Minecraft News – Minecon 2012 Hints & Xbox Updates!

 

This week, David and Toby talk about the recent MCX360 update, some teasers revealed about Minecon 2012, and more – check it out!

MCX360 Update List – Good Times Ahead

4J’s own padware gives us the low-down on the bug-fix Title Update!

Features:

• Added an autosave, and the ability to turn autosave off, or set it from 15 minutes up to 2 hours in 15 minute steps.
• Split the sensitivity controls into an in-game sensitivity and an in-menu sensitivity.
• Added an Interface Opacity slider in the settings for plasma screen users.
• Added a gamertag display in splitscreen, and the ability to enable/disable it in the settings.
• Added an option in the settings menu to enable/disable in-game hints.
• Added an option in the settings menu to enable/disable tooltips.
• Added a co-ordinate display to the in-game map.
• Added new sections in the How To Play on Multiplayer, Sharing Screenshots, and What’s New.
• Added a warning message when attempting to place lava near the spawn area.

Fixes:

• Fix for the leaderboard crash when toggling between filters/leaderboards.
• Fix for server disconnect message appearing when offline or in leaderboards.
• Fix for issue where posting a screenshot to Facebook caused a back out to the main menu.
• Fix for clay generation.
• Fix for ‘Awaiting Approval’ showing all the time on some signs.
• Various crafting menu fixes.
• Fix for being able to stand on sugarcane.
• Fix for intermittent crash on saving.
• Fix for duplication bug with the furnace and the dispenser.
• Fix for not being able to place water near the spawn area.
• Fix for intermittent problem on entering the Nether putting the player above the Nether world.
• Fix for frame-rate drop around the edge of the world.
• Fix for intermittent problem where some achievements were not being awarded.
• Fix for graphical issue with stairs.
• Fix for issue with enemies spawning inside a house when they shouldn’t.
• Fix for Zombie Pigmen not being counted for leaderboard scores.

2 Million Sold, and Counting

That’s right, Mojang and 4J Studios’ Xbox 360 edition of indie hit Minecraft recently sold more than two million units worldwide on XBLA! MCX360 sells for 1600 MS Points, or $20 – Notch tweeted the day after launch that the game had become profitable (saw more money gained in sales than spent in creating it) within the first full day of sales, a figure that continues to climb exponentially.

Microsoft Studios, while initially non-specific about the sales numbers after launch day, confirmed that MCX360 broke all previous sales records on Live Arcade, beating out the previous fastest-selling game on the platform, Trials Evolution, which sold over 100,000 copies in a day, by over four times the numbers.

As popular as MCX360 has become, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that many people have been requesting bug fixes and updates to the console ported sandbox blockbuster. Fortunately, according to 4J Studios’ 4JSteve, fixes are on the way in approximately 3 weeks.

MCX360 Breaks Record, Beats Black Ops

MCX360 has been climbing the charts since launch, breaking records and drawing in more players every day. Recently, it broke another unprecedented record – pushing COD: Black Ops out of the #2 Top LIVE Games spot! Since the launch of Modern Warfare 3, COD: Black Ops has held the #2 Top Game spot for XBox Live constantly.

MW3 and COD:BO have been staples of the XBOX library since launch, and despite some criticisms have maintained their hold as top titles nearly since they launched. Minecraft is the first game to disrupt these titles’ seemingly endless reign on the Top XBox Live Games chart. Congrats, Minecraft!

4J Studios Aiming For Minecraft Beta 1.7.3 In Next Xbox Update

4J Studios has confirmed via their Twitter account, what they hope the next Minecraft (XBLA) update will contain. “We’re aiming to update to the major PC releases – first one will be the equivalent of the PC Beta 1.7.3 version.”

Currently it appears as if the game launched with all of the features of Minecraft (PC) Beta 1.6.6. This is the update just prior to pistons and shears. If they make their schedule, the next update will include the following features:

• Added pistons.
• Fixed clay generation.
• Flint and Steel or redstone is now required to trigger TNT.
• Fences can be stacked.
• Added Shears.
• Redstone wire now will connect to a repeater.
• Shears can be used to pick up leaf blocks.
• Shears can be used to shear sheep without hurting them
• Sheep no longer drop wool from being punched, only from being killed when they are unsheared.
• New textures for Cobblestone and Brick blocks.
• Silverfish skin was added (for Beta 1.8).

This would also include various bug fixes and the such. The clay generation is something everyone is already acutely aware of. Looking at our friends list, there are very few people who have managed to find clay, and even then it’s always under 30 blocks.

Unfortunately for us, this also means that the Adventure Update is still a good amount of time away. Don’t know what the Adventure Update is? Well, it’s only the thing that made Minecraft a million times more fun to explore.

Hopefully it isn’t too far off though. We really can’t wait to go hunting for strongholds again. Although we aren’t sure how well it will work on such a small world (relatively compared).

Minecraft Xbox Edition: Splitscreen Refunds

Not long ago, Microsoft was slammed with complaints about the split-screen functionality of MCX360 – it was only available to players with an HD TV and a proper HDMI connection to the console – and in recent days, they have addressed those complaints. Microsoft has revised its listing for the game, and has been offering a refund to customers who paid for a game that didn’t work as advertised (or not advertised, as the case is here).

The split-screen feature of the game was a huge draw to newcomers, especially those that believed they could just have a few friends over for a romp through the sandbox world. The initially ambiguous wording of guest passes and complete lack of forewarning regarding split-screen requirements made many buyers upset that they had been misled. The HD requirement wasn’t listed in on the game’s Xbox marketplace page, although this has been rectified in recent days to avoid confusion.

The guest passes, while initially confusing, have not changed meaningfully since launch, and continue to work as intended.

Happy Birthday, Minecraft!

Look familiar? It might not for many of you, but anyone who has been around since May of 2009 should find this oddly familiar – this was one of the earliest demos of Minecraft in its infancy! Yes, the game we know and love today wasn’t much to look at back then – grass blocks and cobblestone, and not much else. It’s amazing when you stop to consider – with all the potions, hunger, myriad critters, redstone – just how far the game has come from such humble beginnings. It’s been an amazing process to see unfold over the years, to be sure.

It wasn’t long ago that Minecraft saw 28 million registered users and nearly 6 million purchased copies , and the number just keeps growing. Along with the runaway success of Minecraft – Pocket Edition (over a million sales) and Minecraft – XBOX 360 Edition (over 400,000 in the first 24 hours!), the epic block-builder continues to take the world by storm. Updates continue to pour forth for the PC version, including the highly anticipated Mod API, NPC trading and so much more. Pocket Edition becomes more and more Survival-esque, and MCX360 – while currently similar to Beta 1.6.5 – has exciting changes on the horizon.

From all of us here at the Minecraft Forum, we wish Minecraft a very happy 3rd birthday! Congratulations to everyone at Mojang for producing such an incredible game, and to the entire community – every single one of you – for making this game one of the most incredible games in the world!

MCX360 – Over a Million Copies Sold, and Counting

That’s right, Mojang and 4J Studios’ Xbox 360 edition of indie hit Minecraft has already sold more than one million units worldwide on XBLA since its release on Wednesday, May 9th! MCX360 sells for 1600 MS Points, or $20; in short, the title generated more than $20 million in less than a week. Notch tweeted the day afterwards that the game had become profitable (saw more money gained in sales than spent in creating it) within the first full day of sales.

Microsoft Studios, while initially non-specific about the sales numbers after launch day, confirmed that MCX360 broke all previous sales records on Live Arcade, beating out the previous fastest-selling game on the platform, Trials Evolution, which sold over 100,000 copies in a day, by over four times the numbers.

YouTube film team PrettyAwesomeStudio has cooked up a new series for your enjoyment, and it already shows a ton of promise! What is it about? In short, a rich uncle has given his massive, opulent mansion to his nephew. The problem is, there are two nephews, and he didn’t say which one was getting it! This is the first episode in the series, and shows incredible promise with a solid storyline, clever humor and high quality production – take a look!