Everyone has a story. What's yours?
 Linda Thomas
twitter: @TheNewsChick
About Linda
Linda is the morning news anchor and features reporter for KIRO Radio. This is her local news blog, with an emphasis on social media, technology, Northwest companies, education, parenting, and anything else that grabs her attention.

If you have a news tip or story idea, I'd love to hear from you...

To leave a voice message for Linda about any of her stories call toll free 1-855-251-2363

Follow Me on Pinterest


PAX: The phenom and value of Minecraft

August 30, 2012 @ 7:04 pm (Updated: 9:37 am - 9/1/12 )

Listen to The phenom and value of Minecraft

One of the hottest-selling video games of the year does not feature bloody gun battles, violent images or birds trying to destroy pigs. With its soft, soothing theme music and simple 8-bit building blocks, Minecraft is a star of a huge convention in Seattle this weekend.

The Penny Arcade Expo, PAX, brings together 60,000 game developers and fans who play console video games, online computer games and even tabletop games.

Minecraft is focused on creativity and building, allowing players to construct things out of textured cubes in a three-dimensional world.

The game world is essentially made of blocks which represent different materials, such as dirt, stone, various ores, water, tree trunks, or lava. While the players can move freely across the world, objects and items can only be placed at fixed locations relative to a grid.

Biosphere"You open it up to this randomly generated world and you do whatever you want," says Lydia Winters, who is the director of fun for Mojang, the company formed after they realized they had a success with Minecraft.

"The focus is on creativity, but you do need survive too."

She explains if you don't build a shelter "at night the most adorable, and also terrifying 8-bit creatures will come and kill you."

A player in Minecraft has a lot of freedom to choose how to play the game, with the primary goals being surviving attacks by the monsters that are in the form of zombies, skeletons and "creepers."

Along with the game itself - which can be played online, through Microsoft's Xbox 360, or on mobile versions - hundreds of businesses have popped up related to Minecraft. There are hundreds of YouTube channels with people describing their worlds.

Just as you never know which videos will go viral on YouTube and get millions of views, the Swedish creators of Minecraft didn't know they'd have hit when the game launched a year ago.

"The total value, you could take about 7 million times about 20-ish dollars," Winters says. "It's a lot. It's kind of crazy."

There are almost 40 million registered users, of which more than 7 million have bought the game. Everyday they're selling about $350,000 dollars worth of the game for the Xbox 360 alone.

The value to me is more personal.

MichaelMineCraftMy 12-year-old son, who will start seventh grade next week, is obsessed with Minecraft. He spends hours each week on a game that involves minimal violence. I like that. My son also has a new passion for engineering and architecture. I love that.

Why is it that the same young people who turn sullen and bored when faced with a half hour of algebra or chemistry, are happy to spend hours mastering Minecraft's physics?

A neuroscientist at Bristol University in London says computer games stimulate the brain's reward system to produce dopamine, a chemical which enhances the making of connections between neurons. That's the physical basis for learning.

"For generations, we educators have done everything we can to maintain a consistent relationship between reward and achievement, but the neuroscience is telling us something different," Paul Howard Jones told The New York Times earlier this year. "

"Instead of trying to ban portable phones or portable computers from the classroom, teachers should be trying to harness the power of games in their lessons," he says.

Minecraft creators will make an announcement next week that they say will show the game is "worth more to the world" than just countless hours of entertainment. They won't give me any hints, but education is important to the creators.

"A teacher could walk into a classroom and teach about hunger and sustainability. If you don't grow your crops then there's no food around, you won't survive," Winters says. "Kids could get on a server and learn to work together to building a community. I think the possibilities are really encouraging."

By LINDA THOMAS

Photos are screen grabs from a few of my son's Minecraft worlds.

More from Linda Thomas

MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (11)


  • Add A Comment

  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    All of my sons are crazy about minecraft
    August 30, 2012 7:54 pm
    And build the most amazing things.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • FrankCatalano wrote...
    Minecraft in Education
    August 31, 2012 4:38 am
    Minecraft is as much a phenom in education as it is in general gaming. Many educators have taken Minecraft and are already running with it, thanks to work that's been done by MinecraftEdu. This custom mod allows teachers to install a version of Minecraft on a classroom server and has been modified to help with teaching. (More is at MinecraftEdu.com) In general, learning games are a current bright-shiny in education. But there is a difference between games, simulation and gamification. That's defined in more detail on the education news site MindShift (http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/08/whats-the-difference-between-games-and-gamification/) All in all, games are hot in education. And it goes beyond Minecraft, though Minecraft is a big part of it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Virl wrote...
    Jumala in Education
    August 31, 2012 9:44 am
    Frank, I'd encourage you to check out Jumala. See my post below. We've had tremendous interest from schools who are using our beta to teach game design to students with no technical skills. Schools that have used Jumala include University of Washington-Bothell, Seoul Institute of the Arts and University of Tasmania (Australia). A recent blog post on our site shows players how to start building their own Mars game. Jumala would be great for students to use for creating school projects in geography, science and a lot more. The graphics are realistic 3D (not 8 bit). You can use the terrain editing tools alone to create the Sahara desert, Cascade Mountains, just about anything. That's just the beginning. We'd love to have you check it out! http://www.jumala.com
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DJFavorite wrote...
    thank you Linda
    August 31, 2012 4:47 am
    Both my boys play this game for hours at a time too. (They are 17 & 14.) It makes me feel a little better (not a lot better) that it really is more than a mindless game.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • boeingmarcus wrote...
    Interesting
    August 31, 2012 6:13 am
    Anything that gets young people interested in engineering is good, and this has more potential than standard math classes. Thanks for explaining this. I have some coworkers who are addicted to this that are men in their 40s.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • jpetro wrote...
    Looks great and good for kids
    August 31, 2012 8:47 am
    and adults; however I don't think I would make it 10 minutes
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Virl wrote...
    Local Startup Lets Anyone Create Games
    August 31, 2012 9:35 am
    Jumala is another game for anyone who loves to create. In Jumala, players create their own 3D games and share them with friends. You don't need any technical skills. Players choose a template (like Alien Planets, Jungle Ruins, Winter Wonderland) and start creating their own worlds, then pick from thousands of enemies, hazards, interactive items and more to bring their ideas to life. They can share their creations with their friends or with the entire community. Jumala is free to play. It's in beta for Windows (which means the game isn't 100% done yet). We'd love to have more beta testers. We're a local Bellevue startup. Come join us and bring Jumala to life! http://www.jumala.com
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • O-town listener wrote...
    Hey Virl..
    August 31, 2012 12:09 pm
    Where the f were you guys when I was a teenager and had way too much time on my hands? :) Jumala looks pretty cool from the webpage - wish you all lots of success and I'll keep an eye on it for when my kid gets old enough to do stuff on the computer himself.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Virl wrote...
    O-town, you're never too old
    August 31, 2012 3:28 pm
    Thanks O-town. You don't have to be a kid to play Jumala (see boeingmarcus' comment). We have people of all ages trying the beta!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Digital Legos...
    September 1, 2012 6:50 am
    of course!

    Pretty brainy invention. Somebody deserves to make a few bucks for being so innovative.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • AdvLrnProj wrote...
    Minecraft in My Classroom
    February 25, 2013 6:42 pm
    I'm a teacher at Da Vinci Innovation Academy in Hawthorne, CA and I began using Minecraft in my project-based classroom this year. I started using it to teach Electrical Engineering, but soon it spread to other classes and classrooms. Check out my blog about what we're doing! www.Craft-Academy.com
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }