Minecraft remains an incredibly popular game even to this day, but there are some issues which need to be addressed. For example, the user interface (UI) could be much better and more streamlined. Luckily, Microsoft is aware of these problems and plans on updating the menus in the near future.

Today, a post on Minecraft’s website detailed some of the changes coming to the game. The team wants players to contribute their menu designs by downloading templates and sharing them online.

Menus! They’re essential for helping you navigate Minecraft and get to what you want with ease. That’s why we’ve started working on a major redesign of the Minecraft menu… for all Bedrock Engine-based platforms (so that’s Minecraft on Xbox One, Windows 10, virtual reality, mobile devices, and Nintendo Switch). What would you like to see from an updated Minecraft menu? Whatever your ideas are, we’d love to see them… share your designs with us… you can do that on our our Minecraft Discord channel.

It’ll be interesting to see what fans come up with. Hopefully the developer will incorporate a lot of feedback to make navigating the UI even better. We’ll keep you posted as soon as the team finalizes its plans and shares the new look. Until then, be sure to contribute your ideas. Please keep in mind that the ‘Bedrock’ version isn’t available on PlayStation because Sony blocks cross-play.

Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire is being recreated via Minecraft.
Photo: Press Association Images
Kenilworth Castle has been restored to its former glory with the help of the computer game Minecraft.

Expert virtual builders, Blockworks, have brought the popular game to the Warwickshire landmark which has stood in ruins for more than 300 years.

Visitors can rebuild two of its famous sites at Minecraft workshops hosted by English Heritage this summer.

Kenilworth Castle has been a royal castle for most of its history.
Kenilworth Castle has been a royal castle for most of its history. Credit: English Heritage
As part of the #LoveCastles season, the charity are hoping that the visualisation shows what Kenilworth may have looked like when Queen Elizabeth I visited many years ago.

Built in the 1120s Kenilworth has been a royal castle for most of its history but it was Queen Elizabeth I’s suitor, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who spared no expense trying to woo her with structural improvements.

Kenilworth Castle was partly destroyed in a deliberate act of sabotage during the Civil War in 1642.
Kenilworth Castle was partly destroyed in a deliberate act of sabotage during the Civil War in 1642. Credit: English Heritage/PA
English Heritage head properties curator Jeremy Ashbee, said: “Awesome though it remains, an intact Kenilworth Castle isn’t that easy to visualise – there are huge gaps where walls have been demolished, roofs and floors stolen, and the contents sold off or destroyed.

He added: “This Minecraft model undoubtedly captures the essence of the castle that greeted Elizabeth I in 1575 – towering buildings, fashionable high Elizabethan windows, the huge lake surrounding it, and the magnificent privy garden. All this will help the public to imagine what the castle was like in its heyday.”

Minecraft workshops are taking place at Dover Castle on August 19 and Kenilworth Castle on August 26. YouTuber Amy Lee33 will be on hand to coach players in the art of virtual castle building.

For more information, visit http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/castles

Last updated Tue 14 Aug 2018

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.

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 is one of the most popular games of this generation, and is available for pretty much every platform, from PC to iOS and Android. It runs really well on most devices, but it could always be better – especially if you’ve got a PC with a lot of RAM to take advantage of. The issue is that, by default, Minecraft is only allocated 1GB of RAM – not great if you’ve got 8- or 16GB of RAM in your PC.

While it was once rather complex to allocate more RAM in Minecraft, the 2.0.0 update changed all that. Here’s how to allocate more RAM in Minecraft on PC and for those running Minecraft on a server.

If you want to play other Minecraft-esque games, be sure to check out our list of the best alternatives to Minecraft.

How to allocate more RAM in Minecraft (V2.0.0 or later)
While it was once a complex task to manually allocate more RAM in Minecraft, Microsoft changed all that with the release of version 2.0.0. Minecraft now offers the ability to adjust RAM in the Minecraft Launcher, with no need to edit text files and risk corrupting the game. Here’s how:

Make sure you’ve got the latest version of Minecraft installed (excluding the demo, which is capped at v1.5).
Check your computer’s total RAM by going to Start > Settings > System > About.
Open the Minecraft Launcher by double-clicking the Minecraft icon on your desktop.
Click the Launch Options tab in the top-right of the window.
Make sure Advanced Settings is enabled (green switch) and select the profile you’d like to edit. If there’s only a single profile, click it.
Toggle on the JVM arguments switch.
A line of text should appear, including the phrase -X1G. Change the 1 to the number of gigabytes of RAM that you’d like to allocate to Minecraft. You shouldn’t allow Minecraft to use more than two-thirds of your overall RAM, or you may run into other issues.
Click Save at the bottom of the window to save your changes.
And that’s it! The next time you load up Minecraft, it’ll use the specific amount of RAM you allocated.

How to allocate more RAM in a Minecraft Server
The process to adjust the amount of RAM Minecraft uses when hosted on a server is slightly different, as it’s not baked into the Launcher like the standard game. It’s not too complicated though:

Open your Minecraft server directory (the folder that contains the Minecraft_server.exe file you launch the Minecraft server with). If you’re unsure of the location, search “Minecraft_server” on your PC.
Click Home > New Item > Text Document on PC to create a text document in the server directory.
In the new text document, paste the following (if on PC):
java -Xmx####M -Xms####M -exe Minecraft_Server.exe -o true
PAUSE
Replace #### with the value, in MB, that you want to allocate (1GB = 1024MB). For example, if you want to allocate 2GB of RAM, you’d enter 2048.
Click File > Save As… and change Save as type to All Files. Name the file server launcher and change the extension from .txt to .bat.
The file you created will now be the new launcher for your Minecraft server – simply double-click it to run. Using the .bat file to launch the server will automatically allocate the specified amount of RAM.
See, easy right? Now go back to enjoying your voxel-based game with better performance than ever before!

DENVER (CBS4) – Thousand of families spent their weekend at “Minefaire,” an event in Denver that brought Minecraft players to meet in one expo hall.

Minecraft, a video game which allows players to create and play in their own world, attracted players of all ages.

“It is like I am making my own little world. And, it is my own little escape from reality,” said Gabriel Garcia, a Minecraft player.

Minefaire is one of was the largest gatherings for Minecraft players. Garcia’s family attended the event. All admitted to playing the game before, including parents.

“It is kind of like a new generation, next level, Legos,” said Adriana Garcia, the mother.

“It is like Lego, but unlimited inventory,” said Chris Danilo, Director of Operations for the event.

The Garcia children competed at Minefaire. Some were tasked with building their ideal campsite. They were only given a controller, and used their imagination to create the rest.

Adriana Garcia said she thought the game encouraged her children to be creative, while also understanding computer sciences.

“I think it is good for them,” Adriana Garcia said.

“They are able to create their own world. They can use their imagination,” Albert Garcia, the father, said.

“I think a lot of parents are worried about the screen time for their kids. Minecraft is probably the best thing you could do, as far as video games,” Danilo said. “Minefaire is a great opportunity for kids to show their parents, ‘Hey, look at this cool thing that I am in to.’ And, the parent gets to learn a little bit about their world, and their universe.”

Adriana Garcia said she hoped her children would see the event as a way not only to have fun, socialize, and be creative. But, she also hoped it would encourage them to consider a future in coding.

“With the coding side, I think that is the direction my kids are going,” Adriana Garcia said.

Dillon Thomas is a reporter at CBS4 and a Colorado native. He believes everyone has a story, and would love to share yours! You can find more of his stories by following him on Twitter, @DillonMThomas.

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.

A new FCC filing shows that Samsung may be prepping to release an updated version of the HMD Odyssey, its Windows Mixed Reality headset launched at the end of last year. The new headset will be called the HMD Odyssey+, and there doesn’t appear to be many changes, except for some cosmetic differences to make the headset more comfortable to wear.

The filing shows that the headset’s display size remains the same with dual 3.5-inch screens with a 1440 x 1600 resolution per eye, but now the eye box is wider to prevent fogging. The specs chart below does mention a new acronym we haven’t seen before with “AMOLED+SFS” listed as the display type, but it’s not yet clear what SFS is.

KCTL
Senior reporter Adi Robertson’s first impression of the HMD Odyssey was that the core VR experience was as good as the Rift or Vive, but that its design was pretty mediocre and navigating Windows desktop apps was an “exercise in pointless misery.” The Odyssey retailed for $500 at launch but has since been lowered to $400. It probably won’t be long until we can get more details on the upcoming Odyssey+.

HTC is bringing the U12 Plus in flame red to the US and Canada. It’s now available for preorder from the company’s website and ships next month. The other colors, blue and black, were already available for purchase, but it’s the flame red one that stands out.

The flame red color changes depending on what light it’s under, sometimes looking violet or gold in photos. A bunch of smartphones have appeared in iridescent shades lately, like the Huawei P20’s twilight color that can look purple or blue under different lighting and the Motorola P30’s similar “aurora” tone. The HTC U11 might have been among the phones responsible for sparking the trend.

All things considered, the U12 Plus is a pretty typical flagship phone for 2018, but its color and cameras are probably the most stand-out features about it. In our review of the phone, The Verge’s senior editor Vlad Savov found its more attractive aspects were overshadowed by dismal software and faux buttons that are difficult to use.

For the basic storage option, it costs $799 and also comes in blue or black. The 128GB version costs $849 in the US. In Canada, the U12 Plus costs C$1,099 with 64GB or C$1,169 with 128GB.

Bloomberg reports today that Amazon is reportedly working on a new device that’ll record live TV with the goal of letting users play content back on their phones later. The device, which is internally called “Frank,” would have physical storage and connect to Fire TV boxes. It’d rely on the same wireless technology that allows Amazon’s Echo speakers to pair with those boxes. Bloomberg’s source says the product isn’t official yet and might not roll out.

Additionally, the company reportedly plans to update its Fire TV stick with new software and is also exploring the possibility of expanding its Fire TV software and video content to outside TV makers, beyond its current manufacturing partners. This would be similar to Roku’s efforts that have its interface being used across TVs from multiple makers.

Overall, it sounds like Amazon is brainstorming ideas for how it can totally own the living room space and compete even more directly with Tivo and Roku. It’s also gunning for content makers, like Netflix and HBO, with exclusive shows and movies. All its devices point to wanting to create a full setup for users, from the TV itself, to the DVR, to the content.

The Minecraft Marketplace is about to get the followup on a serious 1-2 punch that could boost creator’s revenues and downloads through the end of July. The Minecraft Team at Microsoft launched the first Minecraft Summer Sale today. As part of this event, most of the content on the Marketplace is getting a steep discount.

While the Summer Sale may get fans downloading more content this month, last month it was the Nintendo Switch that helped fuel sales. The Minecraft Marketplace had 396,511 downloads in June, which is up from 285,816 in April. With the Marketplace hitting Switch for the first time beginning June 26, it’s likely that Nintendo’s platform contributed significantly to that total. You can see past results by tracking the Minecraft Marketplace sales charts here.

But now that Switch is integrated into the Minecraft platform, developers can focus on making their content and the Summer Sale. Some, like Gamemode One founder Sean Davidson, thinks discounts are exactly what some players are waiting for before they spend their money on Minecraft microtransactions.

“We hope and expect that the Minecraft Summer Sale will increase player accessibility to content and potentially drive increased traffic over the remainder of the year,” said Davidson. “Access to products at a discounted rate is a great way to give players and buyers on the fence a chance to see what the Marketplace has to offer.”

Developer Imagiverse has even spent the last few weeks preparing its Lapis Lagoon waterpark map for the sale (it’s already out). This update will roll out to everyone who owns it, and Imagiverse wants positive word-of-mouth to help it perform well in the sale.

“We focused on making sure Lapis Lagoon was going to give the player the best possible waterpark experience they could have in-game,” a spokesperson for Imagiverse explained in a note to GamesBeat. “Old and new players alike will appreciate the work we put into the map getting it ready for the sale.”

Let’s do the charts. Here are the 10 most downloaded pieces of content from the Minecraft Marketplace for June 2018:
10.) Lucky Block Escape
10. Lucky Block Escape

Here it is in list form:

City Life
Mineville Highschool
Dinosaur Park
Planes
Dinosaur Island
Monsters of the Deep
Wildlife: Savanna
Mutant Battle Arena
Prison Escape
Lucky Block Escape

And here are the 10 highest-grossing pieces of content for June 2018:
10.) Lucky Block Escape
10. Lucky Block Escape

List:

City Life
Dinosaur Park
Planes
Dinosaur Island
Monsters of the Deep
Wildlife: Savanna
Mutant Battle Arena
Mineville Highschool
Super Racers
Lucky Block Escape

Next month, we’ll get to see how the Summer Sale affects the charts. This is a big chance for Marketplace partners, and it could turn into one of the biggest months for the Minecraft store so far.

Correction, 12:14 p.m.: Sean Davidson’s name was misspelled as Sean David in the original article. We have corrected the error, and we apologize.

Electronic Arts’ The Sims 4 continues to go strong, thanks to content updates that add fluffy friends and changing leaves. As part of its Q1 of fiscal year 2019 report, EA noted that The Sims 4’s players have grown 35 percent year-over-year.

The developer reported $1.14 billion in GAAP revenue for Q1, and though live services was a major driver in the past, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that its contributions for this quarter were relatively weak. However, The Sims 4 is benefiting from its steady drip of content — like its most recent expansion, Seasons, which sold around 800,000 copies on PC, according to market researcher SuperData.

The Sims 4 released in 2014, and since then, it has released expansions and DLC every year. This year, the developer rolled out Jungle Adventure, which added a new location and activities, as well as item packs, like My First Pet Stuff, which introduced small animals like hamsters. The latter works in conjunction with its best-selling expansion, Cats & Dogs, which launched in November on PC and will arrive on consoles on July 31.

These days, the Metroidvania genre — exploring an open world within a 2D environment — is really getting some unstoppable traction in the indie scene. Just over the summer alone we’ve gotten games like Iconoclasts and Chasm that show just how well structured a game like this can be.

But I’ve been excited to check out the console edition of Motion Twin’s Dead Cells. Ever since its introduction on Steam earlier this year, I’ve been hooked on its Metroidvania approach. Everything about it just clicked so nicely. And now there’s the option to take it with you wherever you go on Nintendo Switch.
Granted, Dead Cells is also available for other consoles and is equally great on those platforms, so don’t think you have to go get a Switch to get an ultimate experience. But it’s the sort of game that you’ll want to invest hours of time in, if only to see what different choices are available to you as you make your way through a world with someone else’s body. So being able to take it on the go with you is something special — and gives you something to do on that next road trip.

Oh, yeah, it’s not really clear just what you are, as you emerge and practically slip into the first body you can find. I was immediately reminded of the 1980’s classic The Hidden (look it up, Kyle MacLachlan fans).

But this is no cakewalk. Just seconds after inhabiting this new body and getting the lowdown from a nearby secondary party (or someone that, hauntingly enough, tracks your progress), you find yourself facing off against foes aplenty. These include teleporting madmen that keep on you even after you try to escape onto upper platforms; a defenseless figure that actually works as a shield to protect others (so destroy him first, yeah?); and other unspeakables such as slugs with explosive tendencies and flying grenade-like things that serve as a nuisance from above. Your mission is to endure long enough in your new form for the next health refill while attaining new runes, weapons, gear and so much more. With a game like this, that’s a tall order to fill.

At first, it may seem like you’re not making too much progress after death. You return to where you once were and inhabit another body. But Dead Cells is built with a greater endgame in mind. Soon you’ll open up other places that you could begin your journey, as well as long-term ability building that you don’t have to grind to get back up to speed. Motion Twin knew what it was doing with this system, and it truly shows.

Like Dark Souls, you actually learn a thing or two from death. Not only can your progress your character in a different way the next time around, but you can also discover a new area to explore, like an underground cavern you may have missed the first time around while hacking away at monsters. (How little we forget you can drop through some platforms.) Its replay value is imminent, even if you think you’re not making any progress. You actually are.

Surviving does reward you, however. You’re able to use Cells that get picked up over the course of the game to gain some special goodies, such as healing items that, surprise, keep you alive a bit longer when the scenario calls for it. (And when you run into your first high-powered boss character with a high level, you’ll bless its presence.) Attaining new gear is also key, even with something as simple as a weapon change like a bow and arrow set (ideal for long-range foes and enemy archers). Sure, the sword can do a world of good, but giving a new weapon a shot can almost change the way you play. It never hurts to keep an eye out for occasional vendors that may have key items for you as well.

What’s great is how the challenge in Dead Cells builds you up for combat. Sure, some enemies are easygoing, like a green-ish oaf that will try to lunge at you — something you can avoid with a simple defensive roll. But before you know it, the enemies pile onto the screen, and soon you’ll realize that you’ll have your work cut out for you. But, again, it’s part of the learning process and this portion of Dead Cells really ties into an ingenious aspect of the game — the combat.

This system is absolutely stunning, as it really feels like each encounter delivers. Not even just the boss battles, either. When you destroy enemies they practically explode and, on occasion, leave you some precious cells to stock up on.

No matter which weapon you go with, Dead Cells’ combat feels natural and inviting, while at the same time having its challenge with particularly overpowered enemies — some even two or three at a time. Hey, you don’t know what you’re going to get until you jump in and take them on, right? Live and learn. (Or die and learn, whatever.)

Defensive skill is also vital in Dead Cells. Acquiring a shield may not sound like a necessity but you’d be surprised just how helpful it is to utilize it to fend off an enemy’s attack. On top of that, the roll technique is wonderfully implemented — and still not quite perfect. For instance, if you’ve got multiple enemies on you, there’s only so many times you can use it while still getting hit. Still, it does help you out of a few fights, so keep that ability on hand.

The platforming also feels terrific. Getting around is fairly easy, including reaching new areas by climbing up chains or grasping onto ledges. Motion Twin definitely did its homework when it comes to realizing the importance of feel in a game, as Dead Cells never feels sloppy or second-rate. It’s focused and super responsive, just like a good Metroidvania game should be.
Slide 3 of 4A Fantastic Presentation

You’ll also need to watch out for other obstacles in the game, including consistently lined floors of spikes, toxic pools and a whole lot more. They’re part of the dangerous world your dead-alive soldier has to work his way through in order to make any kind of progress. And that ties in with a truly unique aspect of Dead Cells — procedurally generated levels.

Sure, some areas are recognizable based on their decor, but other than that, getting a lay of the land is a tough act mainly because things change around so much. That said, Motion Twin again did its homework, making each level worth exploring each time around. This is mainly due to an occasional hidden surprise or two, as well as locating new areas. The visual design is absolutely splendid, and this is accounting for both handheld and TV mode. No matter which way you play, the visuals really pop on-screen.

The only downside is occasionally coming across a door that won’t open unless under special circumstances. For instance, you’ll hear, “Well, this door was open 33 seconds ago!” and you’ll be like, “But I was here 33 seconds ago!” Still, it’s enough to tempt you to come back, and I think that’s the idea Motion Twin had in mind with it.

It also helps that the animations are incredible. Watching an enemy explode in different ways is a sheer delight, even as you wade through what remains of their…remains? It really makes the game pop to life, adding to that overwhelming feeling that you’re making progress — even if you do end up dying in the next room. Hey, with a game like this, it happens.

Dead Cells also gets strong support in the audio department, between atmospheric sound effects that are splendidly done and a music score taken straight out of the old-school book. That’s not to say it matches Symphony of the Night by any means, but it takes inspiration from it and rolls into something not only listenable, but favorable. I would totally dive into this soundtrack any opportunity I can get.

So is Dead Cells recommended for everyone? Not quite. While some rookies may like the idea of jumping in and hacking everything, they may have some trouble accepting the definition of progress here. You’re going to die — hell, it’s going to happen. The game is literally called Dead Cells, not Maybe I’ll Survive Cells. (Though that’d just be silly.)

But how that ties into the endgame and gives it so much replayability (for a 2D game, no less) is extraordinary. You’ll be going back for more and still trying something new to experiment after several hours — and deaths — in. And then you’ll come across that rune-based upgrade that makes the whole “permadeath” system balanced out, even if you feel like you’ve lost everything. We won’t spoil it here, but you’ll reap the rewards from this journey, whether you prefer Tactics, Brutality or whatever suits you. There’s something for all here.

There’s no shortage of excellent Metroidvania games for the Switch, but I’d make Dead Cells the priority. It feels like a necessity for the genre, a game that does something bold and runs with it more successfully than you could possibly imagine. The combat is superb and buttery smooth; the platforming and level design really open up exploration and revisiting something; the ability to level up your character and attain skills for the long haul is remarkable; and the presentation is a tour-de-force.

Everything just about comes together for this game to create an experience that no fan of the genre should be without. Hell, with Dead Cells’ utmost quality, we may get some new fans coming into the fold. And that means more of the same. Listening, Motion Twin?
0comments

WWG’s Score: 5 out of 5.

Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.

A new set of skins are available in Minecraft with the Super Cute Texture Pack available now through the game’s marketplace.

The new skin pack that’s found here through the game’s marketplace is made by the Minecraft team, so you won’t have to worry about any quality concerns when purchasing the Super Cute Texture Pack. An announcement for the texture pack that was shared yesterday referred to it as Minecraft’s “cutest makeover ever” and previewed some of what’s included in it.

“Yes, our talented artists have ‘cuted up’ (scientific term) Minecraft to shockingly adorable new levels,” Minecraft’s Tom Stone wrote in the announcement article. “Rosy-cheeked Creepers! Cakes with faces! Rainbows, smiles everywhere and joy pouring out of every pixel! Even the zombies look cuter than ever as they munch on your brains. D’awwwww!”

There’s no trailer out for the new Minecraft skin pack, but the images above and below should give you an idea of what all of the game’s various mobs will look like once you buy and enable the pack. A close-up image shared through the announcement post shows a more detailed look at the Creeper mentioned above along with other mobs that come with the pack’s 15 different player skins.

“The Super Cute Texture pack is available now in the Minecraft Marketplace,” the announcement continued. “It’s got bouncing bunnies, ultra-adorable unicorns, brilliant bumblebees and, er, burgers? Yes, burgers! Even the squid will make you Squeee! This texture pack comes with 15 skins to make your game cuter than ever.”
Minecraft Creeper
(Photo: Mojang)

This new texture pack costs 660 Minecraft Coins, the game’s currency that allows players to buy different items from the marketplace. This equals out to roughly $5, a typical price for the texture packs that change the game’s world and the way that players look with the packs’ various skins.

The Minecraft team has made several other packs that are available in the marketplace as well if you want to stick to the most official of the options. Another examples of these is Minecraft’s The Incredibles skin pack that was released not long ago alongside the series’ second movie. That one costs a bit less at just 490 coins, but it’s a skin pack and not a texture pack, so you’ll only have your human characters taking on a new look.

Minecraft’s Super Cute Texture Pack is now available to purchase and download https://marketplace.minecraft.net/en-us/pdp?title=super-cute-texture-pack.

In a number of titles, slick and easy menu navigation is critical. Minecraft is one of those games reliant on a clean and responsive user interface. While its menus have undergone multiple revisions over the years, Mojang is looking to improve the overall design once again, this time with the assistance of the community. This redesign will apply to all the Bedrock Engine based platforms including the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

Mojang would like to know how the community wants the game menus in Minecraft to be updated:

What would you like to see from an updated Minecraft menu? There may be things you want to make easier? Or maybe there’s a way the menus could be better for your device? Or maybe you want to add something entirely new to the main menu or create world screen? Or maybe just a button that makes a pig squealing noise when you press it? (all games should have that, really).

Whatever your ideas are, we’d love to see them!

In order to find out what changes the Minecraft community wants to see in the game’s menus, Mojang has released four Paper Prototype Kits covering console, desktop, tablet, and phone – allowing fans to create their own menu designs for their respective versions of the game. You can download the paper kits via the links on the official blog page and then share your work on the official Minecraft Discord Channel.

Do you own Minecraft on Switch? Would you like to see improved menus and UI? Tell us below.

The group head of MInecraft Helen Chiang has argued that US game makers need more time off from work.

Speaking to Quartz, Chiang said that developers from North America need more “off ramps” from work and still be able to come back without any hitches.

“I think here in the US we need more off-ramps from work, or opportunities to take a career break,” Chiang said.

“Whether it’s parental leave, or elder care leave, or a sabbatical, we need opportunities for people to take a break and not have to start over from scratch when they come back.”

This is something that Chiang has learnt from working with Swedish game firm Mojang and is a stark contrast to the US working culture she was used to.

“I see my Swedish employees coming back more energised, which convinces me that we need to support more flexible work arrangements and allow for something like that in the US,” she said.

“On my team, someone is about to go on sabbatical, and someone else is taking an extended summer leave to go work on a passion project, and I don’t look at this as proof that they’re any less committed to what we’re doing.

“When they’re at work, they’re working hard and fully committed, but we need to recognize there’s more to life than work, and I think it’s great that they’re invested in things beyond the office. And I know they’re going to come back re-energised and ready to take on that next set of challenges for us.”

Working culture in games development is one of the hottest topics in the business right now. At GDC this year, there were calls to unionise to give game makers collective bargaining against the extreme conditions they were sometimes asked to work in.

Good Shepherd and Devolver exec Mike Wilson has argued that developers need collective bargaining – even if that doesn’t take the form of unionisation. He also said that triple-A studio working conditions are having a detrimental impact on those involved.

Chiang took the top job on Minecraft in January of this year when Matt Booty was promoted to CVP of Microsoft Studios. Previously she was GM on the franchise.

HyperX makes some of the best gaming headsets around, and now, the accessory maker has an officially licensed Sony headset for PlayStation 4 users under its Cloud brand. The HyperX Cloud is the company’s standard headset. It costs $80 for the most recent version, and the licensed PS4 version will maintain that price. For people who play way too much Fortnite, like yours truly, owning a headset like this is pivotal for hearing footsteps and pinpointing an opponent’s location.

HyperX also makes a budget headset called the Cloud Stinger for $50, more premium PC-focused models like the Cloud Alpha and Cloud Revolver costing $100 and $120, and an all-purpose wireless version for $160 called the Cloud Flight. But nearly all of its headsets are surprisingly comfortable — I own the Cloud and Cloud Flight and have tried the Cloud Alpha and Revolver — and mostly involve compromising on sound quality or shelling out extra for more robust microphone and audio controls.

The PS4 licensed model will get you a special blue color scheme, as well as the PlayStation logo emblazoned on the side. You also get a volume control module. The headset will be available on August 13th from both Best Buy and Amazon.

Ever wanted to explore Treasure Island or pretend to be Robinson Crusoe? Minecraft is now being used to create an ‘immersive experience’ to engage reluctant readers – we see how it plays out

Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1881 classic Treasure Island tells of Jim Hawkins’s adventures on board the Hispaniola, as he and his crew – along with double-crossing pirate Long John Silver – set out to find Captain Flint’s missing treasure on Skeleton Island. Now, more than a century later, children can try and find it themselves, with the bays and mountains of Stevenson’s fictional island given a blocky remodelling in Minecraft, as part of a new project aimed at bringing reluctant readers to literary classics.
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From Spyglass Hill to Ben Gunn’s cave, children can explore every nook and cranny of Skeleton Island as part of Litcraft, a new partnership between Lancaster University and Microsoft, which bought the game for $2.5bn (£1.9bn) in 2015 and which is now played by 74 million people each month. The Litcraft platform uses Minecraft to create accurate scale models of fictional islands: Treasure Island is the first, with Michael Morpurgo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom just completed and many others planned.

While regular Minecraft is rife with literary creations – the whole of George RR Martin’s sprawling setting for Game of Thrones, Westeros, has been created in its entirety, as have several different Hogwarts – Litcraft is not all fun and games, being peppered with educational tasks that aim to re-engage reluctant readers with the book it is based on. Lead researcher and head of Lancaster University’s English and creative writing department, Professor Sally Bushell, calls it “an educational model that connects the imaginative spatial experience of reading the text to an immersive experience in the game world”.

She says, of the Litcraft Treasure Island: “We hope it will motivate reluctant readers – we can say, ‘We’re going to read the book and then at one point, we’ll go play on the ship.’ I would have loved it as a kid. It is an empathetic task – you do what the characters did yourself, so you understand why they act they way they did in the book.”

The Treasure Island “level” has been extensively road-tested by children such as Dylan, whose school is set to adopt Litcraft in 2019. “It’s really fun,” he says. “I enjoyed it because I’ve read the book, but you have to follow rules in that. In games, you can explore. Now I know exactly what the book looked like.”

What did he like most? “I like that you get to see the pictures. You don’t have to make them in your head. And I liked the ship, Ben Gunn’s cave and the parrots. And there was that weird pig that kept jumping off that cliff. That wasn’t in the book!” (“That was a game glitch,” says Bushell).

The kids know how to use Minecraft more than the teachers do. It inverts the relationship
Sally Bushell, Lancaster University

The project, which is featured on Microsoft’s Minecraft.edu website, is currently being presented to school teachers and librarians across the UK. There has been “an enthusiastic response” to the trials under way in local schools, with plans to roll Litcraft out to libraries in Lancashire and Leeds from October 2018.

Dylan, like many nine-year-olds, enjoys books but is more enthusiastic when talking about Minecraft, which he does with the casual expertise that many children have with their favourite games. He’s already made his own Hunger Games world in Minecraft at home, but couldn’t get some of his traps to work.

This know-how seems to both frighten and impress less tech-savvy adults – which Bushell hopes will not deter schools from adopting it. “The kids know how to do it more than the teachers do,” she says. “It inverts the relationship: you’ve got kids who know more than the adults. You need quite confident teachers. They’re more worried about it. I want to say, ‘Don’t be worried, because all your eight-year-olds will know how to do this.’”

Libraries are particularly interested in the possibilities of multiplayer, Bushell says, adding that one of the future projects will be Lord of the Flies: “In that case, you want all the kids in there playing out a scenario and asking philosophical questions. We hope they do some reading, then play the game, then do some empathetic writing based on what they did in there.”

The Kensuke’s Kingdom map, based on Morpurgo’s story of a boy washed up alone, is particularly aimed at engaging reluctant readers and has just been completed. “The library resources we are putting together include audio and in-game reading and writing as well as graphic novels as a step to the full text,” said Bushell. “The resources are designed to encourage them to either return to or connect with the book through the immersive experience.”

Bushell said more literary Minecraft islands will follow. “Treasure Island is the first world for Minecraft.edu but they anticipate a series – most likely, the next will be The Swiss Family Robinson, The Tempest and Robinson Crusoe,” Bushell says. A recreation of Dante’s Inferno, with a map for each level of hell, is also in development.

But what book does Dylan hope to see next? “The Hunger Games,” he says with no hesitation. “A proper one.”

Minecraft remains an incredibly popular game even to this day, but there are some issues which need to be addressed. For example, the user interface (UI) could be much better and more streamlined. Luckily, Microsoft is aware of these problems and plans on updating the menus in the near future.

Today, a post on Minecraft’s website detailed some of the changes coming to the game. The team wants players to contribute their menu designs by downloading templates and sharing them online.

Menus! They’re essential for helping you navigate Minecraft and get to what you want with ease. That’s why we’ve started working on a major redesign of the Minecraft menu… for all Bedrock Engine-based platforms (so that’s Minecraft on Xbox One, Windows 10, virtual reality, mobile devices, and Nintendo Switch). What would you like to see from an updated Minecraft menu? Whatever your ideas are, we’d love to see them… share your designs with us… you can do that on our our Minecraft Discord channel.

It’ll be interesting to see what fans come up with. Hopefully the developer will incorporate a lot of feedback to make navigating the UI even better. We’ll keep you posted as soon as the team finalizes its plans and shares the new look. Until then, be sure to contribute your ideas. Please keep in mind that the ‘Bedrock’ version isn’t available on PlayStation because Sony blocks cross-play.

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

Blizzard Entertainment is teaming up with the toy experts at Nerf to fulfill our dreams of being an Overwatch-style gunslinger.

Blizzard first announced the collaboration at last month’s San Diego Comic-Con, saying that Nerf would be launching a sleek and chrome-covered blaster gun modeled after the Hellfire Shotgun that Reaper, one playable character, uses in-game. Now, Blizzard has announced a second plastic blaster modeled after a weapon in Overwatch’s lore: the bubblegum-colored Light Gun used by fan favorite character D.Va.

According to Blizzard, the replica fires at speeds reaching 80 feet per second, and features a “recoil action” feature.

Both plastic blaster guns are made for Nerf’s “Rival” line, which are high performance guns targeted toward an older audience. Rather than featuring Nerf’s traditional foam bullets, these blasters will fire off soft, squishy projectiles, acting a bit like a less aggressive paintball gun.

Both Overwatch replicas are hitting store shelves in 2019, though their exact launch date is still a mystery. The price is also TBD — but if the other guns in the Rival arsenal are any clue, the final price could range anywhere from $29.99 up to $99.99.

HyperX makes some of the best gaming headsets around, and now, the accessory maker has an officially licensed Sony headset for PlayStation 4 users under its Cloud brand. The HyperX Cloud is the company’s standard headset. It costs $80 for the most recent version, and the licensed PS4 version will maintain that price. For people who play way too much Fortnite, like yours truly, owning a headset like this is pivotal for hearing footsteps and pinpointing an opponent’s location.

HyperX also makes a budget headset called the Cloud Stinger for $50, more premium PC-focused models like the Cloud Alpha and Cloud Revolver costing $100 and $120, and an all-purpose wireless version for $160 called the Cloud Flight. But nearly all of its headsets are surprisingly comfortable — I own the Cloud and Cloud Flight and have tried the Cloud Alpha and Revolver — and mostly involve compromising on sound quality or shelling out extra for more robust microphone and audio controls.

The PS4 licensed model will get you a special blue color scheme, as well as the PlayStation logo emblazoned on the side. You also get a volume control module. The headset will be available on August 13th from both Best Buy and Amazon.