Minecraft reaches Beta status (Pixel Art Idea Building Enthusiasts Rejoice!)
December 20th 2010, the popular indie hit Minecraft has entered Beta! For those of you that have been stuck under a rock for the past year and a half. Minecraft started in Development May 10th 2009. With infiniminer as it’s inspiration, Minecraft’s creator, Markus Persson has single handedly(until recently) developed his game to be the smash hit it is today. At the time of writing this article, there are 2,587,175 registered accounts… Of these accounts 846,254 are Paid Alpha accounts… At 10Euros an alpha account. The amount of money is pretty staggering… But with his constant updates and the game’s addicting game-play, he deserves it.
Now with the introductions out of the way, Minecraft has reached beta! All Alpha purchasers rejoice! All future updates and expansions are free for all Alpha accounts; Notch promised and is true to his word! As for those of you without an Alpha account… Sorry guys, its 15 Euros now and a Beta account only covers all updates up till release; all patch fixes will be free of course. Now if you fail to purchase a Beta account and wait till release, you will be shelling out a good 20 Euro for it.
Now for the meat and potatoes of the article! Welcome to Beta! Minecraft has come a long way from Classic to Alpha to Beta. In classic we had randomly generated terrain, unlimited build, flying hacks and servers dedicated to awesome pixel and block art. I mean really, really, REALLLY good pixel and block art. Just do a quick search for Minecraft Pixel Art or Minecraft Earth on youtube and prepare to be blown away.
Minecraft alpha brought us a fixed up survival, improved graphics, Monsters, New Blocks, Fishing, Smelting, Crafting, Weapons, and so much more! I mean, the differences between Classic and Alpha are ridiculous. It’s almost like an entirely different game.
Recently introduced is the Hell level called The Nether. In this side world there are new enemies and blocks that can’t be found anywhere else. One of these blocks has the ability to BURN FOREVERRRRRRR. Which is a great idea and all, unless you happen to have some trees or wooden items nearby… Then bad things happen! D:.
As stated earlier, The Nether also houses some fearful new enemies. The most feared is the dreaded Ghast, capable of throwing fireballs from long distances. There a very few instances where someone was actually able to bring one down. There have been a few reset-ed worlds because a Ghast accidently found its way out of The Nether and set everything on fire/destroyed it… also… SPOILER ALERT… Pig-Zombies!!!... I’m not kidding.
Who knows what beta will bring! Personally, I’m looking forward to it all.
Other Minecraft Links
- Minecraft Review: Difference Between Classic and Alpha.
A Minecraft Review, going over Classic and Alpha. - Minecraft Journal 1: Of Lava, Creepers, and Lanterns.
Minecraft Journal 1: Of Lava and Creepers. First Minecraft Journal, telling tales of Lava and waves of horrifying creepers. - Minecraft
Minecraft Homepage... If for some reason you absolutely cannot find it.