Notes

The Beano's Dennis, Gnasher and Walter Join Minecraft

The Beano's Dennis, Gnasher and Walter join Minecraft By Emily Thomas Newsbeat reporter



Minecraft players must look out for "softy" Walter and his stinky pants.



Walter, Dennis the Menace and his dog Gnasher, from The Beano, can now be added to PC versions of the game.



Players can create a sausage for Gnasher and make use of all of Dennis his most effective pranks such as catapults and stink bombs.



It's part of the Beano's bigger plans to expand into digital. The mod was developed as a collaboration between the cartoonist and Frima Studios, which is a Canadian multiplatform game developer.



Mark Cotton, who is the Beano's chief digital officer Mark Cotton, who is leading the Beano's digital changes, told Newsbeat: "If you talk to any 7 to 11-year-old kid Minecraft is their greatest passion and love."



Mark says that the game is an extension of the comic and an attempt at making The Beano "a more holistic experience" for kids.



"Roughly 32,000 comics are sold each week in the Beano - so still an extremely healthy amount," he says.



But it's still far less than the two million magazines sold at the magazines' peak.



Mark says, "We are very conscious that today's children are passionate about digital."



"We must transform The Beano into a 360 brand where Dennis and Gnasher is everywhere that children are, instead of expecting that they will come to us.



"So we're working on an entire series of articles on the next three to six month."



Some of those initiatives include puzzle-based apps, an interactive comic, and an "action 3D game for children".



The Beano's publisher DC Thompson has already extended the brand's reach to a television show, a photo sharing app and a YouTube channel.



Grand Theft Auto?



The comic has been in existence since 1938, and has many adult fans. Also, could the Beano characters appear in any adult-oriented games? Dennis the Menace in Grand Theft Auto perhaps?



"No. Mark says, "No.



"We're focusing on the 7-11-year-old digital product - for the moment, digital for us is about engaging with kids and discovering their passions."



In order to accomplish this, they've been consulting an advisory group of 10 7 to 11-year-old Beano and Minecraft fans throughout the development process.



Minnie the Minx



"We basically asked kids, 'If you put Beano into Minecraft What would you imagine?'



"This was their first step towards imagining what they wanted. Their imaginations are able to go far beyond what we can do right now.



"But they wanted to play pranks. They wanted Walter, Gnasher and Dennis. They got them.



"We'll continue to talk to them. We want to expand our reach and create Beanotown so that kids can be creative.
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"Minecraft is so popular because it gives kids the power. We can't force the children to do something, but they'd resent it.



Will any other characters be featured?



Mark says, "We certainly want to extend it."



"The obvious character and the one the kids have been asking for is Minnie the Minx so that's what we'd likely consider next."


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