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.

If you, like me, spend a lot of time complaining about the weather and wishing you could do something about it, then Xbox Live has the solution for you.  Also available on your Nintendo DS, it’s called Elements of Destruction, and it’s plenty of fun for one low price–either in dollars or Live points which were formerly dollars.

The DS version is, not surprisingly, toned down, but in the 360 version, you play a research scientist downsized at the height of his career.  Vowing revenge, he converts his body into energy and takes control of the very elements, including earthquakes, lightning and tornadoes, and goes forth to destroy everything in his path.

First disgruntled mailmen, now disgruntled scientists.  These days, you’ve got to watch who you fire, because you never know when they’re going to come back with a gun or a tornado on a leash or something.  All kidding aside, the result is surprisingly fun if a bit repetitive, and allows you to grind entire civilizations into the dirt with a variety of weather powers, which is undeniably fun, especially in small doses.  If you want a quick shot of fun that doesn’t take long to get into or get out of, then the forecast is clear for Elements of Destruction.