Chapter 218: Slow Heat
After the launch of Minecraft, countless players immediately jumped into the game. However, many online posts soon began to emerge expressing their opinions about the game.
First, the pixel art. Many players who previously doubted the pixel art style of Minecraft completely changed their minds after playing it. While it is pixel art, the textures are not excessively jarring. And with the added lighting and shadow effects, Minecraft's graphics are not exactly top-notch, but they are above average.
The only topic of discussion among players is the construction process within the game. Many players are new to this type of game. Many have never even played with building blocks.
In fact, building blocks are a relatively luxurious toy. Before, you thought that only children played with Lego, but now you realize that they are only wealthy people. Building blocks with a smaller set start at a few dollars, while more complex ones with more pieces can cost thousands.
Precisely for this reason, Minecraft's gameplay mechanics, based on building blocks, have aroused the curiosity of many.
While curiosity is welcome, currently few players are able to create a truly beautiful house. Most build what look like matchboxes or small, dark rooms.
Some players in survival mode, on the other hand, adopt a more direct approach. At the beginning, they enthusiastically gather materials and build a house. But once the house is finished, they are stunned: "Wow! What an ugly thing! Did I really build it myself? I'll tear it down!".
Thus begins for these players a unique survival adventure in Minecraft.
What kind of house is built?
Find a large mountain, dig a hole inside, and put a bed, a workbench, a storage box, and a torch. At night, afraid of monsters entering, why not seal the hole with the materials you have?.
At this stage, players officially become cavemen, entering the primitive stage of society.
After the launch of Minecraft, many game designers have been following it closely. However, its overall performance has been lukewarm. Although players have showered it with praise, it has not impressed them. Including its current rating of 9.0, this has left many designers bewildered.
"Alex's Minecraft doesn't seem particularly impressive!", they ask.
"A pixel art game, what do you expect to be impressive?".
"That doesn't sound right. It can't be a simple building block game, can it?". "Otherwise, Alex's promotional efforts would be much greater than those of Don't Starve, reaching blockbuster success standards!".
"It makes sense."
"Could it be that Minecraft has a deeper content?".
"Come on, what depth can a pixel art game have?".
After the launch of Minecraft's early access trial, industry designers were perplexed. Especially as the early access period progressed. While players have discovered new ways to play, such as creating villages and domesticating livestock, and even some talented players have managed to build beautiful duplex villas instead of simple matchboxes, in general, the overall evaluation of Minecraft is considered between fair and excellent.
The popularity of the game has also been lukewarm, depending on early access to compete with Aether Games' Voyage. It even seemed worse than the previous Don't Starve, something that baffled many industry designers.
Among them, Mark, who had already discussed the decision to postpone Wasteland with Alex. Looking at the graphics of Minecraft in his office, he was absorbed in his thoughts.
Although it was a five-day early access launch, could this game offer something exciting for the future? After all, although it was an early access experience, players had already experienced the content.
In addition, in five days, even for AAA titles, it is practically possible to complete the story by following the chained progression.
However, this Minecraft was currently mediocre.
In addition, Mark believed that what Alex had said before was true. As a game designer, with so many excellent works under his belt, he did not believe that Alex was wrong in judging the quality of the game.
So, what was so special about this game?.
Unlike these designers, who had no personal interest in the game, Ethan, the lead designer of Aether Games' Voyage, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the online buzz surrounding Minecraft. Lately, for some reason, he had a bad feeling.
After all, Alex was the one who popularized the sandbox game scene.
But, judging by the current situation, Minecraft can only be considered a decent title. He had even tried it, and he found it quite strange. It was not fun, but he could not identify what made it enjoyable.
It lacked hooks, and Ethan felt that the game's content would not be enough to challenge the success of Voyage.
Thinking about this, Ethan couldn't help but smile. Especially since NetDragon's Wasteland had unexpectedly retreated without putting up a fight. Although the company explained the delay as a need to polish it, everyone in the video game industry knew better.
Minecraft was not very popular, and the temporary withdrawal of Wasteland gave Ethan the feeling that sales were about to skyrocket.
Alex was not too affected by the various comments and continued to build his buildings calmly. However, the rest of Nebula Games was somewhat affected.
"Alex, sales seem a bit pessimistic right now!", Eric said.
"Yes, pre-order sales have only reached 810,000 so far," Jane said nervously.
Although it was a pre-order trial, it had already been running for five days and there had been a lot of prior promotion. 810,000 pre-order sales were not exactly impressive.
"Relax, everything is under control. Besides, haven't you already experienced the charm of Minecraft? There will be a big promotion soon." Alex came over, took a look at the relevant data, and smiled.
Although the popularity of Minecraft seems lukewarm, the data does not lie. The time that players spend playing has not decreased, but has increased, which shows that its popularity is gradually growing.
This is normal, since Minecraft is a slow-paced game. At first, you won't be surprised. But the more you play and see, the more you feel, the greater the sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.
And as for promotion, this is just the beginning!.
Remember, when sandbox games are first released, players were still in the exploration phase, and the fun of the game had not been fully explored. Even now, players have not felt the true charm of Minecraft. Alex is about to release this part during the second phase of promotion.
After experiencing the gameplay of Minecraft and feeling its charm, the surprise it causes is completely different.
'So, where are we now?'.
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