This article is part of the guide Game-Based Learning: Preparing Students for The Future.

When Roanoke County Public Schools gathered educators for their first training in how to teach with Minecraft: Education Edition (M:EE), “you could hear the rumble in the room,” says Jeff Terry, the district’s director of technology. That was early 2018. Today, his district is among the top ten for M:EE usage worldwide.

While Terry was surprised to hear that stat, he was also excited. He says adding M:EE to the district’s robust technology arsenal is helping students master the oft-cited Four Cs of education—critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

It’s also helping students become opportunity ready in a state where business is finding it tough to fill technology-focused roles. Just last year, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said the demand for highly skilled workers in the state far outweighed the number of qualified candidates, with “36,000 cyber jobs” needing to be filled.

Roanoke added Minecraft: Education Edition to the district’s Microsoft campus agreement as a pilot project in 2017; now the software has been rolled out to 14,000 students district-wide. Thanks to a strategic approach to PD and support, teacher collaboration has skyrocketed, kindergartners are coding and students are excited about learning.

EdSurge spoke to Jeff Terry about Roanoke’s game-based learning journey, his team’s tech implementation advice and the buzzing engagement they’ve seen in students and teachers since adopting M:EE.

Kids open up with Minecraft.

EdSurge: Why did you decide to adopt Minecraft: Education Edition?

Jeff Terry: Our goal, at the heart of our strategic framework, is for our students to be introduced to deeper learning—learning that is engaging and purposeful. We also want students to be opportunity ready when it’s time for either college or career. And to do that they need to be able to understand the Four Cs.

We have a tight relationship with the business community here and those are the skills businesses want students to have. And while Roanoke County isn’t a gigantic place by any means, it’s a suburban hub within 500 miles and a lot of areas that need technology employees.

Minecraft is one of those unique products that fits in with developing each one of those Four Cs. It even hits the fifth C we have in Virginia for citizenship.

How does M:EE specifically support the Four Cs?

And the most gratifying piece is that at the end of all these lessons, kids are excited about what they’re learning.

It’s changing our students. Kids open up with Minecraft. On my school tours, I see second- and third-grade students who are not interested in giving a report or reading a book out loud. But when they build a scene from their novel using Minecraft, they are the first ones to get up in front of a projection board and present.

And they’re learning history without even knowing it. Students collaborate to construct pyramids in Minecraft as they study ancient Egypt, for example, and build historically important buildings as they research Cuba and Greece. In a Jamestown Settlement module in Minecraft, they’re building a settlement based on what the colony in Jamestown, Va. would have looked like and what things were available when the first settlers arrived.

Even our kindergarteners are coding. At every level, our students have technological abilities. But they also have people skills—they can collaborate, communicate. They’re gaining important 21st-century skills.

And the most gratifying piece is that at the end of all these lessons, kids are excited about what they’re learning. Not just excited about playing a game—excited about learning.

Adoption and usage are extremely high in your district. How did you achieve that?

. . . Minecraft has greatly increased collaboration amongst our staff.

With all technology programs, the key is not to overlook the need for professional development. We made that mistake when we rolled out our 1:1 laptop program 16 years ago. Getting a laptop for every kid was one thing, but having the teachers know what that meant was another.

So for Minecraft, we started with a pilot program. We brought in our 15 Instructional Technology Resource Teachers (ITRTs)—as well as another group of high flying teachers—to have official Minecraft PD from Microsoft.

We also included our instructional supervisors in that training so they could see how Minecraft works in the classroom, how it can help them meet their standards measurements and how engaging it is. We want technology to be built into our instructional program.

When we started the official training you could hear the rumble in the room. Teachers were excited to see how many different ways they could use it and share ideas. Since that day, Minecraft has greatly increased collaboration amongst our staff.

How do you support teachers and ensure continued use?

For continued support, we use a co-teaching model with teachers. An ITRT plans a lesson that meets a teacher’s curriculum, and then the two of them implement the lesson. As the teacher becomes more confident with Minecraft, the ITRT will no longer need to always be in the classroom.

Lessons Created or Adapted by Roanoke Educators

• Area and Volume with Minecraft Edu
• Making Music in Minecraft Education Edition
• Animal and Plant Cell Tours in Minecraft Edu
• Building Jamestown

Minecraft: Education Edition also has a community of educators who submit vetted lessons. Teachers can search by subject and find lesson ideas, and new ideas are being rolled out all the time. There are also tutorials—for subjects such as chemistry and coding—so our teachers can try new things out with ease. The key really is supporting and training teachers.

And now that it’s on every one of our laptops, it’s being used by many of our students daily. About 8000 students in our middle and high school 1:1 take-home laptop program use Minecraft. And in our elementary schools, every classroom has five laptops and Minecraft is being used there as well.

It’s built into our program so deeply that it would be greatly missed if it was not here.

Back in 2014, the Danish government had the brilliant idea of recreating the whole country in Minecraft for educational purposes. But just a few weeks after the launch of the initiative, cybervandals had already raided it in the name of America.

The Danish Geodata Agency had the marvellous idea of building a virtual version of the entire country of Denmark at a 1:1 scale. One of the biggest Minecraft creations ever made, the government agency built the model based on official topographical data so people could walk around the whole country, free to even visit their own address. Four billion bricks and one terabyte of data, the whole thing was a thing of wonder.

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

The use of dynamite was banned on the Danish server to prevent the structures from being blown up, but users managed to find a workaround and discovered dynamite could be hidden in mining carts.

Cyberpirates started raiding the place, blowing apart small portions of the map and erecting US flags and “America” signs in red, white and blue.

Views of virtual Denmark after being “Americanised” by players.

“I americanlized [sic] the place a bit,” wrote one user on fan site minecraftforum.net. Another said, “Not enough ‘Murica, and did you find the oil?”

The Danish Geodata Agency repaired the damage and described the incident as part of Minecraft’s “nature of play”.

“It was the players who cleaned up the damage, replacing it with green grass and flowers the following morning,” Chris Hammeken, chief press officer at the Danish Geodata Agency, told the BBC.

Last year was the most profitable year to date for the mobile versions of “Minecraft,” according to a report from Sensor Tower.

“Minecraft” on the App Store and on the Google Play store pulled in $110 million through both purchase price of the app as well as in-app purchases. This is a 7% growth from the year prior, in which “Minecraft” for mobile generated almost $103 million in revenue.

The big spenders for “Minecraft” are US players, who generated 48% of the total revenue. This is not too surprising, considering the popularity of “Minecraft” on all platforms with young US consumers. In the first quarter of 2018 alone, Sensor Tower estimates that the mobile game generated about $30 million worldwide.

The runner up countries in spending in “Minecraft” are Great Britain (6.6% or $7.3 million in revenue) and Japan (5% or $5.5 million in revenue).

Since its release on mobile devices in 2014, “Minecraft” has grossed almost half a billion dollars worldwide, according to Sensor Tower.

The sandbox game is popular on other platforms as well, including PC and Xbox One. Last October, Microsoft pulled support for “Minecraft” for Apple TV, reasoning that it needed to reallocate resources to provide more support for platforms most popular with “Minecraft” players.

Though the game is still, clearly, going strong, it did experience its first decline in game playtime among players ages 6 to 12 in 2018, according to market research firm Interpret.

One Piece’s Thousand Sunny is one of the more iconic bits of imagery from the entire series as the Straw Hats have set sailed on many different seas on their ship. But it definitely would not be out of place sailing through space.

Kingdom Hearts III allows fans to customize special ships in the game to sail to the different Disney worlds, and one fan brought in a little One Piece love by recreating the Thousand Sunny. You can check out a video clip of it below.

Reddit user OharaLibrarianArtur shared their efforts to recreate the Thousand Sunny, and the short clip above shows it flying through space. Not only have they recreated the Jolly Roger complete with the Straw Hat’s specialized skull and crossbones emblem, but they have even recreated the specialized lion face on the front of the ship. With as many wild places the Straw Hats have gone with their ships throughout the series, it’s not hard to imagine how well it would fare in space.

Unfortunately, there’s no tutorial or part list to show how this Thousand Sunny came together in game, so fans are now left to their own devices if they want to recreate the ship themselves. Perhaps they can build the first ship, the Going Merry instead? Either way, this probably was quite a time sink of an effort. Kingdom Hearts III is now currently available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. You can read ComicBook.com’s spoiler-free review here.

Here’s an excerpt, “With its blend of old and new, Kingdom Hearts III feels almost immediately like a classic. While this particular franchise entry has been a long time coming, its updated mechanics and rendering means Kingdom Hearts has never looked better. In truth, this sentimental sequel manages to realize a truth set forth in the very first game: starting a new journey may not be so hard once you realize every path you’ve taken converges underneath the same sky, and all of those roads easily meet at and within Kingdom Hearts III.”

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.

Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

In this latest episode, we talk about the latest Star Wars rumors involving Rian Johnson, the Dragon Ball Super Broly controversy, an Alita conversation & so much more! Make sure to subscribe now and never miss an episode!

Pokemon Go‘s creators have agreed to a proposed comprehensive settlement that could remove or change a number of gyms and Poke Stops.

Back in 2016, annoyed homeowners and businesses sued Niantic after complaining about trespassing and nuisances related to Pokemon Go, which swept the entire world into a frenzy. Complaints ranged from players trespassing onto private property to capture certain Pokemon to players ignoring park hours of operations or causing damage due to high traffic volume.

The lawsuit has lingered for nearly three years, but the Hollywood Reporter has said that Niantic has agreed to a proposed settlement to resolve most of the related issues. As a result of the settlement, Niantic is proposing extensive reforms to handling complaints from property owners who don’t want Pokemon Go players on their property.

Under the proposed settlement, owners of single family homes will now have “right of removal” of any gym or Poke Stop within 40 meters of their property. In addition, Pokemon Go has agreed to respond to complaints or demands to remove a Poke Stop/gym from businesses or commercial property owners within 15 days. The game will also add a mechanism to the game to better honor the hours of operations of parks (which likely means that gyms will shut down overnight and Pokemon spawns will cease when the park is closed) and maintain a database of complaints to better manage where Pokemon spawn.

The lawsuit could potentially change Pokemon Go, which relies on public places to play the game. Although players don’t necessarily have to be adjacent to a gym or Poke Stop location to interact with it, this could lead to major changes as to where Poke Stops and gyms are placed.

The proposed settlement has not been approved by the judge of the case, nor has Niantic agreed to any payments for either the law firm involved or the named plaintiffs of the case.

Hasbro has announced that they are partnering up with Blizzard Entertainment to release a series of action figures and other toys based on the popular hero shooter Overwatch.

Nine Overwatch heroes are getting turned into figures, which will be available Spring 2019. Lucio, Sombra, Tracer, Reinhardt, Anna, Soldier 76, Pharah, Mercy and Reaper are the first heroes you’ll be able to buy and add to your toy collection. The action figures will stand 6 inches tall and will feature props and articulation, letting you pose them however you desire.

Mercy and PharahPhoto: HasbroSoldier 76 & AnnaPhoto: HasbroReinhardtPhoto: HasbroReaperPhoto: HasbroADVERTISEMENTYou can go to the next slide after 1 secondContinueLucioPhoto: HasbroSombraPhoto: HasbroTracerPhoto: Hasbro 1 / 7

Some of the figures will be sold individually for $23 each, while Pharah & Mercy and Soldier 76 & Anna will be sold in double packs that will, according to Gamestop, each cost $50.

Reinhardt is a slightly wider and more complex figure and will cost $50 by himself. Though he does come with a pretty awesome and large shield.

Hasbro also revealed they will be releasing an Overwatch themed Monopoly board game and some blasters based on Lucio’s weapons he uses in Overwatch. The blasters will cost $10 and the themed Monopoly set will cost $50.

According to Polygon, Hasbro has said all of the figures and other toys will be available at most major toy retailers nationwide.

Minecraft’s latest snapshot update, 19w07a, changed the way paintings work which has allowed some crafty players to create in-game TVs. The new update, which also added adorable foxes into the game, breaks paintings into multiple textures. Before this update, paintings in Minecraft were created using a single texture. This new change has allowed modders to create working in-game TVs and computer monitors.

Reddit user Hopeabandoner created a monitor allowing him to watch a pixelated Minecraft YouTube video while playing Minecraft. I believe the kids call this “meta”.Outstream Video

 00:0000:00

GIF: hopeabandoner (Reddit)

Another Reddit user, ShaneH7646, put the entire Bee Movie into Minecraftusing the new feature.
GIF: ShaneH7646 (Reddit)

The best looking in-game TV in Minecraft I’ve seen so far belongs to user destruc7i0n. Using multiple painting frames they were able to play a high quality copy of the Gravity Falls intro. One user commented “Better picture quality than my TV.”GIF: destruc7i0n (Reddit)

While this new trick is cool, it does take up a lot of resources to pull off. One video made up of 30 frames could take up over 100 MB of space. Too many of these bigger files on servers could cause performance issues.

Maybe in the future, if Minecraft has better optimized this feature, we could see some servers or worlds create short in-game videos explaining rules and guidelines to new players.

Or folks will just set up a bunch of TVs playing Bee Movie.

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/64794/xbox-live-subscribers-hit-64-million/index.html

Xbox LIVE active users have jumped past 60 million thanks to strong holiday sales, subscriptions, and engagement strategies, Microsoft confirms in its latest Q2’19 earnings report.     Xbox LIVE adoption has been relatively flat throughout the last few quarters, but subscribers and active users have spiked thanks to a successful holiday season. Microsoft saw 64 million monthly active users on Xbox LIVE in the three-month FYQ3’19 quarter, up about 8.5% year-over-year and nearly 13% quarter-over-quarter. It’s worth noting that Xbox LIVE bridges multiple devices and these numbers reflect platforms like Xbox consoles, Windows 10 PCs, and mobiles. This is all according to plan as Xbox LIVE now serves as the connective tissue between various hardware platforms.   (Continued below)     Xbox Game Pass is a big driver of Xbox LIVE engagement and overall gaming revenue, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirms in the quarterly earnings call.   “Xbox Live monthly active users reached a record 64 million, with the highest number of mobile and PC users to-date. Xbox Game Pass subscribers and Mixer engagement also hit new all-time highs. And Minecraft, which continues to be one of the most popular and durable gaming franchises in the industry, delivered record revenue as we expanded into new platforms, geographies and segments like Education,” Nadella said in the FYQ3’19 call.   Microsoft is poised to pull in more Xbox LIVE users and active paying subscribers. The company has ambitious new service plans including its Project xCloud, which streams games to mobiles, PCs, and consoles, as well as new initiatives like engagement-driven Xbox Rewards.   Mixer continues to do exceptionally well and gleans revenues from advertisements and monetization, and Microsoft will expand Xbox Game Pass’ lineup with new titles over time. There’s even rumblings Game Pass could launch on PC sometime soon.   I’d personally like more visibility into these numbers.   It’d be neat to see how much Microsoft is earning from Xbox LIVE active subscribers as well as more info on how it organically folds into other services like Mixer and Game Pass. I’d also like to know how many Xbox LIVE subscribers Microsoft is able to keep versus those they lose as subscriptions lapse.   Microsoft is typically coy when it comes to exact figures (it stopped reporting Xbox One console sales ages ago) and it’s honestly a shame. The company is doing interesting things and these figures could give us more insight on its complex, multi-faceted ecosystem strategy.

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/64794/xbox-live-subscribers-hit-64-million/index.html

Microsoft has a new free games event going on this weekend, and Xbox Live Gold subscribers have a great choice of titles.

Right now, Xbox One gamers can download and play three games, all offering different styles of gameplay.

This includes The Sims 4, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Fishing Sim World.

It’s quite a strange mix to be sure but something worth checking out if you’re a free games fans.

But here’s where the warning comes in as time is running out to take advantage of them all.

Microsoft has confirmed that these titles will be reverting back to their normal price wall status very soon.

“Express your creativity with your Sims, battle it out in the epic Halo saga, and immerse yourself in an authentic fishing simulator without the sea sickness,” a message from Microsoft explains.

“The event begins on Thursday, February 7 at 12:01 a.m. PT and runs through to Sunday, February 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Start by finding and installing the games here.

“To download on console, click on the Gold member area on the home dashboard.”

The good news is that fans in the UK should technically have until Monday morning, around 8am on February 11, to play it all.

The games will also be available at a discount so fans can continue playing while keeping their Gamerscore and achievements earned in-game.

Xbox: February’s ‘Games with Gold’ lineup released

PlayMuteCurrent Time 0:03/Duration 2:24Loaded: 0%Progress: 0% FacebookTwitterShareFullscreen 

Notice of all the different choices can be found for each of the three games, below:

• The Sims 4 ($39.99 SRP): up until 2/11, The Sims’ anniversary sale is on! Get up to 80% off The Sims 4 base game and 50% off select expansion packs.
• North America base game discount – 80% off: $8.00
• ROW base game discount – 60% off: $16.00
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection ($29.99 SRP) at 25% off: $22.49
• Note: only Halo: The Master Chief Collection Digital Bundle is on sale and for purchase.
• Fishing Sim World ($19.99 SRP) at 25% off: $14.99

Other Xbox Live free games worth checking out is Apex Legends, recently released by Respawn Entertainment.

While it can technically be downloaded by anyone on Xbox One and Xbox One X, an Xbox Live Gold subscription is required to play online.

And without that, you can’t do much on Apex Legends.

Apex Legends: THRILLING trailer for new game release

Play Video 

Apex Legends is a new Battle Royale experience set in the world of Titanfall that currently has a lot of people playing it.

Respawn CEO Vince Zampella revealed the scope of the initial success of their latest venture, telling fans:

“In 72 hours, over 10 million players have jumped into Apex Legends, and we’ve breached 1 million concurrent players!

“This has been a truly incredible journey. We tested and tweaked. We argued and agreed. We got to a point where we felt some magic.

“We knew it would be risky to take the franchise in this direction, to go free to play, and do a surprise launch. But we fell in love with Apex Legends and wanted, needed, other people to play it too.

“We hoped you’d love it as much as us, but never in our wildest dreams could we have expected the outpouring of support and positivity we’ve seen.

“From all of us at Respawn, thank you for giving us and Apex Legends a chance. Thank you for joining us on this journey. This is just the beginning! We have so much more in store for you this year.”

More Xbox Live free games will be announced by Microsoft in the coming weeks.

After years of development and multiple delays, Microsoft’s next big exclusive, Crackdown 3, launches this week–and you can play it for only $1 if you meet a few requirements.

As a first-party game, Crackdown 3 is free for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. And right now, Microsoft is offering a one-month Xbox Game Pass trial for only $1. The catch is that you need to be a new subscriber to enjoy the savings.

Xbox Game Pass already has “millions” of subscribers, but if you’re not among them, right now seems to be a good time to jump in. You can sign up for Xbox Game Pass on the Xbox website or through your console.

Crackdown 3 is coming to Xbox One and PC, but Xbox Game Pass is only on Xbox One right now. It could come to PC and other platforms down the road, but no announcements have been made as of it. Crackdown 3 launches on February 15.

Crackdown 3 is not the only game coming to Xbox Game Pass in February; you can see a full rundown of February’s additions below.

For $10/month, Xbox Game Pass subscribers get access to a growing library of free games to download and play for as long as their membership stays active. There are more than 100 Xbox One and backwards-compatible Xbox 360 titles in the catalog, including Halo 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sea of Thieves, PUBG, Mortal Kombat X, and many more.

February Game Pass Games

• Shadow of the Tomb Raider – February 7
• The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season – February 7
• Pumped BMX Pro – February 7
• De Blob – February 14
• Crackdown 3 – February 15
• Batman: Return to Arkham – February 21

Filed under:Crackdown 3Xbox OnePC

Microsoft has revealed a brand-new Xbox One controller that will have lovers of the color red in heaven.

This week Xbox’s official Twitter page unveiled a brand-new Xbox One controller, dubbed “Sport Red,” that will be releasing soon. More specifically, the special red-everything controller will release on March 5.

Microsoft provides the following product description for the controller:

“Equip yourself with the Xbox Wireless Controller – Sport Red Special Edition, featuring a vibrant red design with metallic accents and rubberized diamond grip for enhanced comfort. Enjoy custom button mapping and plug in any compatible headset with the 3.5mm stereo headset jack. And with Bluetooth technology, play your favorite games on Windows 10 PCs and tablets.”

Like all Xbox One controllers, all three current Xbox console platforms will be supported as well as PCs.

The controller is currently available to pre-order via the Microsoft store. It will cost you $69.99USD, and comes with free shipping.

Personally, I think the PS4 currently has a monopoly on the best controller color designs, though this one is sure right up there with some of the best PS4 controllers. I don’t even like the color red that much, which is how I know the designers over at Xbox really nailed this one.

And it seems the general consensus agrees with me:

Pokémon Let’s GO! Buneary@TerryTheBunearyReplying to @Xbox

This Xbox One controller looks bloodie cool.78:04 AM – Feb 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Pokémon Let’s GO! Buneary’s other Tweets

ValravnBassCanyon/PAXWest@Valravn0Replying to @ScrubZeroLive and 2 others

Okay so my birthday is in like 5 months who wants to buy me one28:59 AM – Feb 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee ValravnBassCanyon/PAXWest’s other Tweets

Baby Diapers 65@65DiapersReplying to @Xbox

This is awsome gonna be my main controller9:42 PM – Feb 8, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Baby Diapers 65’s other Tweets

Soqqle Gaming@soqqlegamingReplying to @Xbox @austynjroney

Beautiful, can’t wait to have it on a Xbox night #Xbox11:42 PM – Feb 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Soqqle Gaming’s other Tweets0COMMENTS

That said, $70 is a bit pricey for a controller, even a cool one like this. Controllers never go on sale with deep discounts, but they do go on sale, typically around Black Friday and Christmas. In other words, it may be best to hold off on pulling the trigger on this for now. After all, $70 buys you a brand-new AAA game and a $10 indie.

Anyway, as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think. Hot or not?

No matter how heartbreaking the win over Thanos will be in Avengers: Endgame, one thing is certain: Doctor Strange is the architect of this win. I’m not just talking about the events in Infinity War that needed to happen in a certain way in order for the Avengers to actually beat the Titan in the next movie, but of other events from all the other Marvel movies, which may have been set up in a certain way by Strange. In a somewhat apologetic tone, Strange told Iron Man at the end of Infinity War that this was the only way to beat Thanos. Strange has seen so many different outcomes that he knew the only way to win would require some sacrifice. But beating Thanos is possible.

We’ve often talked about the importance of time travel for Endgame, and about Doctor Strange’s master plan, as several fan theories tried to guess how the Avengers would win. But we now have an incredibly interesting theory that doesn’t look at what Strange did while peering through time. Instead, it gives us an approximation of the time he actually spent looking at all those potential futures.

Reddit user CleverD3vil estimated that Strange needed more than 5,000 years to look at what’s required to win. That seems like a huge amount of time, but let’s not forget that Strange looked at 14,000,605 alternate futures.

On Titan Strange sits down and actually looks at 14,000,605 alternate futures, and that looks like he just spent only a minute or two doing it, now we don’t know much about Time Stone and how it works but we know that he would have to look through time as if he is watching a movie or he couldn’t have actually experienced it with loops and stuff to save him… either way he would have spent a lot of time.

14,000,605 x 3 hours (He would definitely spend more per timeline… maybe months in some.. but like in the movie lets take the 3 hours) = 42,001,815 hours which is 4,795 years round off to 5,000 years

The theory says that Doctor Strange could have further honed his skills while analyzing events from various periods — I also think he went back in time not just forward, to ensure this timeline progresses in a certain way. A few days ago, I argued that it’s wrong to think Star-Lord is guilty of letting Thanos prevail on Titan, and that’s because it all happened under Strange’s watchful eye. Strange allowed Star-Lord to interfere with the plan because he knew that giving Thanos the Infinity Stones, and making him think he would win was the only way to beat him.

When you think about it, this is nothing new for Doctor Strange, as he did the same thing while fighting Dormammu. He created a time loop that must have ran millions of times until the Dormammu realized he couldn’t win. The Doctor Strange battle in the movie only featured some of the loops, but the director of the movie did say that Strange spent plenty of time stuck in that time loop. Meanwhile, the full theory about Strange’s role in defeating Thanos follows below:

Image Source: DISNEY/Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock

Samuel L. Jackson is no Tom Holland or Mark Ruffalo when it comes to Avengers leaks, but he certainly seems ready to spoil some details about the upcoming movies. Exactly a month ago, the actor who will reprise his Nick Fury role in at least two Marvel movies this year (Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home) casually dropped a huge detail about Captain Marvel. He confirmed that she can travel through time, which has tremendous significance for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fast forward to February, and Jackson is back with a revealing spoiler about the upcoming movies, and it’s one that can explain Captain Marvel’s arrival in Endgame.

“[The Avengers are] up against some really, really tough odds right now, we saw throughout Infinity War,” Jackson said back in January, during an interview. “So now we know we need something that’s as powerful as Thanos, and at some point, we’ll find out how powerful she is and all the things that she’s capable of. She’s one of the few people in the Marvel universe that can time travel.”

Talking to Total Film Magazine (via ComicBookMovie), Jackson implied that Captain Marvel might travel from the ‘90s directly to the Endgame future following Fury’s page.

I guess we might figure out that she can do things that nobody else can do. She can time travel, so maybe she can get ahead or behind or whatever, and figure out what all that is. The fact I have the pager 20 years later – it gets addressed in an interesting sort of way.

Jackson didn’t say that Carol Danvers will just jump through time and make herself available in the 21st century, but that seems to be the implication. A previous TV spot for Captain Marvel partly addressed the pager. That video was shown in international markets, revealing a discussion between Fury and Danvers about the pager. That pager, meanwhile, looks exactly like the one Fury has — well, Fury’s pager is upgraded to work in the future. The question is now, in light what Jackson just said, does that pager communicate through time? How would that even be possible?

If Captain Marvel does jump from the ’90s to 2019, then it would certainly explain where she was all these years.

What is worth paying attention to is that Captain Marvel can move through time as she pleases without a Time Stone. She might not be able to watch time unfold as Doctor Strange did, but that’s a power that will obviously come in handy.

Jackson didn’t tell us exactly what’s going to happen though, à la Holland or Ruffalo, so he’s probably allowed to drop these particular teasers. What’s interesting is a fan theory said a few days ago that the snap in Infinity War might have pushed Carol back to the ‘90s. She then had to leave the planet, the theory said, so that she wouldn’t interfere with young Carol who’s still a kid on Earth during the ’90s. She gave Fury the pager in the process, with clear instructions for him to call her only if and when the snap occurs. That’s just a theory, however.View image on Twitter

Total Film✔@totalfilm

#CaptainMarvel lands on the cover of the new issue of Total Film magazine, which is on sale now! Full details here: https://buff.ly/2tdN7ax 458:14 PM – Feb 8, 201919 people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy

Captain Marvel launches on March 8th, with Endgame set to premiere on April 26th. While you wait, you might want to check out the new Total Film Magazine for more Marvel content.

Avengers Infinity War ended on a dismal note as Thanos halved the universe’s population with a snap of his fingers. As we saw many of Earth’s mightiest heroes turned into dust, the original Avengers were still coming to terms with the future. The Mad Titan, however, had gone back to some kind of idyll, looking over (literally) greener pastures

However, as the latest Avengers Endgame synopsis shared by theatre chain Vue, the Mad Titan has been busy since the Decimation. “After the power of the infinity stones decimated half of the population, Thanos (Josh Brolin) has taken up the mantle as ruler of the universe, leaving the Avengers in ruin,” according to the synopsis, which goes on to say, “The demi-god will only expand upon his tyrannical rule – unless someone manages to stop him.” If the Avengers fail, they will “suffer a hopeless existence…”

Things on earth are looking dismal. After the power of the infinity stones decimated half of the population, Thanos (Josh Brolin) has taken up the mantle as ruler of the universe, leaving the Avengers in ruin.

The demi-god will only expand upon his tyrannical rule – unless someone manages to stop him. So, with no time to mourn their losses, Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) must remain resilient and rally the remaining members of earth’s mightiest heroes – and call on the services of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson).

Together, they must to figure out a way to bring back their vanquished allies and defeat the Mad Titan, or suffer a hopeless existence…

Scarlett Johansson (Isle of Dogs), Josh Brolin (Deadpool 2), Robert Downey Jr (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Chris Evans (Gifted), and Chris Hemsworth (Bad Times at the El Royale) star in Avengers: Endgame, the final chapter in a culmination of a decade of Marvel blockbusters, and one not to be missed.

Pokémon GO creator Niantic is looking to end a lawsuit that was first started back in 2016, during the height of Pokémon GO’s popularity. The suit was filed by numerous homeowners who believed the company had caused players to trespass onto their property to catch Pokémon or activate Pokéstops.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, The homeowners are proposing a settlement, which if accepted by a judge in California, would force Niantic to implement new features and restrictions into the popular mobile game.

The features are listed below.

• Upon complaints of nuisance or trespass and demands of the removal of a “PokéStop” or “Gym,” the company will make commercially reasonable efforts to resolve the complaint and communicate a resolution within 15 days.
• Owners of single-family residential properties get rights of removal within 40 meters of their properties.
• Niantic will maintain a database of complaints in an attempt to avoid poor placement of these virtual creatures.
• When Niantic’s system detects a raid of more than 10 players congregating, a warning message will appear on their screens reminding them to be courteous and respectful of surroundings.
• Niantic is also working with user-reviewers and mapping services like Google Maps to also mitigate any problems plus maintaining a mechanism so that park authorities can request a park’s hours of operation be honored.
• At the company’s expense, Niantic will have an independent firm audit compliance with obligations during a three-year period.

The lawsuit dates back to 2016, when some residents were angered by hundreds of players walking around their private property or near their home or condo. Some residents in Villas of Positano condos, located in Florida, described players as “…zombies, walking around bumping into things.”

The case is interesting because it could change the definition of trespassing in the digital era. Is a company, like Niantic, at fault for placing digital items in private locations? How much responsibility should a company face for their players attempting to get these digital items and in doing so breaking the law? 

For now, it seems Niantic and the homeowners affected by the game will settle soon. If the settlement is accepted by the judge, named plaintiffs in the lawsuit will receive $1,000 each.

Minecraft is a sandbox game that allows you to develop your creativity and build your own world. The game is the most popular game of this time and it managed to be a success for many years. Nowadays, there are many similar alternatives out there. If you are looking for something new, we have prepared a list of Minecraft alternatives which are just as entertaining. Let’s take a look.

SurvivalCraft

This game is quite similar to Minecraft. You find yourself on the shores of a world made out of blocks. Just like with Minecraft, you need to explore, mine for resources and create your own tools and weapons.

Starbound

Starbound is an indie game, just like Minecraft once was. The game is a 2D one, but it comes with lovable, beautiful pixelated graphics. In the game you get to explore the world in order to find new items and obtain weapons to defend yourself. The game is available for OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux.

Terraria

Terraria is based on a concept that isn’t very different from the one Minecraft is based on. The game is a 2D one, but the goals are mostly the same. You have to explore the world, dig, find resources and build in order to survive. The game comes with multiple levels and it also includes action and combat.

Roblox

Roblox can also be considered a Minecraft alternative, although there are some differences between these two. For starters, Roblox is available only online, while Minecraft works both online and offline. In this game you will get your own avatar and you will be able to customise it however you want, from hats, clothes and gear. In the game you will be able to interact and chat with other players, as well as battle and play games with them.

Minecraft commands can give you god-like control of your game. Whether it’s to copy an existing build, change the gamemode, or flat out cheat your way to glory, Minecraft console commands are an important part of playing the game day-to-day. While there are a lot of different commands out there, all varying in complexity, we’ve got a run down of the ones you need to know, and, of course, the ones you can use to troll your friends. Because what’s Minecraft without a bit of friendly griefing?

If you’re wondering how to enter the Minecraft console commands listed below, all you need to do is hit the forward-slash key (/) and that’ll bring up a small window. Input the code and hit enter and your command will activate.

If you’re just picking up Minecraft again in 2019, check out our best Minecraft seeds and best Minecraft mods. 

Shorthand Code Commands for MinecraftRECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU…CLOSE

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Below are the shorthand codes to save you from typing in different player names. These are worth memorising so you don’t have to type in names like “Sniper_Kitty_Bruv_91” every time some jobber joins your game.

• @p – the player nearest to you
• @r – a random player
• @a – all players
• @e – all entities in the world.
• @s – yourself

The clone command

/clone <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2> <x> <y> <z>

Clones a selection of blocks to another location. Very helpful if you’re building a city space and want to duplicate multiple buildings to different areas. “<x1> <y1> <z1>” is your start point. “<x2> <y2> <z2>” is the end point. And “<x> <y> <z>” is where you want the cloned blocks to spawn.

Example: /clone 100 234 -10 200 100 0 300 200 100

How to change the difficulty

/difficulty <difficulty>

Changes the in-game difficulty. Replace the latter section of the code with one of the following:

• peaceful 
• easy 
• normal
• hard 

Example: /difficulty peaceful

Add an effect to yourself or someone else

/effect <player> <effect> [seconds] [amplifier] [hideParticles]

Adds a status effect to the targeted player. “[seconds]”, “[amplifier]”, and “[hideParticles]” are all optional conditions, so feel free to ignore them unless you want to change the length, how strong the effect is, or whether the effect shows as particles or not. If you want to remove an effect from a player, type “/effect <player> clear”. 

Example: /effect PCGamer water_breathing 30

Enchant an item

/enchant <player> <enchantment ID> [level]

Adds an enchantment to the item the player is holding. So that’s smite, bane of the arthropods, sharpness—any enchantment you’d pull from a book or enchant table. Here’s a list of Enchantment IDs.

Example: /enchant PCGamer minecraft:smite 1

Exp modifier

/xp <amount> [player]

Gives the targeted player an amount of experience points. If you just want to add levels instead, which is easier for enchanting, try “/xp <amount>L [player]”.

Example: /xp 100L PCGamer

Change the gamemode

/gamemode <mode>

Changes the gamemode for everyone in the session. Add a player’s name to the end of the code to alter the mode for different players. Replace “<mode>” with one of the following options:

• Survival 
• Creative 
• Adventure 
• Spectator 

Example: /gamemode Survival

Give an item or items

/give <player> <item> [amount]

Drops an item into the player’s inventory. Perfect for if you want to start a run with a full set of diamond gear. Just keep in mind the amount section only works for stackable items. You can’t give yourself 100 diamond swords in one go, as cool as that’d be. For a full list of item IDs, head here.

Example: /give PCGamer diamond_sword 1

Help if a command isn’t workingAdvertisement

/help [command name]

Offers additional information about any console command. If you’re trying a command and it isn’t working as it should, type the above command before the name of the command that isn’t working and you’ll be treated to more details about how it works.

Example: /help kill

Turn keep inventory on

/gamerule keepInventory true

Changes the game rules so should you die, you keep all the items in your inventory. Replace “true” with “false” to turn it off again.

Kill everyone or everything

/kill

Kills everything, including the player. But should you want to kill another player, use “/kill <player>”. And to kill a certain type of mob, “/kill @e[type=mobType]”.

The play sound command

/playsound <sound> <player>

Plays a specific sound file. Great for if you want to use a command block to play a sound when someone opens a door. Who doesn’t love a good doorbell? Take a look at all the sound file names here. 

Example: /playsound minecraft:entity.elder_guardian.ambient voice @a

How to check the world seed

/Seed

Displays the seed for their current world should you wish to replay the seed again from scratch or pass it along to a mate.

Set the world spawn

/setworldspawn

Changes the world spawn to wherever the player is standing. If you don’t want to do that, you can also set it to a predetermined location with “/setworldspawn <x> <y> <z>”

Example: /setworldspawn 100 80 0

Stop time from changing

/gamerule doDaylightCycle false

This completely turns the daylight cycle off so it’ll always be the current time of day. To reenable the cycle, replace “false” with “true.”Advertisement

Spawn a mob

/summon <entity_name> [x] [y] [z]

Summons a mob to a specific location. Remove the “[x] [y] [z]” section at the end to have the mob spawn right on top of you. Just remember if you’re spawning the Wither you’ll need to leg it as fast as possible.

Example: /summon creeper

Teleport

/tp [target player] <x> <y> <z>

Teleports the targeted player to a designated location. And yes, you can indeed teleport a friend into the sky and laugh as their body flails back down to earth.

Example: /tp PCGamer 100 0 10

Alter the in-game time

/time set <value>

Sets the in-game time. Add one of the following numbers onto the end to change the time of day to something else:

• 0 – Dawn
• 1000 – Morning
• 6000 – Midday
• 12000 – Dusk
• 18000 – Nightist

Change the weather to something nicer, or worse

/weather <clear/rain/thunder>

Changes the in-game weather to a different type. I.e. “/weather thunder” would start a thunderstorm. This one’s a must if you’re going after charged creepers. Nobody’s got time to sit around waiting for it to thunder.

With Effortless Building, you can place duplicate blocks in real-time, template and repeat entire sections, and loads more.

Building anything in Minecraft is an intensive task, and it’s frustrating how few tools the game gives you to play with. Thankfully, modder Requios is here to save the day with their Effortless Building mod that comes packed with some incredibly useful tools so you don’t have to assemble buildings one block at a time.

Using Effortless Building, players have access to a special menu screen full of options to speed up building by automating the process of placing blocks. The simplest tool is mirroring, which allows you to place multiple blocks at once but in mirrored positions. It’s a bit complicated to explain, but watch the video above to see the mod in action. Essentially, if you’re building a symmetrical structure (like a house), mirroring requires you to only build one quadrant of the house manually, with the rest being filled in automatically. It’s very handy.

The other core feature is arrays, which is similar to mirroring but it “copies your build in a certain direction a certain number of times.” If you were laying fence posts, for example, you could use the arrays option to have it automatically duplicate your posts with just a single click. The video below shows it in action.

There’s several other handy features too. Radial mirrors lets you—you guessed it—instantly place blocks in a circle around a certain point, while the Randomizer Bag makes it easy to add a little variety to features like a cobblestone pathway by randomly placing specifically chosen blocks. You can also use Quick Replace to easily swap out blocks (no more digging up earth to lay down some wood flooring) too. And, what’s great is that this mod works in Survival Mode and will automatically use the appropriate number of harvested blocks when placing them using any of these tools.

If you’re big into building in Minecraft, Effortless Building seems like a must-have mod to help speed up the process. You can download Effortless Building here, and Requios recommends checking out this YouTube walkthrough to get started.

Everybody should learn to code. That’s a statement that we’ve been hearing a lot for the past 3-4 years. From an article we got back in 2016, to the numerous workshops and hackathons on coding that we’ve covered, it’s pretty clear that coding and learning to program will play an important part in the future. It’s not only us who think so though. Microsoft is of the same thought as well.

Celebrating Computer Science

On Friday, 8^th of February 2018, the tech giant held their flagship computer science workshop. This was in commemoration of the Computer Science Education Week.  The purpose here is to inspire and encourage children to take an interest in computer science.

The workshop, held at the Microsoft Sri Lanka office at Access Towers 2 saw over 100 students taking part. The students, representing public and private schools were also joined by underserved youth from in and around Colombo. Once gathered, the participants were invited to take part in a gamified approach to coding.

Microsoft does it again

If you recall, we attended a session like this in 2017 as well. The coding exercise, called Voyage Aquatic, took the form of an underwater treasure hunt. To make things even more interesting, the exercise employed elements from Minecraft (similar to Hero’s Journey in 2017).

Participants had to complete certain objectives by using the blocks. Each block was coded to perform a certain action. In this manner, the students learned about the logic of each function, and also learned how to code it.

Coding is for everyone

In a parallel session, students from grades 10-12 were taught about the BBC Micro: bit. Carried out by members of Micro: bit SLUG, the session covered the basics such as what a Micro:bit is, and what it can be used for. Students were also given a hands on approach to coding their own Micro: bit by means of virtual and physical Micro:bit kits.

Getting Teachers future-ready

Last, but by no means the least, a workshop was also carried out for teachers. The workshop was carried out by Microsoft Certified Educators (MCEs. Here, teachers were encouraged to facilitate real-world problem solving by means of ICT tools. In addition, teachers were also educated on the technology literacy competencies required to provide a wholesome learning experience for students.

Following the end of the workshop, certificates were handed to all who participated. This included both students and teachers. Hasitha Abeywardena – Country Manager Microsoft Sri Lanka and the Maldives took the stage to talk about what Microsoft is aiming to do with the Computer Science Education Day.

He emphasized that all efforts are to help bridge the gap in STEM education. He added that more than 50% of jobs today require technology skills. By 2026, it is estimated that the number would grow to 77% of jobs worldwide.

With platforms such Micro:bit and Voyage Aquatic, students can gain the required knowledge so that they can have a successful future. We saw events such as the Global Game Jam as well, where participants were encouraged to step into the world of game development as well. All these efforts go to show that the world is indeed changing, and it is up to us to keep up with the trends.

It may come as no surprise to most, but it looks like Kelly Clarkson is an avid player of the Nintendo Entertainment System. According to the popular musician, she is “crazy into” Super Mario Bros. 3 and uses the game mostly to prevent her from straining her voice while on tour.

In a post on Clarkson’s Twitter, she shared an image of her NES Classic with a caption that reads: “Other than reading, this is the only way to make me shut up on tour so I can save my voice for shows.” She also claimed that Super Mario Bros. 3 is the “best video game ever invented.”View image on Twitter

Kelly Clarkson✔@kelly_clarkson

Other than reading, this is the only way to make me shut up on tour so I can save my voice for shows #GodBlessMyNES #SuperMarioBros3 best video game ever invented #FightMeOnIt #EightiesBaby5,8594:40 AM – Jan 27, 2019610 people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy

In an audio clip shared by USA Today’s Dave Paulson, Clarkson went on to express her love for the 1988 classic title, saying that she is “crazy into it.” The singer also noted that while she is aware of the location for each of the Warp Whistles, she doesn’t like using them.

Clarkson even mentioned that she will reset the game if things aren’t working out. “I will literally press Reset if I’m disappointed,” she said. Her frustration, as she pointed out, is likely due to the fact of sometimes not getting the Treasure Ships, which she referred to as “the boat of coins.”

Breaking: @kelly_clarkson knows where all the warp whistles are in Super Mario Bros. 3

She also dropped COIN BOAT knowledge

CC: @AshSpurge185:59 AM – Feb 7, 2019See Dave Paulson’s other TweetsTwitter Ads info and privacy0COMMENTS

It’s unknown if Clarkson takes advantage of any of the other 29 games that are included with the NES Classic, but if she did, we imagine she always ends up back at Super Mario Bros. 3.

What do you think about this? Do you play a singular game as often as Kelly Clarkson does? Sound off in the comment section below, or hit me up over on Twitter @anarkE7!