Minecraft... I don't get it

12 years ago

My 10-year-old son is one of those addicts.

And no, I don't get it. Best I can figure is peer pressure. He likes it so much because all of his friends like it so much.

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Renal Jo

12 years ago

Maybe... The sad thing is that they all realize that there is no point. My suggestion is to go find an old Nintendo and play games that have a purpose.

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socialentry

12 years ago

This looks like crap.

But then again, in the 90s our games looked like this too.

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MikeAmbrosio

12 years ago

My 10 year old is addicted too. We had to put restrictions on his game time.

He likes a few things about it...

You can get all kinds of maps, plugins, etc which changes up the game somewhat. He also likes the social aspect when he plays on line. He actually has a bigger Skype list than I do.

They have competitions, teams, championships, and things like that. And when he doesn't feel like playing with a group he just uses the local version and builds his own map.

I think he's starting to tire of it though. One can only hope

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garyv

12 years ago

Actually I thought the same thing until I started playing it w/ my kids. It's actually quite fun and addicting. You actually have to mine, gather, and build everything you use - and your imagination is the limit on what you can make or build on there.

Just from looking at it, it looks like a 90s game because of the cheap looking graphics - but that's done on purpose so that there's practically no lag on whatever computer you play it on. The 3d engine it runs on though makes up for the crappy graphics. After a little while of playing it, you don't really notice how cheesy the graphics are.

But the draw is that it's basically Today's Legos. Imagine as a kid if the cities and monsters you built with your lego set could come to life? If you can imagine that, then you can understand why kids love Minecraft.

edit - and the best part is there's no real legos to step on

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MikeAmbrosio

12 years ago

Originally Posted by garyv

Actually I thought the same thing until I started playing it w/ my kids. It's actually quite fun and addicting. You actually have to mine, gather, and build everything you use - and your imagination is the limit on what you can make or build on there.

Just from looking at it, it looks like a 90s game because of the cheap looking graphics - but that's done on purpose so that there's practically no lag on whatever computer you play it on. The 3d engine it runs on though makes up for the crappy graphics. After a little while of playing it, you don't really notice how cheesy the graphics are.

But the draw is that it's basically Today's Legos. Imagine as a kid if the cities and monsters you built with your lego set could come to life? If you can imagine that, then you can understand why kids love Minecraft.

edit - and the best part is there's no real legos to step on

You're right on the graphics and lag time, but you DO have to watch some of the plugins. He was freezing up during game play and after checking a few things I found that one plugin he was running had the game using over 4 gb of ram.

The building part my son enjoys too. He'll spend time watching Youtube videos on how to build something then he builds it.

Keeps him busy.

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Renal Jo 12 years ago

Originally Posted by garyv

Actually I thought the same thing until I started playing it w/ my kids. It's actually quite fun and addicting.

That's where you went wrong. You "started playing". We will need to have an intervention for you now.
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Dan Riffle

12 years ago

Gary, you might want to consider watching a little more football this weekend. You're getting a little soft.

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garyv 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Dan Riffle

Gary, you might want to consider watching a little more football this weekend. You're getting a little soft.

Football I can handle... but there's no pain like stepping on a lego
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- Dan Riffle 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by garyv
  
  but there's no pain like stepping on a lego
  
  Ever been whipped with a Hotwheels track?
  
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  1 reply
  
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  Raising a child is akin to knowing you're getting fired in 18 years and having to train your replacement without actively sabotaging them.
  
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  MikeAmbrosio 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Dan Riffle
  
  Ever been whipped with a Hotwheels track?
  
  Um...too much info
  
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socialentry

12 years ago

Whatever happened to Starcraft & Diablo, these are the games I played when I was a kid.

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Renal Jo 12 years ago

Originally Posted by socialentry

Whatever happened to Starcraft & Diablo, these are the games I played when I was a kid.

Even Mario or Sonic are awesome games of the past.
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Workman 12 years ago

Originally Posted by socialentry

Whatever happened to Starcraft & Diablo, these are the games I played when I was a kid.

Don't lie, you still play Starcraft and Diablo
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KingOfContentMarketing

12 years ago

No kids play "kick the can" anymore? With your mom yelling into the night that it's time to come in or you are in huge trouble? Oops, just dated myself to a previous era in history haha.

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Jack Gordon

12 years ago

Originally Posted by KingOfContentMarketing

No kids play "kick the can" anymore? With your mom yelling into the night that it's time to come in or you are in huge trouble? Oops, just dated myself to a previous era in history haha.

The problem is, those days really weren't that long ago.

I still remember the day Space Invaders came out for the Atari and rocked our world. Nothing has ever been the same since...

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meepo

12 years ago

Minecraft is a digital sandbox. You can build anything you want. There are people re-building entire worlds inside Minecraft... including Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc.

It's a popular game for the same reason Lego's, Lincoln Logs & blocks are popular toys.

Unbridled creativity is always addictive.

---

EDIT:

The graphics in Minecraft are a stylistic choice... the guy who made it loved older games from the 80's & 90's. And he wanted to build a game that was fundamentally about blocks. I think he succeeded.

and FWIW - I played Minecraft once... I had to uninstall it after I realized that I'd just spent 2-3 hours building my own version of Erebor (actually it was more like Goblin Town) inside of a massive cave system I'd found. So I blew it all up with TNT and uninstalled the game.

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Renal Jo

12 years ago

Originally Posted by meepo

Minecraft is a digital sandbox. You can build anything you want. There are people re-building entire worlds inside Minecraft... including Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc.

It's a popular game for the same reason Lego's, Lincoln Logs & blocks are popular toys.

Unbridled creativity is always addictive.

---

EDIT:

The graphics in Minecraft are a stylistic choice... the guy who made it loved older games from the 80's & 90's. And he wanted to build a game that was fundamentally about blocks. I think he succeeded.

and FWIW - I played Minecraft once... I had to uninstall it after I realized that I'd just spent 2-3 hours building my own version of Erebor inside of a massive cave system I'd found. So I blew it all up with TNT and uninstalled the game.

Very good point. I just thought kids these days had higher standards. I guess not.

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meepo 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Renal Jo

Very good point. I just thought kids these days had higher standards. I guess not.

Nah, kids don't change. Legos are selling just as well as they always have

Looking back through history, toys & games that allow for the greatest creative expression seem to be the most popular.
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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Games are NOT about graphics.

Just ask Capcom why they're almost broke, with barely more
than $150M between them from bankruptcy.

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Minecraft... I don't get it

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