Mojang Studios

The following is an editorial. It represents the views of the author only, and not the XBLA Fans staff as a whole.

Every few years a new game surfaces that’s “cool” to play. In the early part of the 2000’s it was Halo, then it was Grand Theft Auto 3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare started a trend that’s seen yearly addon pa–err titles to the series. But the most recent trend of only three years is Minecraft. It’s a game that every teenage boy carries on his USB thumb drive, hoping that while in the computer lab he won’t get caught playing the no-need-to-install version on a school PC. But it’s become more than that. It’s a social thing now. PC players host and join mulitplayer servers, working and battling creepers cooperatively. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition brought a near-perfect experience to home consoles, and while it’s not quite as strong as it’s PC brother, it’s been enough of a success to post over 3 million players to the leaderboards and get the attention of Red vs Blue‘s Rooster Teeth, who have created a series of Let’s Play videos and challenges.

But I just don’t get the appeal of this game.

I get that it’s well made, that it has a social appeal, and that those who love it enjoy it immensely. And to that I say good for them. But try as I might I just look at the gameplay and scratch my head. Maybe it’s because I’m playing solo. Maybe it’s because I’m in my (early) 30’s. Maybe I just feel like it takes too much time to get to the fun stuff. Whatever the reason I wish fans and the faithful developers the best, but it was like grinding teeth for me to play this game.

Read More

Gearbox Software’s highly-rated shooter-RPG hybrid Borderlands 2, which hit consoles last week after years of anticipation, is chock full of in-jokes, references and Easter eggs for players to uncover. One such Easter egg centers on Minecraft, Mojang Studios‘ immensely popular world-building game, which hit XBLA in May. Want to sneak a peek? Hit the jump for a video (Minor-ish Borderlands 2 spoilers follow):

Read More

The next big update for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, dubbed the “Adventure” update, adds NPCs, villages, strongholds and abandoned mineshafts…but not this week (or the next, most likely). There’s still a good deal to work on, it seems – and of course there’s testing to follow after that; it could be a bit of a wait.

Read More

Microsoft have announced that more skins are on the way for best seller Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and whilst there have been no release dates given, Microsoft have revealed on their PlayXBLA blog that they’ll be adding a whopping 45 skins. So far, the pack is set to include Agent Level 5  from Crackdown 2, Joanna Dark of Perfect Dark fame, Damon Baird from GoW: judgement, Pretztail skin from they ever lovable Viva Pinata, and Left4Dead‘s Bill. Valve had already announced a Left4Dead themed skin pack containing all 8 survivors from the 2 games, but it’s unclear whether this is a separate pack or whether they’ll all be bundled in Skin Pack 2.

Minecraft’s first Skin Pack for the XBLA version was released last month for a mere 160 MSP and also contained 45 skins, so we’ll be hoping for a similar price point on this one. PlayXBLA have promised to reveal more of the new skins over the coming weeks, but why not take a guess at what might be included in the comments below.

Read More

Developers 5th Cell and Mojang have announced that they’ll be teaming up to bring Minecraft helmet skins to Hybrid. Players who manage to reach level 20 in the upcoming …
Read More

Each Monday for the foreseeable future, we will be showcasing a community member’s Minecraft world. If you are interested in being featured, please email Shawn@xblafans.com. If you’re new to the world of Minecraft, check …
Read More

Earlier this week Microsoft announced the upcoming release of Skin Pack 1 for Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition. Character reveals have been trickling out throughout the week and the latest batch …
Read More

Minecraft players have been anxiously awaiting the 1.7.3 update that will drop later this month, but the newly announced Skin Pack DLC will make the update even sweeter. The pack will include 40 skins, including both original skins and skins inspired by other games. Five skins have been announced so far: Creeper, Covenant Grunt, King, Splosion Man, and Trials Man. Although the 1.7.3 update will be free, the Skin Pack will come with a price tag. Fortunately, there will be a free trial of the DLC, so you can view all the skins and take some out for a spin before deciding on a purchase. Once the DLC drops the 8 default Steve skins can also be worn whenever you like. Skins will no longer be changed by default when joining multiplayer, so you be whoever you want, even if somebody else is already using that skin. There is currently no release date or price, but the DLC will drop around the time of the update. So, what characters do you want to appear in the skin pack?

Read More

Each Monday for the foreseeable future, we will be showcasing a community member’s Minecraft world. If you are interested in being featured, please email Shawn@xblafans.com. If you’re new to the world …
Read More

Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of Minecraft Monday! Apologies for the delay this week, hopefully this weeks world will make up for the wait.  Each Monday for the foreseeable …
Read More