Chapter 211: Promotional Pre-launch
As the days went by, Nebula Games began to promote Minecraft. While players and designers in the industry were discussing this sandbox phenomenon, Alex's official blog post instantly caught the attention of countless players and designers.
It was simple, with only three words: "New game."
Then a video link was posted. But upon clicking, the players, initially full of anticipation and curiosity, were stunned. The surprise was truly overwhelming.
A melodious background music played and the game screen appeared. Blue sky, white clouds, ocean, trees, and a beach. In the distance, under the setting sun, a little man galloped towards them, riding a pink pig.
"Let's go to a world made of blocks."
As the narrator spoke, countless blocks formed a slide that made the little man and the pink pig fall.
"The only limit is your imagination." The next instant, the slide collapsed, scattering the blocks. But behind the Cube Man, red wings spread like capes and he flew through the forest and over the mountains.
"Let's go wherever you want, climb the highest peaks, dig the deepest caves."
On the beach, the Cube Man placed a bucket in his hand.
"Build whatever you want, day or night, rain or shine."
Looking into the distance from the desert.
"This will be the most exciting open-world game you've ever played."
The next instant, the scene changed to a huge castle.
"Build a magnificent castle."
Inside a mine full of torches, a winding railroad track. Investigate the most advanced machinery, get on a roller coaster.
In the forest, several Cube Men brandished axes, cutting down trees. You can play with your friends, build your own community, and craft the strongest armor to protect yourself.
Facing the monsters that appeared in the forest in the dark of night, the Cube Men put on their armor and charged with their swords. Fight monsters at night, no one can restrain your movements. Dig holes continuously, and lava flows from the ground, creating a dark and mysterious portal. Behind the portal hides a strange world.
There are no rules to follow. This adventure is up to you.
With the narration, the camera slowly moves towards the blue ocean, where a whale made of blocks suddenly emerges. Countless blocks form the logo and title of the game: Minecraft.
[Beta released in early January, full online release in early February]
[Price: $15]
When this promotional trailer was released, many players, including designers in the video game industry, were stunned.
Before, no one imagined that Alex would create a pixel game.
"No way! It's a pixel game and it looks like a block game!".
"What was Alex thinking? Why did he suddenly create a pixel game, and the mechanics are blocks?".
"I'm a little confused, is it for children?".
"I'm confused, and not to mention Dark Souls and It Takes Two, at least it should be Don't Starve! If not, you could just say Silent Hill PT, but in the end you created a block game?".
"Don't rush to criticize, it seems quite interesting to me and it seems very free. Especially at the end, there are no rules, doesn't it seem exciting?".
"Let's be honest. Although it's a pixel game, it's not of poor quality. Don't you notice how beautiful they are? The textures are incredibly detailed and change when they are destroyed. And although it's a pixel game, it has incredible lighting and shadow effects!".
"But that's precisely why I'm confused! These things can't be cheap. This means that Alex is not just trying to save money, so why does he do pixels?".
Not only players, but also the video game industry, question Alex and this game called Minecraft. After all, it's simply too baffling.
Judging by this trailer, only three key features can be summarized. The first is the pixel-based gameplay. The second is that the game features a monster-fighting mechanic, while the resource-gathering mechanic from Don't Starve is now a block-building game. The third is that, just like Don't Starve, this game called Minecraft also supports multiplayer mode.
As for the more detailed content, that is unknown. But the question is, what is the appeal of this game?.
Survival?.
Don't Starve has it.
Kill monsters, gather resources, and build buildings; Don't Starve also has it.
Multiplayer? Don't Starve also has it.
In addition, the graphics are still based on pixels, and apart from the change of perspective, there do not seem to be any significant changes!. For a moment, many game designers were baffled.
Based on these characteristics, they were tempted to discard Minecraft completely. But the creator of the game was not an unknown designer, but Alex. Alex, who had just developed Don't Starve and unleashed a wave of madness for sandbox games, surely would not know it.
In NetDragon's Wasteland studio, Mark was also baffled. After last year's Star God failed as Game of the Year, he had been involved in several projects this year. However, he was not the main creative responsible, not even in his participation in the virtual reality testing project of the video game department, where he had learned a lot.
Previously, inspired by Alex's Don't Starve, he had decided to create a sandbox game. Thus, Wasteland was released.
But he never imagined that, at that moment, Alex would launch another project, a sandbox game that left him a little insecure.
Like most designers in the industry, he felt that Minecraft seemed completely boring to him, but the person involved was Alex.
Considering Alex's experiences in the last two years, as well as his own understanding of him, he had a feeling that something was definitely wrong with that game called Minecraft.
Just then, an assistant knocked on the door and entered: "Mark, the promotional plan for Wasteland is finalized and the release date is confirmed."
Mark took the document from the assistant and looked at it, but upon seeing the date, he hesitated.
"As for the timing...". Mark frowned.
The promotion and launch of Wasteland seemed to coincide with those of Minecraft, with only a few days apart.
"The advertising will be temporarily suspended," Mark told his assistant after reflecting for a moment.
Upon hearing Mark's words, the assistant next to him was stunned for an instant, but then quickly said: "Mark, if we postpone it now, we won't have as many promotional resources as we have now."
The reason why the Wasteland project had so many resources this time was mainly because it coincided with that of Aether Games. But if we avoid it this time, it won't be a big problem, since the Wasteland project itself is not specifically aimed at Aether Games. The outside world says it's a mystery, but in reality, as a NetDragon designer, Mark knows that it's just a coincidence.
And for the company, it is very important to ensure the sales of the game.
But now, Mark is not sure. He is not worried about Aether Games' new work, but about Alex's Minecraft.
"There's no hurry... There's still time, I'll go find out. Help me see if I can reserve a spot this week." Mark told his assistant the name of a store, opened his phone, and found Alex in his address book.
He was going to negotiate; rather, he was going to have a round of exchanges between game designers and, incidentally, see if he could find out the truth about Minecraft.
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