Minecraft sold for $2.5 Billion to Microsoft

I have to say I’m terribly disappointed that Mojang sold Minecraft to Microsoft. While I’m happy for Notch and the rest of the gang for their rags to riches story, I truly believe this is the death knell for Minecraft. It may not happen tomorrow, or next week, or even within a couple of month, but I firmly believe that Microsoft is going to strangle the life out of Minecraft. I don’t see them continuing the Java development nor do I see them continuing their cross-platform development. Microsoft isn’t a fan of Java so turning Minecraft into a C# app seems the next step. This of course will kill it off the Mac version and derail any future iOS development. I’m sure Microsoft has no interest in keeping the Android development going. It seems like Minecraft will be developed for the desktop with all the bloat that comes with .NET development. Additionally, Minecraft will be pushed to the Xbox One […]

Back into the wilds of Minecraft

I’ve forgotten the last time I played Minecraft, but out of the blue I felt the need to walk the open plains, to build a box out of mud and sand and call it home, to thrash the tall grass in search of wheat and run like the dickens as I turn the corner and come face to face with a Creeper. It’s been so long that I had to set up an all new account with Mojang. My copy was so old it didn’t even understand how to log me in. That was an easy fix and then I was back in the game. Wow, things look so different! Sure, the blocks are the same, but there are so many new recipes and the survival mode is a hell of a lot harder than I remember. I lost count of the number of times I suffered the indignity of being shot in the back by a skeleton. Everything would […]

Block Fortress for iPad – Tower Defense mixed with Minecraft

Today, it was time to take a spin around Block Fortress, the combination of Minecraft and Tower Defense. I like Minecraft and building things, plus I like tower defense games. Since I’m not good at either of them a combination of the two seems right up my alley. At first, Block Fortress seems incredibly simple, build a fortress using blocks and guns and defend it. You can build walls, towers, put up bait blocks and create whatever type of block defense system you like. Then you can add some machine guns, plasma guns, laser guns and all sorts of cool stuff. And once your defense is in the place, the second part of the game begins and it turns into a first person shooter with you blasting away at the hordes as they come to knock your playhouse down. The concept is exceptionally cool and it’s very good fun to build your hideout to keep the enemy at bay. But […]

Survival Craft and Minecraft top the AppStore

There must be a resurgence to play in the dirt, Survival Craft and Minecraft are the Top 2 apps in the AppStore. That’s some pretty good entertainment for around $10. I haven’t grabbed either of these games yet since I’ve renewed my own digging in the dirt with the PC version. I’ve just completed my wheat and sugar cane farms. There’s an abandoned mine shaft that needs investigation and I have a glass greenhouse to make, Still, it’s very cool these two apps are topping the charts. It’s nice to see something besides Angry Birds.

SurvivalCraft? Now this looks interesting

This just popped up over the weekend and is rising quickly in the Top 200 of iTunes. SurvivalCraft is a port from Windows 7 Phone and appears to be a pretty damn impressive Minecraft clone. Now the question is, why not just buy Minecraft? I’m a big fan of Minecraft, but the Pocket Edition comes across as lacking. There are so many things missing, such as the type of rocks you can place. I know Notch and the Mojang team are working like mad to make the experience the same on the PC and Mobile space, but they seem to have too many hands in too many pies. I’ve tried other clones and there is always something wrong. Either the movement is too difficult or frustrating or the actual experience is lacking. Most of them look the same so it’s not the graphics, you’re just limited on what you can do. The YouTube videos on SurvivalCraft look quite compelling. One […]