Can you tame a dolphin in Minecraft? This is a question that many players are asking right now with the most recent Oceans update. With such a vast underwater world to explore, there are so many new options for players to check out like dolphins. This has many wondering if you can tame them.

Considering that you can tame horses, dogs, and the like, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to know you can tame a dolphin in Minecraft. But can you really do it? And how do you do it if so? We are going to answer that question and more in this guide.

Can You Tame and Ride a Dolphin in Minecraft?
So, can you tame a dolphin in Minecraft? The answer is, unfortunately, no. It is not possible (as of right now) to tame and ride the dolphins, which is unfortunate as it should definitely be an option. However, that isn’t the end of the story, thankfully.

While you can’t tame a dolphin in Minecraft, you can feed it some food and it will indeed do something great for you. Unfortunately, it won’t let you ride it right now. It will lead you to some buried treasure in a nearby shipwreck or ruins underwater. This is a great new feature.

But what do you feed the dolphin in order to do that? Well, you feed it a piece of raw cod and you’ll be good. Interestingly enough, one way to get a piece of raw cod is by killing a different dolphin. Sort of a morbid way to do it but it works. Unfortunately, there are no plans to make it possible to tame a dolphin in Minecraft but that could change in the near future. Especially if fans let Mojang know that is what they want in the game

We’ve seen some interesting petitions pop online as of late, from Marvel fans wanting James Gunn rehired for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to getting “Weird Al” Yankovic to perform at an obscure music festival in Yellowknife. But it looks like Fortnite fans have their own little campaign going on, asking for one simple thing — to say thank you to the driver of the Battle Bus.

The petition, which can be found here, was put together by Kody Keddie and is asking Epic Games to “add the ability to thank the bus driver before jumping out of the battle bus in Fortnite.” Thus far, the petition has over 6,000 signatures.

“Since I was just a boy I have always loved jumping out of the battle bus”, the petition reads. “But all this time I have felt something was missing. And that thing is the ability to thank the driver of the battle bus, he or she is truly a great person and they provide us a great service, I think it is time we can truly appreciate thair (their) service, don’t you agree?”

As silly as this all sounds, some fans are dedicated to getting such a feature put into the game. One even went as far as to note, “I cannot sleep at night knowing that a bus driver is forced to drive that battle bus 24/7.” Another chimed in, “This battle bus driver has changed lives is all I’m saying.”

Epic Games hasn’t said a word about the petition yet, but, um, can’t players just go and thank him anyway? Just say “Thanks!” before diving out of the Battle Bus? Or maybe gesturing to them as they land on the ground with a dance of some sort? Why does there need to be an “official” way to thank them when they can pass on their praise as it stands?

Maybe some folks just need that “Press X to pay tribute,” like you did in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare all those years ago. Who knows, maybe Epic Games is giving it some consideration. Or maybe they’re just adding cooler things to the game, which we’re even more cool with.

If you’re interested in signing, head over here to see the petition.

Fortnite is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, mobile and PC.

(Hat tip to GamesRadar for the scoop!)

Minecraft isn’t only popular in Japan, it’s also popular on the Nintendo Switch.

Minecraft is the most downloaded game on Nintendo Switch in Japan during the first half of this year, according to lists Nintendo published today.

Here are the top five for package and download versions. Note that Nintendo did not release download figures.

5. Mario Tennis Ace

Released: June 22, 2018

4. Splatoon 2

July 21, 2017

3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

April 28, 2017

2. Kirby Star Allies

March 16, 2018

1. Minecraft

June 21, 2018

And here are the top five download-only games.

5. Arcade Archives vs Super Mario Bros.

Released: December 22, 2017

4. Overcooked: Special Edition

October 12, 2017

3. Stardew Valley

January 11, 2018

2. Human Fall Flat

December 28, 2017

1. Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition

May 12, 2017

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Last month, it was confirmed that Red Bull was hosting a special Fortnite event hosted by streaming sensation Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, with teams coming together to prove their worth against the competition. Now that the event is concluded, it looks like it’s become a huge success.

The event, hosted by Blevins and Ben “DrLupo” Lupo, continued to find a huge streaming audience over the course of the evening, with 150,000 viewers tuning in throughout the evening (with the event running all the way through this morning), with at least 100,000 watching concurrently. (That’s not a huge surprise, considering Ninja’s massive following on Twitch.)

The event, which was held on the 99th floor of Chicago’s Willis Tower, brought together 200 of the best Fortnite players around, scoring points on a system that would eventually give the victory to Trevor “Funkbomb” Siegler and Nate “Nateehill” Hill, aka Team Exploit.

“This is our first big tournament and to win it is amazing,” said Nateehill. “We knew we were good and now we just have more confidence, we’re ready for the next one.”

Payouts were somewhat minimal, at just $1,125 each for the top winners, but that was mainly due to the rules applied by Epic Games when it comes to third party competitions. Still, the players were thrilled to take part. You can watch the awarding in the video below, posted by the ESPN Esports Twitter account.

On top of that, a secondary challenge, one in which players took on Ninja and Lupo directly, resulted in earning bonus points over the course of the evening. But Ninja explained that it was the interaction with the fans that truly made the evening something special.

“I wouldn’t have a career if it wasn’t for the Fortnite Community,” said Ninja. “I had so much fun playing with one of my best friends [DrLupo] tonight and meeting all my fans. There was some top talent in this tournament.”

So, with its success and huge audience, could Red Bull be returning to Fortnite territory soon? The company didn’t say anything just yet, but we’ll see what gets announced over the next few months.

Fortnite is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC and mobile devices.

For a while now, Telltale Games has been teasing the conclusion of Clementine’s story in The Walking Dead: The Final Season, which is set to debut in just a few weeks. However, just because this episodic series has a huge emphasis on closure doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end of the story.

During a recent livestream over at IGN, Telltale creative director Kent Mudle was asked if this five-episode arc would truly wrap everything up. But…it doesn’t quite look that way.

“This season is the end of Clementine’s journey, and that’s as much as I’ll say on that,” he said.

So what does that mean? The trailers have indicated a finish of sorts, but it looks like it’s just Clementine’s wrap-up. There’s a good chance that, considering it’s beneficial for both parties, Telltale’s relationship with Skybound will continue for more stories.

But which direction could they take? Could we see more of Lee’s side of things before the initial season of The Walking Dead began? Could Michonne make a return? Could another character from AMC’s The Walking Dead make their debut? There are possibilities galore.

For the moment though, Telltale is focusing on finishing up Clementine’s tale, and rightfully so. These new screens tell quite a bit, and soon we’ll see even more gameplay from the Final Season.

Here are the game’s features in case you missed them:

Emotional, Gut-Wrenching Story – See Clementine’s journey through to the end. As she builds a new life, you will have to grapple with new types of choices and live with the consequences as AJ looks on, learning from your every move.
More Control, More Tension – A new over-the-shoulder camera system, greater freedom to explore detailed environments, and scenes with unscripted combat capture the fear of living in a world overrun by the undead and create the most engaging The Walking Dead game yet.
Striking New Visual Style – The all-new Graphic Black art style rips the ink from the pages of the Eisner Award-winning comic book series and brings the world of The Walking Dead to life like never before. Supports 4K resolution and high dynamic range on compatible devices.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season debuts on August 14 for PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One. There’s a good chance we’ll see it on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices down the road as well.

In just a couple of days, fans everywhere will be able to enjoy the Mega Man X Legacy Collection in two different volumes, covering the entire spectrum of games that have come out over the years.

But could there be a new addition to the story? A new clue has emerged indicating that we could be seeing a new game in the Mega Man X saga.

Mega Man X Could Be Returning With a Ninth Adventure
By ROBERT WORKMAN – July 22, 2018

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Mega Man X
In just a couple of days, fans everywhere will be able to enjoy the Mega Man X Legacy Collection in two different volumes, covering the entire spectrum of games that have come out over the years.

But could there be a new addition to the story? A new clue has emerged indicating that we could be seeing a new game in the Mega Man X saga.

Eurogamer recently reported on a soundtrack booklet that goes over history for each game in the Mega Man X saga. But after the listing for X8, it points out an interesting note — “The Story of X’s fight is not yet over.”

You can see the pic indicating this message in the tweet below, posted by a user named guu_tara.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter

guutara＠C94金曜ペ31a
@guu_tara
なぁこれ、ロックマンＸ9出るやつじゃん…………
コンポーザーさんのコメントも新しいＸで会いましょう的な感じだった……………神よ……

11:19 AM – Jul 18, 2018
397
448 people are talking about this
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While this could just be an accident, Eurogamer notes that Capcom did this sort of thing before. Back when the 20th anniversary book for the Mega Man series came out years ago, it had a similar message teasing that the saga wasn’t yet complete. Just a few short weeks later, Mega Man 9 was officially revealed for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and PC. (That game would later be included in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2.)

In addition, Destructoid dug up its own hint on the matter, explaining that it saw some concept art in Mega Man Legacy Collection that teased the announcement of Mega Man 11, which was finally confirmed late last year with a huge online announcement.

So what does this mean? Well, if Capcom were to make an announcement, it probably wouldn’t be this year. That’s because the company’s already hard at work on MM 11, which is set to release this October.

However, with Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2 coming in a couple of days, and Capcom’s penchant to revitalize its classic game library (just look at Resident Evil 2 Remake), you never know. It could have a surprise tease waiting for a 2019 release.

For now, though, if you want to enjoy the Legacy releases, you can check them out on July 24 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.

After launching on other platforms first, Minecraft’s Update Aquatic is now available for the game’s Java players.

While those with the Windows 10 version of the game were already enjoying the underwater features of the update, the other half of the PC players had to wait a bit longer. The update adds various form of marine life, the potential for some exceptional underwater structures, and more features, and as of this week, it’s out for all players on the PC platform.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter

Minecraft
✔
@Minecraft
The tide has come in at last! That’s sea-faring speak for ‘Java Players! Today you get the full Update Aquatic!’ https://minecraft.net/article/update-aquatic-out-java …

12:48 AM – Jul 19, 2018
6,704
2,418 people are talking about this

With the Java edition now released, the Update Aquatic is out for just about every platform that Minecraft is available on. The PlayStation 4 playerbase, however, still doesn’t have the Update Aquatic content with no timeframe shared of when it might be released.

To see some of what’s new in Update Aquatic, you can read up on general changes and the new blocks below, but the full Java notes can be seen here.

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COMMENTS
General

All undead mobs now sink
Changed underwater visibility
Your vision will gradually increase the longer you’re underwater
Overhauled world generation
Overhauled command parser
Added new world type “Buffet”
Allows you to create worlds with a unique biome
More features will come to the Buffet world type in later updates
Added a bunch of new sounds
Added three new pieces of music
Added underwater ambience sounds
Added a swimming animation
Press your sprint key underwater to start swimming
Added data packs
Allows you to edit recipes, tags, loot tables, functions, and advancements
Added new advancements
Some blocks can now be waterlogged
Use a water bucket on a block to surround it with water
Added an “Optimize World” button (singleplayer -> edit world -> optimize world), which upgrades an entire world from older version to the latest version in one go

Blocks

Added blue ice
Found in icebergs
Added coral blocks
Added coral fans
Added coral
Added conduit
Combine 1 heart of the sea together with 8 nautilus shells to create the conduit
Makes your life underwater a lot easier
Added dried kelp block
Combine 9 dried kelp to create a kelp block
Added kelp and seagrass
Normal pumpkins no longer have a face
Added carved pumpkin
Use a shear on a pumpkin to carve it
Added sea pickles
Added bubble columns
Use either magma blocks or soul sand to create a bubble column
Added wood block
Combine 4 logs of any type to create a wood block
Added stripped wood
Right click with an axe on either logs or wood to create stripped wood
Added prismarine stairs and slabs
Added variantes for all 6 types of woods for pressure plates, trapdoors and buttons
Added turtle eggs
Be sure to protect them from hostile mobs

The Minecraft Marketplace is about to get the followup on a serious 1-2 punch that could boost creator’s revenues and downloads through the end of July. The Minecraft Team at Microsoft launched the first Minecraft Summer Sale today. As part of this event, most of the content on the Marketplace is getting a steep discount.

While the Summer Sale may get fans downloading more content this month, last month it was the Nintendo Switch that helped fuel sales. The Minecraft Marketplace had 396,511 downloads in June, which is up from 285,816 in April. With the Marketplace hitting Switch for the first time beginning June 26, it’s likely that Nintendo’s platform contributed significantly to that total. You can see past results by tracking the Minecraft Marketplace sales charts here.

But now that Switch is integrated into the Minecraft platform, developers can focus on making their content and the Summer Sale. Some, like Gamemode One founder Sean Davidson, thinks discounts are exactly what some players are waiting for before they spend their money on Minecraft microtransactions.

“We hope and expect that the Minecraft Summer Sale will increase player accessibility to content and potentially drive increased traffic over the remainder of the year,” said Davidson. “Access to products at a discounted rate is a great way to give players and buyers on the fence a chance to see what the Marketplace has to offer.”

Developer Imagiverse has even spent the last few weeks preparing its Lapis Lagoon waterpark map for the sale (it’s already out). This update will roll out to everyone who owns it, and Imagiverse wants positive word-of-mouth to help it perform well in the sale.

“We focused on making sure Lapis Lagoon was going to give the player the best possible waterpark experience they could have in-game,” a spokesperson for Imagiverse explained in a note to GamesBeat. “Old and new players alike will appreciate the work we put into the map getting it ready for the sale.”

Let’s do the charts. Here are the 10 most downloaded pieces of content from the Minecraft Marketplace for June 2018:

1.) City Life 1. City Life
Here it is in list form:

City Life
Mineville Highschool
Dinosaur Park
Planes
Dinosaur Island
Monsters of the Deep
Wildlife: Savanna
Mutant Battle Arena
Prison Escape
Lucky Block Escape
And here are the 10 highest-grossing pieces of content for June 2018:

10.) Lucky Block Escape 10. Lucky Block Escape
List:

City Life
Dinosaur Park
Planes
Dinosaur Island
Monsters of the Deep
Wildlife: Savanna
Mutant Battle Arena
Mineville Highschool
Super Racers
Lucky Block Escape
Next month, we’ll get to see how the Summer Sale affects the charts. This is a big chance for Marketplace partners, and it could turn into one of the biggest months for the Minecraft store so far.

Read more here: https://venturebeat.com/2018/07/19/june-2018s-top-10-minecraft-marketplace-creations-enter-the-summer-sale/

Berlin music producer and composer C418 dropped a single, “Beton,” from his upcoming album Excursions Thursday.

C418, also known by Daniel Rosenfeld, is perhaps best known for his work on the immensely popular “Minecraft.” Rosenfeld created the score for the PC game, and by its initial release in 2011, he had already built his own discography and self-published it on Bandcamp. His initial offerings “ranged from melodic electronic dance-pop to gentler ambient pieces” according to the press release.

Rosenfeld’s later release, Minecraft Volume Alpha, helped the artist cement his status as a musical talent, as the CD and vinyl releases were well-received by music critics. The Guardian even called his music a “perfect accompaniment” to the game.

Rosenfeld’s new solo album, Excursions, will be the first project he’s releasing as its own work separate from “Minecraft.” Excursions is completely original material, made with a different approach from Rosenfeld’s previous work.
The album won’t release until Sept. 7, 2018, but we do have a track list:
1. Excursions
2. Cold Summer
3. TXL
4. Tingle
5. Beton
6. AMS
7. Thunderbird
8. Aviva
9. Figure 8
10. Fake Triplets
11. Nest
12. Home
You can sample the album by giving Beton a listen over on Soundcloud.
Rosenfeld gave some insight into his creative process while making Excursions.
“All the big loud housey songs came from the idea of ‘I want to create the same song over and over again’,” Rosenfeld said, “Except that I’ve created each one in a different location, or a different mindset. And just purely based on that, they all turned out unique in their own way.”

Read more here: https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/minecraft-composer-new-album-1202878121/

Video games can help people get through some tough times by providing a distraction from the real world. Games can also bring people closer allowing people to bond of their mutual love of their hobby. Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg has explained how Minecraft helped him do just that, givinhim bond with his daughter.

Pegg, who has starred in Shaun of the Dead and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, stated in an interview with Radio X that video games are a fantastic way to keep in touch with your kids when you can’t be with them in person. As an actor, Pegg will be away from his family for extended periods of time, so video games help him connect with his daughter whilst he’s away filming.

Whilst doing press for the upcoming Mission Impossible: Fallout, Simon Pegg talked about how he can connect with his daughter through Minecraft whilst he’s away filming.

“Now she’s old enough to play computer games, we play Minecraft together. We’d meet in these games, so we could have a kind of strange physical interaction. We could build a house together! It’s a great way to stay in contact with your kids, if you can get a console when you’re away, mums and dads. It becomes a really good way to spend time with them. That’s what they want to do, rather than inhibit their time on it. But you’ve obviously got to give some time over to reading and learning, or whatever!”

Minecraft is a sandbox building game that launched in 2011 and it took the world by storm. People praised its blocky art style and the ability to create pretty much whatever you want. The game originally released on PC but has since seen releases on consoles and mobiles. Developer Mojang continues to provide frequent support and content to the game.

Minecraft is available now on PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, New Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Minecraft: Pocket Edition is available now on Android and iPhone.

Read more here: http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/408889-minecraft-helped-simon-pegg-bond-with-his-daughter

Max Brooks’s Minecraft book The Island was a bestseller last year. Now there’s a second official tie-in novel: Minecraft: The Crash.

Amazon Prime Day deals: see all the best early offers right here.
This action-packed thriller centres on Bianca, who ends up in hospital she and her friend Lonnie are involved in a car crash. Almost paralysed by her injuries, she decides to try a new VR version of Minecraft that responds to her every wish. Teaming up with two kids who are also playing on the hospital server to explore its virtual realm. Is Lonnie in there with her too? And can Bianca help him to return to reality?

Minecraft: The Crash is available to buy in hardback, ebook and audiobook formats now. Thanks to publishers Century we have five copies to give away, plus five signed copies of Minecraft: The Island; five lucky winners will get one of each. To put your name in the hat for the chance to win them, simply answer the question below.

Read more here: https://www.gamesradar.com/win-the-new-minecraft-novel-the-crash/

Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1882 classic Treasure Island tells of Jim Hawkins’ adventures on board the Hispaniola, as he and his crew – along with double-crossing pirate Long John Silver – set out to find Captain Flint’s missing treasure on Skeleton Island.

Now, more than a century later, children can try and find it themselves, with the bays and mountains of Stevenson’s fictional island given a blocky remodelling in the video game Minecraft. It’s part of the new Litcraft project aimed at bringing reluctant readers to literary classics.

From Spyglass Hill to Ben Gunn’s cave, children can explore every nook and cranny of Skeleton Island with Litcraft, a new partnership between Lancaster University and Microsoft, which bought the game for US$2.5 billion in 2015 and which is now played by 74 million people each month.

The Litcraft platform uses Minecraft to create accurate scale models of fictional islands: Treasure Island is the first, with Michael Morpurgo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom just completed and many others planned.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
While regular Minecraft is rife with literary creations – the whole of George R.R. Martin’s sprawling setting for Game of Thrones, Westeros, has been created in its entirety, as have several different Hogwarts – Litcraft is not all fun and games, being peppered with educational tasks that aim to re-engage reluctant readers with the book it is based on.

The lead researcher, Lancaster University English and Creative Writing Department head professor Sally Bushell, calls it “an educational model that connects the imaginative spatial experience of reading the text to an immersive experience in the game world”.

She says, of the Litcraft Treasure Island: “We hope it will motivate reluctant readers – we can say, ‘We’re going to read the book and then at one point, we’ll go play on the ship’. I would have loved it as a kid. It is an empathetic task – you do what the characters did yourself, so you understand why they act they way they did in the book.”

The Treasure Island map in Minecraft.
The Treasure Island “level” has been extensively road-tested by children such as Dylan, whose school is set to adopt Litcraft in 2019. “It’s really fun,” he says. “I enjoyed it because I’ve read the book, but you have to follow rules in that. In games, you can explore. Now I know exactly what the book looked like.

“I like that you get to see the pictures. You don’t have to make them in your head. And I liked the ship, Ben Gunn’s cave and the parrots. And there was that weird pig that kept jumping off that cliff. That wasn’t in the book!” (“That was a game glitch,” says Bushell).

The project, which is featured on Microsoft’s Minecraft education website, is currently being presented to schoolteachers and librarians across the United Kingdom.

Treasure Island in Minecraft.
Dylan, like many nine-year-olds, enjoys books but is more enthusiastic when talking about Minecraft, which he does with the casual expertise that many children have with their favourite games. He’s already made his own Hunger Games world in Litcraft, but couldn’t get some of his traps to work.

This know-how seems to both frighten and impress less tech-savvy adults – which Bushell hopes will not deter schools from adopting it. “The kids know how to do it more than the teachers do,” she says.

“It inverts the relationship: you’ve got kids who know more than the adults. You need quite confident teachers. They’re more worried about it. I want to say, ‘Don’t be worried, because all your eight-year-olds will know how to do this’.”

Libraries are particularly interested in the possibilities of multiplayer, Bushell says, adding that one of the future projects will be Lord of the Flies: “In that case, you want all the kids in there playing out a scenario and asking philosophical questions. We hope they do some reading, then play the game, then do some empathetic writing based on what they did in there.”

Lord of the Flies cover.
The Kensuke’s Kingdom map, based on Morpurgo’s story of a boy washed up alone, is particularly aimed at engaging reluctant readers.

“The library resources we are putting together include audio and in-game reading and writing as well as graphic novels as a step to the full text,” says Bushell. “The resources are designed to encourage them to either return to or connect with the book through the immersive experience.”

Bushell says more literary Minecraft islands will follow. “Treasure Island is the first world for Minecraft but they anticipate a series. Most likely, the next will be The Swiss Family Robinson, The Tempest and Robinson Crusoe,” Bushell says. A recreation of Dante’s Inferno, with a map for each level of hell, is also in development.

But what book does Dylan hope to see next? “The Hunger Games,” he says with no hesitation. “A proper one.”

Read more here: https://www.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2154945/minecraft-does-treasure-island-game-brings-classic-novels-life-new

Minecraft released it’s most recent update on Tuesday, Update Aquatic Phase Two that lets you explore the oceans at greater depths in the Minecraft universe. The update will be on Windows 10, VR, mobile devices, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch immediately.

Microsoft and Mojang launched the first part of the Update Aquatic back in May, but the second phase adds an extensive list of added features and changes to the gameplay.

Autoplay setting: On
Some features include Sea Turtles now being in the ocean for you to protect their eggs, while underwater zombies who lurk in the deep waters called The Drowned will come up to attack you. Bubble Columns give you the ability to create upward or downward bubbles and Conduits can now be constructed underwater out of Heart of the Sea and Nautilus Shells.

A long list of changes includes themed menu backgrounds, undead mobs walking on the bottom of the ocean, improved player swimming at the surface, tridents can become enchanted with Mending and Unbreaking, skeleton horses can now be ridden underwater, and others.

Autoplay setting: On
A major change in this update is that Realms are now available on Nintendo Switch, giving players the opportunity to use private servers like other

Read more here: http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/07/10/minecraft-launches-update-aquatic-phase-two

Minecraft is a bastion of creative ingenuity. Its player demographic is huge – children, adults, students, architects – and there are people from all walks of life with varying levels of skill and creativity who play this game across a number of gaming platforms. Anything you can think of, you can create.

8 amazing Minecraft creations that will blow your mind
1. Minas Tirith

Six million blocks and 20 hours later, this re-creation of Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings was born. This project is absolutely enormous, and we cannot help but be wowed by the enormous attention to detail the creator put into it, all on his own.

2. Planet Earth

Even our very own Earth exists in Minecraft, albeit at a 1:1,500 scale. Time, passion, a lot of love and fiddly corners were put into this project which, although not as detailed as Minas Tirith, is impressive in its own right… it’s Earth, after all, and you can explore it in Minecraft!

3. King’s Landing

It was only a matter of time before Game of Thrones met Minecraft – one of the world’s most popular TV shows and one of the world’s most popular games were destined to cross paths at some point.

The project itself is astonishing, created over an eye-watering amount of hours by a team – yes, team – of builders who had to submit an application to join the project… it’s very serious stuff!

4. The Eiffel Tower

Although this design is more simplistic than some of the examples we have already seen, this is an example of the painstaking lengths some Minecraft architects go to, to create some of the world’s most iconic landmarks. It is no easy feat to create curved structures in Minecraft, and the fact that someone has gone ahead and built the Eiffel Tower – a windy, angular nightmare – is brilliant. This build even includes the real towers viewpoints and other intricate details… bonus points!

5. Flame Atronach

Image courtesy of Block_Fortress
Fans of Skyrim will instantly recognise this incredibly detailed re-creation of Flame Atronach. This is not just pixel art, this is a full 3D model of the fantasy character. We can only imagine just how long it took to place all those blocks to create such an amazing level of detail.

6. A 16-bit Computer

Using Minecraft’s answer to circuits, logic, and electricity – redstone – this player created an animated, sound-enhanced and color-coded fully functional 16-bit computer. The sounds, animation, and colors help you visualize the computer in action, and get an idea of just what is going on… sort of.

7. The Shire

This blocky re-creation of George R. R. Martin’s The Shire may not be technically correct (hobbits live in holes, not houses) but this creation is still a beautiful attempt at re-creating Bilbo and Frodo’s home. It is part of a wider ambition to re-create, you guessed it, Middle-Earth, and they seem to be doing rather well!

8. Razul

Razul is an adventure map inspired by Skyrim, and if you’re a huge fan of Bethesda’s monolithic game, you will absolutely be able to make the connection due to the Nordic architecture style and fantasy theme. Like many of the creations featured here, it was built single-handedly.

Read more here: https://en.softonic.com/articles/8-amazing-minecraft-creations-that-will-blow-your-mind

Minecraft is a huge game. After each update, Minecraft’s die-hard fans spend endless hours searching high and low throughout the game to find hidden features or glitches which were not publicly announced, or even intended.

There are many hidden “features” in Minecraft, but we have narrowed it down to eight of our favorites – why not give them a try yourself?

8 cool things you probably did not know you could do on Minecraft
1. Torches can be used to destroy sand and gravel en masse
Sometimes, we want to build stuff in the sky. But to get there, you need to first build a pole up into the sky, so you can then build a platform on top of it. Afterward, you’re left with the task of tearing it down, which can be difficult (and dangerous). Thankfully, there is a neat trick you can use to tear down a platform much quicker.

As you may know, sand and gravel in Minecraft are affected by gravity and cannot float in the sky. This means that if there is a tower of gravel or sand and you remove the bottom block, the rest will fall by one. But if you remove the bottom block very quickly and then place a torch in its place, the gravel or sand will cascade down one by one, each being destroyed when it hits the torch, tearing the tower down.

The next time you need to build a tower up into the sky, make it out of sand (or gravel!).

2. Pressure plates can be used to trap water and lava
Two of the most useful – yet most dangerous and irritating – elements of the game, water and lava, like to spread far and wide when they are placed down, and can quickly get out of control. Just tame them with pressure plates – it’s very simple! You can also use signs and fences.

3. Signs can be used to breathe underwater
I’ve lost count of how many times I have died while mining for clay underwater or just forgetting to watch the breath bar. Now I always carry a sign with me when I go under the waves because it lets you stay down as long as you want. All you need to do is to place a sign down against a block while submerged and it will create a pocket of air – easy!

4. Pumpkins make you invisible to Endermen
The Endermen are quite possibly the most irritating mobs in Minecraft. They are absolutely fine until you accidentally look at them, and then they begin to teleport all over the place and intermittently attack you; they are very powerful, and it is an easy mistake to make. However, if you wear a pumpkin on your head (by going to your inventory and placing a pumpkin in your character’s head slot) and look directly at an Enderman, it will not notice and you will be safe from being attacked!

5. The Shining meets Minecraft
In Minecraft 1.11, the Vindicator mob was added, along with an easter egg reference to the Stanley Kubrick movie The Shining. By using a name-tag called “Johnny” to tag the Vindicator mob, it will wield an ax and attack any mob within its radius – this can be very useful at night when you want to save yourself the trouble of taking care of all the zombies and creepers.

Source: https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net
6. Milk a Mooshroom for Mooshroom soup
Just like cows (which can be milked with a glass bottle), the rare Mooshroom cows can be “milked” using a wooden bowl by right-clicking the cow. Mooshroom soup is a very powerful food item and can immediately fill the health and hunger bar. If you can catch one of these Mooshrooms, it can be an unlimited food source!

7. Create an infinite water source
Water is one of the most useful resources in the entire game. It is used for all sorts of gameplay functions – such as brewing potions – and it is very handy to have an unlimited source right at your fingertips, or even in your house. This is very easy to do, and it takes advantage of the game’s water physics, which fills space around a water source block.

Create a 2×2 box and fill each block with a bucket of water. Then when you take some water from it with an empty bucket, the spot from where you took the water from will immediately fill back up and you can do this over and over, and get all of the water you need.

8. Give your tamed dogs a colorful collar
By using one of the many colored dyes available in-game, you can personalize your tamed dog’s collar. Although it’s not such a useful tip, it can be handy to give all of your dogs’ collars different colors so that they can be easily identified, and it looks pretty nice too. To color a collar, just right-click your dog with the dye equipped in your hand.

Read more here: https://en.softonic.com/articles/8-cool-things-you-probably-did-not-know-you-could-do-on-minecraft

Minecraft is fast approaching ten years of being one of the world’s most popular games, with hundreds of millions of active players across all platforms. It has revolutionized the industry and has turned some of its most talented players into multi-millionaires. It dominates YouTube, is on the shelves of every toy store, and it even has its own Lego range.

Some people play Minecraft because it offers a lot of creative freedom; Minecraft has been used by architects and in schools as an educational tool. For others, it’s the adventure; such a vast world can be explored endlessly and provides hours of entertainment.

If you’re late to the party and have only just bought the game, you might not know where to start. The game drops you into a very vast world, and it can be a very confusing game to get started with. Each world is randomly generated from a string of numbers (known as a seed), so no two worlds are the same. Fortunately, once you’re armed with a few basics and a pickaxe, you’ll learn the ropes in now time. So let’s dive into the basics.

The 2018 beginner’s guide to Minecraft
Crafting
Crafting is central to the game, and is used to make all kinds of different objects from the materials you have. Each item in the game – such as a sword – has its own individual crafting recipe. For example, to make a stone sword, you would craft it like this:

Placing a stick below two pieces of cobblestone would make a stone sword. Swap out the cobblestone for wood, iron, gold or diamond to create different variations, diamond being the strongest and most durable.

Before you start crafting anything, however, you will need to build a crafting table, which is made from four pieces of wood. This is a very simple process and can be done as soon as you step foot into your first world.

How to build a crafting table
Locate a tree and then punch out some wood by holding down left-click.
Press the e key to open your inventory and select the wood, placing it into the four boxes next to your avatar. Four oak wood planks will appear.
Click the oak wood planks and drag them to your inventory. The original piece of wood will disappear because you have turned it into planks.
Then, fill the four boxes where you placed your original piece of wood with the four wood planks. A crafting table will appear.
Drag the crafting table to your hotbar (the single line of boxes) and then exit your inventory. The crafting table will appear in your hotbar and you can select it by scrolling. When it’s selected (i.e. it is in your hand), place it on the floor by right-clicking.
You now have a crafting table, which is a 9×9 area that allows you to craft anything in the game; just right-click the crafting table to use it.

It is important to know how to utilize the crafting feature so you’re ahead of the game when it comes to surviving your first night in Minecraft, because you won’t have long until it’s dark and monsters spawn. Speaking of which…

The first night
Your first night in the game is the hardest because you start with nothing. When you spawn for the first time, the in-game time is noon. You only have a short amount of time (ten minutes) to get a basic shelter together in order to survive. If you don’t build a basic shelter, you’ll spend your first night repeatedly getting mauled by mobs – not fun!

To survive your first night, you’ll need to grab yourself some wood to build a basic shelter and create some wooden tools, then hunt down some coal to make a couple of torches. Mobs (monsters) spawn in the dark; you really don’t want to create a shelter and then have a monster spawn inside it!

What exactly are “mobs”?
“Mobs” is the term used to describe Minecraft’s animals and monsters. Mobs can either be passive (such as sheep or pigs) or aggressive, and there are many different adversaries in the game that have the potential to harm you or destroy your creations.

Over the years, mobs have been a huge focal point for the Minecraft development team, and the number of mobs has virtually doubled. However, the mobs you should pay special attention to while you’re still finding your feet are the aggressive ones that can spawn in the Overworld.

Zombies are quite easy to fight; you just need to keep hitting them. Zombies will come after you if you get within a certain radius of them, and they can beat down doors. They are very slow and aren’t a huge threat, but a group of them can be deadly.

Spiders only attack you at night. These pesky monsters have the ability to climb walls, jump and move fairly quickly, though, like Zombies, they are quite easy to kill… most of the time.

Skeleton Archers are a serious threat even for experienced players. This very irritating monster carries a bow and arrow and has the ability to shoot you with it. As a result, these monsters can do damage to you from a considerable distance, and they are very accurate.

Creepers are perhaps the most widely known and most destructive of mobs in the game, especially when you are just starting out. Creepers explode when you get within a certain radius of them and can decimate small bases. It takes them a couple of seconds to explode, but they will chase after you, so just stay well away!

Endermen are the final mobs you need to worry about in the early stages of your Minecraft life. These tall, dark, and slender mobs may look pretty scary… because they are. Endermen are passive… until you look at them… and then you’re going to die, probably, because they have the ability to teleport away from and then back to you, attacking from a different angle. Just keep as far away from them as possible; you don’t stand a chance as a new player!

Mining
As you have probably guessed by the name “Minecraft,” mining is pretty much the most important aspect of the game. When you’ve survived your first night, have a basic set of tools, and know which nasty monsters to look out for, you’re set to begin delving underground and exploring the world beneath you.

The world extends down below the grass by around 100-130 blocks; it is here where you will find all the best resources, treasures, and loot. You’ll find iron, diamonds, and gold, with which you can create more durable tools; and redstone, which is Minecraft’s answer to electricity and can be used to make circuits.

Naturally occurring iron ore can be mined with a stone pickaxe and smelted into iron bars.
It is best to start mining below your shelter, because then you are safe from monsters and you don’t need to run through the wilderness to get home and risk being attacked by a monster. Don’t dig straight down, though, or you may fall into lava or a chasm.

The best way to mine is to dig in a stairway pattern; that way you avoid falling into deadly pits and have a clear pathway to get back home. No matter what method you use to mine, though, always make sure you have a plentiful supply of torches and food; it is dark underground, which makes it hard to see and is the perfect environment in which monsters can spawn and ruin your day!

It is easy to get lost in mining, and people often spend many hours doing it… it is quite therapeutic, and Minecraft’s ambient music only adds to this. Remain vigilant at all times, because monsters do spawn underground in pre-existing caves and dungeons… in fact, it can be just as dangerous below ground as it is above ground.

Now that you have the basics of Minecraft down, take your gaming to the next level with our guides to how to install Minecraft mods and how to change skins in Minecraft.

Read more here: https://en.softonic.com/articles/the-2018-beginners-guide-to-minecraft

Running your own little Minecraft server can be a very rewarding experience. Over time, you may build up your very own community of loyal players, which has the potential to grow in popularity if you play your cards right and run your server well.

Although it sounds complicated, running your own server isn’t as hard as you’d imagine. You do not need much prior technical knowledge to get going. Just keep in mind, you should know the Minecraft game itself very well if you are going to attempt this!

Running your own server gives you complete creative control, and there are hundreds of modifications out there which extend the multiplayer experience beyond simple, vanilla Minecraft survival; this is what has made Minecraft multiplayer servers so popular among gamers.

How to start your very own Minecraft server
1. Decide on a server theme and then choose a hosting provider
The first step is to decide on a server theme, and there are plenty to choose from: factions, prison, classic survival, and towny, among others. Each gameplay theme brings completely a completely different dynamic to the game, but you probably already have one in mind.

When you’ve settled on a theme, you need to choose a hosting provider. You can set up a server on your computer, but this is not feasible if you want to have a public server online 24/7. In addition, hosting a server on your computer requires a fair amount of technical knowledge, and it is much easier to go with a hosting provider, where setting up a server is as easy as clicking a few buttons. There are plenty of Minecraft hosting providers out there, but let’s use Nitrous Networks – a UK-based company – as an example.

You are free to use any provider, but Nitrous Networks has good ratings and their prices are reasonable.

2. Setting up your server
When you have paid for your server and it has all processed, navigate to your server’s control panel. It will look like this (most hosting providers follow a general layout):

Press Start, and your server console (where all the timestamped messages are) will fire up, preparing your spawn area. This will take around 10 to 20 seconds – you can see it is ready when no new messages appear.

To join your server, navigate to your Minecraft game client and direct connect to your server’s IP address.

That’s it – it really is that simple! Although, your new server will be very plain… it is what is referred to as ‘vanilla Minecraft’, that meaning it is the basic Minecraft game. Although it is possible to run a ‘vanilla’ server, they are not as popular as servers like factions, a player-vs-player game mode.

3. Installing Bukkit or Spigot
We recommend installing a Minecraft developer API mod such as Bukkit or Spigot – the two most popular Minecraft server modifications which provide additional functionality and control to Minecraft servers – allowing you to ‘plug in’ additional Minecraft server modifications (called ‘plugins’, such as Factions or Towny) into your server.

Don’t be intimidated by the jargon, installing these are very simple. In your server’s control panel, navigate to ‘Modpacks’ and choose either Bukkit or Spigot, then press Install. That’s it.

At this stage, it does not make much difference which you choose, but Spigot has additional functionality and is further optimized to support larger servers that pull in hundreds of players.

You do not need to worry too much about what Bukkit or Spigot are; they do very little on their own and are developer tools which expose an API which can be used by developers to add functionality to Minecraft servers. This additional functionality is implemented through plugins (and there are thousands), which can be downloaded freely and added to your server.

4. Making yourself an ‘op’
An ‘op’, short for operator, is an administrator on a Minecraft server. These people have access to additional commands and abilities (for example, such as being able to kick or ban players using /kick or /ban, spawn items using /give, or fly using /fly.)

As a server owner, you will want to make yourself an operator because this is the top-level administrative level you can have on a server. It is recommended that you give operator privileges only to yourself and trusted people because some of the commands can wreak havoc on your server and cause irreparable damage.

To make yourself an op for the first time, navigate to your server control panel and type ‘op [name]’ in the input box, replacing [name] with your Minecraft name.

In future, you can type ‘/op [name]’ within your actual server to make additional people operators. But, for first-time use, it must be done on the console.

5. Installing plugins
Plugins bring your server alive, and there are thousands of them. To get an idea of what plugins are and what they are capable of, we recommend installing some and playing around with them.

With the majority of reputable Minecraft server providers, installing plugins can be done through the control panel. Navigate to ‘Plugins’ and begin reading about some of the different ones available. We are going to install a plugin which displays a message to players who join your server. In the ‘Plugins’ search bar, type ‘welcome message’ and install the very first one.

Press View then Install and wait a few minutes. Then, restart your server by navigating to ‘Manage’ and pressing Restart. Your plugin will now be installed. Before the plugin will work, you will need to configure it. This is very easy, and most plugins have a user-friendly file called ‘config.yml’ which allows you to modify its settings.

To access a plugin’s configuration, navigate to the ‘plugins’ folder under the ‘File Manager’ tab, open the plugin’s unique folder (which is usually the name of the plugin) and then click ‘Edit’ next to ‘config.yml’ and follow the instructions provided by the plugin’s developer. It is very easy, and requires no special knowledge.

6. What next?
There are many possibilities with running a Minecraft server, and the best course of action is to just go with the flow, play around with some plugins and figure everything out as you go – you can only learn to run a server by running one, even if it’s just you who plays it to figure things out!

Some of Minecraft’s bigger servers and server networks pull in thousands of unique players per month, and if you create a community which appeals to the general Minecraft community, you could find yourself building a name for yourself very quickly.

Read more here: https://en.softonic.com/articles/how-to-start-your-very-own-minecraft-server

Sometimes you make a username, and realize that it’s not the one you want. For most sites, this is an easy fix, and Minecraft is no exception. Unfortunately, you can’t do it in the Minecraft program. This can cause a bit of confusion for those who are trying to change it quickly. But no need to fret. Below we’ve detailed the steps you have to take to change your name with speed and ease.

Name change rules
Minecraft doesn’t allow you to change your name again within 30 days of you doing it. So keep that in mind when you are thinking of what you want your name to be. This 30-day rule also applies to new accounts, so you won’t be able to change a new account name for 30 days either.

Changing your name
We just verified that this works: The first thing you’ll have to do is go to the Mojang website here. Click “Log in” in the top right corner, and log in using the email attached to your Minecraft account. Once you’ve logged in, you should see your Minecraft account, and your username. Next to your username is the word “Change” in parenthesis. Click this, pick whatever name you want, and then verify the prompt they give you. After that, you should be all set!

So, it’s launched on Xbox One, but when is the Minecraft Aquatic update PS4 release date? The patch launched on Xbox One, Windows 10 and mobile in mid-May, and phase two of the update release in July. However, we’re still waiting to hear about an Aquatic update release date for PS4.

The new content allows Minecraft players to dive deep into the ocean. You can discover marine life, such as dolphins and fish. Under the sea, players will find treasure chests in shipwrecks and a range of different biomes, alongside 3,000 new additions.

Watch the trailer.

The good news is that owners of the Minecraft PS4 Edition will be getting Update Aquatic. In a statement made on the official blog, Mojang said:

Arriving a little while after the initial launch, players on PlayStation 4 Edition, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PS Vita and Wii U will all receive the Update Aquatic.

Minecraft Aquatic Update PS4 Release Date Still Unknown
So, the launch of the significant new addition to the popular sandbox game has already come and gone on various platforms. Now that phase two of the patch has released, we’d expect that the Minecraft Aquatic Update PS4 won’t be too far behind now.

Read more here: https://www.psu.com/news/when-is-minecraft-aquatic-update-ps4-release-date/

Ever wanted to explore Treasure Island or pretend to be Robinson Crusoe? Minecraft is now being used to create an ‘immersive experience’ to engage reluctant readers – we see how it plays out

Minecraft of resources … Litcraft’s Treasure Island. Illustration: Lancaster University
Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1881 classic Treasure Island tells of Jim Hawkins’s adventures on board the Hispaniola, as he and his crew – along with double-crossing pirate Long John Silver – set out to find Captain Flint’s missing treasure on Skeleton Island. Now, more than a century later, children can try and find it themselves, with the bays and mountains of Stevenson’s fictional island given a blocky remodelling in Minecraft, as part of a new project aimed at bringing reluctant readers to literary classics.

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From Spyglass Hill to Ben Gunn’s cave, children can explore every nook and cranny of Skeleton Island as part of Litcraft, a new partnership between Lancaster University and Microsoft, which bought the game for $2.5bn (£1.9bn) in 2015 and which is now played by 74 million people each month. The Litcraft platform uses Minecraft to create accurate scale models of fictional islands: Treasure Island is the first, with Michael Morpurgo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom just completed and many others planned.

While regular Minecraft is rife with literary creations – the whole of George RR Martin’s sprawling setting for Game of Thrones, Westeros, has been created in its entirety, as have several different Hogwarts – Litcraft is not all fun and games, being peppered with educational tasks that aim to re-engage reluctant readers with the book it is based on. Lead researcher and head of Lancaster University’s English and creative writing department, Professor Sally Bushell, calls it “an educational model that connects the imaginative spatial experience of reading the text to an immersive experience in the game world”.

An example of Minecraft’s flexibility – users have recreated entire literary worlds, like JK Rowling’s Hogwarts.
She says, of the Litcraft Treasure Island: “We hope it will motivate reluctant readers – we can say, ‘We’re going to read the book and then at one point, we’ll go play on the ship.’ I would have loved it as a kid. It is an empathetic task – you do what the characters did yourself, so you understand why they act they way they did in the book.”

The Treasure Island “level” has been extensively road-tested by children such as Dylan, whose school is set to adopt Litcraft in 2019. “It’s really fun,” he says. “I enjoyed it because I’ve read the book, but you have to follow rules in that. In games, you can explore. Now I know exactly what the book looked like.”

What did he like most? “I like that you get to see the pictures. You don’t have to make them in your head. And I liked the ship, Ben Gunn’s cave and the parrots. And there was that weird pig that kept jumping off that cliff. That wasn’t in the book!” (“That was a game glitch,” says Bushell).

The kids know how to use Minecraft more than the teachers do. It inverts the relationship
Sally Bushell, Lancaster University
The project, which is featured on , is currently being presented to school teachers and librarians across the UK. There has been “an enthusiastic response” to the trials under way in local schools, with plans to roll Litcraft out to libraries in Lancashire and Leeds from October 2018.

Dylan, like many nine-year-olds, enjoys books but is more enthusiastic when talking about Minecraft, which he does with the casual expertise that many children have with their favourite games. He’s already made his own Hunger Games world in Minecraft at home, but couldn’t get some of his traps to work.

This know-how seems to both frighten and impress less tech-savvy adults – which Bushell hopes will not deter schools from adopting it. “The kids know how to do it more than the teachers do,” she says. “It inverts the relationship: you’ve got kids who know more than the adults. You need quite confident teachers. They’re more worried about it. I want to say, ‘Don’t be worried, because all your eight-year-olds will know how to do this.’”

Libraries are particularly interested in the possibilities of multiplayer, Bushell says, adding that one of the future projects will be Lord of the Flies: “In that case, you want all the kids in there playing out a scenario and asking philosophical questions. We hope they do some reading, then play the game, then do some empathetic writing based on what they did in there.”

The Kensuke’s Kingdom map, based on Morpurgo’s story of a boy washed up alone, is particularly aimed at engaging reluctant readers and has just been completed. “The library resources we are putting together include audio and in-game reading and writing as well as graphic novels as a step to the full text,” said Bushell. “The resources are designed to encourage them to either return to or connect with the book through the immersive experience.”

Bushell said more literary Minecraft islands will follow. “Treasure Island is the first world for Minecraft.edu but they anticipate a series – most likely, the next will be The Swiss Family Robinson, The Tempest and Robinson Crusoe,” Bushell says. A recreation of Dante’s Inferno, with a map for each level of hell, is also in development.

But what book does Dylan hope to see next? “The Hunger Games,” he says with no hesitation. “A proper one.”

Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/11/how-minecraft-is-helping-kids-fall-in-love-with-books