
Minecraft arrives on the Nintendo Switch - denchikceo
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/12/minecraft-arrives-on-the-nintendo-switch/
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SurrealSoul
I just picked it up last night, its pretty weird to think that this game I
bought way back in 2010 is still relevant. Indie hits like super meat boy and
limbo came out in 2010, Triple As like God of War 3 and Fallout NV. But this
java applet somehow has outlived them all. There arn't many 8 year old+ games
that still have this much traction.

I wonder how it holds onto it's user base, or was it just dumb blind luck that
it hit big with the youtube boom

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Fej
Minecraft isn't just a game anymore. It is a cultural touchstone. An entire
generation has been introduced to video games through Minecraft.

Furthermore, the gameplay effectively can go on forever. Especially with mods
on PC, there are very few limits to what can be done. Entire separate games
(e.g. Hunger Games mod) have been implemented.

Also, it's one of the best-selling games of all time. That helps. No one bats
an eye when, say, Puyo Puyo Tetris gets released and ported. (Yes, I just
compared Minecraft to Tetris.)

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seccess
> An entire generation has been introduced to video games through Minecraft.

Absolutely, but I would take it one step farther. Minecraft has introduced
them to concepts beyond only video games: architecture, circuit design, and
people management, to name a few.

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bananicorn
>or up to four can play together in a split-screen view on the TV from a
single console

I didn't even expect that, honestly.

Also I wonder if minecraft still runs java underneath - probably yes, but you
never know.

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ungzd
Why Java doesn't work on Nintendo Switch? Only for political reasons
(forbidden by Nintendo)? They fear JIT or GC?

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webkike
GC is the killer of hard real time constraints

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ungzd
Why then Minecraft works perfectly on PC (even worked perfectly in 2009)?

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webkike
I personally never checked the fps when playing Minecraft but Minecraft was
not extremely computationally intensive. Despite that they still needed to
port it to a non GC language to get it running on phones

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favorited
Beyond just getting it running on phones, C++ is the industry standard for
cross-platform games.

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hfourm
Cool, maybe they can make some more so people can actually get them

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alanfalcon
I was able to find one at Wal Mart and two at Target using iStockNow.com. The
only store it seemeed to have issue with properly tracking was GameStop. (For
the record, I only bought one of those three, I'm not interested in scalping.)

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nilkn
I've tried to play the iPad and iPhone portable versions of Minecraft, and
only having touch-screen input just didn't cut it for me.

The Switch has real gaming inputs, and I think that's going to make a huge
difference in the basic comfort and playability of the game.

~~~
SimeVidas
I’ve stopped playing Zelda on my TV completely. The handheld mode is just so
good. I can’t believe that I have no complaints! This is going to be big for
Minecraft.

