Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Review (@GameSpot)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Nathan Meunier

“It’s immediately apparent after digging into Minecraft on the Xbox 360 that the platform is well suited for Mojang’s first-person sandbox-style building adventure. From comfortable controls and the effortlessness of jumping into multiplayer co-op over Xbox Live, to detailed in-game tutorials and a more user-friendly crafting system, this updated yet scaled-down port of the indie hit is deliciously accessible. Total newcomers to the game will no doubt find themselves blissfully swept away by the many opportunities for open-ended creativity found throughout the Xbox 360 edition. While coming to this version after spending lots of time playing Minecraft on PC is a jarring and disappointing experience, the joy of free-form exploring, building, and adventuring in randomly generated blocky worlds is nicely reproduced here.”

Check out the full review here at GameSpot.

Review: Minecraft

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Nathan Meunier

“Minecraft is dangerous. You can sit down to a new randomly generated world for a quick session only to snap out of the creative haze many hours later to realize you’ve forgotten to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom. There’s always just one more tunnel to carve, one more resource to harvest, one more tool to forge, or one more to-scale replica of the Star Trek Enterprise to re-create block by block. The ability to exercise limitless freedom and mold the game’s retro fantasy world to your liking is powerfully addictive, and this indie-developed sandbox phenomenon holds a staggering level of depth. Some of the game’s elements still feel rough and unfinished, but nevertheless, once Minecraft sinks its hooks into you, it won’t let go. ”

Check out the full review here at GameSpot, and also be sure to scope out the very cool video review too.

Feature: Getting Down and Dirty With Minecraft’s Adventure Update

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Nathan Meunier

“Anyone held in thrall by a raging Minecraft addiction for the past year can attest — these are exciting times. While developer Markus “Notch” Persson’s surprise indie hit is pushing closer to its official release in a few months, the just-released beta update 1.8 ushers in some exciting new changes to the game’s sandbox realm… and the way you can interact with it. If you’re like me, you’ve probably already sunk an absurd number of hours into building and exploring in the game’s blocky world. But don’t retire your virtual pickaxe just yet; Minecraft’s 1.8 “Adventure Update” is here, and it’s awesome.”

Check out the full article here at GameSpy.

Feature: Minecraft’s Top 5 Mods

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Nathan Meunier

“On its own, the ever-evolving world of Minecraft is already a wondrous place capable of consuming vast quantities of your attention with voracious abandon. But as anticipation builds leading up to the hotly-anticipated Adventure Update and the game’s official release, it’s tough to remain content with the limited scope found in the current Beta’s gameplay. Thankfully, Minecraft’s thriving fan community has taken things into their own hands, concocting an insane array of mods that change the game in mind-blowing ways. Riding a time-traveling pig to dino land, battling armed warriors, annihilating the blocky landscape in a Sherman tank, and taming a menagerie of beasts are just a few of the wild adventures awaiting you in this selection of killer Minecraft mods.”

Check out the full article here at GameSpy.

Feature: Minecraft – Digging Deep Into a Curious Realm

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Nathan Meunier

Once I started playing Minecraft I was totally hooked. It’s a very cool concept, and players are really taking the engine and running with it creativity-wise. I recently interviewed Notch and put together a massive feature on the game for GameSpy that you can check out over here. I’d blog about it more, but I spilled my guts on the subject pretty thoroughly in the article. Give it a read! Thanks.