0191 - Minecraft

Notes on today's comic (25 Oct 2010):

I'm often seriously behind with Internet phenomena, but I stumbled across a wonderful game called Minecraft, written by independent developer Markus "Notch" Persson of Mojang Specifications. In the space of about a year, nearly 470,000 people have bought the game (at the time of writing) - and there's no surprise, because it's brilliant! Mind you, given that I'm a very nervous sort of person in real-life, and get very jumpy when people come up behind me, I ended up scaring myself shwitless playing Minecraft - just as well that you can turn off the monsters!

And don't be fooled by appearances: Minecraft may have blocky graphics (and they're deliberately created that way), but this is part of its charm, and it's hugely absorbing and addictive... Your objective is to mine resources from the landscape and craft them into items that you can use to head deeper into the mines, or to defend yourself... because at night (and deep inside the mines), there are creatures that are out to get you! Alternately, you can turn the monsters off, and just play "sandbox" style. Guess what I do now? ;)

If you're not convinced, you can find a whole slew of YouTube videos demonstrating players' ingenuity with the game (though be warned: a lot of the videos with commentary are Not Suitable For Work!). You can check out their own efforts at mining and fighting off the world's denizens, or making huge, impressive masterpieces (such as recreating real-life buildings, or fictional worlds). Just put "minecraft" into the search box, and prepare to be amazed!

Although I often use this section to plug things that I really enjoy, I don't usually write full-on - albeit short - reviews (and I'm doing this of my own free will; I'm not being paid to do this! :) ). But I'm more than happy to make an exception in this case: Markus has created something truly wonderful in Minecraft, and I'd love to see him enjoy continued success. Minecraft is programmed in Java, and it can run in Windows, Linux or on the Mac. Although it's still at the alpha stage, it's very, very playable - if you buy it while it's in alpha, it'll cost you just €9.95 (about $14/£9 at current exchange rates), and you get free updates for the life of the game - can you imagine the likes of Microsoft, Apple or Electronic Arts doing something this cool? Exactly. Markus has mentioned on his site that at beta stage (though there's no concrete time-frame for this), the price will rise to €14.95 (about $21/£13.50), and after full release, it'll be €19.95 (about $28/£18).

Oh, one little tip, though: If you have a partner, make sure you continue to spend time with them if you get hooked on Minecraft. The game won't leave you if you neglect it - your partner will!

News, Views and Just Plain Schmooze...

Monday 25 October 2010

Two more countries - Guam and Chile - have joined my little list of countries that have visited Paper or Plastic?, bringing the total to a nice, round 90! Total view count is just short of 7,300 :)

Monday 18 October 2010

Hearty well-wishes to my good friend Katherine Gordon in England, who celebrates her birthday today... Many happy returns! *hugs*

Monday 11 October 2010

Happy Columbus Day / Discoverer's Day (Hawaii) / Native American Day (South Dakota and certain tribal communities in Oklahoma) / Indigenous People's Day (California: Berkeley, Sebastopol and Santa Cruz)! Phew... I have enough trouble keeping up with American holidays anyway, let alone local variations - Wikipedia is your friend...

Monday 4 October 2010

Paper or Plastic? has now had over 7,000 visits! Thanks to everyone who visited since December 2008 - and a special thanks to those who've been coming back!

Monday 27 September 2010

The evolution of the comic continues, no matter how small... It's amazing how much more alive the characters look when you add little white dots into the pupils of the eyes!