Important?

What is it about “important” games that makes me geek out, even if they aren’t really that enjoyable for me?

First of all, what is an “important” game? I will give you the latest example: MineCraft. Much has been said about this game. It is a Java game in which you start off in a randomized world of blocks, bare handed, with no shelter and no weapons. You acquire resources, first by using your hands to get some wood, then you can build some wooden tools, which in turn allow you to carve rocks into better tools and eventually even machines. There is no story, no ultimate goal. It is just you, nature and a bunch of horrible creatures who come for you at night. You can dig quite deeply into the earth. You may even find huge systems of caves (remember, everything was randomly generated).

Oh, and the graphics are ugly, and not in an endearing kind of way.

 
Uh… yeah.

And then, there is the fact that the game made 350,000$ so far. What?!

MineCraft had attracted thousands of people, and it is still in its alpha stage. People are talking about it everywhere. Known web-comics make episodes about MineCraft, it is, as they say, the talk of the town. And this is before you account for the staggering amount of user-made videos of colossal and complicated constructions that took weeks to create in the MineCraft world. Some of them left me at lose for words… so I’ll just let you get a taste:

From my short experience with the game, I truly believe it must have taken weeks if not months to build these, not to mention the even more elaborated constructs that exist out there. The game is not that big, but everything around it is: The amount of purchases, amount of time spent on it and the amount of talk about it all over the Internet, is huge, especially when taking into account the fact that only a handful of people are working on creating the game with a minimal budget. The impact of MineCraft on the world of gaming will be remembered, even if its popularity would eventually decline. One person can make a difference in the world of gaming, and this game is proof. This is why, even you don’t really enjoy it, like me, you cannot overlook its importance.

Links:

http://www.geekosystem.com/21-amazing-minecraft-creations/