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All Articles: Minecraft
Max Brooks’s Minecraft: The Island novel is now available at bookstores everywhere
Mojang teamed up with Max Brooks (the author of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide) to create the first official tie-in novel based on Minecraft. Titled Minecraft: The Island, the book is targeted at a younger audience and it’s available on store shelves today.
When writing Minecraft: The Island, Brooks found inspiration in classics like Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe to tell his own tale of survival and mystery:
Washed up on a beach, the lone castaway looks around the shore. Where am I? Who am I? And why is everything made of blocks? But there isn’t much time to soak up the sun. It’s getting dark, and there’s a strange new world to explore!
The top priority is finding food. The next is not becoming food. Because there are others out there on the island… like the horde of zombies that appear after night falls. Crafting a way out of this mess is a challenge like no other. Who could build a home while running from exploding creepers, armed skeletons, and an unstoppable tide of hot lava? Especially with no help except for a few makeshift tools and sage advice from an unlikely friend: a cow.
In this world, the rules don’t always make sense, but courage and creativity go a long way. There are forests to explore, hidden underground tunnels to loot, and undead mobs to defeat. Only then will the secrets of the island be revealed.
You can read the first chapter right now at the novel’s official website.
Scorpio renamed Xbox One X and it’ll be available on November 7 for $499
Not surprisingly, Microsoft’s Project Scorpio was at the center of the consolemaker’s E3 Press Conference. As of now, we know the souped up system’s official name (the Xbox One X), as well as when it’ll be available (November 7), and how much it’ll cost ($499).
Boasting “40% more power than any other console,” the Xbox One X will deliver games in 4K resolution, as well as HDR support for gaming and video. All Xbox One games and accessories will be compatible with the Xbox One X, but free updates will provide a performance boost to games such as Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Minecraft, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Final Fantasy XV, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Rocket League, and dozens of others:
Games play better on Xbox One X. The world’s most powerful console begins rolling out to all Xbox One markets starting on November 7. With 40% more power than any other console, experience immersive true 4K gaming when paired with a 4K display. Xbox One X makes your existing library even better, with better textures, smoother frame rates, and faster load times, even on a 1080p TV. Xbox One X also offers the ultimate 4K entertainment package with 4K Ultra HD for Blu-ray X and streamed content, HDR support for gaming and video, and Dolby Atmos support. Xbox One X will join the Xbox One family of devices and coexist alongside Xbox One and Xbox One S, and all Xbox One games and accessories are compatible.
Every Xbox One X unit will come with a 1TB hard drive, a matching Xbox Wireless Controller, HDMI cable, power supply, a 1-month free Xbox Game Pass subscription, and a 14-day free Xbox Live Gold membership.
Now, let’s have a moment of silence for the poor retail employees who’ll have to deal with customers who won’t understand that the Xbox One X and the currently-available Xbox One S will be sold in different bundles with very different prices.
The Switch continues to soar as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the best-selling game in April 2017
Nintendo continues to dominate the retail charts with another strong showing in April for their Switch console. According to The NPD Group, Nintendo added another 280,000 Switch consoles to its tally last month, and the newly-launched Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold more than 459,000 copies (in just two days) to take the top spot on the list of best-selling games. The company’s success also seems to be great for the industry as a whole, as the industry generated $636 million in sales in April 2017, a 10% increase over the year before.
The other big news in April is that Persona 5 pushed the franchise and gave the RPG the #2 spot on the best-seller list, just below Mario Kart 8.
“Persona 5 experienced the strongest debut month for any title in Persona franchise history, with packaged dollar sales five times that of the previous best-selling debut, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4,” NPD Analyst Mat Piscatella told GamesIndustry.biz.
Additional new releases were thin on the ground in last month’s Top 20, but Lego Undercover‘s re-release on the PC and current-generation consoles helped it secure a spot (#13). And as expected, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild continued to sell well, landing in the #3 position for the month. But the big retail winners in April all came from the backlist, including Grand Theft Auto V (#6), Overwatch (#9), Call of Duty: Black Ops II (#10), and Minecraft (#20).
The NPD Group’s complete list of best-selling games for April 2017 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, For Honor, Grand Theft Auto V, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, Lego City Undercover, Lego Worlds, Mario Kart 8, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Minecraft, MLB The Show 17, NBA 2K17, Nier: Automata, NPD, Overwatch, Persona 5, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
Nintendo Download: Minecraft Switch Edition, Garou Mark of the Wolves, Elliot Quest
Three new games are now available to download through the Nintendo eShop, but we start with the biggest game on the planet right now… Minecraft.
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition brings the popular open world game to Nintendo’s newest console, and players will be able to join up with three other friends for local multiplayer, while up to eight can venture forth together online. The Nintendo Switch Edition of Minecraft also includes the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack, so everyone can transform the game’s blocky terrain into a mirror of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Beginning today, Switch owners will also get the chance to download SNK’s Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Originally released for the NeoGeo in 1999, Garou: Mark of the Wolves is a one-on-one fighting game, and the last game to date in the Fatal Fury series.
Finally this week, Elliot Quest was added to the 3DS side of the eShop. Developer PlayEveryWare created an 8-bit adventure that was inspired by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Mega Man II, and players will battle through five dungeons to cure Elliot of his curse.
You can learn more about all of these games after the break. (more…)
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition will include Super Mario Mash-Up Pack when it launches on May 11
Even though its available for nearly a dozen other platforms, Minecraft fans are probably pretty excited about its upcoming launch on the Nintendo Switch. Yesterday, the consolemaker confirmed that Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition will be available to download through the Nintendo eShop on May 11.
Minecraft’s Nintendo Switch Edition will come bundled with the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack, which transports your Minecraft experience to the Mushroom Kingdom:
Super Mario Mash-Up Pack Features
- 40 Super Mario‐Themed Skins! Including Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, as well as troublemakers like Bowser, Wario, and all seven Koopalings.
- Super Mario World itself! Professional Minecraft builders have remade the likeness of the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond, with Mario‐themed versions of the Overworld, The Nether, and The End for you to explore.
- So Many Mario‐Inspired Surprises to Discover! from islands shaped like Warp Pipes to towering sculptures of Nintendo’s iconic characters. We’ve recreated villainous hideouts, too: like Bowser’s Castle, Bowser’s ship, and Boo’s House.
- And More! Super Mario‐style textures, numerous Mario‐themed puzzles, dozens of character skins, and music from Super Mario 64 to enjoy.
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition will also include local multiplayer for up to four players (in TV Mode and Handheld Mode), as well as online multiplayer for up to eight.
A retail release for Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition is also in the works, and it’ll be available at a later date.
Nintendo Switch Presentation: More than 80 games in development including Minecraft, Street Fighter II, Bomberman, more
During Nintendo’s Switch Presentation, several developers took the stage (both live and virtually) to announce games that they have in development for the new console. More than 80 games were confirmed to be in the works, and we here at Warp Zoned compiled a list of the games announced during the presentation.
We caught a few that we’ve seen before:
- Dragon Quest X
- Dragon Quest XI: In Search of the Departed Time
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- NBA 2K18
- Project Sonic
A few that are currently available or coming soon to other consoles:
- Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
- Dragon Quest Heroes I & II
- Farming Simulator 17
- FIFA Soccer
- I Am Setsuna
- Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition
- Minecraft: Story Mode
- Rayman Legends
- Skylanders Imaginators
- Sonic Mania
- Street Fighter II
- Syberia 3
And a few brand new games that we should learn more about soon:
- Atlus’s Shin Megami Tensei V (Working Title)
- Frozenbyte’s Has-Been Heroes
- Konami’s Super Bomberman R
- Nintendo’s Snipperclips: Cut It Out Together
- Shin’in’s FAST RMX
- Square Enix’s Project Octopath Traveler (Working Title)
- Suda51’s untitled No More Heroes sequel
And I know there’s some I missed, so don’t forget to watch the video!
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Dragon Quest Heroes, Dragon Quest Heroes II, Dragon Quest X, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, FAST RMX, FIFA 18, Minecraft, Minecraft: Story Mode, NBA 2K18, Nintendo Switch Presentation, No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again, Octopath Traveler, Rayman Legends, Shin Megami Tensei V, Skylanders Imaginators, Snipperclips: Cut It Out Together, Sonic Forces, Sonic Mania, Street Fighter II, Super Bomberman R, Syberia 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
PC/Mac version of Minecraft has sold 25 million copies
A few years ago, Microsoft acquired Mojang, the developers behind Minecraft, for $2.5 billion. That sounds like an absurd number even today, but it’s possible that Microsoft may have gotten a bargain.
Over the weekend, Mojang updated Minecraft’s Sales Statistics page and confirmed that more than 25 million copies of the popular sandbox game have been sold on the PC and Mac platforms. As I write this, the real-time counter has currently ticked up to 25,079,420. Several more copies will be surely purchased by the time I finish writing this news report. And its sales figures will be even higher by the time you finish reading it.
Back in June, Mojang revealed that the game had sold 100 million copies across all platforms… with no signs of slowing down. I think it’s safe to say that Minecraft has become a sales juggernaut. And yes, Microsoft definitely got a bargain.
Max Brooks is writing an “Official” Minecraft novel for Mojang
There are lots of novels based on Minecraft on the shelves at your local bookstore, but Mojang has announced they’ve partnered with Max Brooks to produce a series of official novels based on the blockbuster game.
Brooks is best known as the author of World War Z, an “Oral History of the Zombie War” that was recently adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt. But Brooks is also the author of The Harlem Hellfighters (which features many of the same events and people as this Fall’s Battlefield 1) and The Zombie Survival Guide. He’s also the son of legendary parodist Mel Brooks and Oscar-winning actress Anne Bancroft.
The first novel will be titled Minecraft: The Island, and according to Mojang Blog, readers should expect “cuboid Robinson Crusoe, but madder: a hero stranded in an unfamiliar land, with unfamiliar rules, learning to survive against tremendous odds.”
“I’m very excited to be part of this new venture,” Brooks said. “Finally I can justify all those hours I’ve spent playing Minecraft.”
“From our first meeting with Max, we knew he would be a perfect fit for our first foray into novels based on Minecraft,” said Lydia Winters, the Brand Director at Mojang. “His enthusiasm and understanding of all things related to the game bring out the sense of wonder and possibility that so many players love about Minecraft… ourselves included.”
We don’t know when Minecraft: The Island will be released, but we do know it’ll be published by Del Rey Books.