I told myself I would never play Minecraft as I have this incredibly easy ability to become quickly addicted to something. To put it in perspective, I’m the guy who watches entire series of TV shows straight through in a day, not just seasons. I’ll try and fail for hours at a game like Super Meat Boy or Trials HD until I can get through sections perfectly. When I started Skyrim, I had eighty hours put into the game before I even remembered to start the main quest. When I fell in love with XBLA games, I helped start this website. So it was no surprise when I finally picked up a controller to play Minecraft an hour passed by like nothing had even happened.

For those completely oblivious to PC gaming, Minecraft launched last year taking the world by storm. Since then, developer Mojang has made millions and even hosted their own convention, Minecon, in Las Vegas. It’s hard to question their formula for success when you look at the number of players who have delved deep into the game. And that’s why that formula has been applied to the Xbox 360 version; even the creepers and nighttime return to give a bit of added tension to building. That’s not to say this some tweaks haven’t been made. Players will now see the formula needed when crafting items, as well as be able to play splitscreen and on Xbox Live.

Immediately, those familiar with Minecraft will see the cubic world they have come to know and love. Built up of blocks that players can destroy and mine for resources, the entire environment can be molded by the player leaving the resulting world limited almost entirely by the player’s imaginations. In a sense, it’s a true sandbox universe.

By knocking down trees, players can get wood which once refined can be used as sticks or planks and then built into objects. There are numerous other types of resources and combinations of items. But the really interesting part of the game is what players do with them. On the PC versions, initiatives have been created to build scale replicas of Middle Earth and even Rapture.

During my time with the game, I was much less ambitious. I dug a really, really deep hole and then tried to climb as high as possible using the dirt I dug to build a stair case. That may sound pretty stupid, but it was an absolute blast. And if doing something that basic with a very limited understanding of what all I could do inside the game made an hour feel like five minutes, it is hard to imagine the totality of the possibilities at launch.  At the moment there has been no official word on price point or a launch date, but speculation is that the game will be coming sooner rather than later.