Write an introductory essay to Minecraft.
- Explain what it is, give an outline of the game’s history and explain why it has been a commercial and critical success
- Approx. 700 words or 2 sides
Minecraft is a sandbox video game created by Markus Persson a.k.a Notch. It was then fully developed and published by Mojang, a company formed by Markus Perrson and two of his friends. Minecraft’s structure is very open ended. There is no end goal or objective set by the game. The player is free to go in whatever direction they want and do whatever the want with the world. They could build a mansion, a railway system or even a working 16 bit computer. Minecraft originally was created from an abandoned game by Notch called RubyDung. This was transformed into a basic version of Minecraft. The game was tested over a weekend in 2009 when it sold 40 copies for £8 each. The game was then properly developed by Mojang in 2011 and was released for the first time officially.
At first Minecraft only offered one mode which was called survival. This mode involved mining ores and other materials and building a shelter, crafting new gear, eating food and much more. Later on a creative mode was added. This mode targeted a more creative audience who did not want any restrictions to what they could do. This allowed for amazing creations only limited by the players mind. Another mode is online servers. These servers are created by other players and some are open to the public. Some servers such as Mineplex have a wide variety of mini games for you to play. For example, hide and seek and hunger games. These larger serves contain thousands of active players and allow for more players to play together. Another way players can connect is through cross play. This enables people across all platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox, PC and many more. This again increases player connectivity and interaction.
Minecraft has become a huge commercial success for a variety of reasons. One being that it is available on an unbelievable amount of platforms. For example, it is available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Nintendo Switch, mobile and many more. This number of platforms means that pretty much everyone has access to the game and can play together with the cross play that has been introduced. Another reason it has become a huge success is because of the you tubers and twitch streamers. These content creators promoted the game to a wider audience. YouTube and Twitch was one of the largest factors to why Minecraft reached the popularity it did. These content creators have millions of followers and when the started to play and post videos of Minecraft it encouraged its audience to give the game a try. This led to a huge influx of players. Minecraft was also a huge commercial success because it appealed to all audiences. A certain audience may want a more difficult game whereas a another audience may prefer to have a more laidback creative game. People may only want to play mini games online with their friends. This audience is also catered for. Minecraft fits in with everyone’s gaming wants and needs.
Minecraft became a critical success because of the sandbox style gameplay and the replay value the game had. Critics described the game as a never ending experience that could be played for thousands of hours because of the lack of objective and direction the game gave you. Critics also liked how you can customise the game to how you want it by downloading texture packs, mods and skins as this also increased the playability factor of the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment