Get Your Minecraft Moving: A New Trend In Gaming?

Lately I’ve seen a trend in gaming that seems intriguing. It looks like we’ve got a new iteration on the Minecraft genre – games that involve self-created vehicles that are realized with voxel technology and completely independent components.  We’ve got another iteration of games on the way that you, as a potential game creator or professional, should follow.

(By the way, yes, I called Minecraft a genre.  I consider Minecraft to be a game that is both a game, but also has a general, archetypical nature that makes it a genre as well.  Anyway, on with the post.)

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Glad To Sell You The Power: Consumerism Meets Creativity

There’s no doubt we live in a consumer culture in America, and a good part of the Western (and Eastern) world. There’s plenty of things made, plenty to buy, and we do so beyond our basic needs. Obviously, not everyone is happy with this situation, as you can read . . . well anywhere. I myself, always a fan of technology and new things, am not thrilled with waste, passivity, and commodification.

However, at least in some spheres, I’m noticing there’s turns away from standard consumerism. There’s the DIY culture, and its offspring the Makers. There’s focus on simplicity and zero/low waste.

However, I noticed a curious phenomena building over time, one I’d like to discuss for it’s relevance in geeky careers and opportunities; we’re already getting “outbursts” of people wanting more control over what they do and more creative outlets – and people serving their needs by providing ways to do it.

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Minecraft – Game As Dialogue

So I returned to playing Minecraft again.  I do this now and then because it’s fun, well-planned, and evolving.  Every few version’s there’s something new as Notch tweaks and adds and changes.  Then I spent way too much time building stuff.

I actually enjoy starting games over.  Each time it’s a new adventure, each time it’s different:

  • I remember my first game where I built a network of quick travel tunnels.
  • I remember my second game where I spent days exploring a huge underground ravine filled with treasures and twists and turns.
  • In my current game I’ve got a lovely small home built into a mountain by a beach, and I’m alternately exploring caves, farming, and trying to penetrate the dense nearby jungle (largely by fire).

I’m sure I’ll stop playing at some point, and I’m sure there will be enough changes and additions I’ll fire it up again.  There’s conventions and events and suggestions and mods that I might even get involved in, should I wish.  Always something new.

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