It's another day, another patch for the Xbox One and the Xbox 360 versions of Mojang's much loved Minecraft. Whether you're enjoying the game yourself, your kids maybe enjoying the game, or you're just using the different variations to bump up the Gamerscore or possibly use the big ratios to help survive this year's Leap Frog or/and GTASCevents, you can always count on Mojang to keep the game as glitch and issue free as possible.
The latest patch comes with a decent list of fixes, changes, additions, and improvements. Check out the list which will be Content Update 49 for the Xbox One and Title Update 57 for the Xbox 360:
Added Glide Myths Track Pack; Drift through the clouds of Icarus, dive into conflict in Excalibur, and ride with the Kelpies in Celts.
Added “Strangers – Biome Settlers 3” Skin Pack.
Fixed slow moving mobs in water.
Endermen and Endermites should always be hostile to each other.
Polar Bears should not attack the player when in peaceful mode.
Wither Skeletons no longer fear daylight, and will attack anything that lives.
Skeleton Horses can now be tamed and leashed.
Zombie Horses can now be leashed
Skeletons shouldn't attack Village Golems.
Strays now flee from Wolves.
Wolves should not become hostile against mobs that they can't directly see.
Fix for Farmer Villagers not planting seeds often enough.
Crafting any kind of Boat now requires a Wooden Shovel.
String can now be crafted from Web.
Purpur Stairs and Slabs can now be crafted from both Purpur Blocks and Pillars.
Stone Slabs, Redstone Repeaters, and Redstone Comparators can now be crafted from Stone, Granite, Andesite, Diorite, and their Polished variants.
Observers should register changes to Item Frames.
Observers should register changes to Doors.
Observers should register changes to Flower Pots.
Observers should not output extra signals for fire block state changes.
Observers should not output multiple signals when lava or water is place in front of them.
Pistons can now push Daylight Sensors.
Potion durations have changed.
Fixed area in the Mini Game Lobby that caused players to become invulnerable in the Mini Game if they were in this location when the round started.
Fix for MCCE-5523 – Pick Block in Creative.
Fix for MCCE-5549 – Hotbar is not centered in splitscreen battle..
Fix for MCCE-2000 – Zombies get stuck in water.
Fix for MCCE-2868 – Levitation effect all in Capitals.
Fix for MCCE-5539 – Unable to earn Free Diver Achievement.
The bold text in the last line of the patch is not a part of the patch for the Xbox 360 but the rest of the list is the same, as well as these two additional lines below:
Update UI renderer.
Fix for MCCE-5108 – evocation fangs
The latest patch for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions of Minecraft are already live.
With the new Minecraft update today on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita, 4J Studios has added support for the Glide Myths Track Pack and Strangers: Biome Settlers 3 Skin Pack. The update is out now in Europe/Japan and will be coming to North America later today.
“Stretch your wings in this legendary Minecraft Glide Track Pack. Drift through the clouds of Icarus, dive into conflict in Excalibur and ride with the Kelpies in Celts,” the PlayStation Store says of Glide Myths, which is £2.49. The Skin Pack is £1.69 and the description says, “Get this pack and make your home in distant lands or ocean depths!”
Here’s the full patch notes for Minecraft update 1.56:
Additions
Added Glide Myths Track Pack; Drift through the clouds of Icarus, dive into conflict in Excalibur, and ride with the Kelpies in Celts.
Added “Strangers – Biome Settlers 3” Skin Pack.
General
Endermen and Endermites should always be hostile to each other.
Polar Bears should not attack the player when in peaceful mode.
Wither Skeletons no longer fear daylight, and will attack anything that lives.
Skeleton Horses can now be tamed and leashed.
Zombie Horses can now be leashed
Skeletons shouldn’t attack Village Golems.
Strays now flee from Wolves.
Wolves should not become hostile against mobs that they can’t directly see.
Crafting any kind of Boat now requires a Wooden Shovel.
String can now be crafted from Web.
Purpur Stairs and Slabs can now be crafted from both Purpur Blocks and Pillars.
Stone Slabs, Redstone Repeaters, and Redstone Comparators can now be crafted from Stone, Granite, Andesite, Diorite, and their Polished variants.
Observers should register changes to Item Frames.
Observers should register changes to Doors.
Observers should register changes to Flower Pots.
Observers should not output extra signals for fire block state changes.
Observers should not output multiple signals when lava or water is place in front of them.
Pistons can now push Daylight Sensors.
Potion durations have changed.
Fixes
Fixed slow moving mobs in water.
Fix for Farmer Villagers not planting seeds often enough.
Fixed area in the Mini Game Lobby that caused players to become invulnerable in the Mini Game if they were in this location when the round started.
Fix for MCCE-5523 – Pick Block in Creative
Fix for MCCE-5549 – Hotbar is not centered in splitscreen battle (PS4, PS3 only)
Fix for MCCE-2000 – Zombies get stuck in water
Fix for MCCE-2868 – Levitation effect all in Capitals
The Xbox One/Xbox 360 version of this update is out, and the Wii U/Switch version of this update will be out today or tomorrow.
As a reminder, the Better Together update for Minecraft isn’t planned for PS4, but Mojang is still in talks with Sony about it.
Microsoft and several of its big tech partners are hoping virtual reality will be a hot seller during the holidays.
Microsoft said on Monday that HP Inc. (hpq, +0.16%), Lenovo, Dell, and Acer would introduce virtual reality headsets based on Microsoft’s Windows operating system in time for the busy holiday shopping season.
Additionally, Microsoft (msft, +0.30%) said it had created its own motion controllers that are compatible with those upcoming headsets. It did not say if it plans to sell the motion controllers separately.
In terms of headsets, Microsoft said the new Dell Visor VR, which will be go on sale in fall, would cost $360 (or $460 with Microsoft’s controllers). It did not provide any details about the other headsets.
But earlier this year, Acer said that its VR headset would cost $300.
Microsoft also said that several VR versions of popular video games would debut for the new headsets. One of the games is the blockbuster world-building and crafting simulator Minecraft, which Microsoft bought along with that video game’s developer Mojang in 2014 for $2.5 billion.
Special virtual reality versions of the first-person-shooter Halo will also debut, but Microsoft technical fellow Alex Kipman didn’t reveal any specifics about the timing. Kipman also said that the Steam video game and VR distribution service would work with the new Windows-based VR headsets.
This is noteworthy considering Steam parent company, Valve, is the software partner of Taiwanese-smartphone maker HTC, which sells the Vive VR headset. Steam is one of the most popular ways for people to access VR games and apps, but they need Vive headsets to play or use them.
The fact that the new Windows-based VR headsets will work with Steam means that people won’t have to own a Vive headset to access VR software from the distribution service.
Microsoft’s latest VR news comes amid recent price cuts by Facebook(fb, +0.48%) and HTC to their respective headsets. Earlier in August, HTC slashed the Vive’s price to $600 from $800, after Facebook temporarily dropped the price of its Oculus Rift to $400 from $600 as part of a summer sale.
Although the prices for VR headsets are cheaper than they have ever been, the headsets are still far from being mainstream hits, according to analysts. They also require fairly expensive personal computers to operate.
The lowest-priced computer that will power the new Windows-based headsets costs $500, according to Microsoft.
Still, Microsoft’s VR announcements Monday show that big tech companies still see the immersive technology as a potential big business—and blockbuster holiday gifts.
USA TODAY's Marco Della Cava demonstrates how Microsoft's augmented reality headset shows how one day we may only interact with digital content in holographic form. Martin E. Klimek, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft still hopes it can put the “reality” into virtual reality sales.
The Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant announced Monday its holiday season foray into what it calls mixed reality will be marked by $399 headset/controller bundles from partners such as HP, Lenovo, Dell and Acer, along with a selection of games and other VR experiences.
That pricing is roughly in line with the competition. Facebook is now selling its Oculus Rift goggle and controller bundle for $400, slashed from $700, reflecting tepid consumer appetite for one of tech's most-hyped hardware forays.
Clunky, tethered headsets and the lack of a “killer app” have dissuaded all but hard-core gaming enthusiasts from buying virtual reality headsets, leading to slashed industry forecasts and lowered prices.
Microsoft is gamely trying to change that story. Its VR content includes the travel-focused HoloTour, offering virtual tours of destinations such as Peru's Machu Picchu, as well as games such as Minecraft, Luna, Space Pirate Trainer and Fantastic Contraption. The new gear, which connects to the computer, will also be compatible with content featured on SteamVR.
The company also hopes the ubiquity of the Windows operating system will result in developers producing a rash of new content for its mixed reality gear.
But the bigger sales pitch is both ease of setup and compatibility with less powerful computers, both of which Microsoft hopes will draw new fans to its Windows Mixed Reality platform. Microsoft officials say holiday shoppers will be offered two new lines of Microsoft PCs and laptops that start at $499.
For comparison, when Oculus first launched, the goggles cost around $700 and ran on large PCs priced at around $1,000.
“This is the future of computing, and we want everyone on the journey with us,” said Greg Sullivan, who leads communications for the company's Windows and Devices unit and gave USA TODAY a demo of the product late last week.
Looking into a Windows Mixed Reality headset, users are greeted by the cartoon-like dwelling called Cliff House, set amid a landscape of mountains and ocean. Hopping from floor to floor and room to room brings you face to face with screens featuring everything from email programs to Skype video calls to a Minecraft portal.
Moving around is accomplished through triggers on the handsets, which takes some getting used to if you're not a gamer. While the brief experience was novel, it remains difficult to see how it could supplant working on a laptop or PC just yet.
“Someday we’ll all expect to interact with digital objects the same way we interact with physical things, in 3D,” he said.
To push that agenda, Microsoft engineers have leveraged the body-positioning sensors in its $3,000 developer-only HoloLens augmented reality headset. The new Windows-compatible headsets detect the position of the hand controllers based on the lights and sensors inside those controllers.
That means there's no need to set up external cameras near the computer, which typically forces users to play only in that one room. Beyond portability, Microsoft says setup time is less than five minutes.
The lower-price ($499) standard PCs will feature integrated graphics and be capable of processing images at 60 frames per second, while a line of more expensive so-called ultra-PCs will feature discreet graphics and run at 90 frames per second. Frame refresh rate, which controls image latency, is critical to having a VR experience that isn't nauseating.
Although most experts would call Microsoft's tech virtual reality, it prefers the term Windows Mixed Reality because it mixes an occluded world (where users cannot see the real world) with sensors that sense both hands and body movement. But the new Microsoft gear really is virtual reality fare.
Gear from Oculus Rift and HTC Vive work in much the same way, and all of these devices require goggles to be tethered by wire to a computer or laptop.
Consumer excitement at the prospect of teleporting to new worlds with computer-powered goggles has yet to translate into big sales. What's more, industry advisors Digi-Capital recently predicted mobile augmented reality — think using your smartphone to find Pokémon Go! figures — could become the primary driver of a $108 billion VR/AR market by 2021, $83 billion of which would be claimed by augmented reality.
That sort of prediction doesn't seem to bode well for anyone playing in the tethered gear space. Apple has noticeably remained on the virtual reality sidelines, but CEO Tim Cook has been vocal about his enthusiasm for AR.
Apple is expected in a few weeks to hold its annual fall gathering, where new products such as the next generation iPhone are expected to be announced. Experts anticipate new iPhones will offer augmented reality experiences.
Microsoft continues to reinvent itself under CEO Satya Nadella, pivoting from a legacy software seller to a cloud- and enterprise-focused company. That move has resulted in a record-setting stock price that has risen steadily over the past year from $58 to $72.
But while recent quarterly reports show continued gains in its Azure cloud business, PC sales remain a consistent drag on profits. For Microsoft, inventing the next great computing platform couldn't come soon enough.
Pfizer this week launched a modification of the popular sandbox game Minecraft, offering children with hemophilia a new way to learn about staying safe and prepared and maintaining their treatment plans.
Launched this week at the National Hemophilia Foundation's annual meeting in Chicago, the game is called HEMOCRAFT and was developed in partnership with the Entrepreneurial Game Studio at Drexel University, the NHF and other members of the hemophilia community.
The app, aimed at kids eight to 16 years old, is an adaptation that works in conjunction with Minecraft game. It offers a simulated environment meant to be fun and educational way for those with hemophilia to learn about better integrating preparedness and treatment into their daily routines.
Downloadable via HEMOCRAFTQuest.com, the fantasy game leads players on a quest where they interact with the “village doctor” to learn how to stick to their treatment plan and understand how it works. Kids are challenged to monitor factor levels and self-infuse to help control bleeding, if needed.
“These new digital innovations can be integrated into everyday routines to help empower people with hemophilia to learn about and track different aspects relevant to their disease so that they can have informed conversations with their healthcare providers,” said Kevin W. Williams, chief medical officer of Pfizer Rare Disease.
The app is aimed not just at patients, “but equally as important, their friends and family to better understand the concept of factor levels in being able to stay active, and stay in the game,” said Kate Nammacher, senior director of education at the National Hemophilia Foundation.
At the NHF annual meeting, Pfizer also unveiled a new device aimed at all of the 20,000 people in the U.S. (and 400,000 people worldwide) who have the condition.
The new HemMobile Striiv Wearable is billed as the first such device aimed specifically at hemophiliacs. The wristband offers an array of features that help patients track daily activity levels and monitor their heart rate.
The device integrates with Pfizer’s HemMobile app, where users can log bleeds and infusions, monitor factor supply and set appointment reminders. The data captured there enables personalized reports to be generated that can inform discussions between physicians and patients.
HemMobile Striiv Wearable is available free to anyone diagnosed with hemophilia in the U.S., regardless of what treatment they use.
It speaks volumes that a game which has been on Xbox since 2012 and looks like smudged doodles on a piece of graph paper still feels new and compelling. No matter how many times I play it, I always end up doing something different, be that stumbling across some impressive scenery or building myself a giant, woolly pig to live in. I may take breaks for months at a time, but Minecraft is a game I’m always drawn back to.
Thanks to an update just before Christmas, the console version now has heaps more to explore, including The End cities and flying with Elytra. This means it’s finally on par with the PC version. The only problem with Minecraft is that even though I really want to try out all the new stuff, I have to be lucky enough to find it first… and all of it’s locked behind a notoriously difficult boss… and there’s loads of work to do before you can even reach said boss.
Luckily, Creative mode is designed for the lazy like me, so instead of taking days to prep enough to fight the Ender Dragon, it only takes five minutes. After a bit of blundering around trying to get gateway portals to work, I zip away to an island in The End and get incredibly lucky. While you could search for hours trying to find an End city I found one on my first try. It’s grand, purple and branches off in multiple directions with towers sprouting upwards from narrow stems.
After scoping the place out for some seriously impressive, enchanted loot I hit the motherlode – an End ship. Floating a little distance from the city itself and bearing the head of a dragon as its figurehead, it’s a foreboding sight and is home to an Elytra – the best item in all of Minecraft. It’s essentially a pair of wings that you can wear as a cape, letting you glide around the world. Sure, you can already sort of fly about in Creative mode, but not like this. The Elytra are so much faster and more natural, letting you swoop down through ravines and bank around corners with ease. As you pick up speed, the wind whistles past your ears, and you suddenly realise how untouchable you are as the ground speeds by beneath you. It’s empowering.
Elytra are also wasted in the End where there’s nothing to see except beige soil and hazy mauve skies that stretch out for miles. It’s a shame that this is where you get your first taste of using them when they’re far better suited to the hills of the overworld and dodging past Ghasts and lava flows in the Nether. Taking them outside for the first time is a revelation; at first I was gripped by fear and the sensation of falling before pulling up just enough to skim along a nearby river. It’s exhilarating and completely changes the way I look at Minecraft’s blocky landscapes. Now I’m constantly hunting for mountain ranges and ice spires to weave through at speed.
The Elytra wings have also changed the way I look at my builds. While I usually opt for petite farmhouses and quaint villages, now I’m thinking about building vast metropolises full of skyscrapers and possible obstacles to fly past. I’ve laid the groundwork for a series of doughnut-shaped towers lined up in a pleasing fashion just so I can swoop through them.
Each tower will take me hours, placing each block by hand, but, like waiting ages for a short rollercoaster ride, that burst of adrenaline as I soar through them will be worth it. It isn’t great city planning for anyone who wants to live there, but at least the commutes would be more exciting.
I’ve also become a lot braver in my play style by wearing them. I now feel compelled to jump into any dark, cavernous hole just to see how far I can go without crashing to my inevitable death. Before, I’d spend ages meticulously placing torches to make sure I wouldn’t get lost. Why bother when you can zip around?
Suddenly Minecraft has become an exploration game again. I’ve seen forest and desert biomes hundreds of times before, but the Elytra let you see them in a whole new light. Towering, impenetrable jungles feel like small, lush oases in seas of plains from above, and the sands of deserts quickly give way to vast oceans. It’s also far easier to find temples and abandoned mineshafts when you can see a whole biome at once.
I’m surprised by just how much a singular item can change such a large game. I’m no longer settling for building in the biomes near a spawn now that it’s easier to find somewhere more exciting further afield. And even my builds are being planned with Elytra use in mind. Flying grants you the type of freedom you didn’t even know you wanted in Minecraft and once you have it you’ll wonder how you ever survived without it.
