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Tag: 4J Studios

  • Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Closes Out 2012 With 5 Million Sales

    In November, Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition had sold about 4.4 million units. It was unknown if it would cross the 5 million threshold before the end of the year, but a presumably successful holiday season has helped push Minecraft into a league all its own as far as Xbox Live Arcade titles are concerned.

    4J Studios announced that Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition surpassed 5 million sales on New Year’s Eve. It was already the most successful XBLA game on the Xbox 360, but crossing 5 million sales is a major accomplishment regardless. In fact, there are some retail titles that would kill to have even half those numbers. It just shows that Minecraft is still tremendously popular on whatever system it’s on.

    So, what is 4J Studios up to now? The developer is working on the bugs reported in Title Update 7, and will be addressing them in a patch to be released this month. One such fix is that 4J will ensure that every new world will include a Nether Fortress, Blazes and Nether Wart.

    Beyond that, the future of Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition looks bright. 4J Studios will continue to provide updates that will add more features from the PC version. After they catch up, it’s anybody’s guess as to what happens next. It would be interesting to see 4J Studios flex its creative muscle and add some original features unique to the console version of the game.

    Along the same line, it would be awesome to see 4J Studios add new features that then make their way to the PC version of the game. It would only be natural to see the two teams work together to improve the Minecraft experience for everyone – regardless of platform.

    [h/t: Joystiq]

  • Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Gets Plenty Of New Features In Title Update 7

    Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition is making bank for Microsoft, Mojang and everybody else involved. The game just recently surpassed 4.4 million copies sold with the game selling anywhere between 40,000 to 60,000 copies a week. That kind of support puts a lot of pressure on 4J Studios to deliver constant quality updates, and they’re not disappointing.

    PlayXBLA announced today that Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition would be getting Title Update 7 soon. It will bring many features from version 1.0.1 of the PC version including experience, animal breeding and a lot more. Here’s the full list of additions:

  • Animal Breeding
  • Potion Brewing
  • Experience Points
  • Enchantment Table
  • Mushroom Biome
  • Nether Fortress
  • New Tutorial World
  • Villagers
  • Mooshrooms
  • Blaze
  • Snow Golems
  • Magma Cubes
  • Baby Animals

    • A few features that originally appeared in version 1.0.1 of the PC game will not be appearing in title update 7 on the Xbox 360. The most glaring omission is “The End” scenario that has players fighting an Ender Dragon. It’s been delayed until the next title update. Other omissions include ocelots, jungles, spawn eggs and Iron Golems.

    As for changes from the PC version, 4J Studios notes that experience will work a little differently in the Xbox 360 version to speed up gameplay progression. Players will now only need 30 XP per level instead of the PC’s 50. Players will earn XP through mining, smelting, and breeding. The team also notes that Ender Pearls will teleport and can be thrown in Creative Mode.

    There is no release date for title update 7 just yet. That could possibly indicate that it won’t be out before the end of the year. That being said, 4J Studios could deliver a Christmas miracle and get it out while everybody actually has the time to play it during their holiday break.

  • Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Gets Another Massive Update

    Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition has proven to be a hit beyond anybody’s expectations. The success is great, but it means that 4J Studios has to work extra hard to get out new updates to players wanting more out of their Minecraft experience. The developer pushed a major update last month, but they’re already about to push another major update in the coming weeks.

    Over the weekend, 4J Studios published another big list of changes and fixes coming to Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition in the coming weeks.

    Changes and Additions:

  • Added an option to clear the quick select bar in the creative interface.
  • Added an option to enable or disable bedrock fog, and set to off by default.
  • Added an option to toggle the HUD off/on.
  • Added an option to turn the player hand off/on.
  • Added a crafting recipe for Golden Apples.
  • Added a crafting recipe for Pumpkin Seeds.
  • Made cakes stackable.
  • Added a How To Play page for Host and Player options.

    • Fixes:

  • Fix for a problem with signs in online games causing crashes.
  • Fix for save renaming deleting the wrong save due to input received during the confirmation flow.
  • Fix to the mob generation code to increase the number of animals in the world.
  • Fix for chests being incorrectly lit, and rotated for maps from previous versions.
  • Fix for problem with the eating animation being shown for players who weren’t eating.
  • Fix for problem with chest lids not behaving properly.
  • Fix for animals looking like they were taking damage when they shouldn’t.
  • Fix for some sounds not playing when the player has an empty hand.
  • Fix for lever sounds.
  • Fix for fence gate sounds.
  • Fix for splitscreen players sometimes having their settings zeroed.
  • Fix for being damaged while flying over lava.
  • Fix to stop lava, milk and water buckets being empty after use in creative mode.
  • Fix for Leader of the Pack achievement being awarded incorrectly.
  • Fix for leaderboard stats issue where value stored was incorrect.
  • Fix for hitbox problems with glass panes and iron fence.
  • Fix for small character display changing color to green.
  • Fix for map rendering incorrectly in some situations with clouds disabled.
  • Fix for block rendering problem at the edge of the map.
  • Fix for splitscreen players not being able to mine in the tutorial.
  • Fix for players not being able to sprint/sprint-fly in creative mode if the player was previously in survival mode with a low food bar.
  • Fix for arrow damage not being ignored when PvP is turned off.
  • Fix for activated pressure plates not working correctly.
  • Fix for the low food bar hint appearing when loading a game in creative mode (usually the tutorial world saves).
  • Fix to remove the player shadow when the Invisible option in the Host Privileges is used.
  • Fix for Red Roses not being generated on the terrain.
  • Fix for paintings being pushed by pistons.
  • Fix so that players who can’t eat, due to the Trust Players option being off, do not get exhausted.
  • Fix for the interface disappearing after a Share to Facebook action.
  • Fix to limit the number of Slimes, Ghasts and Silverfish that can be spawned in a world.
  • Fix for the cursor position in creative mode being able to go offscreen.
  • Fix for players showing on maps when they should not be, after the player dies and respawns.
  • Fix for capes displaying wrongly when sprint-flying.
  • Fix for capes not displaying in the Nether.
  • Fix for capes not displaying when the player respawns.
  • Fix for tools taking damage in Creative Mode.
  • Fix so Bows don’t need or use up Arrows in Creative Mode.
  • Reduced the volume of the chest open/close sound effect

    • There’s no solid release date for the above fixes, but it sounds like the update will be coming your way soon. 4J Studios, however, has been answering questions about the latest update and dropping some more details about it on Twitter. The developer said that villagers will be in the next update, and that the recipe for golden apples will use gold ingots for now.

    In other Minecraft news, the PC version of Minecraft just passed another major sales milestone as reported by Notch on Twitter.

    Markus Persson
    @notch

    The PC version of Minecraft just passed 8 million sales! My face is making grinning sounds, so I assume it’s grinning!

     Reply  ·  Retweet  ·  Favorite
    5 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Back in September, Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition surpassed 4 million total sales. Across the two platforms, Minecraft has now surpassed 12 million total sales. That’s a great number for anybody. As far as indie success goes, Mojang is clearly on top. It’ll be hard to replicate that success, but Scrolls and 0x10c are both looking mighty fine.

  • Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Gets Creative Mode And More In Next Update

    Minecraft continues to be the best selling XBLA game ever released on the service. It’s kind of amazing since the original PC version is leaps and bounds ahead of the current console version in terms of features and content. That won’t be the case for long as 4J Studios has a massive update planned for the near future.

    The first thing that players will no doubt be interested in is that Creative Mode will finally be added to the console version. Players who don’t like all their hard work being destroyed by a Creeper will finally be able to build in peace. Of course, achievements and leaderboards will be disabled for those players. The trade off is that Creative Mode players will be able to fly.

    Here’s the rest of the updates that will be hitting the next version of Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition courtesy of playXBLA:

  • Added new mobs – Enderman, Cave Spiders, and Silverfish
  • Added new items to the game – Melon, Melon Slice, Melon Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Raw/Cooked Beef, Raw/Cooked Chicken, Rotten Flesh, Pumpkin Seeds, Iron Bars, Fence Gate, Stone Bricks, Stone Brick Slabs, Stone Brick Stairs, Brick Slabs, Brick Stairs, Ender Pearl, Web,Vines, 10 more Music Discs, Sponge, and Chain Armor.
  • Added new items to the crafting menu – Melon, Melon Seeds, Glass Pane, Fence Gate, Iron Bars, Stone Bricks, Stone Brick Slabs, Stone Brick Stairs, Brick Slabs, Brick Stairs.
  • Added terrain generation features – Strongholds, Villages, Abandoned Mineshafts and Ravines.
  • Biome code additions, including rivers and oceans.
  • Changed the bow to have drawing and firing action.
  • Added a quick move to the dispenser.
  • Added a quick equip for armor to the inventory interface.
  • Added a quick move for ingredients and fuel in the furnace interface.
  • Brought forward the mining speed changes from 1.2.3
  • Brought forward apples dropping from leaf blocks from 1.1
  • Brought forward change from 1.2.3 to make pumpkins and melons grow from stems much faster, and not require farmland around the stem to grow on.
  • Fix to vines brought forward from 1.2.3 to stop them spreading too much.
  • Added the Food Bar to the HUD.
  • Added stacking for food items.
  • Added the eating animation.
  • Enabled crafting mushroom stew without a crafting table.
  • Added the blocking move with swords.
  • Changed all the text descriptions for food to show how much they refill the food bar.
  • Passive mobs will now flee when hit.
  • The snout on pigs now protrude from their head.
  • Skeletons now hold full size bows.
  • Animals no longer despawn which makes it possible to capture them.
  • Zombies now drop Rotten Flesh instead of Feathers.
  • Updated some mob sounds.
  • Shears can now collect Tall Grass and the new Vine.
  • Improved sunrise and sunset.
  • Improved the rain edges (when looking up in rain).
  • User-placed leaf blocks no longer decay.
  • Cloud height raised to the top of the map, so clouds can no longer phase through blocks.
  • Cloud movement syncs with the game’s time.
  • Both Wooden and Stone pressure plates can now be placed on fences.
  • Improved chest model with a 3D lock, and opening and closing animation.
  • Added a countdown timer to the autosave to stop it being such a surprise.
  • Added the ability to rename an existing saved world.
  • Added map icons to the in-game player list to match their color in the map.
  • Added a confirmation dialog on the player choosing to exit without saving.
  • Added a character display when sprinting or flying.
  • Updated the How To Play HUD with the Food Bar information.
  • Added descriptions for Creative Mode and Sprinting to the How To Play menus.
  • Updated the Download Content menu with pictures of the DLC available.
  • Added death messages
  • Removed Herobrine.

    • There are a number of new options and bug fixes hitting the game as well. You can check out the full list at PlayXBLA’s rundown of all the major fixes hitting the smash hit indie game.

  • Minecraft May Speed Up Xbox 360 Title Updates

    There is a wait time between a patch’s completion and it hitting consumers at large. Minecraft on the Xbox 360 may change that.

    Microsoft may be speeding up the time it takes patches to hit games on the Xbox 360 if Paddy Burns of 4J Studios is to be believed. Speaking to EDGE Magazine, he said that the initial Xbox release will be a conversion of the PC version’s beta 1.6.6 beta.

    The plan is to create constant updates to get Minecraft on the Xbox up to official release 1.0, the final version Notch launched at Minecon last November. The thing is, Microsoft is notoriously slow about approving updates to games on their platform. Burns claims the company is changing that.

    “Microsoft knows that to do a similar thing that’s on PC where they constantly update it, that’s a very difficult thing to do on Xbox because you have to go through the full tests,” he told EDGE. “But they are quite keen to move towards that – they do see it as the future, so I think we might be the first to do constant updates.”

    He does stress that the Xbox will never see constant updates like on the PC though. Microsoft will always require a testing period for their title updates. If developers were allowed to release updates on their own terms like they are on PC, you run into the potential for problems like TOR did earlier this week.

    Burns says that with the new authentication system; they may be able to get an update out every two months. If that’s true, that’s a huge increase in speed for updates. As EDGE rightly points out, with PCs and mobile gaming offering constant updates, consoles are falling behind in the times.

    For those who are anxiously waiting for Minecraft to hit the Xbox 360, the wait won’t be much longer. Burns says that the game should be ready by late winter or early spring.