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title: "\n    It's a Great Idea but you might not have Heard of It."

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<h1>
    It's a Great Idea but you might not have Heard of It.</h1>
    <html><body><p><p><br/> This post actually started out as a long email to a group of researchers I work with who research user experience, specifically with families (they're the people who did the fun Nokia/Sesame Street-related things). I thought about the email this morning and realized there was no reason not to publish it here, too as I find it really fascinating.<br/></p><br/><p><br/> My nine year old son Alex had a play date recently at our home After a while, he wanted to show his friend Minecraft Pocket Edition, which I just got for our iPads (we each have one, my best investment so far in his education). We played for a few hours on Saturday making virtual castles and underground hideouts and more. and it was very enjoyable.<br/></p><br/><p><br/> If you haven't heard of it, Minecraft is an independently developed block-building-slash-survival game that hit it big over the last year, and they just came out with a tablet version a few weeks ago for both Android and iPad. The tablet version of Minecraft is a lighter version. There's no zombies, fighting and so on. as in the PC version, just the ability to build stuff. At first , I was not going to buy the iOS version as it cost $7 on the iPad however, Google has been promoting apps for Android and Minecraft was on sale for only 10 cents so I decided to purchase it for my Motorola Xoom (which I use mostly for testing). It was at this point that I discovered how much fun the game was! I then purchased the iPad version and Alex and I have had a blast playing with it since.<br/> <a href="https://alusky.xyz/">Online servers</a> </p><br/><p><br/> Although I wasn't sure if Alex's friend would be interested, it was an enormous success. And because the Android and iPad versions are compatible, we were all able to jump into the same world using all three tablets at once. We spent two hours in the living room with our respective tablets, creating amazing things individually and together and then hopping around the virtual world to see what the other players had built. There were no puzzles or challenges or blasting bad guys, and no tackling them. It was just pure virtual creation.<br/></p><br/><p><br/> There are so many parts of this experience which I consider to be pretty unique:<br/></p><br/><p><br/> - Minecraft PE isn't a 'game in the traditional sense, simply a sandbox. Minecraft PE is a sandbox, similar to Lego blocks, but better because you actually create the world you're creating. - The interface is so simple, anyone can play and enjoy the game without prior experience. This isn't the norm for video games or virtual worlds. It's amazing how quickly you can go from building a little tunnel or shack, to wanting to clear 10 virtual acres of land to build the biggest castle ever. It was amazing to see the boys get ahead of themselves and then slow down, encourage each one another and more. - The social aspect of sharing what you've built is really compelling - however, I had to remind both kids at times to look at what the other one was working on, as they were so engaged in their work that they didn't want to stop. There were many 'Oh! Cool! I'd like to help! Visit my work! This is the first time that this such a lesson has come up when playing any type of game I've seen. - Being able join in with the boys and guide them was fantastic. This was in the form of fresh ideas or getting lost. One boy tunneled all of the way to the virtual world's borders and was unable to find his way back. Cross platform compatibility - even though it may seem obvious, it was crucial factor in all of the above. The boys eventually found a game called Hide and Go Seek. This, when you consider that you can create your own endless tunnels, was quite amusing.<br/></p><br/><p><br/> It was fascinating to watch the boys jump into the game, create new stuff, and have fun together. It was a bit odd that with all of us heads down on our own device the experience isn't as personal, it was far superior to playing a co-op video game where you all play in one direction communicating with grunts and occasional elbows. Instead, we were comfortably lounging around the living room, and we would look up and chat with each other, leaning over to see what the other was doing, etc. This was a more normal social experience than a shared-screen one.<br/></p><br/><p><br/> It's been a while since I'm amazed by how advanced tablet computers are. Touch can make UIs easy to use and intuitive and the tablet's shape is able to easily integrate into social settings without imposing barriers like gaming consoles or laptops.<br/></p><br/><p><br/> I think this is just another compelling example of how much of a technological advancement tablets really represent. Tablets aren't a third-party computing system that is oddly related to the mobile phone and PC, but it's obvious that tablets will be the dominant computing device in the near future. They could be referred to as mobile OSes or PCs with touch interfaces however, they are the form factor we have been waiting for for decades.<br/></p></p></body></html>
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