Minecraft Classified as an Adult Game in South Korea

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The highly-popular Minecraft game is known for being a number of things. Among them it's kid-friendly graphics. But according to an article written by PC Gamer's Mollie Taylor, it's been labeled as an adults-only game in South Korea. 

Why designate the child-friendly game as for those 18 and over only? The Republic of Korea has a law banning minors 16 and under from playing games between Midnight and 6AM local time. Instead of going through the expense and hassle of developing an installing a method to keep those gamers in the country from playing their games those hours, Microsoft opted to just limit playing the game there to adults 19 years and older. 

At first the law didn't affect gameplay as Mojang accounts don't need age verification. But that changed in December 2020 as gamers there would need an Xbox Live account to access the game, and in March came a warning that anyone in the country wishing to get the game would need to be 18 or older. The result has been the game having a split age-rating in the country, officially labeled as 12 and up but thanks to Xbox is de-facto limited to those 18 and over. Naturally, the situation has gotten many in South Korea upset, "Korea will become [the only game market] where even Minecraft is reduced to an adult game."

When contacted by PC Gamer, Microsoft responded, "We’re working on a longer term solution for existing and new players under the age of 19 in South Korea and will have more to share on this later this year."

Source: PC Gamer
 

April Fools, Part Two

Last week's April Fool story in the Newser was one of our more successful ones in terms of response. The first picture was the Newser building in Nydia Tungsten's Minecraft server, built by Jasmine Dawn. "Sneaky and clever" one reader called it."You got me," commented another. Still another deadpaningly suggested I delete the article in the grounds Linden Lab with their mentality might actually do what was in the joke article. Most just laughed, or groaned.

With this April being a particularly bad time, with the world in the worst epidemic since the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, pretty much everyone agreed that joking about spreading the virus wasn't funny at all. Some countries warned that spreading "Coronavirus misinformation on April Fools Day" was punishable by jail time. There were also a few suggestions from some that April Fools jokes shouldn't be done, period. But with so many essentially trapped in their homes on the verge of going stir crazy, more felt the country needed a chuckle more than ever.

As it turned out, the Newser's prank article wasn't the only April Fool played in Second Life. Gemma Cleanslate was witness to the Moles pulling some foolery of their own. Firestorm got into the act, with it's "Message of the Day" appearing scrambled, but I was told was actual languages (and unfortunately I never got a screenshot).

In the world of gaming, World of Tanks had a game called "Turret Town." War Thunder had a special game for the next few days : "Space Thunder." In Guild Wars, giant cats appeared in various places in the game. In Overwatch, googly-eyes appeared on characters.



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Minecraft added a new feature that at first looked like a clever joke, tossing signed books into nether portals creating new dimensions. But it looks like an actual new feature.

There are a few more listed in PC Gamer and  Destructoid, such as a supposed "Ducktales" game in the making that turned out to be just "April Fool."


Sources: CCN, CNN, The Hill, PhlyDaily, PC Gamer,

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day: Minecraft Madness

Taken at the Happy Vixen's "Game" event.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Minecraft Player's Hardcore Game Ends After Five Years

When it comes to Minecraft, most people known by yours truly either play it in servers with friends or in single-player mode. In the latter, I've never known anyone to play a serious game in hardcore or "permadeath" mode. There's a lot of things in Minecraft that can do you in from skeletons to zombies and those infamous creepers. And once something gets you, everything you've accomplished is gone and there's no one else that can see or touch what you've made. So it's no surprise that the second longest lasting time in hardcore is supposedly a "couple weeks."

What such a player can do to make a lasting record is take pictures or videos. And apparently that's what a Minecraft player known as Philza did. His run at Minecraft hardcore went beyond two weeks thanks to some skill and a little luck, getting past a few near-misses that would have meant the end had something gone slightly different. But about a week ago, he met his end when he was tag-teamed by enemy mobs, including a powerful one, when not having quite the right equipment on. "Oh NO! Really?! That's how I die?!" And so his marathon Minecraft permadeath game ended at five years. "Stupid! I'm f***ing stupid! ... a baby zombie ... of all the things ..."

One can view the video Philza made on his Twitch account, with the end coming just after 1:12:36 (warning, some profanity). Near the end, he comments, ""stupid lucky ... been getting lucky too much, ran out of luck. Thanks everyone who's stuck with me for so long,it's been a *** trip, it really has."

Philza's score was 761246, though what people will be paying attention to is just how long he lasted. It's a safe bet this is one Minecraft record that may never be broken.

Sources: PC Gamer, Polygon 

Bixyl Shuftan

SL/Minecraft Video: "Don't Let 'em In"

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From Hojo Warf (Hojocat) on February 2, a video that's a combination of Second Life and Minecraft footage, "A Minecraft and Second Life machinima. This is what always springs into my head when zombies start banging at the door while playing Minecraft. Vocals and violin by me."

Cartoon of the Day: Creeper DJ

Taken at the Happy Vixen. I guess from this guy, expect tunes like "Don't Mine at Night" and "Dig Diggy Hole."

By Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen. Valkyrie Ice McGill shows off an avatar based off the one she uses in Minecraft, "I accidentally sent it through virtual worlds," she joked.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Minecraft Video: "Val-Halla 2 by Valkyrie"

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By Valkyrie McGill on April 28, Normally the Newser doesn't post videos from outside Second Life, but this was from Sunweavers' Valkyrie Ice/ Valkyrie McGill, whom has been building in Skylark Lefavre's "Feed the Beast: Infinity" mod of Minecraft. Here, she shows off "A hi-def walkthrough of Val-Halla 2 ... my underground city complex. Not quite finished."

Tales from Minecraft: Going "To The Moon" Tinkering With Iguanas

So what have the "Furry Gamers" group of the Sunweaver/Angels been up to when not in Second Life? Lately they've been spending some time in a new version of FTB Minecraft called "Resonant Rise," with mods "Tinkerer's Construct with Iguana Tweaks." The result has been a new kind of Minecraft mayhem, with new kinds of terrain to explore, more and extra powerful monsters to fight, and new ways to build tools. And for Jasmine, it meant her own space program in a quest to go to Minecraft's Moon.

Read more in Other Grids and MMOs.

Video: FTB Minecraft - "Jazmine's Ultimate Mining Machine"

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From Nydia Tungsten on the "Furry Gamers Channel" - "Jamzine's Ultimate FTB Mining machine This is her creation and as you can see it can chew it's way through anything, Jaz is a very talented builder and the Kodos go to her."

Back in FTB Minecraft Again

I haven't written much about the adventures of the "Furry Gamers" in Minecraft in quite some time as yours truly has not been there very much. Most of the activity has been in the FTB, the "Feed the Beast" servers. They do offer more variety than "vanilla" Minecraft, but without a more powerful computer the result is one can lag and hesitate quite a bit. Which at night can result in the zombies and creepers catching up to you and doing you in. That is, if you get in. There's a lot of FTB servers out there, and unless you get things just right, you can't connect.

Lately I decided to check out where my friends in the "Second Life Furry Gamers" have been focusing on. They got a server using the new "Infinity" mod, and they were in business. Jasmine Dawn, not active much in Second Life but still active in Minecraft showed me around. The entry location is next to a village, so there's a few tools available. There's also a monster-free zone there, so one doesn't have to worry about being assaulted by mobs if you're in the vicinity. Some of the trees bear fruit, such as apples, cherries, and plums, so food is a little less of a problem.

Jasmine showed me her place not far from the village, which was a windmill on a floating island one gets to via a teleporter. What got my attention was the detail some of the decorative objects had, cups and saucers, ships in a bottle, even a model of the Solar System. Not bad.

Others such as Valkyrie Ice and Nydia Tungsten are starting to build structures of their own. Skylark Lefavre and Kiwi have been doing things on their own server for a while, though I think they've been taking a look here as well. So far,  yours truly has just a "hidey hole" in a valley and a small farm at the edge of a pond. Perhaps I'll have time to write more about later on in the future.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoony Response to Microsoft Buying up Minecraft

There's been numerous responses and comments to Microsoft acquiring Minecraft through buying up it's company Majong. But this is one of the funnier ones.

Hat Tip:  Nydia Tungsten

Microsoft buys Mojang for 2.5 Billion, Founder "Notch" Persson to Depart

Following reports that the two companies were in talks, yesterday on September 15, Mojang, the makers of the highly popular "Minecraft" game announced that they were indeed being bought up by the Microsoft corporation. The selling price was listed at 2.5 Billion dollars.

In a statement on their website, the spokesman tried to reassure Minecraft fans "Everything is going to be OK." As for why the company was being sold, "Minecraft has grown from a simple game to a project of monumental significance. Though we're massively proud of what Minecraft has become, it was never Notch's intention for it to get this big." They felt only a few companies were big enough to continue to allow the game to grow "on the scale it deserves." As they had worked with Microsoft since 2012, they were "impressed by the continued dedication to our game and it's development. We're confident that Minecraft would continue in an awesome way." Although the three people who founded the company were leaving, most of the team was planning to stay.

On his personal website, "Notch" Persson, the man who made Minecraft, gave his own statement. "I make games because it's fun," he wrote, "... but I don't make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don't try to change the world. Minecraft has certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it's changed games." Persson had actually stepped down from developing Minecraft "a relatively long time ago," but stuck around on smaller projects as people were telling him he was "important to the culture."

But he described an incident "a couple of weeks ago when the Internet exploded with hate against me" over a user license agreement issue that he had nothing to do with. Later on, he "started to realize I didn't have the connection to my fans that I thought I had. I've become a symbol. I don't want to be a symbol, responsible for something huge that I don't understand ... I'm not an enterpenuer. I'm not a CEO. I'm a nerdy computer programer who likes to have opinions on Twitter."

Persson stated he would be leaving Mojang as soon as the deal was completed, going back to doing small experiments, "I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can't be responsible for something this big. In one sense, it belongs to Microsoft now. In a larger sense, it's belonged to all of you for a long time, and that will never change. It's not about the money. It's about my sanity."

Mojang's statement can be read in full (here), and Persson's can be read (here).

Bixyl Shuftan

Microsoft in Negotiations to Buy Minecraft

Where do Second Life residents go when not in Second Life? For some, it's the game of Minecraft. Among the most popular games in computer history, it's developed a fanbase of millions spending not only time there building things, but also willing to spend money on real life items such as "Creeper" hats and toys based on the game. But fans aren't the only thing the game has been attracting. Recently the Microsoft corporation has been negotiating a possible buyout of Minecraft's owner Majong, news that has some fans wondering what this could mean for their beloved game.

Read more in Other Grids and MMOs.

Video: "A Look At Angels Server"

Filmed by Nydia Tungsten. Yours truly hasn't been in Minecraft much lately, though others of Nydia's "Angels" group still have. Here, the progress in several servers has been duplicated and combined in one "Monster" FTB server. Those whom have read Minecraft articles can recognize some scenes.

"Journey On A Pixelated Road"

About four months ago I came across a website for Minecraft called Far Lands or Bust, where a man named Kurt began to walk across the length of one Minecraft world. For the record, that's roughly 32 *billion* meters (where one block is a meter). Technically, that would only take about 820 straight hours of nonstop walking, but I learned that Kurt has been doing this since 2011 and has only gone about 700,000 meters from spawn. Because the "Far Lands" (a place where the graphics get screwed up due to variables being overwritten) were removed a few versions ago, he's continuing to use an "outdated" version of Minecraft (Beta 1.7.3 where the current version is Minecraft "official version" 1.7.4 --- quite far apart in developments)

He is doing it for the charity Child's Play as he explains on his website (farlandsorbust.com) and in his youtubing of the episodes (currently at 327 episodes and counting). He's raised over $170,000 for it. I thought to myself "Y'know, that looks really fun. But they're episodes, they're taped, edited, and a far out of date version of Minecraft. No pyramids, no jungle temples, no trading with villagers, no nothing." So I thought I'd try and do the same, only I'd do my episodes live.

Thus was born "Journey On A Pixelated Road."

Come join me (Xymbers Slade) and give me something to talk about whether it is SL related or not as I attempt to waltz across the length of one (up to date) Minecraft world, updating snapshots and release versions as they happen. I'll be livestreaming from 9 PM to midnight my time (6 PM to 9 PM SLT) and continue to do so every monday, wednesday and friday if the idea takes off. I tried to do something similiar a weekend or two ago and got no visitors (when you advertise to 4chan and not even THEY show up to troll, something's not right)

www.twitch.tv/vladvenom --- there's a 20 second delay in the streaming, but I'll pay attention to the chat as best I can.

Xymbers Slade

What's New With the Angels in Minecraft

Nydia Tungsten's Angels group might have started in Second Life, as well as spending most of it's time there, but there are other places they hang out in. Among these is Minecraft, which they first started going to over a year ago. As Minecraft updated, so did then Angels' experiences as the server was rebooted for a new world. Now in a "Feed the Beast" server, the group has some new opportunities, as well as some new challenges.

Read more in Other Grids and MMOs.

New Section: Other Grids and MMOs

Since close to the beginning, the Newser made it a policy to occasionally report on Multiplayer Online Games, and other Grids. However in recent months, some of our neighbors have proven to be devoted Minecraft players, in addition to the rise of the InWorldz virtual world following Linden Lab's Terms of Service controversy.

And so, the Newser introduces it's new section: Other Grids and MMOs. Here, you can get occasional developments on places outside Second Life.

To take a look at the new section: Click Here.

Minecraft: Building Around Angels Villiage

While Nydia Tungsten's been experimenting with Minecraft maps for her friends to game on, the players on her new Angels Village on her servers have continued to build after the village took shape. Quite a few statues and other things were built. Including a tribute to the players.

Read more in Extra.

Minecraft Games

Minecraft is above all a freeform platform in which one can build whatever one wants. It is not a "game" in the traditional sense as there's no "win" (unless one counts The End). But one can build games on it, and one can make these games available via importable Minecraft maps. Nydia Tungsten made a server just for games like these, and on a couple occasions invited her friends and neighbors over to play.

Read more in Extra.