Minecraft: Education Edition has found plenty of use in classrooms, the latest allowing students to explore New Zealand’s traditional Māori culture in voxel form.
Ngā Motu, which means The Islands, is a world made by game designer Whetu Paitai, of Coromandel-based Piki Studios, to teach children about Māori language and culture. It has kiwis and moa, and a traditional pā—a defensive settlement protected by palisades. There’s a waka hourua double-hulled canoe in the harbor, and even the swords have been replaced by the short-handled clubs called patu.
“We’re believers in learning being organic, being able to explore all the elements, because nothing in our lives exists in isolation. Our mission is for everyone to be able to play these games and see more than just what a waka is – they’ll be able to see how it fits into that whole world,” Paitai said.
Ngā Motu is being released to coincide with Māori Language Week in New Zealand. You can check it out for yourself at the official site.
Minecraft is celebrating its 10th anniversary since it was first released, back in 2009. To pay tribute to this milestone, Mojang teamed up with Blockworks to create a massive map covering the entire history of the popular game. And for those who dig deep, you might find a few secrets and Easter Eggs.
When I first spawned into the map I was greeted with a nice little entrance and a minecart ride. However, this ride is actually a wonderful ride through the history of Minecraft’s major updates. It feels like a dark ride from a place like Disneyland and features on-screen text to help tell you when an update was released and what it was called.
Once I finished that minecart ride down memory lane, I found myself surrounded by immense structures. This is the real meat of the map. It is huge. Each area is dedicated to different parts of Minecraft.
For example, you can find a large museum showcasing every block currently in the game and each one has a small piece of text you read. These provide background and history about the block, while also teaching players tricks and tips on how to use them.
Another section of the map contains every enemy and animal in the game but made larger. A few of these creatures are fairly new and I didn’t know what they were. Luckily, like the block museum, each creature and enemy has text that players can read to learn more.
There’s even a section of the map dedicated to the educational spin-off version of Minecraft. Like Epcot at Disneyworld, I basically ran through this and barely looked. But neat that it’s there.
Dotted around the entire map are huge structures, biome-domes, temples, paintings, statues and more. You could easily spend over a few hours in this map and not see or find everything.
The map also contains some puzzles and secrets. A player reported on the Minecraft subreddit that they had even found a book referencing the creepy meme character, Herobrine. Mojang teases in a blog post announcing the map that it contains multiple easter eggs. I haven’t found any, but other players are already digging into finding all the secrets this map contains.
If you are a huge fan of Minecraft you’ve probably already played this, but if you haven’t it’s worth checking out. Even if you only played a bit of the game a few years back, this map is so well made and chock full of information, I think most players will get a kick out of exploring it.
The map is available for free right now on all Bedrock versions of the game, which includes Xbox One, Switch, PC and mobile devices. It is also avaiable for the original Java version and Realms. Some players on Switch are reporting performance issues in some of the more complex areas of the map, so just a heads up.
Minecraft turns 10 this weekend and fans of the popular-blocky-game are celebrating this big milestone in various ways, like baking cakes in real life or sharing old stories and screenshots.
Last weekend, Minecraft developer Mojang released a new and free map to celebrate the big milestone. However, while that map was cool, it was also a bit early. This weekend (specifcally May 16th) is actually the official 10 year anniversary of the first release of Minecraft.
Beyond this small cake topping, fans across Reddit and Twitter have been sharing tons of videos, photos, builds and more in honor of a decade of Minecraft.
One fan shared a handwritten letter they received from Jeb, a lead developer on the game, from nearly 10 years ago. When he sent his letter and received a response, he was 9 years old and in 5th grade.
A Minecraft player and creator shared some new skins they made in honor of the celebrations. It shows the main default characters of Minecraft holding up cakes. The cake is actually the head and the shoulder is the top of the hands. A very clever design.
A few players across Reddit and elsewhere shared images of some of their first builds or even their very first homes. Like Ryan-1- on the Minecraft subreddit, who shared a screenshot of their first dirt house.
This screenshot reminded me of my first dirt home.
I downloaded Minecraft and watched a short tutorial on how to play the game and jumped in. This was right near the release of the game and I scared of the night. The moment the sun started to slide down the sky, I panicked and dug out some dirt and made a small crappy home like this. After a few days of playing that first world, my small home was a castle. But in the middle of it all, was still my first home and chest.
What memories of Minecraft do you have? Do you remember the first time you built a home? The first time you joined a random server? The first skin you used? Share your memories and stories in the comments.
Minecraft is a game that lets players create basically anything they want, assuming that player has the time to do it. It also has Redstone, a resource that allows players to move, power and manipulate blocks in various ways. Combine this with the predictable and simple physics of Minecraft and you end up with some satisfying machines.
While these machines have become popular recently, they aren’t exactly new. People have been making these types of machines for years in Minecraft. One large one was created back in 2011 using sand blocks and like the newer ones, it is very satisfying to watch.
If we ever get a Minecraft theme park, maybe we this could be an attraction? Everyone jumps into a minecart and rides the wave.
After a relatively quiet first half of 2019, the fall release season is finally upon us, meaning there’s roughly one big game dropping just about every week until the end of the year!
Whether you’re interested in big RPGs like The Outer Worlds or GreedFall, or looking to squad up with some friends in games like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint or Borderlands 3, there’s undoubtedly something for everyone.
Check out our slideshow above, or scroll down to read more about all 22 of the biggest games releasing between now and the end of 2019.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
Release Date: September 6 (PS4, Xbox One, Steam in January, 2020)
Okay, this one is a gimme since it just came out, but it’s too good not to mention. Monster Hunter World was the series’ coming out party in the West, quickly becoming Capcom’s best-selling game of all-time in its first two months. Most recently, MHW surpassed 12 million copies shipped mark, an astonishing number if you consider that’s more than any single Resident Evil, Mega Man, or Street Fighter game ever sold. The first major expansion, Iceborne, takes the series to Hoarfrost Reach, the largest region in Monster Hunter World. Besides adding new locations, tons of new monsters, and many more quality of life improvements, what’s important is that you can finally pet your Palico.
Are you ready to dive in? Here are some things you should do to prepare for the new adventure. And, be sure to check out our review of the expansion, which we gave a 9.0.
Gears 5
Release Date: September 10 (Xbox One, PC, also available as part of Xbox Game Pass with early access beginning September 6)
In the meantime, why not check out the story trailer for Gears 5? Also, read our campaign review for Gears 5, which we scored an 8.8.
GreedFall
Release Date: September 10 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
GreedFall is an upcoming Action-RPG that takes place in The Old World, a fictional area inspired by 17th century Europe, that is suffering from a deadly, incurable plague known as Malichor. As De Sardet, the main character, you discover the remote Island of Teer Fradee, an area that has not been affected by the disease yet. Your goal is simple – scour this new land for a cure while embarking on quests, developing your character’s skills, and fighting to survive against fantastical creatures.
Are you ready to venture back to Pandora, Vault Hunter? Borderlands 3 is the latest entry in the wildly popular cooperative looter shooter. Technically the fourth game in the core series, it introduces four new Vault Hunters: Moze the Gunner, Zane the Operative, Amara the Siren, and FL4K the Beasthunter.
You’ll now be able to travel to different planets while cruising the galaxy in your new ship, the Sanctuary III. There are a ton of quality of life improvements being added, including the ability to slide and vault over obstacles, a loot-pinging system similar to Apex Legends that includes contextual voice lines, loot-instancing that allows players to gain their own loot (instead of fighting over it with others), and more. Oh, and there are over 1 billion guns in the game. Happy hunting.
The beat ‘em up, or “brawler”, is a classic video game genre, and at PAX West I played two distinctly modern takes on the brawler: Streets of Rage 4 by Guard Crush Games, Lizardcube, and Dotemu, and Young Souls by 1P2P Studios. While the spirit of the brawler lives on in big, 3D action games like God of War, 2D versions of the beat ‘em up are constantly being refined and evolved by smaller, often independent studios.
The beat ‘em up genre got its start in the 1980s arcade scene, defined best by games like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage 2, Golden Axe, and various licensed-games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons. They focus primarily on using hand-to-hand combat to mow through a large number of enemies, who get progressively more difficult.During the heydays of arcades, these games were purposely designed to get players to spend more money.
Video games have come a long way since the days of the arcade. Modern innovations have delivered 3D action/brawlers like God of War and Bayonetta. But indie devs are taking these lessons of modern game design and merging it with the classic 2D brawler format.
“First we analyzed several beat ‘em ups (yes, even the obscure ones) and we tried to understand what are the good things, the frustrating things, and is that frustration necessary to make the game work etc;” Dotemu game designer Jordi Asensio explained to IGN.
Asensio says in order to evolve the beat ‘em up genre — while keeping true to its arcade roots — the Streets of Rage 4 developers needed a good foundation. “We really worked on the original feeling of 90’s brawlers. That single punch, it must feel good.” Once the hits were solid, the team added modern game elements, like regenerating health through hitting enemies with special moves without getting hit.
1P2P Studios is taking a slightly different approach. Its own RPG brawler, Young Souls, mixes the modern social elements of Persona with a deep fantasy world. Playing as a pair of siblings, players can visit shops and customize their characters with the latest fashion trends, that then become their armor in an underground fantasy world.
Jerome Fait, co-founder and developer at 1P2P told IGN how Young Souls borrowed a lot of inspiration from other genres, before integrating them into its 2D world.
“We took inspiration from modern 3D brawlers – more flexible and smoother gameplay – and mechanics from other close genres – stamina management, careful use of shield and zoning – and mixed them with the traditional codes of 2D beat ‘em ups.”
These careful refinements and hybridization efforts showcase how even 2D beat ‘em ups that designed to emulate the brawlers of the 90s can also be fresh and modern. New technologies also open up the possibilities for modern 2D games even further.
Cyrille Lagarigue, the main programmer at Guard Crush Games says that thanks to modern hardware, “making a 2D game, we can do basically what we want in terms of graphics, so we are trying to push the envelope.” Lagargigue says that new tech lets Streets of Rage 4 to “have backgrounds that never repeat, so we can tell an always evolving story with level design.”
Lagarigue also highlights the analogue stick as a major advancement over the d-pad controls of old, which, “allows for more fluid and precise movements.”
1P2P is also utilizing modern technology to push their 2D beat ‘em up RPG. “[There are] no more limitations on the number of characters on screen or their size. In our case, we use 3D backgrounds, which allows us to have interesting camera work with original angles, depth of field, etc. We’ve also been able to develop a unique artistic direction and animation style while setting up a complex customization system,” Fait says.
For both the Streets of Rage 4 developers and 1P2P, the beat ‘em up revival is a pleasant coincidence rather than a coordinated industry shift. “We often see this kind of movements in video game with the return of a particular genre,” Fait says. “It probably reflects a certain lack of a generation of fans that matured enough to develop new ones. This time it’s for the 2D beat ‘em ups and we’re happy with that!”
When asked why now’s the right time is to bring back the beat ‘em up, he laughs and says, “We do not know if it’s the right time, but it seems that many of us thought about it at the same time!”
“In recent years, there has been a small revival of the genre, but I think this is because it has been too long a forgotten formula,” Lizardcube creative director Ben Fiquet added. “And beat’em ups are always cool to play.”
Both the team behind Streets of Rage 4 and 1P2P Studios agree that the brawler lives on in 3D action games. But 2D efforts like Streets of Rage 4 and Young Souls, show that there is a space for more classic beat ‘em up experiences that still feel uniquely modern.
