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The Minecraft-Valve Conspiracy – Digging For Evidence

ekhudson — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:52:46 +0000

If you’re like me and you got hooked on Minecraft during the rampant upswing following the obscure indie darling being lauded on the Team Fortress 2 Blog, you may also have started frequenting the Minecraft Forums or the personal blog of its creator, Markus Persson (a.k.a Notch) to keep current with the near-weekly game updates. That constant update schedule is currently being interrupted, however, as Persson flys to Bellevue, Washington for a mysterious meeting with “men in suits”. Many on the Minecraft Forums have already reached the foregone conclusion that Persson is being flown out to speak directly with Valve (which just happen to be based in Bellevue), possibly so they can hire him to make Minecraft a Valve product, a prospect currently polarizing the Minecraft community.

While the evidence is already stacked largely in favour of a Minecraft-Valve partnership, there’s one more piece that’s been overlooked. In late 2005, Valve was still revelling in the success of Half Life 2’s, and looking toward future projects. Before Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress 2 subsequently took the spotlight, however, Valve was already forming an idea for their next franchise, and that franchise was going to be something completely new:

In comments made at the 2005 Digital Interactive Entertainment Conference in Kyoto, Japan, Robin Walker, Valve’s Design Manager, stated that the company is working on “cooperative building games.” Walker stated that an example would be “[building] something like a space ship or a machine with people online instead of shooting and killing each other.”

Source: IGN, December 5, 2005

While the description of “cooperative building games” in 2005 seemed vague and foreign, after playing Minecraft (particularly its Multiplayer component) one begins to see exactly what a “cooperative building game” could be. Furthermore, after the recent surge in sales due to exposure, one can see how successful a “cooperative building game” could be. It seems Persson has either hit upon exactly what Valve was planning for their next game, or he’s beaten them to the punch, so to speak, in getting a “cooperative building game” to the market. Valve is probably banking on Persson joining their team so they can polish Minecraft up and take its popularity into the stratosphere.

The TF2 Blog post then served two purposes; first, it has put them in Persson’s good books (who wouldn’t love someone who just gave you tens of thousands of dollars and enormous exposure for your work?). But more than that, if Valve’s gamble pays off and Persson falls under their wing, that post was a simple yet brilliantly shrewd investment in a future property.

That was apt…

ekhudson — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:16:46 +0000

So here I am, sitting in Starbucks; long the bastion against free wifi, but now merely the internet connection closest to my office where I may hunker down with a cup of sub-par brew and hastily peck away on my opus during the lunch hour.

I took a secluded seat near the window, where I may enjoy the sights of Denman while I work, and immediately attempted to log in to the network. After three messages telling me that a connection could not be established, I slumped back in my chair, defeated.

Suddenly I heard a peeling sound, as of the lid of yogurt cup being opened. I glanced to my side to see, tumbling from the window like a dead leaf, the sticker proclaiming “Free Wifi”. It flopped to the ground by my bag.

So, Starbucks, I suppose it was a good run while it lasted.

Alright, Enough Already!

ekhudson — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:57:41 +0000

I’m normally content to allow everyone their opinion on a film. But Goddamn! This outpouring of admiration for Predators needs to stop. Immediately. The key thing that people are coming away most pleased with is the film’s ‘homage’ to the original. However, I contend that when easily more than half of what makes up your movie is lifted directly from its predecessor, it then ceases to be homage and shows its true colours as a mere adolescent retelling of that movie you saw when you were a kid. The only truly refreshing aspect of this movie is Laurence Fishburne’s performance, though he’s almost too wacko (goofy wacko, in fact) to be considered part of the film’s universe. Then, ten minutes after you’re thinking you’re ready to see more of that!, they kill him.

If Predator was a gorilla of a movie, Predators is a hokey ape-suit, handmade by a twelve year old.