Finally!

Mojang has finally confirmed the Release Date Month for Minecraft on the Vita, which will be August, the same month that the XBone and PS4 editions will be released on their respective platforms.  It's actually kind of a big deal because of the way that it all works out.  The details of it are as such:

• Minecraft: Playstation 3 + Vita Edition will be available on the PSN in August.
• It will include all the features from the most recent Playstation 3 version, including online play on Vita.
• This means everyone who has bought Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition from PSN will get it on Vita for free. Those fluent in Sony-speak might refer to the deal as “Cross-buy.”
• We are working closely with Sony Computer Entertainment to look into ways to enable upgrade from the Blu-ray disc version of Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition to Minecraft: Playstation 3 and Vita. We’ll have more info on this closer to release.
• Minecraft: Playstation 3 + Vita Edition will cost $19.99.
• It doesn’t matter if you buy for PS3 or Vita first, you own the game for both platforms.
• Saves are transferrable between the Playstation 3 and Vita versions of Minecraft. You will be able to craft at home on your Playstation 3, then continue on the bus/toilet with your Playstation Vita.
• All of the DLC you’ve purchased for Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition will work on Playstation 3 + Vita Edition.

So, basically, the Vita version of Minecraft is the PS3 version, except on the Vita.  I personally think they could have based the game on the PS4 version as, yes, I know it's a very technical game technically, but I don't think it's so much that the Vita could not handle the PS4 version.  However, I suppose the PS3+Vita deal is the sweeter end of it, because of the way the PS4 version is set up.

• Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition will be released on the PSN in August. It brings significantly bigger worlds and a greater draw distance than Playstation 3 + Vita Edition.
• It will include all the features from the most recent Playstation 3 version.
• Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition will cost $19.99.
• If you’ve bought Playstation 3 Edition from the Playstation Network you will be able to upgrade for $4.99.
• You will be able to upgrade for a minimum of a year after the release date.
• We are working closely with Sony Computer Entertainment to look into ways to enable upgrade from the Blu-ray disc version of Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition to Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition. We’ll have more info on this closer to release.
• Players with Playstation 3 Edition or Playstation 3 + Vita Edition saves will be able to import their worlds to Playstation 4. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to transfer your saves from Playstation 4 to Playstation 3/Vita. There are technical reasons for this; we can make worlds bigger without too much stress, but shrinking them causes all kinds of problems.
• Cross-platform play will not be possible between Playstation 3 + Vita Edition and Playstation 4 Edition.
• Many, but not all, of the DLC skins and texture packs you’ve purchased for Playstation 3 Edition will be available for use in Playstation 4 Edition. We’d like to say all your DLC would transfer but some of the items are trapped in licensing deals that are too boring to get into here. We’ll have more on this soon.

So if you buy the PS4 version as an upgrade, you can pull your files over to it, but then they are locked to your PS4 copy of the game since you can't send them back.  Again, I think the Vita version could have been the PS4 version, but then you miss out on the cross-play/Cross-buy with the millions of people (yeah, millions) who have already bought it on PS3.  I'm personally trying to remember if Minecraft has ever been on sale, because if it has and I didn't buy it because I was waiting for the Vita version, I will be momentarily upset with myself, but then recall that "who the hell thought it would be Cross-Buy" was my thinking, and justifiably so.  It's a pretty great move regardless.

In any case, it's goddamn Minecraft on my Vita.  I have literally been waiting for this for years, and it's finally becoming a reality in a scant few months.  I'll finally be able to build shit whenever I want to and enjoy the Lego Box that is the game, when I have completely and totally lacked the ability to do so until now.

Now, here's just hoping that the PS3 version of the game isn't stuck on, like....the Adventure Update.

good lord, that update was a while ago and there's so much more stuff in it and hnnng this is why I'll never be satisfied

Minecraft Vita is a Thing That is Happening

I...honestly never thought this was going to happen.  Truly.

A PS4 version of the game?  That was always in the cards.  It was inevitable.  A foregone conclusion.  Maybe a PS3 version.  That was definitely within the realm of possibility.  But a Vita version seemed so perfect, so good that it was not to be a reality.  A portable version of the game that wasn't the stripped-down Mobile version whose last big update was like, beds, which have been around for almost a year at that point?  It would be the stuff of legends.  And a PS4 version always meant that you -could- Minecraft on the go via Remote Play, but it would never be the same thing as, for one, you would have to have a reliable internet connection that wasn't 3G, which is sort of -not- something you can rely on.  It would have been better than nothing, but it never would have been a proper Vita version of Minecraft.

And to be fair, I may be jumping the gun here.  All that we know is that Minecraft in some iteration will be on the PS4, the PS3 and the Vita, but word of versions, builds or anything like that is just not present currently.  One could reason that the PS3 version will simply be the 360 version with the updates its received by now (and by the PS3 launch) baked in, and that the PS4 version will basically be the already announced XBox One Edition (which will basically just have bigger worlds, though likely not infinite, and just run smoother and such), but where does that leave the Vita version?  Given how similar architecture apparently is between the PS3 and Vita (though friendlier than the PS3 by a wide margin), it should be a simple enough matter to simply make the Vita version the PS3 one with the necessary tweaks and whatnot, or maybe even just cut down the PS4 version a bit since the PS4 and Vita are apparently a lot alike as well.  But I am ever the cynic here and this is something that I have yearned for, so I have to assume that there is a catch of some sort.

As we know there is a mobile version of the game for cellphones.  And as we know, there is that whole Playstation Mobile thing on the Vita (and other things) that a lot of people (rightly) care about because it's a very small barrier of entry.  What worries me here, clearly, is that the version of Minecraft that the Vita gets will be the heavily neglected Pocket Edition (as it's actually called) instead of...you know, a proper version.  Because that would still technically be Minecraft on the Vita and it would simultaneously be the biggest dickpunch and misdirection in recent memory for me at least.  Okay, maybe not the biggest, but a pretty big one.  On the one hand, I don't think it's possible because nobody really considers the Pocket Edition a proper version yet, but on the other hand, it's easy, and Playstation Mobile is right there and people -are- trying to push it at the same time as everything else.  This is clearly not the way you want to push it, and I'm fairly certain that the folks in charge understand that (because Shahid is awesome) but it's definitely not outside the realm of possibility.

Still, it's better to dream when you can, and I've been dreaming about Minecraft on my Vita forever since it just makes sense to have a giant sandbox building playground on something that you'll want to have on you all the time.  So it just makes sense to have it be a proper version that you'll want to sink your teeth into and build dramatic things, and especially because the Vita is a proper power machine in its own right.  It just makes -sense- to give it a version comparable to the ones on Consoles, but I just can't believe whole-heartedly.  Terraria was announced for the Vita to my surprise and wonderment and I haven't heard word one of that lately, yet not too long after that announcement was one for Terraria Mobile for Cellphones which I'm hoping is purely coincidental.  As stated, however, that's just the cynic in me speaking and I highly doubt that -both- building games that I wanted will end up being some incarnation that I won't want to touch with a ten foot pole.  I choose to believe it won't work out that way because that way just doesn't make sense.

oh yeah, a bunch of other stuff got announced too, but I will talk about that later

Let's Talk About Minecraft - XBLA Release Edition

I've said it a few times before and I'll probably say it again, but I've been fairly eagerly awaiting news on the XBLA version of Minecraft, as while I still don't own a 360, I based my hopes on -a- console version meaning that there could be -more-, and I still stand by that, no matter what Mojang says.  I'll cling to my hopes, damnit, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!  Now while the game has not officially launched, it's close enough - so much so that there are already people with the game (obtained via gift codes, legally mind you) and youtube accounts to show off for we unwashed masses.  One such example of this is ChimneySwift11, a fairly well-known Minecrafter, who already has five episodes (of this writing) of a little mini-series of Minecraft for XBLA appropriately titled "Minecraft on XBox" (Linked to the first episode since the show-list doesn't seem to be up yet).  In fact at this point, it's pretty much my only exposure to the XBLA version of the game and it's....a bit worrying honestly.

First of all, the big thing which is big enough to me to be the elephant in the room, is that the game is actually not based on the Release Version of the game.  I kind of understand this, since it was really started before the Release Version came out, but....at the same time, if you base a version of a game on anything, it should be the version that is officially a real not-beta, not-alpha game.  That's just kind of basic theory here, so I would imagine that the whole point would be to hold off porting the game until said Release Version was portable but that's why I'm just writing about games, I guess, instead of making them.  Anyways, the reason why it's a big deal is just that - It's a pretty damn big deal since the game was based off the Beta 1.6.6 version of Minecraft which was far before a lot of the 'integral' game mechanic parts came into play.  Namely a hunger bar, Enchanting, and Potion-Making.  I'm....not quite sure, even, if The End realm was in 1.6.6, but I doubt it, and I highly doubt that it was added to the XBLA version as, you'll notice, I said "based off".  Minecraft XBLA, at this point, does carry some changes and some improvements (such as the quick-shift from chests to inventory and vice versa), but by-and-large, it seems like a Beta build of the game.

This pretty much further compounds the "Is Minecraft really a game" debate as, with the release version of the game that had this and that, The End Realm, a 'boss' and a credit roll ending, the answer could pretty much be swayed in favor of saying "Yes".  There was 'depth' in the form of gaining experience that was then used to Enchant Items to your whims, as well as the potion-making that could be used to add further strategy to your playstyle, and while the NPCs did absolutely nothing, they still existed.  It skirted lines, but from the 'crossed' side of them, whereas before that, before the Adventure Update and the additions in the Release Version, solid arguments could be made for the side that said "No", and as someone who sees the XBLA version in the wake of the current version, I'm inclined to agree, as it's basically like seeing into the future from what was and seeing not only what doesn't exist in Minecraft XBLA, but what -still- doesn't exist in the base version of the game for PC.

What Minecraft really needs, and what it's been getting very, very slowly, is quite simply:  More.  More what?  More everything.  More mobs, more blocks, more biomes, more NPCs, more interaction, more recipes, just more things.  I hate to draw the comparison to the game that got compared to it a lot at release, but, Terraria released with more content in the form of unique blocks and items than Minecraft has even -now-, or if not more, then close.  Regardless, it received a lot of post-release support (which has unfortunately dried up due to the two dudes splitting up) which infused even more -things- into the game, yet managed to leave stones unturned.  (which is why I say unfortunately, since there seem to be a lot of unfulfilled developer promises involved)  There are just now more than 20 mobs in Minecraft, both passive and unfriendly (Zombie, Skeleton, Spider, Creeper, Slime, Silverfish, Cave Spiders, Endermen, Ghast, Blaze, Magma Slime, Zombie Pigmen, Pigs, Sheep, Chickens, Cows, Squids, Wolves, Ocelots, Testificates, Iron Golems, Snow Golems, Ender Dragon), and the last new mineral to be added to the game was Lapis Lazuli, which was a while ago and remains fairly useless, despite Minerals being a fairly untapped resource for the game.  (Pardon the pun)

The point I'm trying to hammer in here is that the Minecraft of now on PC doesn't have a whole lot of what it really needs, and the Minecraft of now on XBLA has drastically less than the PC version.  I don't know the full extent of what it lacks, as I've stated a couple times, but I can tell right now that it is in a big way.  And while there are apparently plans in place for fast and plentiful updates for the XBLA version, it's already entirely too far behind.  Especially with the way in which Minecraft has been updating lately, however unofficial it may be.  I'm talking about the Snapshots, of course, which are basically "the update thus far, or what works of it" that get released every week as an optional download from the main site, adding a few new things with each one, which can be big or little.  It's mainly used for testing those updates on a broad scale before the next full update includes the sum of them.  Thus, as examples of Snapshot additions, the books within which you can write from the last snapshot and the cocoa plants from the next (or one of the next) will all be in the game proper when the next official update drops, provided they don't break the game entirely.  Unless the next update (or the one after, depending on the actual time between them) for the XBLA version can match parity with the official release version of Minecraft on PC currently, it'll always be a game of catch-up and, depending on when and how that content gets added could be an additional problem.

I guess a little of the green in my eyes has been taken away by seeing how this has gone down, as I honestly can't think of Minecraft in the context of how it was back in 1.6.6 anymore, in terms of things to build or experiences to be had.  I can hardly say that it's the same game and it doesn't really matter, even, since it's....quite different and in ways that are quantifiable and large.  Still Minecraft as a basis is tantalizing for me who has nothing of it.  I'm sure if my only option was to buy a computer for Minecraft or be able to play a rather old version of it on something I own (particularly my Vita), I would opt for the latter and happily so, but that option isn't before me, so it's a little easier to say I'm not too interested in the XBLA version of the game.  Regardless, I'll be taking a look at it to see just how easily it comes to parity with the PC version, or if it really ever does.  Certainly something to watch.

Lawyers Are Awful, Notch Isn't

Now, I don't mean to put anybody off when I say this, specifically because I know going into a law career is a good idea and such, but, let's be honest here:  Lawyers pretty much ruin everything.  At the very least, copyright lawyers, since it seems 90% of anything they bring to the table like lapdogs for their pay is some vague, awful claim to appease their masters and show that they are, in fact, doing something for the money they get.  Of course, it's not -always- the lawyers themselves....but most of the time, it really is.

So, this is pretty much the story you've heard time and time again:  Company A trademarks a name, Company B trademarks another name that happens to have a word in common with Company A's game, Company A's lawyers catch wind of it and pounce.  Today's culprits just so happen to be Bethesda's lawyers, suing over Mojang Specifications (I never knew that was that actual company name.  Huh!) over their trademark for the game, "Scrolls" claiming, you guessed it, their usage of Scrolls infringes on Bethesda's usage of Scrolls in The Elder Scrolls series.

In a candid blog post by Notch, he explains that, well, this isn't exactly a surprise, since Bethesda started sniffing around all the way back when they first filed the trademark for Scrolls, demanding more information on their desired usage for it.  Notch was cool about it, since he's a big fan of Bethesda (I mean, he planned to launch Minecraft the same day as Skyrim, out of reverence, which, unfortunately won't be able to pan out) and started talking compromise right away to ease their fears on just how the word "Scrolls" would be used.  But Bethesda never really got back to them about it.

Until, well, today.  A 15-Page letter from a law firm in Sweden (where Mojang is based, obviously) showed up earlier today, demanding not only that Mojang immediately cease and desist using the term "Scrolls" for their game that isn't even in Alpha yet (I...don't think.  I have been out of the loop on Scrolls) and also to compensate them for court fees that come from.....threatening to sue them for their Pre-Alpha game that happens to share a common word with their major franchise.  At least, I would imagine that's why they want, quote, "a pile of money up front" when in the context of a pre-lawsuit letter.

For the record, Scrolls is looking like it's going to be a Trading Card Scroll Game of sorts, so the chances of getting it mixed up with any of The Elder Scrolls series are...rather slim.  But then again, I did google "Scrolls" and the previously linked website came up before anything for The Elder Scrolls came up.  Maybe that's the extent of research necessary before filing a lawsuit for infringement!  (If that's the case, Bethesda's lawyers need to get on Scrolls Unlimited and Scrolls from the Dead Sea, pronto!  Of course I'm kidding.)

I've gotta say, Notch is really going about this the right way, since he's totally right:  Lawyers do not actually represent a company, regardless of what you might think.  They're just there to protect the company from the once in a blue moon time when someone really screws around with your company's name or something, but the rest of the time, they have a need to justify themselves, lest they become redundant.  So until I hear someone from up-high in Bethesda really ration out that Mojang's trademark for "Scrolls" is infringing on their series in any way, I'm thinking the same thing here.  This is just Lawyers being Lawyers.  We'll just have to see how it pans out.