Notes

Mini-minecraft more than A Carbon Copy

Despite punching well above its weight in fields of music, film and literature, one part of popular culture where New Zealand has traditionally struggled to make a global impact is the video game market. The list of Kiwi games that have gained international recognition is shockingly small and includes only Sidhe Interactive's rugby games in Wellington and 1995's Megadrive classic Super Skidmarks.



With contemporary, mass-market games involving multimillion-dollar budgets and the backing of international publishers with deep pockets, it's nearly impossible for start-ups to gain a foothold, particularly for console titles released via the off-the-shelf retailers. With limited choices for local developers are concerned, programmers with an innovative idea have looked towards mobile gaming as a means to break into the industry.



Hawke's Bay developer David Frampton is at the leading edge of this new wave of digital entrepreneurs. He's an App Store enthusiast already, having made his mark with Chopper and its imaginatively named sequel Chopper 2. Frampton made headlines earlier in the month with an app that received more than a million downloads in three days. It became the number. number one iPad application in 15 countries.



The Blockheads does not have a story, a narrative structure or a general objective. It's actually difficult to pinpoint on what the "point" of the game is. ROBINSON IS BACK There's no princess to save or an alien invasion to defeat or storyline to unravel, there's no high score to beat or an end-of-level boss to defeat. The game is free-form and allows you to explore and develop. This blank, open-ended approach lets you create what you will, take things at your own speed and let your imagination take over.



Although your muted protagonist has no personality per se You'll soon be caring about the cube-headed character because their mood is an integral part of the game.



If they spend too much time exploring and aren't in a position to sleep or eat enough. This will make them hungry and exhausted. You'll have to find sources to build shelters and food. Beginning with basic hut-like structures as you explore more of the vast virtual world you'll discover materials that will permit you to construct more advanced tools and construct huge palaces.



The game is completely free to play however, its addictive nature makes it a great choice for the "freemium" model that a lot of mobile games employ. If you are patient enough to wait for your blockhead's completion of tasks like building, mining, or sleeping, then you don't need to spend any money. However, you can invest in the game's currency called "time crystals", to speed up the process and build more complex items.



With all this talk of mining and crafting, it would be impossible to discuss The Blockheads without mentioning the elephant in the room, which is another idea of an one-man band indie programmer, Markus "Notch" Persson's phenomenally successful Minecraft. It's not difficult to see that the two games have many things in similarity, from the quirky, lo-fi graphics to the focus on resource collection, exploration and creative expression.



When the Nelson Mail's Adam Roberts interviewed Frampton earlier this month, online commenters were quick to highlight the striking similarities between the two games, implying and suggesting that The Blockheads was little more than an "Minecraft copycat".



While it's understandable that people would jump to that conclusion, and there's no doubt that Notch's game served as an obvious as an inspiration on some level for Frampton There's more to The Blockheads than some of the other copy-cat cash in shovelware that finds its way on to the App Store.



It's also unjust and unwise to rely on the similarity between two games to establish plagiarism. Video games, more so than any other form of entertainment are built on the previous work.



As technology improves and trends become more popular, developers will continue to improve and improve their "work" and get inspiration from the latest games. As Space Invaders led to a wave of space shooters Super Mario Bros set the trend of side-scrolling platformers and Gears of War opened the floodgates to cover-based shooters, the unprecedented success of an indie blockbuster like Minecraft will inevitably cause ripples within the industry. It's not plagiarism, it's advancing.



If you're an avid Minecraft fan and you're a Minecraft fan, then you're bound to love The Blockheads but it's more than just a copy of. While Minecraft is best played using keyboard and mouse, The Blockheads' 2-D approach to the sandbox genre is perfectly suited for the mobile format, and its touchscreen controls are well implemented and intuitive.



It's exciting to see an Kiwi developer making waves within gaming's fastest-growing industry. With three wins under his under his belt, it will be interesting to see what Frampton's Majic Jungle Software creates and creates next.



The Blockheads (iPad, iPhone) Majic Jungle Software. Play for no cost.


My Website: https://therobinsonsmusic.net/