Microsoft Introduces ‘Minecraft’ Collections and Bundled Xbox One S Controllers

Microsoft Introduces ‘Minecraft’ Collections and Bundled Xbox One S Controllers

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 EDU Now on iPad

Minecraft EDU Now on iPad

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.

Minecraft Minefaire Takes Place In Schaumburg This Weekend

Minecraft Minefaire Takes Place In Schaumburg This Weekend

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.

YouTube star Stampy Cat sets new Minecraft record for Gamer’s Edition 2019

YouTube star Stampy Cat sets new Minecraft record for Gamer’s Edition 2019

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

YouTube star Stampy Cat sets new Minecraft record for Gamer’s Edition 2019

Minecraft records up for grabs as gamer SeaPeeKay introduces brand new challenges

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!”

Gaming platform Roblox may be the next Minecraft

Gaming platform Roblox may be the next Minecraft

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.”