Task / Minecraft Mini Essay

Mini Essay

Q) How do converging platforms, distribution methods and increasing interactivity give Minecraft fans new experiences?

Converging platforms, distribution methods and increasing interactivity of Minecraft can give a fan a whole new experience to the game. An example would be cross platforming.

Minecraft was created in 2009 by a man called Markus Persson, most commonly known as 'Notch'. Notch started the game off with the help of his independent company Mojang. Minecraft begun to rise with 1000 sales within 24 hours which led to workers at Mojang were being paid $250,000 a day. Come 2014 Notch agreed to sell Minecraft, as the start of his EULA agreement (rules set by a gaming company about what the user can do with it, e.g. what sort of mods they can create). So players were no longer allowed to sell off their own mods, Notch felt as if this could protect against viruses but some people did make business off this so negativity started to spiral. Twitter users started sending hate towards Notch, then jokingly he sent a tweet saying he would sell Minecraft and Mojang off. He received offers, but accepted Microsoft's offer as it was the fastest and most realistic offer and he also worked with them prior. Microsoft takes over Mojang turning it into one of Microsoft's many subsidiaries.

Cross-platforming is when players are able to play the same game but across different platforms. For example I could be playing a game of Minecraft on my phone while another player in this game can be playing from another device like an Xbox. Microsoft is considered to be the first media company to release cross platform gaming. During 2017 Microsoft released an update for Minecraft called The Better Together update, this update enables players to play together from different platforms such as Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mobile devices etc. There was only one console that didn't condone to the update and that was PS4. The main reason PS4 didn't want to join in on the better together update was the issue of bullying. Due to this new world of cross-platforming and the mass amount of consoles and players involved there isn't much control on what goes on in the game. There are key areas of concern for child protection as Minecraft has a very young audience and once the game operates across different platforms there are fewer checks and procedures for reporting. But as there are disadvantages, there are benefits; converging the different platforms does offer a solid consistent experience to the game and attracts more players overtime it also gives Microsoft some kudos for being the first to attempt this idea of converging all platforms.

Synergy refers to the advertising of two or more products which are linked. Convergence refers to the crossing over of two or more technologies/platforms. There's a difference, synergy is about selling convergence is about anything coming into the media. Synergy is relevant in media because different conglomerate or different companies work together to promote a linked product. Minecraft has many different ways it uses synergy, for example the Minecraft movie which is set to be released this year. We also have Minecraft legos, which gives fans of Minecraft a more human experience. The legos were developed by Lego's cusoo platform (this is where fans of Lego can request legos of their choice).

Some say that the relationship between media products and their audience can either be pessimistic or optimistic. There are theorists that suggest that they very firmly take the attitude that the media is more powerful than the audience. This group of theories sees the media as powerful and the audience as weak or passive. There are other audience theories that make the audience seem more active but effect theories show the audience to seem quite weak. In 1972 Stanley Cohen published a book called ''Folk Devils and Moral Panics'. The moral panics theory suggests that the media creates a culture of fear and panic around an issue current in society. So taking this into account with Minecraft, the issue of bullying is big and due to the fact that there are many different players online many of which are strangers, causes panic within parents of younger children playing the game as they would probably think that their child might be getting bullied online. On the other hand we have a more positive audience reaction with Henry Jenkin's theory on Fandom, this suggests that an individual can become a 'fan'. Fans follow their object of admiration sometimes obsessively or blindly. His 1992 book called Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture, the poacher part meaning the fans steal the story, they don't just watch they take part. They do something with it. Textual Poachers they can extend narratives outside of Storyworlds, they can write fan-fictions or video tributes. Textual poachers can exist within Minecraft as well; e.g. Minecon, which was a Minecraft con created by fans of the game another version of textual poaching can be seen on Youtube by youtubers such as Stampylongnose and Dan TDM who create video compilations/skits/walkthroughs of Minecraft. Participatory Culture in which audiences are active and creative consumers rather than passive consumers. Jenkins describe the collaborative audience interaction as collective intelligence.

To conclude converging platforms, distribution methods and increasing interactivity can give users of Minecraft a whole new immersive experience.