch and PC for fun-filled nights of building and crafting. Unfortunately, the game is still not cross-play compatible on Nintendo Switch.

Minecraft: Education Edition is now available on the iPad platform.

The iOS version shares many features found in other versions of Minecraft EDU, including the Update Aquatic package for underwater STEM activities and the Chemistry Resource Pack. It includes a touch interface that is “functionally equivalent to the standard control scheme for the game,” according to Microsoft, which owns Minecraft.

Licensing is being handled through the Microsoft Store, third-party resellers and volume licensing agreements. An Office 365 for Education account is required for deployment. A free trial version will also be available for teachers (maximum of 25 logins) and students (maximum of 10 logins).

A deployment guide and other iOS-specific resources are available on the Minecraft site. Teacher resources can be found here.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Calling all cube creators!

Thousands of families are headed to Schaumburg this weekend for Minefaire. It creates the ultimate Minecraft experience.

The video game allows players of all ages to create and play in their own world.

Popular YouTubers from all over the world are expected to attend. You can fully immerse yourself in the world of Minecraft with a virtual reality experience and Minecraft escape room.

The event takes place Saturday and Sunday at the Schaumburg Convention Center located at 1551 North Thoreau Drive.

Visit the site Minefaire.com for more information on tickets, events and schedules.

Joseph Garrett, a.k.a Stampy Cat, is one Minecraft’s most well-known gamers and now he has two Guinness World Records titles to his name.

The 27-year-old has set a new record for the Fastest time to make and display 10 cakes in Minecraft (PC Edition) with a time of 3 minutes 51 seconds to go with his record for Most viewed Terraria video (9,593,008 views as of 24 April).

Stampy set his Minecraft record when he visited Guinness World Records’ London HQ on 3 April ahead of the launch of Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2019, a book that features records from games such as Dragon Ball FighterZ,Fortnite and FIFA, and for which he has also written the introduction.

StampyCat – Fastest Time to Make 10 Cakes – article 2
After receiving his title for Fastest time to make and display 10 cakes in Minecraft, Stampy was delighted.

“It feels fantastic to be a Guinness World Records title holder! I grew up reading all of the books and it was always something I was aware of, and I never thought I would actually be in the book with my very own title.”
In his introduction, Stampy shares some of his favourite records from the book, as well as some of his thoughts about gaming and record-breaking.

But on the day of his record attempt, Guinness World Records talked to Stampy about his story and asked what compelled him to become a YouTube gamer and record-breaker!

StampyCat – Fastest Time to Make 10 Cakes-3
While Stampy now enjoys more than 9 million YouTube subscribers, and has racked up almost 7 billion (6,795,708,273) views, it took him a while to achieve success on the platform.

“I did YouTube for a really long time with almost no-one watching! The time people really started watching was when I started doing Minecraft videos. People must have liked something that I was doing because a lot of people started watching,” he said.

The origins of Stampy’s channel stemmed from his creativity and desire to make and edit videos.
“When I first started doing my YouTube videos they were actually a bunch of videos I’d made; just little animations, short films with my friends at school. I was making YouTube videos before I had a YouTube channel – and then finally I had a place to share them!”

In fact, even the name, Stampy, came from one of his earliest creations.
“I decided to call myself Stampy because a really long time ago when I was at school I made an animation with a character called Stampy,” while the cat element to his name came from a skin he just never changed.

StampyCat – Fastest Time to Make 10 Cakes -article3

Stampy’s channel took off when he started creating Minecraft videos, just as the game was launch on the Xbox 360.

The game has grown rapidly, and holds the record titles for Fastest-selling Xbox Live Arcade videogame, Best-selling videogame on non-console formats, Highest grossing indie videogame, and Most wins of the Children’s BAFTA “Kids’ Vote” award for a videogame.

But what can Minecraft attribute its phenomenal success to?

Stampy believes it’s a combination of accessibility and diversity within its virtual world.

“I think the reason why Minecraft has become so popular and stayed so popular for so long is basically because it’s a platform that you can do whatever you want in.

“A lot of people say ‘aren’t you bored with Minecraft?’ and it’s like saying ‘aren’t you bored of drawing – or writing?’ It doesn’t really matter what you’re using, you’re always doing something new.”

Stampy Cat with Gamer’s Edition Editor Mike Plant
Stampy Cat with Gamer’s Edition Editor Mike Plant

After seven years and hundreds of videos on YouTube, Stampy still likes to seek out something new to do with the game to keep his subscribers entertained.

“I keep myself motivated by always trying to do something new, and then, when I do do something new, seeing the reactions and the comments from everyone that watches my videos.”

Though Stampy spends the majority of his time on YouTube creating and managing his own content, he also tries to watch his other favourite gamers when he gets the chance.

“Along with a lot of other people I really like watching Ninja. I’m actually really big into Halo!”

One of Stampy’s main pieces of advice for breaking a record title is doing something you love and enjoy.

“If you want to break a record title, make sure you’re doing it in something that you enjoy. Don’t just look to the games that other people are competing in – look at what you love doing. If you’re enjoying yourself you’re not going to worry about all of the dedication you’re going to need to break your record title.”

If you want to try your hand at record breaking, take a look at our Minecraftreader challenges in Gamer’s, which come with instructions from fellow gamer Callum Knight, a.k.a SeaPeeKay.

Callum Knight, aka SeaPeeKay
Callum Knight, aka SeaPeeKay
It includes something for everyone, and covers all types of gaming from retro to virtual reality. Whether your thing is action RPGs, brawlers, strategy or shooters, you’ll find it in Gamer’s Edition 2019.

In the words of Stampy himself:

“We all share a love of gaming. This is the chance to celebrate the people that make gaming officially awesome!”
Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2019 is out now! Find out where you can buy your copy
gamers cover

Minecraft fans can put their skills to the test with an exciting series of record attempts in Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2019.

The new book contains four reader challenges inviting people to attempt records for:

Fastest time to build a castle in Minecraft creative mode
Fastest time to build a rocket in Minecraft survival mode
Fastest time to build an igloo in Minecraft survival mode
Fastest time to saddle and stable 10 horses in Minecraft survival mode
Minecraft Reader Challenges 3

YouTuber Callum Knight, better known as SeaPeeKay, introduces the challenges in the book and has even set a benchmark time of 4 minutes 20 seconds for the castle record.

To help would-be record breakers, tutorial videos have been created for all four tasks along with explanations about how to register attempts.

You can find the tutorial for the Fastest time to build a castle in Minecraft creative mode while all others are on our dedicated Minecraft challenge page.

But that’s not all that’s featured in Gamer’s Edition 2019, which is packed with accomplishments games such as FIFA 18, Super Mario 2, Overwatch, Fortnite, Splatoon 2, The Legend of Zelda, Roblox, Dragon Ball FighterZ and many more.

Feel inspired after reading exclusive material featuring the likes of Ray “Stallion83” Cox, record holder for the Highest Xbox Gamerscore, or popular VR-dedicated YouTuber Nathaniel “Nathie” de Jong, and Joseph Garrett, aka Stampy Cat, who has written this year’s introduction.

Minecraft Reader Challenges

Find out which Monster Hunter: World beast is the largest, who the Most subscribed gaming YouTuber is, just how many players have been healed by one Overwatch gamer alone or how the Nintendo Gameboy originated, through colourful and insightful spreads.

“Gamer’s Edition 2019 is bursting with the latest, greatest records from the games you love to play,” said editor Mike Plant.

“From Stampy Cat’s cake-making Minecraft adventures to Ninja’s Twitch-streaming exploits in Fortnite, there’s always something new for gamers to discover. I hope you have as much fun reading Gamer’s Edition 2019 as I had editing it!”

For startup Roblox, it pays to play with digital toys.

After closing a $150 million round of series F funding, Roblox is now valued at $2.5 billion, the company said Wednesday.

This isn’t the first big valuation for an open world game platform geared for kids. In 2015, Microsoft bought Mojang, maker of popular kids’ game Minecraft, for $2.5 billion.

“We think of this in terms less of a big number and more in terms of an emerging category for human interaction and co-experience,” said David Baszucki, Roblox’s founder and CEO.

Roblox, which was founded in 2004, is a platform where you can create your own games or join ones others have made. Roblox’s avatars look a little like Lego minifigs. There are more than 70 million monthly users, and users log about 900 million hours of engagement each month, according to Roblox’s website.

The funding round was led by Greylock Partners and Tiger Global with Altos, Meritech and Index Ventures also participating. Baszucki said plans for the future are, as you might imagine, growth.

“Ultimately we have the vision of expanding to a world wide platform that allows kids from the US to go on field trips to China and adults around the world to make friends from different walks of life and people who have different life experiences,” he said, and “to really help create a future digital civil society.”

Players looking to bring an innovative encounter to their next session of Dungeons & Dragons should look no further than one of the most popular video games out today.

At first glance, Dungeons & Dragons and Fortnite couldn’t be any further apart. One is a venerable tabletop RPG enjoying a renaissance due to the appeal of shared storytelling and streamlined rules. The other is a manic video game that combines crazy free-for-all action and combat with an addicting comic irreverence. However, I recently crafted an encounter in our home game that benefited from adding some Fortnite-esque rules into the mix.

A popular staple in Dungeons & Dragons is gladiatorial combat – either against rival teams of adventurers or against monsters. Gladiator matches are a good way for bruisers to test their might and also win some gold or fame along the way.

So – how does one turn a gladiator match into a Fortnite-esque battle royale? Well, the chances are that your D&D group already has the irreverent “destroy everything and laugh along the way” mindset needed to succeed in Fortnite, so you just need to bring in the shrinking battlefield into the encounter.

For my D&D/Fortnite mashup, I used a pretty typical coliseum type setup with only a handful of rules. There was only one winner (thus forcing all alliances to be temporary) and players couldn’t use divine magic, thus keeping clerics and druids from preventing bloody violence up with their healing spells or ability to transform into fire elementals.

The combat area itself was split into three rings, each of which had a handful of terrain options to provide cover and add a little bit of strategy to the mix. Participants could use the entire stadium at the start of the fight, but once about half of the participants were eliminated, the remaining warriors had a few seconds to enter the inner two rings or get hit with some nasty lightning damage – courtesy of some arcane runes around the edge of the coliseum. Eventually, players are forced into a small area of combat, forcing them to duke it out (or to try to push their opponents into the deadly lightning circling the ring.)

You can also spice up the encounter by introducing rivals or setting up future encounters. My home game’s battle royale had been teased via town criers and idle gossip for months, and the players recognized many of the other participants, including some old friends and the monk’s friendly rival…who was created just to incentivize the players into entering.

I kept my Fortnite encounter rather simple and wrapped it up in a single night, but adventurous DMs can turn it into an extended storyline. Maybe players are stripped of their magic items and dropped onto a remote island, where they have to rely on their scavenging and tracking skills to survive. Or maybe players can form small teams, thus preventing a PvP battle (and hurt feelings) at the end of the battle royale. There’s plenty of ways to port Fortnite into Dungeons & Dragons, and chances are you’ll get a few laughs when players realize what’s happening.

How have you used video games to enhance your D&D game? Let us know in the comment section or shoot me a tweet at @CHofferCBus on Twitter!

A new Marvel’s Spider-Man trailer just dropped, giving us our first look at Black Cat (Felicia Hardy). Black Cat will serve as the main focus of part one of The City That Never Sleeps DLC. This chapter is called “The Heist,” and for those of you who know Black Cat, you know exactly why. Check out the teaser above!

Spider-Man and Black Cat have a long and complicated history, and presently we’re not sure exactly where they stand in this new canon that Insomniac has created. She is apparently still the anti-hero that we all know and love, but what does Spider-Man think of her? Do they still have any kind of romantic tension between them? Could that serve as a point of conflict between Peter and Mary Jane?
And just what is Black Cat after? The title of this DLC chapter is “The Heist,” so we know that Black Cat will be stealing something, we just don’t know what. There are plenty of major powers at play in this game world. Fisk is a hyper-powerful jailbird with a chip on his shoulder, and plenty of power at his disposal. Osborn is a power-hungry politician willing to do whatever it takes to secure a third term. Martin Li is a dangerous man leading an impossible double-life. They all have their motives, and they all have things that are precious to them. What, or who, is Black Cat after?

These are all questions that will be answered before long. Marvel’s Spider-Man swings onto PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro on September 7, which will give you guys a little over a month to power through the main story and prepare for all of this delicious extra content. The Heist is set to drop on October 23, and two more DLC chapters will be launching in November and December to complete The City That Never Sleeps.

In the meantime, you guys have our review to look forward to. We’ve played and beaten Marvel’s Spider-Man, and we’ll be telling you everything you need to know about it tomorrow as part of our review. Make sure you bookmark ComicBook.com/gaming, and check back tomorrow to read our full review. We have so much to say about this game, and you’re going to want to read it all before you jump in at the end of the week. Stay tuned!

Minecraft, despite having been out for almost a decade now, continues to prove that the creatively driven title has a lot of life left it. The community is strong and never ceases to amaze with their amazing creations in-game. From epic crossovers, to just incredible innovation – the sky is the limit for these block creators and this recent Reddit post proves just that.

The building mechanics in this game are really limitless. For those that bypass the Survival mode and go right into the Creative one, it is a nice outlet for letting that inner artist shine. With the easy to use building mechanics and the incredibly soothing soundtrack, it’s really no wonder that so many still tank an impressive amount of hours into this game.

Posts like this always make me incredibly happy because you can just imagine the level of pride the creators are feeling with it. I can’t even seem to build a one-level house with four solid walls, so seeing entire realities coming to life is absolutely astounding to me.

Now that the “Build It Together” update is live, it’s even easier to create entire worlds. Excited to squad up with friends and family? Here’s what you can experience together with this expansive update:

“Explore randomly generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles. Play in creative mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in survival mode, crafting weapons and armor to fend off the dangerous mobs.”

Minecraft Marketplace
For the first time, skins, textures, and worlds designed by the community are available in the store. Buy once and enjoy across Xbox, Windows 10 and mobile devices!* (and soon, the Switch)
Endless exploration
Create and explore your very own world where the only limit is what you can imagine.
Build almost anything
Crafting has never been faster, easier or more fun!
Co-op play
Play with up to four players in split screen for free, or invite hundreds of friends to a massive gameplay server or your own private Realm!

A “Minecraft” add-on, or game mod, added climate-change weather effects to show gamers negative impacts similar to the real world.

The aptly named “GlobalWarming” game mod, made by developer Nick Porillo, attempts to simulate the real-world effects of climate change into “Minecraft” as a way to educate gamers about caring for the environment, reports Motherboard.

The game mod added several concepts into “Minecraft” such as the idea of rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the game’s atmosphere. Things like smoke from burning, cooking or smelting ores would increase CO2 levels and trigger various weather phenomena. Some of these weather changes can also be observed in the real world.

Porillo got inspiration from a course on climate-change science, technology and policy last spring at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

“[The course] really educated me on the topics at hand. Last week I was just playing the new Minecraft 1.13 update after a multi-year hiatus from Minecraft. I was shocked at how much things have changed, and the ocean biomes updates really introduced the ability to make this idea happen,” said Porillo.

He added, “The (Minecraft) community believes there is potential educational benefit, so I’ve been working on developing cool ideas to make the gameplay fun and informational.”

Not all is doom and gloom for the game add-on. Players who install the “GlobalWarming” may also practice saving the environment by planting trees and other activities to offset in-game emissions. This in turn will help stop environmental damage on a large scale.

Google dominates US classrooms with its affordable laptops and free apps like Google Docs. Now Apple appears to be getting serious about recovering some share of the education market.

Apple executives announced their latest education products at a Chicago high-school auditorium today (March 27) to an audience of journalists, analysts, educators, and students. The hour-long event had little new hardware on show. “We believe iPad is best at engaging students,” a company representative said onstage. But it’s not clear that its latest offerings would put a serious damper on Google and its partners’ education sales.

Here’s a quick rundown of everything Apple announced.

A new iPad
Apple revamped its 9.7-inch iPad that supports Apple’s stylus, the Pencil. It features just about everything you’d expect on a tablet of its ilk, including a Retina HD display, an 8-megapixel camera, Apple’s A10 processor, which was first seen in the iPhone 7, a TouchID fingerprint scanner (no FaceID sensors like on the new iPhone X), and a front-facing camera for selfie-taking and Skyping.

QUARTZ/MIKE MURPHY
Everything the new iPad has on board.
Unlike the more expensive iPad Pro (which starts at $649), this iPad does not support Apple’s Smart Keyboard case. Apple also did not reduce the price of its Pencil stylus (which is still $99), but did announce that Logitech is making a stylus called the Crayon which will work with iPads, and starts at $49.

The new iPads start at $329 for a 32GB model. Apple said that teachers and schools will be able to get them for a discounted rate of $299. It comes in gold, silver, and grey. Sadly, no rose gold.

New software
iWork updates. Apple announced a new suit of iWork apps with tons of updates for schools. It focused mostly on the new version of Pages, where teachers can make textbooks for their students directly on an iPad, as well as mark up documents using an Apple Pencil. Students can collaborate on editing projects together in class over wifi, much like they’ve been able to on Google Docs for years.

QUARTZ/MIKE MURPHY
The new iPad, running Pages.
Minor apps get minor updates. GarageBand, Apple’s music-making app, got minor refreshes, including a royalty-free sound library for class presentations. Clips, Apple’s Snapchat-like video app, got new Apple-designed posters and animations that make it easier for students to make mini-presentations on the fly.

Schoolwork. Apple released a new app for teachers to keep track of their students, and basically make digital handouts for homework as easily as they can write an email. The app also lets teachers assign specific tasks to students within educational apps and see how well they’re progressing. Obliquely referencing issues in the news right now, Apple harped on the fact that the data in this app is private, seen only by the student and teachers involved. The app will launch in June.

More storage. Apple announced that all iCloud accounts associated with a school will now get 200GB free cloud storage, a massive boost over the 5GB it previously offered. It didn’t extend this offer to those who have graduated, and it’s worth noting that Microsoft Office 365 subscribers get 1TB of free data.

Everyone Can Create. Apple said that it will soon launch a new curriculum, focused on how the iPad is a powerful creative tool for the classroom. It builds on the Everyone Can Code curriculum it previously launched to encourage students to learn to code.

Nothing else
Apple did not announce any updates to its low-cost laptops, including the MacBook Air, which many had been hoping for. It didn’t announce availability for AirPower, the wireless-charging mat it previewed back in September. It didn’t even introduce a new version of its Pencil.

There were no surprise reveals at this event, and it was true to its invitation, which said we would “hear creative new ideas for teachers and students.”

Is it enough?
The pricing structure effectively rules out the new iPad from being a true competitor to most Chromebooks. Despite what Apple would like us to believe, it is not that easy to type out a term paper on a touchscreen. The new iPad software (more on that below) will definitely make doing project work and taking notes at school far easier. But doing essays, browsing the web, and chatting with friends is a lot easier to do when you have a proper keyboard to type on, and you can easily type on the device on your lap or a table. What’s more, if you’re buying Apple’s new iPad and a Pencil, even with the school discount, the starting price is $398. Many Chromebooks are the same price or cheaper, and have touchscreens as well as full keyboards.

Then there’s the issue of whether schools that have already invested in Google’s suite of offerings would be willing to switch back for the sake of Apple’s new software and stylus capabilities. Then again, at least iPads have all of Google’s apps on them.

Perhaps there’s hope. While sitting in the school’s cafeteria after the event, one teacher spoke with her colleagues about the new iPad. ”It’s not like, revolutionary, but it’s way more helpful,” she said. “The stuff we’re asking for, they’re listening.”