minecraft

Crafted lets you play a 2D version of the megapopular game Minecraft, using many of the same sounds and graphics--so much so that we're surprised it's still available in the iTunes App Store.

Mojang's Minecraft has achieved a huge following for its open, sandbox style of gameplay, letting you manipulate every block in the world. Once you've gathered the right materials, you can make picks for mining, axes for chopping down trees, torches so you can see at night, and a whole laundry list of other items.

Crafted offers a similar experience, but all in 2D. … Read more

Minecraft maker Markus "Notch" Persson wrote on his personal blog August 5 that Bethesda, makers of the Elder Scrolls game series, is suing his company, Mojang, over the similarities between the name of its role playing games and Mojang's forthcoming Scrolls card game. Today, Persson updated his blog with the novel offer to settle the dispute with Bethesda through combat, specifically via multiplayer deathmatch in id Software's first person shooter, Quake III.

Three of our best warriors against three of your best warriors. We select one level, you select the other, we randomize the order. 20 minute matches, highest total frag count per team across both levels wins. If we win, you drop the lawsuit. If you win, we will change the name of Scrolls to something you're fine with.

We've contacted Bethesda for comment, and will update upon its response.… Read more

[Update: The winner of the 2011 IGF Grand Prize was, not surprisingly, Minecraft.]

Months before popular indie game Limbo was a critical and commercial hit on Xbox Live, in-the-know industry watchers were well aware of the game, thanks to its multiple wins (Excellence in Visual Art and Technical Excellence) at the 2010 Independent Games Festival, an awards show held each year during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The nominees come from all over the map, from already-released indie games to works in progress that are far from sure to ever get a commercial release. Some are PC games, … Read more

Senior editor Donald Bell stops by, Motorola Xoom in tow, to give us a hands-on the first Honeycomb tablet. Once we've had our fill, we take a look beyond Honeycomb at the next generation OS for Android phones. Also, a pair of apps may be able to save your lost phone and save you from a speeding ticket on this week's edition of Android Atlas Weekly.

Motorola Xoom review http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/motorola-xoom-tablet/4505-3126_7-34468548.html?tag=mncol;txt … Read more

Against the backdrop of multimillion dollar AAA games and fun-yet-bite-size downloadable titles, indie game Minecraft is an aberration. The product of lone developer Markkus "Notch" Persson, Minecraft has ancient-looking graphics, no plot, and generates massive, sandbox game worlds with seemingly infinite creative possibilities, but no clear instructions telling you what to do or how to get started.

Despite that seemingly user-unfriendly formula, Minecraft's buzz is so strong the server hosting its Web site crashed this weekend under the weight of the incoming traffic. Spend an hour with Minecraft (which can easily spiral into two or three) and you'll quickly understand the reason for the enthusiasm around this indie hit.

Minecraft puts you in the role of a nameless avatar. You begin the game in a randomly generated world of textured blocks that depict a gigantic, mountain-pocked environment bounded by water. You start with no inventory, and no clear concept of how to interact with the world. With a little experimentation you'll likely soon discover that you can gather resources from the vast blocky landscape.… Read more