Be Excellent To Each Other

The Minecraft 1.5 update for PC, titled the Redstone Update, is due to hit in 2013 and mainly addresses - wait for it - redstone ore. The update gives redstone variable signal strength and introduces a new capacitor block with one input and one output. Combining these two objects creates weighted pressure plates and pressure-sensitive detector rails, among other items, Gamespot reports.

The Redstone Update brings improved minecarts, including special tracks to unload unwanted livestock and an option to link carts together. The update also adds a daylight detector that can be hooked up to a capacitor to create a solar-panel-type device, a new ore based in the Nether that can be used in capacitors, and fireworks for New Year's Eve. Whether this means 1.5 will hit on New Year's Eve remains to be seen.

Mojang is also fixing a few bugs, including the south-east rule. The south-east rule is a glitch that affects some objects based on their compass coordinates, causing them to gather, generally, in the southeast quadrant of an area. This fix may impact some designs that exploit the south-east rule.

Report: Minecraft XBLA selling between 40K and 60K units a week

The Xbox Live Arcade version of Minecraft is selling at a good clip, shifting between 40,000 and 60,000 copies a week – it's just below Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Halo 4 in the weekly Xbox Live activity charts. As of November's end, total XBLA sales are at 4,476,904.

This is data according to Mojang itself, as reported by Gamasutra. This would indicate the Xbox Live Arcade port has exceeded half the total sales of the PC version, which reached the eight million mark back in the middle of November. Minecraft version 1.5 will be released in January.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Halo 4
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
EA Sports FIFA Soccer 13
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Assassin’s Creed III
NBA 2K13
Modern Warfare 2
Madden NFL 13
Battlefield 3
Borderlands 2
Skyrim
GTA IV
Halo: Reach
Gears of War 3
FIFA 12
Forza Motorsport 4
Hitman: Absolution
Forza Horizon

Pft. Having automagically upgraded, it sort of limits my ability to connect.

Sorry man, my hands are tied by the bukkit update schedule

Minecraft: The Story of Mojang is on The Pirate Bay (On Purpose)
Mike Rougeau

Minecraft: The Story Of Mojang premiered today on Xbox Live, with an $8 digital release and a $20 DVD release scheduled to follow soon. But it seems 2 Player Productions doesn't want your money; the production company behind the documentary has uploaded the film for free to the Pirate Bay.

Okay, they'd probably appreciate if you did throw them a few bucks for all their hard work. But they can't care that much if they've willfully uploaded it to the infamous BitTorrent site themselves.

"We wanted to come here first because we knew the movie would end up here eventually, and the best thing to do seemed to be opening a dialogue," reads the torrent's description. "We've been there. We've all needed to do it at some point. Maybe you don't have the money. Maybe you want to try before you buy. Maybe you're pissed at us for premiering the movie on Xbox Live. These are all fine reasons."

Okay, I take it back. They definitely want your money. And you should definitely give it to them if you're going to watch. "We're just three guys trying to make a living doing what we love," the description reads. How can you say no to that?

Keep in mind, though, that this may be a legal grey area, regardless of who uploaded it, as last we heard Microsoft was supposed to have exclusive rights for the time being. We've reached out to 2 Player Productions for comment, and we'll let you know if we hear back.

UPDATE: A representative from Redux, the company helping 2 Player Productions distribute the film, got in touch to confirm that the Pirate Bay release is legit, and to recommend you head to the official site to download Minecraft the Movie: The Story of Mojang if you want to throw down some dollars for it. Avast!

Greetings Pirate Bay!

This is 2 Player Productions here, and we hoped we could be the first to upload our new movie "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang". We've never uploaded a torrent before so hopefully this isn't all screwed up.

We wanted to come here first because we knew the movie would end up here eventually, and the best thing to do seemed to be opening a dialogue. Torrents and piracy are a way of life and it probably won't be going anywhere anytime soon. There are many people that want to punish you for that, but we have a more realistic outlook on things.

We've been there. We've all needed to do it at some point. Maybe you don't have the money. Maybe you want to try before you buy. Maybe you're pissed at us for premiering the movie on Xbox Live. These are all fine reasons. But if you feel that piracy is, in Gabe Newell's words, "a service problem," please consider that we are selling DRM free digital downloads that you can watch in whatever manner you please.

We're just three guys trying to make a living doing what we love. We love the world of video games, and we love making it real. If you buy the movie, you support those efforts. The reason we Kickstarted this movie in the first place was that we didn't have enough money to make it ourselves, and even then, we still put A LOT of our own money into it. Not to mention nearly two years of work.

Watch the movie. Hopefully you'll like it, and understand what we're trying to do. Please consider supporting us by buying the $8 DRM-free digital download of the movie at http://www.theminecraftmovie.com, or the $20 DVD from http://www.fangamer.net.

We've worked with a lot of amazing people in the games industry and had the incredible fortune to make some great films the way we wanted to make them. Please consider helping us continue on this path. The best has yet to come.

-2pp

Anyone currently on the whitelist can have a go.