Minecraft content notes
Minecraft content notes
Game Features:
Minecraft is a 3D sandbox game, created and developed by Mojang Studios. It has no goals or rules for the player, allowing users a large amount of freedom in choosing how to play the game. Gameplay is in the first-person perspective by default, but players can choose to play different modes such as Minecraft: Story mode. The game world is composed of rough 3D objects, mainly cubes and fluids, representing various materials such as stone, wood and water. The key characteristic of Minecraft as a video game is its creative and educational functions, which are more explicit in the gaming experience than in market-led rival games.
Minecraft is described as a virtual world of Lego, that involves simple instructions to play it: explore, mine and build. There are predominantly two game modes; creative and survival although more recent modes have been added such as Spectator, adventure and multiplayer.
Independent media production:
Markus ‘Notch’ Persson created Minecraft and developed the concept in 2009. He was inspired by several other games such as Dungeon Keeper and Dwarf Fortress. The latter had the most influence on Minecraft because it is an open-source software and a multiplayer block based sandbox game.
Markus is an example of such an independent producer developing a video game concept outside of mainstream media. The intital inspiration of Minecraft sprang from fantasy role playing genre of video games- a market that was already established.
Development:
Minecraft is the story of opportunities available to independent games producer in digital age. as an industry, video gaming has a 40 year history dating back to the earliest arcade games. It did not reach mainstream popularity until the 1970s and 1980s however, this was when video arcade games and gaming consoles using joysticks, buttons and other controllers along with graphics on computer screens, and home computer games were introduced.
The transformation of gaming technology milestones include:
- -The first generation of consoles emerged such as Microsoft Xbox
- -the launch of the top selling wii console
-PC gaming has held a large market share in Asia and Europe for decades and continues to grow due to digital distribution
-with the widespread consumer use of smartphones, mobile gaming has become a driving factor for games, reaching users formally not interested in gaming or those unable to forward or support dedicated hardware such as video games consoles.
By 2011, with Minecraft being developed among the game community, Persson and his company, Mojang Studios, not a game concept with exponential global growth but without commercial backing from a mainstream publisher. The games publicity relied on word of mouth recommendations between gamers. for many media companies this would not typically have enabled growth or development of the concept. But in the online age, Persson had the vision to circulate and generate the game via the Internet and the video game community, so spreading the message virally about the game's value. This is a clear example of the power of collaboration [ social Context: online fan communities were important for the development and success of the game]
the consequences of this were that the beta version of the game had passed over 1 million purchases in just a month in January 2011, and by April 2011 Persson estimated back $33 million of revenue had been made.
Persson wanted to spread Minecraft's concept and ethos within the control of genuine gamers. He also understood that the games success would grow with the backing of technology companies they could provide him with multiple digital platforms to distribute the games, such as Sony.
Media takeover and merger:
Minecraft, as a PC java game, became a globally successful phenomenon across all consoles and hand held devices. It is now a multi-platform game appealing to a wide range of users. Mojang has struct deals with Nintendo, the largest game software seller and Sony, as a hardware manufacturer and global conglomerate. By 2014, the intellectual property rights had been acquired Microsoft, an American multi-national technology company. Their view was beyond that sales of hardware, or software, gamer’s could readily be sold add-ons and a whole range of merchandise including, Minecraft: official magazine, T-shirts, mugs, backpacks, and tie-ins with Lego (synergy). Most recently, a Minecraft movie has been proposed for 2022 with Warner Bros. Minecraft has created its own market place for players to sell offline commodities.
After Minecraft became owned by Microsoft, it cemented its position as a top-brand selling video game. The takeover enabled Minecraft to extend its reach further and secured its distribution to smaller ones such as the Xbox live marketplace.
Distribution enables the video game to be promoted to an audience and sold to maximise profits. The distribution of video games refers to all the processes linked to delivering the media product to both physical and digital audiences, including cloud-based media and versions of Minecraft that can be purchased over the internet using other outlets such as the PlayStation Network.
Video Games consoles are an excellent example of a digitally converged device, on which users can not only play video games but surf the web, access social media and stream TV content. Cross-media content helps maximise profits and also improves reach to new audiences.
Marketing:
The way that Minecraft has effectively managed and maximised its audience is the foundation of its success. Initially, Mojang relied on word of mouth from its users and the online community of computer programmers and coders. Since the takeover, Minecraft has developed plenty opportunities to market the brand and its gaming features.
The introduction of Minecraft Realms (2013) was an attempt to give the producers more control over the distribution and circulation of the game. Realms are servers that are created specifically for players and are intended to keep players’ Minecraft worlds online, accessible and safe.
Minecraft has exploited the use of YouTube as a broadcast platform to promote its products, introducing game trailers and encouraging a video community willing to share their game online. The prosumer community has aided online discussion of the game and improved viewer’s abilities to play, create and share in it.
Educational Value:
The cultural impact of Minecraft is significant in terms of creative and community use, with audiences sharing their own game mods and game footage being available across web forums and video-sharing sits such as Youtube.
Audience participation has increased the appeal of Minecraft as users create new in-game content via beta-testing processes, producing shareable, downloadable mods and resource packs. Through this process the audience has become Minecrafts biggest advertising and marketing campiagn, promoting and sharing their modifications etc. The circulation and spread of Minecraft across media platforms means there is an active and immersive community of gamers who share a common interest linked to Minecraft.
Audience:
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