Minecraft is a text book example of just how popular an independently developed game can become. If you weren’t aware the game itself started out as a one man operation and eventually going on to spawn a independent development studio headed by the original creator Notch dubbed Mojang Specifications. In fact to date the game has sold nearly 2 million copies doing so with little to no marketing.
The beauty of this is that Minecraft is still in beta when it managed to garner all of this interest. This means that there are still some bugs within the game but it also means that there is still a ton of room for the game to grow. In fact, if you’ve been following the game, you may know that Mojang had planned to get a patch out this week updating the game to version 1.5. This version was set to include things such as achievements, weather effects, stats and even wolves. However, ti seems that things didn’t go as planned as Notch has updated his blog letting us know that they won’t be getting it out this week and instead shooting for next week.
Luckily, it seems that the studio will be packing some additional features into the patch now that they have a bit of extra time so we’ll have to wait and see what’s in store.
We don’t even need to tell you about the immense success regarding Minecraft as the independently developed game has graduated from having just a cult following to being to nothing short of a phenomenon.
However, Minecraft is still in beta which means it has much room to grow. Not too long ago we let us know that Mojang Specifications would be bringing wolves to the game which you can tame and have do your biddings including slaughtering cows. But another more substantial feature has been known to be coming to the game in the form of achievements. However we haven’t heard much in terms of when exactly achievements will be added to the game or what they will be like.
Luckily, the game’s original developer Markus Persson (commonly referred to as Notch) has recently come forth to give some information regarding the feature. Apparently, work on Minecraft achievements have already begun and, according to Persson, will not be something tedious like cutting down a million trees. Instead, they will feature creative things such as riding a pig off a cliff.
Additionally, a statistic system ill be implemented into the game that will allow gamers to see how much work they’ve done including how many trees they’ve cut down and things of the like. When will it go live? We aren’t exactly sure but we’ll keep you posted.
For more information check out Notch’s official blog here.
As you’re sure to already know, Mojang Specification’s Minecraft has effectively taken the world by storm. With little to no promotion, the game has already sold over 1 million units with no publisher and just a single developer. Well, now that the game has secured its popularity the godfather of the popular indie title, Notch, is wondering where to take it next.
Newcomers to the game may find things a bit slow at first as other that building things, there isn’t much to do. Many attribute this simple gamplay to the title’s success but those not versed in the game may be turned off. Luckily, Notch has went on record as saing he’s considering adding achievements to the game to fill the none linear void. Below he comments:
“I’ve had the idea to make achievements kind of like the in-game questing. So you’d be able to see the first achievement in a tree of achievements, and you have to unlock the top ones first before you can unlock the ones further down.”
Sounds like a pretty good idea nad certainly something that will have folks playing even more than before. What do you think? Would you like achievements in Minecraft?
Those looking to continue their Halo Wars escapades will be happy to hear that there is a Historic Battle DLC pack on its way
Featured in the Historic Battle pack are 4 new maps for players to wage war on. There will be two 1v1 maps included in the pack entitled Barrend and Blood River, one 2v2 map entitled Memorial Basin, and one 3v3 map called Glacial Ravine.
Additionally, the pack will come bundled with 4 new achievements totaling 100 Gamer Points. Below are said achievements:
• Tour Coming Through: Hot drop 50 squads to your Covenant Leader in a single game on Memorial Basin (30 points)
• Never Leave a Man Behind: Finish a game with 5000 net resources contributed to your teammates on Barrens (15 points)
• Drain Cleaner: Kill 20 enemy squads with a continuous Covenant Leader Power on Memorial Basin (30 points)
• Killjoy: Disrupt 5 active Leader Powers in a single game on Blood River (25 points)
For screenshots of the rest of the maps, hit up the read link below.
Website Game-tuts supposedly got an early look at the achievements for Halo 3: ODST and posted it online. I’ve posted it here and if you’re truly concerned with not spoiling the experience of the game I’d advise not watching it. It’s entirely possible that this is something simply ginned up by a savvy hoaxer since things like this abound, but there is the off chance that it’s genuine.
It was recently reported on Major Nelson’s blog that Microsoft has found and delt with a new batch of cheaters. Their offense? Using an exploit within Gears of War 2 to artificially boost their Gamerscores. Their sentence? A Gamerscore of 0.
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has had to step in to thwart cheaters in their attempt at a high Gamerscore. If you’ve been with us since March of last year, you’ll recognize a similar case.
Major Nelson also assures us that if you use ethical methods of obtaining your achievements, as in no cheating or glitching, you have nothing to worry about; your Gamerscore will not get reset accidentally.
LionHead has recently announced that the Xbox Live achievements for the upcoming Fable 2 expansion, See the Future, have hit the service.
There will be 13 achievements totalling 250 Gamer Points and other than your normal defeat this guy, score this many points achievements, there are some more colorful ones also included. My personal favorites:
The Fowl Player - 10 Gamer Points
Dress as a chicken and kick five chickens during the Colosseum battles, or see another Hero do so. The Nutcracker - 10 Gamer Points
Score 25 groin shots, or see another Hero do so.
You can head here to see the full list of achievements.
See the Future will be released for Fable 2 ”sometime in May” for 560 Microsoft Points.
Sony is taking an example from Microsoft and incorporating a lot of their console features into the website. Recently announced is Playstation.com’s upcoming ability to display achievements trophies one has collected during their PS3 career.
This isn’t the end of the website’s updated functionality though as after this update is released another one will be released at an unannounced time that will allow you “comapre and sort trophies in new ways”.
Remember those supposedly leaked Halo 3 achievements we told you about not too long ago? Bungie has recently confirmed that they are, in fact, real and will be unleashed on the general public when the game gets updated later this month.
Inevitably, this will be blown out of context, misread and misunderstood, but let’s do it anyway.
For a number of reasons ranging from obvious to sublime, Title Update 2 (which is the new, hip, Xbox 360-version way of saying “Auto Update” or “Patch”), introduces new Achievements to Halo 3. Last weekend at Penny-Arcade Expo we played Assembly on the TU2, which meant that folks would see and buzz about the new achievements. These will be made live when TU2 turns on later this month – the previously announced date may slip a bit closer to the Halo 3 one-year anniversary.
Here’s a look at these achievements which can be earned via the Legendary Maps and Halo 3 Campaign:
Vidmaster Challenge: Lightswitch (0 points) – Get to the rank of Lieutenant in any playlist in the new EXP progression system.
Vidmaster Challenge: 7 on 7 (0 points) – Enter into any ranked or social playlist with 7 EXP on the 7th of the month.
Vidmaster Challenge: Annual (0 points) – After 9/25/08, complete Halo on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron, and everyone in Ghosts.
Double Double (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get two Double Kills during any ranked or social match.
