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Minecraft console sales surpass PC sales; 54 million sold across all platforms

B

besada

Banned
Teeth said:
Maybe it's because I've actually built things in real life and created digital spaces in Photoshop/Maya/Unity/etc? Is it because it's the ultimate ease of use creator?
Click to expand...

Nope, that's not it. I know lots of folks who've built things in Maya/etc. who love MC. And I've built a number of things in real life (and in other computerized building programs, like old Duke Nukem levels) which doesn't effect my enjoyment of doing so in MC.

I think you're probably trying to hard to understand why you don't enjoy it. It's okay if you don't. Not every game is for everyone.

I like the exploratory aspects as well as the simple building aspects (and yes, the simplicity of build tools is attractive, particularly to younger players) and I like the procedurally generated worlds. But it's okay if you'd rather build something in Maya than something in MC. It's certainly a more useful skill.

Note: I do all of my building in survival mode, but set to peaceful. So I don't have to deal with creepers, but I do have to mine all of my own resources and fab new materials. Seems like cheating to do it in Creative Mode. But that's one of the great things about MC, you can play it however you want.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Teeth said:
I'm realizing that no matter how hard I try, I will never understand why people find this fun.

It's a input limited creation set, with additional tedium applied to gathering your creation tools.

Maybe it's because I've actually built things in real life and created digital spaces in Photoshop/Maya/Unity/etc? Is it because it's the ultimate ease of use creator?

I honestly don't understand it.
Click to expand...

Minecraft has conditionals, it has binary input, and it's physics driven. From there, you can technically create anything if you have enough time, space, and processing power.

It's fun for the same reason engineering is fun. It takes a certain kind of person.
 
T

Teeth

Member
SwiftDeath said:
How do you feel about playing with legos at your age? Was there ever a time in your life where you could possibly have enjoyed playing with legos outside of the instructions?
Click to expand...

I feel alright about it. I played extensively with LEGO and Construx as a youth.

Then I built other things that tend to have more material value.

It's fine, I was under the assumption that you needed to acquire resources in order to use them but was corrected by an above poster.

Now I just see it more like a 3D pointalism simulator.

Krejlooc said:
Minecraft has conditionals, it has binary input, and it's physics driven. From there, you can technically create anything if you have enough time, space, and processing power.

It's fun for the same reason engineering is fun. It takes a certain kind of person.
Click to expand...

That's kinda it...you need to like it's systemic nature and creation tools, but also be fine with its comparably limited tool set and tedious input methods.
 
S

SwiftDeath

Member
besada said:
Note: I do all of my building in survival mode, but set to peaceful. So I don't have to deal with creepers, but I do have to mine all of my own resources and fab new materials. Seems like cheating to do it in Creative Mode. But that's one of the great things about MC, you can play it however you want.
Click to expand...

Ha I thought I was the only one. I built a sky castle one brick at a time in the same manner. Survival mode set to peaceful. Something soothing about the whole thing.

Teeth said:
I feel alright about it. I played extensively with LEGO and Construx as a youth.

Then I built other things that tend to have more material value.

It's fine, I was under the assumption that you needed to acquire resources in order to use them but was corrected by an above poster.

Now I just see it more like a 3D pointalism simulator.
Click to expand...

As others have mentioned, not every game is for everyone but Minecraft is probably the most enjoyed game of our generation even if some don't understand it. There is certainly something to it even if it's not entirely understood by all.

And I don't particularly think there's any point to try and define what Minecraft is in terms of what genre of game it is etc. Minecraft is Minecraft. It is one of the most limitless games in existence
 
K

Krakn3Dfx

Member
Arcipello said:
this seems to be the main fanbase these day :-/

Most awkward moments at Minecon 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRdcptG365I
Click to expand...

534209.gif
 
Denton

Denton

Member
Trigonometrize. said:
I think you need to look up what a SKU is because the idea that the "personal computer" is a single stock-keeping unit couldn't be farther from the truth.
Click to expand...

And here I was, thinking we were talking about versions of the game. I thought that was obvious from the context.
 
S

shysaursoft

Member
Arcipello said:
this seems to be the main fanbase these day :-/
Click to expand...

A tiny, tiny fraction of people that enjoy Minecraft, show up for things like MineCon, and then a tiny fraction of people at MineCon, end up being like what happened in that video.

So a tiny fraction of a tiny fraction of a grouping, does not equate "main fanbase".

EDIT: Beaten by a millisecond.
 
T

Teeth

Member
SwiftDeath said:
As others have mentioned, not every game is for everyone but Minecraft is probably the most enjoyed game of our generation even if some don't understand it. There is certainly something to it even if it's not entirely understood by all.

And I don't particularly think there's any point to try and define what Minecraft is in terms of what genre of game it is etc. Minecraft is Minecraft. It is one of the most limitless games in existence
Click to expand...

That's specifically why I try to understand why. As a designer, you should be able to analyze other game systems and see where they work and where they don't. Minecraft being the biggest game in the world means that it's a particularly important system to analyze.

I think Minecraft has a lot going for it; clearly it is a work of genius. Looking at it from both additive and subtractive design implementation is fascinating, as it sits in a weird spot of being goal-less, but limited in input compared to existing tools.
 
S

shysaursoft

Member
Teeth said:
Looking at it from both additive and subtractive design implementation is fascinating, as it sits in a weird spot of being goal-less, but limited in input compared to existing tools.
Click to expand...

Survival mode has had a lot of goals added since alpha, even has an 'ending' with a credit roll, though that really is kind of beyond the point of 'an open sandbox in which you do whatever you want, within the systems provided'.

Creative Mode is Lego. I know it's been said a million times before, but that's what it is. It may be limited, but limitations bring their own kind of neatness. Just look at the Lego Architecture series. Sure, you could model the Symphony Opera House in clay or in a 3D modelling program and 3D print it, but working within a medium like Legos or Minecraft's block world, is its own kind of fun.

Though I'd be hesitant to call Minecraft a "tool". You could call wooden blocks found in a kindergarten "tools", or call Lego tools, but they're first and foremost toys. Same with Minecraft - it's a toy, that has a game side. I think too many people try to over analyze what Minecraft is, and how it became the phenomena it did.

Right place, right time, and people were ready to be receptive to a digital, mutable world that worked on clearly defined logic that required a little bit of exploration and experimentation to work out (punch tree, get logs, put logs in shape of box, get a box).
 
N

nullset2

Junior Member
Even little kids, in Mexico, with no real access to computers and all, wear pirated Minecraft paraphernalia all the time, it's insane how big this game has become.
 
A

Arthr2ShdsJcksn

Banned
Netherscourge said:
Yea, check out the main PC fanbase - I just picked this image completely out of random too.

nerdgamer.jpg


Talk about awkward. I wonder if his mom minds him smoking in the basement?
Click to expand...

That was nearly 30 years ago! Now I'm 200 pounds heavier but I still can have any girl I want because I'm rich off my computer skillz.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Teeth said:
That's kinda it...you need to like it's systemic nature and creation tools, but also be fine with its comparably limited tool set and tedious input methods.
Click to expand...

Would it shock you to learn that I enjoy doing m68k microprocessor assembly in my free time as well? lol
 
N

Netherscourge

Banned
I miss the scratching and hissing those Dot Matrix Printers used to make.

And getting my fingers all inked up from the ribbons.

Those were the days...
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Netherscourge said:
I miss the scratching and hissing those Dot Matrix Printers used to make.

And getting my fingers all inked up from the ribbons.

Those were the days...
Click to expand...

Manually tearing reams of paper, page by page. I remember I printed out a 200 page FAQ for virtually every Master System game from rec.games.video.sega back in the day, and tore every page out of my printer by hand.

I really do miss those days, technology was really exciting back then. I feel the same way right now about VR, it really reminds me of the wild west days of computing.

This is off topic, though. Someone should make a vintage computing thread because that is also a hobby of mine. In fact, I'm installing windows 95 in an old PC right now, no joke.

EDIT:

6qcvB1i.jpg


See?
 
N

Nerokis

Member
Arcipello said:
this seems to be the main fanbase these day :-/

Most awkward moments at Minecon 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRdcptG365I
Click to expand...

Hold on. These nerdy children, collected together by celebration of their favorite nerdy video game, getting in front of hundreds of people while having little to no public speaking experience and awkwardly asking questions to also less than super socially graceful video game developers are representative of the "main fanbase?"

Well, there goes any desire to jump in. Too bad I missed the glory days when one could play this supposedly glorious video game without being negatively judged by someone. :-\

Seriously, fuck laughing at/looking down on harmless kids simply for very clumsily walking out of their comfort zones, especially from the vantage point of NeoGAF of all places.
 
N

NihonTiger90

Member
Arcipello said:
this seems to be the main fanbase these day :-/
Click to expand...

Not even close, my friend. It's a bit like finding the most awkward bronies out there and then saying all MLP fans are like that. Or the most awkward and embarrassing Halo fans and saying that this is representative of the Halo fanbase.

There are people from all different walks of life who play and love this game. There's always going to be some folks we might consider awkward who play it, but a sampling of them who were at MineCon last year doesn't represent everyone at the convention or everyone who plays the game (and I'd know since I was there last year).
 
C

Canis lupus

Member
The console share will only grow, game has only been available for 6 months on PS3. Retail disc came out last month, as 360 version has shown the disc release will have massive legs. Xbone, Vita and PS4 versions still have to come out as well.

Won't be surprised when console versions make up 3/4th of the pc/console market soon.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
NihonTiger90 said:
Not even close, my friend. It's a bit like finding the most awkward bronies out there and then saying all MLP fans are like that. Or the most awkward and embarrassing Halo fans and saying that this is representative of the Halo fanbase.

There are people from all different walks of life who play and love this game. There's always going to be some folks we might consider awkward who play it, but a sampling of them who were at MineCon last year doesn't represent everyone at the convention or everyone who plays the game (and I'd know since I was there last year).
Click to expand...

Further, who cares if these kids are somewhat awkward? Do what you love to do.
 
D

DedValve

Banned
Just got into this and have been absolutely addicted. I now understand what all the fuss is about.

Can't wait to cross save my worlds between ps3/vita!
 
G

Gestault

Member
I've gotta say, it speaks to the appeal of the underlying game design that this game can be so popular on such a range of platforms and interfaces. Aside from something like Tetris, I struggle to come up with something along the same lines.
 
N

Netherscourge

Banned
Krejlooc said:
Manually tearing reams of paper, page by page. I remember I printed out a 200 page FAQ for virtually every Master System game from rec.games.video.sega back in the day, and tore every page out of my printer by hand.

I really do miss those days, technology was really exciting back then. I feel the same way right now about VR, it really reminds me of the wild west days of computing.

This is off topic, though. Someone should make a vintage computing thread because that is also a hobby of mine. In fact, I'm installing windows 95 in an old PC right now, no joke.

EDIT:

6qcvB1i.jpg


See?
Click to expand...

I did a 30 page college term paper on Windows 95 and then suffered through trying to print it out on one of those printers.

I remember lousy perforations on the edges, ripping the pages.... and yet, compared to a typewriter, it was still a godsend.

I just slapped it into a fancy plastic cover case and got my A!!!

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

And then sold it to my friend for $75 the following year, with some paragraphs rearranged.

They didn't have paper "crawlers" back then.

;)




Anyway, what the hell are we talking about again?

lol

FYI - I think the topic has gotten MUCH more interesting than it originally started out as.
 
N

NihonTiger90

Member
Krejlooc said:
Further, who cares if these kids are somewhat awkward? Do what you love to do.
Click to expand...

Yup.

Now, back to the topic at hand: 54 million sold is a tremendous accomplishment, and the proliferation across PC, 360, and PS3 certainly helps that out. You probably also do have double-dippers: either people who went console first and then bought PC or vice versa, because the console and PC versions are entirely different beasts. (Not getting too much into that since it'd just stoke the whole debate and I think we want to avoid that)

And as for why there's no switch from Java to a different programming language: I think it's mostly because by now, 4 years into it, Minecraft on PC is so ingrained in Java that changing it would disrupt everything. Mods and plug-ins would have to be rewritten, which would freeze up both the modded Minecraft userbase and the userbase that spends its time on mini-game servers, which actually make up a significant portion of the PC userbase. I can imagine a lot of people would flip their shit at not being able to do the things they love in the "new" Minecraft for weeks, if not months.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Gestault said:
I've gotta say, it speaks to the appeal of the underlying game design that this game can be so popular on such a range of platforms and interfaces. Aside from something like Tetris, I struggle to come up with something along the same lines.
Click to expand...

Farmville and peggle likely apply. I'd also throw in pong and solitaire. Maybe pinball in general, too.
 
ReBurn

ReBurn

Gold Member
I have the iOS and PS3 version. My kids have it on PC and 360. I'm eagerly awaiting the Vita version.

I don't care for the challenge of survival mode. But I find creative mode incredibly cathartic.
 
L

Log4Girlz

Member
levious said:
Something's wrong with you if you can't understand why a child would enjoy playing with building blocks.
Click to expand...

Playing with blocks is nonsense. It promotes creativity and critical thinking skills. Minecraft is just as bad.

But seriously I don't understand how anyone can ponder how MC is wildly popular. IMO arguably the greatest game of all time.
 
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