Posted on August 30, 2012
My Top 100: #98 – Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
2012 – Xbox 360 (Mojang)
To call Minecraft a game in the traditional sense wouldn’t be doing it justice.
To begin with, just take a look at it; everything looks like it’s made of giant, textured pixels. It’s played from a first-person perspective, yet it isn’t a first-person shooter. The music is more likely to make you fall asleep than to get you pumped for action, and there aren’t all that many enemies, at least until nightfall… so what exactly do you do in Minecraft?
It’s pretty much all in the title – you mine, you craft, explore and survive. It’s not the “why” you do it that’s fun – it’s the “how”, and that part is entirely up to you.
When I downloaded the trial version for Xbox 360 and gave it a try, my character was plopped into the middle of a forest with nothing but his bare hands. I walked around to check and see what blocks I could mine, which ones I couldn’t, how to place them, etc. I quickly decided that in order for me to enjoy this game, I had to be a creative person.
Now, I’ve always been self-conscious and overly critical about my ability to come up with original things, be it writing a song on guitar or a poem on paper. It’s just one of those things, I guess. Anyhow, I almost gave up on the game right then and there.
For some unknown reason, I splurged and bought the full version not long afterwards. I was skeptical at first, but with a push in the right direction from my friend Jordan, my first actual world started taking shape. A “naturally formed” (randomly generated) mound of dirt on the edge of a beach became a narrow stairway. A tiny underground room was built after a few steps, complete with a crafting table (to make stuffs!) and a stove (to smelt stuffs!).
On the upside of the stairway, I was building some semblance of a beach house when the sun started to set on the first day. It was time to get moving and take cover, because in Minecraft, the Zombies and Creepers that show up aren’t simply a quick melee attack away from extermination. In fact, you’d be lucky to get in enough whacks with a stone shovel to do in a Zombie, and Creepers… well, you don’t attack Creepers. You just run.
This poor fella was just tending to his garden when a Creeper dropped in from a cliff above!
After a few sessions of seriously stressful night-time mining expeditions, I chose to establish my block kingdom in Peaceful mode. That way, I was free to explore the vast landscape, without the constant threat of losing any equipment in a freak Creeper attack. It’s a strangely satisfying experience to take a world that’s been given to you, and to mould it, shape it however you see fit.
Like Lego, only on steroids.
Here are some of the creations I’m proudest of!
The little room that began the level has expanded… slightly, to say the least.
That first house I built at the top of those stairs, plus a few friends you may see on the countdown.
Samus (left) supervising an Excite-biker.
Bridge fightin’.
Aw man, now I wanna play.
*Note: I’ve spent several hours playing this game, but I’ve only ever treated it as a “crafting simulator”. In that same vein, NASCAR Racing 2003 Season is another game I’ve spent countless hours playing, but neglected to include on the countdown altogether, since I’ve always seen it as a racing simulator instead of a game.*
I’m really looking forward to the ‘Adventure’ update to be added to the 360 version. I’ve been spoiled by MC on PC, I can’t play without the hunger bar, as well as the option to go into creative mode at any point.
Awesome stuff.