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All Articles: Minecraft
Uncharted 4 discovers the top spot on the NPD’s list of best-selling games for May 2016
The NPD Group has revealed their tally of the best-selling games from May 2016, and four new titles were battling it out for the top spot. But ultimately, Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End bested them all for the #1 spot on the list.
The three shooters that made the month of May a very crowded time for fans of the genre slotted in just behind Uncharted 4, and id Software’s Doom claimed the silver medal as the runner-up. And in the duel for the “Hero Shooter” crown, Blizzard took the first round as strong sales for Overwatch ensured a finish in the #3 spot. That means Gearbox had to settle for a bit less of the market thanks to Battleborn‘s fourth place debut.
Overall, the retail side of the industry did very well in May, which NPD’s Liam Callahan explained to GamesIndustry.biz: “Overall trends across new physical software, hardware, and accessories in May 2016 rose by 4%, or $19.3 million, due to 18% growth of new physical software, which offset the 10% decline of hardware, and the 2% decline in accessories”.
A complete look at last month’s best-selling retail games (which also includes Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, Dark Souls III, and others) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Battleborn, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Dark Souls III, Doom (2016), Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, MLB The Show 16, NBA 2K16, NPD, Overwatch, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Minecraft continues its quest for world domination after selling 100 million copies
Two years ago, Microsoft spent $2.5 billion to acquire Mojang and all rights to Minecraft. I think it was a wise investment… as Mojang announced today that more than 100 million copies of Minecraft (106,859,714 to be exact) have been sold since the game’s original release.
According to a nifty infographic on Mojang’s blog, the mobile version of Minecraft appears to be the most popular around the world. But over on the game’s official website, we can see that exactly 23,540,997 have been sold for the PC. That leaves console editions for the PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One to pick up the rest of the slack.
All told, more than 40 million people play Minecraft at least once a month, and that number probably won’t slow down anytime soon… more than 53,000 copies of the game are still sold each and every month.
Minecraft’s Console Edition is getting a PvP arena in June with Battle Mini Game update
Minecraft‘s Console Edition is about to get a little more interesting with the launch of the Battle Mini Game update in June. Available as a free download for the PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, the Battle Mini Game will add a competitive multiplayer battle arena to the game.
Here’s what Marsh Davies, Mojang’s Community Manger, had to say about the update on the company’s official website:
Battle pits players against one another in a fight for survival, as they race to snatch weapons and resources from chests, dance over each arena’s unique perils and stave off hunger pangs. We’ve made the mini game specifically with console players and couch-based competition in mind: it supports up to four players in splitscreen and eight players online, either by invitation or using the in-game matchmaking system. We wanted it to be super-accessible and fast-paced, so we’ve tried to keep the focus on rapid tactical thinking and combat: there’s no need to craft anything here, and you can loot inventories and equip armour with the tap of a button.
The Battle Mini Game update will include three maps, but Mojang and 4J Studios have plans to produce more Map Packs or the mode, which will be available later this year for $2.99 apiece. For now, you can head over to Mojang.com for a look at the first screenshots from the Battle Mini Game.
Dark Souls III envelops your very being in darkness and despair… it was also the best-selling game of April 2016
I’m sure this is a surprise to no one, but people really love the Dark Souls franchise. And according to The NPD Group (as reported by GamesIndustry.biz), Dark Souls III was the best-selling retail game in April 2016.
The finale to From Software’s brutally difficult trilogy beat out some stiff competition in April including the Ratchet & Clank reboot (#2), Quantum Break (#7), and Star Fox Zero (#10). MLB The Show 16 also got a boost from the opening of this year’s baseball season (#3), but it wasn’t enough to unseat the Babe Ruth of gothic action RPGs.
But even with a handful of big new releases, the retail sector as a whole suffered a huge decline from the year before, when Mortal Kombat X obliterated all expectations. “In April 2016, overall trends (hardware, new physical software, and accessories) were down 15% (or $88.5 million) compared to April 2015 due to a $41.6 million decline in hardware and a $52.8 million decline in software, with the $5.9 million growth in accessories unable to offset these losses,” said The NPD Group’s Liam Callahan.
However, Callahan added, “Despite these declines, keep in mind that Xbox One and PS4 are trending over 40% higher in cumulative sales after 30 months in the market compared to their predecessors.”
A complete look at last month’s best-selling retail games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Dark Souls III, Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, MLB The Show 16, NBA 2K16, NPD, Quantum Break, Ratchet & Clank, Star Fox Zero, Tom Clancy's The Division
Nintendo Download: Super Meat Boy, Minecraft Super Mario Mash-Up Pack, Zelda Phantom Hourglass, more
The Nintendo eShop is about to get a meaty update as the brutally hard (and monumentally weird) platformer Super Meat Boy is now available to download for the Wii U.
Also available for the Wii U this week is The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, a game that was originally released for the DS in 2007. Borrowing Wind Waker’s cel-shaded visual style, Phantom Hourglass also brought touchscreen puzzles to the Zelda franchise for the first time.
Minecraft: Wii U Edition is getting a “super” update later this week (on May 17), though more specifically, it’s the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack. The update will include new Character Skins for Mario and all his friends, a Super Mario-themed pre-made world, and a set of Super Mario-themed music and item textures.
Finally this week, the budding artist in all of us can pick up Disney Art Academy for the 3DS to learn how to draw all the characters from Frozen, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and dozens of other Disney characters.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Minecraft, Super Meat Boy
Minecraft: Wii U Edition is getting a free Super Mario Mash-Up Pack next week
Ever since Minecraft made its way to the Wii U as Minecraft: Wii U Edition, we’ve been waiting for the inevitable announcement of a Super Mario Mash-Up Pack. Well, we won’t have to wait much longer, as Nintendo and Mojang announced today that players will be able to pick up a Super Mario Mash-Up Pack through the Wii U eShop beginning next week.
Best of all, the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack is a free update:
After downloading the update, players who own the Minecraft: Wii U Edition digital game, which launched last December, will have immediate access to new skins (including Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and even troublemakers like Bowser, Wario, and all seven Koopalings), a Super Mario-themed pre-made world and a set of Super Mario-themed music and item textures. All this new content is inspired by games in the iconic Super Mario series, such as Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, and Super Mario Sunshine.
The Super Mario Mash-Up Pack will be available to download on May 17, and it’ll also be included on the disc of Minecraft: Wii U Edition’s retail release, which is currently scheduled for June 17.
And if you do nothing else today, be sure to watch the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack’s awesome Announcement Trailer, which is embedded above.
Handicapping the 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame Finalists
We’re just a few days away from learning which games will be inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame this year. In 2015, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., Pong, Doom, World of Warcraft, and Pac-Man were selected as the inaugural class by the institution’s induction committee. The Hall’s Class of 2016 will be announced on Thursday, May 5, and five or six games are once again expected to rise above the other finalists.
But which of the 15 finalists will be honored this year? Using the Hall’s induction criteria as a guide, I can think we can determine the odds of which games will make it in and which will have to wait until next year. (more…)
A Green Thursday for The Division… it was the best-selling game of March 2016
Tom Clancy’s The Division deals with the horrific aftermath of a terrorist attack on New York City on Black Friday, but everything came up green for Ubisoft last month. According to The NPD Group (as reported by GamesIndustry.biz), the multiplayer shooter took the top spot as the best-selling game of March 2016.
A bevy of new releases helped the retail game sector perform just as well in 2016 as it did in 2015. That includes The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD at #3, EA Sports UFC 2 at #5, MLB The Show 16 at #6, and Pokken Tournament at #7. And don’t worry, Grand Theft Auto V and Minecraft continue to hang around the top ten, at #4 and #10, respectively.
A complete look at last month’s top ten best-selling titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, NBA 2K16, NPD, Pokken Tournament, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Tom Clancy's The Division