As part of Minecraft‘s tenth birthday celebrations, Mojang have commissioned a virtual theme park celebrating the build ’em up. It’s available as a free map for all players. Exhibitions include a sculpture garden of monsters in a glasshouse, demonstrations of redstone-powered doohickeys, museums, galleries, Easter eggs… it seems real fancy. A season of festivities for a mere tenth anniversary might seem churlish but hell, Minecraft has earned this. It broke into the public consciousness in a way few game games do then was surpassed only by a game it inspired, Fortnite. Take a victory lap, Minecraft.
“We created a map that celebrates everything about Minecraft past and present,” mapmakers BlockWorks explain. “Filled with Easter eggs, secrets and community references, this map is a tribute to the creative, curious and adventurous community of Minecrafters worldwide.”
BlockWorks are a professional Minecraft builder team who’ve made maps to promote all sorts of things. Their impressive portfolio of commissioned builds includes recreating the Great Fire of London for the Museum of London (a museum way better than its name might lead you to assume), dioramas of water infrastructure for Severn Trent, and that Brutalismfest Pip looked at. Fancy stuff. This one looks extra fancy.
The ’10 Years of Minecraft’ map is available free for both the Bedrock (Windows 10 & consoles) edition of Minecraft and ye olde Java. It’s on the Marketplace for Bedrock and here for plain ol’ Java. It’s in the library for Java Realms too.
Minecraft certainly isn’t ‘done’ yet either. Mojang launched the big ol’ Village & Pillage updateonly last month, and a dungeon-crawling spin-off named Minecraft: Dungeons is expected later this year.
Clean energy growth has reversed after a twenty-year trend upwards.
“Clean energy growth failed to increase year-over-year for the first time in nearly 20 years, a landmark report revealed this week. The finding puts the possibility of achieving the planet’s climate change goals into jeopardy, as annual growth currently stands at just a fraction what is ultimately needed.”
The first son of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry has been revealed to the world.
“Today, the world got its first look at Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, son of Meghan Markle, actress, philanthropist, the Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. The young lad is 7th in line for the throne, and while the Sussexes have decided to not give him any formal titles, once his grandfather becomes King of England, he’ll be formally a prince.”
Uber drivers have protested the company’s policies on the eve of Uber’s IPO.
“Just days ahead of Silicon Valley’s most hyped mega-IPO, a group of a several hundred Uber drivers gathered in front of the company’s San Francisco headquarters and took over the street in a protest demanding fair pay, benefits, and greater transparency from the rideshare giant.”
Minecraft Classic has launched to celebrate the company’s ten-year anniversary.
“Video games are regularly patched, tweaked, and modified to the point where the original experience is lost for better or worse. For Minecraft $26.95 at Amazon, that original experience is being resurrected to help celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary. Posting on the Minecraft website, Tom Stone, creative communications assistant at developer Mojang AB, announced the launch of Minecraft Classic. It’s the original game, which provided players with, “just 32 blocks to build with, all the original bugs, and an (inter)face only a mother could love.”
New York may be the first state to ban declawing cats.
“A veterinary procedure criticized for being inhumane could soon be outlawed altogether in one state. As NBC New York reports, a bill that would ban declawing cats has been approved by one committee in the New York State Assembly, but it still has a few more rounds of voting to go before it becomes law.”
Netflix’s The Last Summer is a pretty boring coming-of-age movie.
“The final moments of senior year and that summer after high school graduation have been the subject of more than a few coming-of-age films: Can’t Hardly Wait, Dazed and Confused, Say Anything, etc. It’s a time for goodbyes to old friends, last ditch hometown flings, and the crumbling security of adolescence as decisions about the future creep closer, forcing teens of a certain age into finding themselves… or whatever. Netflix’s latest entry into the post-high school, rom-com genre, aptly titled The Last Summer, follows a group of recent grads throughout, you guessed it, the last summer before college in an anthology focusing on the individual experiences of several Chicago teens. Mostly, it’s pretty boring!”
Microsoft news recap is a weekly feature highlighting the top Microsoft news stories of the past week. Sit back, grab some coffee, and enjoy the read!
Mojang releases Minecraft Classic on the web to celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary
Ahead of Minecraft’s upcoming 10th anniversary, Mojang has released a web version of Minecraft Classic, allowing players to play a very early version of Minecraft that had only 32 blocks via their web browser. No purchase necessary.
Microsoft’s Mixer app updates on iOS with new event and video game notifications
Fluent Design is coming to Microsoft Edge and other apps for iOS, Android, and the web
With Microsoft in top gear releasing Fluent Design to its apps on Windows 10, the company is now turning to other platforms – specifically iOS, Android, and the web – where it is opening up Fluent Design to apps on those platforms. Microsoft’s new Chromium-based Edge browser will be receiving design updates in the near future.
That’s it for this week. We’ll be back next week with more Microsoft news.
If you’re getting tired of being confined to the world of Minecraft, Microsoft and Mojang have some good news for you. This summer, Minecraft is entering the real-world thanks to augmented reality, mobile devices, and the Minecraft Earth app.
As the FAQ explains, Minecraft Earth is Minecraft, but as it appears in the real-world thanks to the use of augmented reality. Think Pokemon Go, but on a much larger scale and the with ability to “build creations with friends and place them in the real world at life-size.” Essentially, we’re being offered the Minecraft version of your location, be that at home, school, or wherever you choose to frequent.
Minecraft Earth will be made available for iOS and Android because those platforms make the most sense for augmented reality. To begin with, a closed beta will run on both platforms and starts in the summer. Hundreds of thousands of people will be allowed to play, but you must be at least 18 to participate. Simply sign up and cross your fingers if you want to take part.
Microsoft is giving no hint as to how long the closed beta will last, but it has confirmed Minecraft Earth will be free to play and also free of loot boxes. So expect the same Minecraft experience you enjoy today, but with a real-world, augmented reality twist.
Clearly, Minecraft Earth is the next big phase of the world’s expansion. However, last week the original Minecraft was made available to play in web browsers. You can therefore play Minecraft Classic while waiting for Earth to launch.
Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo have released a punchy Dead or Alive 6 launch trailer to celebrate its release today on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.
Dead or Alive 6 is supposed to tone down the series’ emphasis on fan service when it comes the design of its female combatants, although it doesn’t seem like much has changed in this respect. The fighters do sweat an awful lot in the game, though, which is new, right?
Team Ninja’s latest brawler also features a story mode, and there’s a robust lineup of characters to pick from, including fan favourites and newcomers alike. Oh, and there’s a stage in the game that features an actual Kraken, for some reason.
Video games are regularly patched, tweaked, and modified to the point where the original experience is lost for better or worse. For Minecraft, that original experience is being resurrected to help celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary.
Posting on the Minecraft website, Tom Stone, creative communications assistant at developer Mojang AB, announced the launch of Minecraft Classic. It’s the original game, which provided players with, “just 32 blocks to build with, all the original bugs, and an (inter)face only a mother could love.”
What Mojang and Microsoft is offering us is the opportunity to “go back to a simpler time.” They’ve also made it incredibly simple to start playing as no downloads are required. Minecraft Classic loads in your web browser and is fully-playable without need of anything else.
If you decide to give it a go, remember this is Minecraft from 2009 when developer Notch released the first public version on May 17. The crafting system didn’t arrive until 2010, as did a whole host of other features including dungeons, bricks, slimes, and chickens. So expect a very pure and simple experience, which is worth diving into at least once. It’s sure to surprise anyone who’s only played modern Minecraft.
Further Minecraft 10th anniversary celebrations are planned including a sale and free bonus gift on May 10. There’s also an all-expenses paid trip to the Minecraft MoPop Exhibit in Seattle, Washington up for grabs. All you need to do to enter is post a video on Instagram with the tags #Minecraft10Years and #contest that answers the question, “How will you celebrate Minecraft turning 10?”
For anyone who enjoys revisiting games in their original form, this summer we’ll get to experience another as Blizzard is set to release World of Warcraft: Classic for a hit of MMO nostalgia.
