-
And here we are in Minecraft,
on a deserted island.
-
There's a few things we need to do
in order to survive the night.
-
'Cause what's going to happen is that sun
is going to rise, and then it's going to fall.
-
And when it falls,
that's when darkness descends on us,
-
and that's when the bad things come out of the dark
at night and hunt me down and try to eat me.
-
When did I first hear about Minecraft?
-
Where was I when JFK was assassinated,
basically, kind of thing?
-
Your awareness of Minecraft
did not come from a magazine cover.
-
It's like you hear it a couple times in the hallway,
and it's like, "What? What was that?"
-
It accelerated so quickly, obviously,
that it's hard to recall that starting point,
-
because after that, obviously,
it caught like wild fire.
-
It's a very unique
success story, really.
-
In the past, you know,
five to ten years,
-
there's been some brilliant moments in gaming,
and Minecraft is definitely one of them.
-
Happy New Year.
-
Everything's, sort of,
happening at once.
-
You have this very clear, like,
starting point.
-
Yeah, I know, I took like a week off
during the Christmas and New Year's,
-
and it was just, like,
almost emotional, like, kind of weird, like,
-
"Oh, okay, all this has happened
and I haven't really relaxed until now."
-
And then when I came back, the office felt really good;
and just; the first thing I did was work, like, 12 hours.
-
Let's just start with growing up in Sweden;
what area of the country were you originally from?
-
Well, the first seven years of my life I lived
out in the countryside in a place called Edsybn.
-
It's like, a bit north in the country;
very snowy winters.
-
At least, that's how I remember;
and really warm summers.
-
We went out, walked around in the woods,
just getting lost, basically.
-
And I did that and programming,
basically my two hobbies
-
No, I've been programming
since I was eight, or something.
-
I kinda always knew that I wanted to make games,
and I said so in school to my, like...
-
...Career Counselor thing, and she said,
"Oh, well, that's probably not gonna happen."
-
Yeah.
-
That's what he likes to do, you know;
but he always made games, you know;
-
I always found it interesting
to try out his games.
-
And I was like,
"Yeah, you're a genius!"
-
I like hanging out at his place, and he would like,
"do-do-do-do-do," you know,
-
be on the computer,
and I like hearing that sound.
-
So, but, it's very much like an artist,
because he has so much integrity in his work.
-
Markus and I, we've been friends for the four
and a half years that we worked together at King.
-
And we became close, and we had a lot of fun,
and then of course he had the success,
-
'cause he left King to start--
basically he wanted to do games in his free time.
-
And while we were working with King,
we were allowed to make games in our spare time,
-
but we couldn't do it as a business;
and he wanted to try that.
-
I was sad, of course, that he left,
because we had a great time at King.
-
You know, I lost my best buddy,
my best working buddy;
-
but I wasn't worried for him,
and we stayed in touch regardless.
-
So I left to make my own games, and the first thing
I was gonna do was just gonna be, like a,
-
six to twelve month project;
and it kinda turned into what Minecraft is now, fairly soon.
-
But in the beginning, it was, I mean; it was so basic,
you can place blocks on other boxes or blocks.
-
So yeah, I got to be there
and look at it from the start.
-
Of course in the beginning, the world was more limited;
you had the edges; you would fall off.
-
I don't think anybody could predict
the success of Minecraft from looking at it back then.
-
I really liked the game from the start;
it's like a digital Lego, you know?
-
You have blocks, you can build things,
and people are like, "Oh, this isn't so fun."
-
You know, it's hard to explain;
I usually say, "Okay,
-
but it's about surviving, as well;
you have monsters you have to fight,
-
you have to build your house
and collect stuff to be able to survive."
-
So it's a bit like being stuck at a desert island, like,
figure out what to do.
-
Let's go to a place
where everything is made of blocks...
-
...where the only limit
is your imagination.
-
Let's go wherever you wanna go;
climb the tallest mountains,
-
venture down
to the darkest caves,
-
build anything you want,
day or night, rain or shine;
-
'cause this is the most significant sandbox
you'll ever set foot in.
-
Yeah, I usually tell people,
"Well, you have to try play it; you won't understand."
-
To be honest, I really didn't understand
the power of the game in the beginning.
-
I think at the point where Markus took me aside
at the office and said, "I really need to focus on this,"
-
and he told me about the success, and you know,
what kind of numbers he had.
-
Then I realized that this
is gonna be something big.
-
At first it was 40 sales for a day,
then it was like, 10,000 sales a day, you know?
-
I don't remember the date,
but when I had a million Swedish Crowns in the account...
-
...was, definitely
one of the bigger milestones.
-
And I got a print-out of the receipt,
showed Elin, joking, and jokingly said,
-
"Well, they say the first million is the most difficult,"
like I didn't expect to make another million.
-
I did.
-
You know, it's been like this process
of constantly being amazed.
-
Then like, early this year,
it got a big popularity spike on the site;
-
but I probably need to start a company here,
'cause I can't keep up with the demand of the game.
-
I called Jacob and just told him,
"Just quit your job; we're starting a company."
-
With the success of Minecraft,
we get the chance to actually do something like this.
-
I'm not gonna turn that down.
-
So now we're seven people
and we have an office.
-
It's a new year,
and it's finally beta.
-
It's a very unique
success story, really.
-
The problem is is that Minecraft
never had a publicity department, a PR department.
-
They just did it all virally
and through word of mouth.
-
And, you know,
it sold three million copies off that.
-
If you are not familiar with this game,
this game is amazing.
-
I love this game so much,
I've been watching a ton of videos on YouTube.
-
I've been playing
a ton of this game.
-
There's something really magical about
when it first came out, and nobody knew much about it,
-
and we're all learning
at the same time.
-
Have you seen this crazy thing?
-
Look at this, look what you can do with here;
and people talking about it,
-
and I could not comprehend
what they were talking about.
-
I was like, "You did what in this game? This is insane.
I can't imagine it functions like you say it does."
-
Let's talk Minecraft;
you've probably seen it popping up everywhere lately.
-
If you have not played it yet though,
we're about to school you,
-
because it's one of the best
gaming experiences out there right now.
-
I remember loading it up for the first time,
and nothing; you're just standing there with two hands.
-
And so I hit a tree and wood came out;
and I was like, "Oh no."
-
Like, I could already see the spiral;
it was like, I hit this tree and wood came out.
-
And then I, you know,
hit the ground and rock comes out.
-
I was like,
"Oh no, this is gonna be bad."
-
And then it's that first night
that you spend holed up;
-
all you can dig out is like,
maybe four squares before it gets dark,
-
and you just pile blocks up
as the zombies running around outside.
-
That moment, like,
I won't ever forget that.
-
That is a moment in video gaming
that will always be with me.
-
And to me,
that was what sparked my interest in the game.
-
Like, holy cow, this is--
I can do whatever I want here.
-
And so that's the first part of this game;
which is, you know, exploring and collecting resources.
-
People saw the potential in it,
and if you had the opportunity to play it at a friend's,
-
or you saw a video on YouTube, for example,
I think the game pretty much sold itself.
-
This is my house here, as you can see.
-
All you do is you put it in the center here, like this,
and then set a fire to it.
-
And not always, but most--
uh-oh.
-
Uh, sorry, sorry guys;
this is not supposed to happen.
-
Crap!
Oh, no way!
-
Yeah;
you have got to be kidding me.
-
You know, a lot of people
that saw those videos
-
were instantly in love with the game too,
just by watching someone else play.
-
Okay, it is time I go exploring;
where should I go?
-
I'm going to climb to the top of this,
and I am going to see what is up there.
-
I'm joining Stu, and we're in the Minecraft multi-player;
we're exploring the cave here.
-
Uh, whoa!
Jesus, that scared the crap out of me!
-
Oh my God, oh my God,
oh my God!
-
Pull this switch here
and the flood starts.
-
Plop, plop, plop, plop goes the wheat;
plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop...
-
...moves its way down here till it gets to the very end,
drops into my collection tray.
-
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!
Holy shit bro!
-
Dude you're so laggy!
-
I blame it on lag;
damn it!
-
You guys get--take cover!
They're firing arrows at us.
-
Ahh, diamond, yes, oh!
Oh my God, there's more; yes!
-
Oh my God,
seven diamond from one.
-
What's wrong?
Ahh, what's that thing?
-
It's a skeleton; I'll kill it for you.
I killed it, yay!
-
-No, no, no, no!
-What's wrong?
-
-You're jumping into lava!
-What do you mean?
-
You're being so bad at Minecraft!
You're in lava.
-
-Oh, man!
-You're dying.
-
That's horrible.
I died.
-
That's okay, Mom.
That's okay.
-
And you know, this game
had a really special community around it.
-
And I think that's a fascinating story that before
the magazines and the TV shows were covering it,
-
there was a whole community
that was loving this game and supporting it,
-
and it was really
self-sufficient at that point.
-
So that could have existed, sort of, in its own little bubble,
but then the world found out about Minecraft.
-
-All right, what are you?
-Creeper.
-
A creeper?
What's a creeper?
-
A creeper is something that blows up
when you touch him!
-
Is that what you are?
-
-Okay, you want to take us in?
-Sure.
-
This is our fancy sign;
here we go, welcome.
-
As you can see, it's looking really awful right now;
we're going to remake a lot of things.
-
Yeah, I can show you around;
and here we are in the office space.
-
We have a PC section
and a Mac section.
-
We were thinking about having,
sort of, a Minecraft wallpaper here.
-
So this is Jacob;
he's one of the co-founders of Mojang.
-
Over there we have Jeb;
he's a game developer.
-
He's sort of the first person
to dive into the Minecraft code.
-
And so over here we have Daniel Kaplan;
he's the business developer.
-
Exactly; and here he is, Notch.
I'm sort of showing them around the office,
-
and you're Notch.
-I am Notch.
-
He's the reason why we're all here.
-
-Yes, that's right.
-
Yes, I think you did.
-
I heard that Notch
was starting up a company.
-
I played and heard
about Minecraft before, obviously,
-
but I didn't know that he wanted
to take it to the next level.
-
So I just sent him an e-mail,
"Hey do you wanna--do you need an artist?"
-
Got a reply, we met up, and kinda hit it off,
I think, immediately;
-
started joking about prostituting ourselves
to elder women and stuff like that.
-
So that's it, really.
And now I'm here.
-
It's also fun to be a part of this so early,
and really be with the core team.
-
I don't know how big we are going to be in the future,
but it's fun to be here from almost the beginning.
-
Well, I started here
two days ago, on Monday.
-
I went in, signed the contract,
and started working.
-
-Welcome to Mojang.
-Thank you.
-
-Great; you've worked here for--
-I've worked here for four hours now, so.
-
I've had--got 600 followers on Twitter since Monday;
I had a thread on Reddit discussing me.
-
It's just an awesome place to be right now,
because it's like...
-
...I catch myself walking down the street,
or just thinking it;
-
you know, there's not a job out there
that I would rather have, that I would trade in for this.
-
I hope he doesn't miss and hit the other guy.
-
Punch his pal in the face
and they're all gonna fall and die.
-
-Oh, you're going to hit it from the other side now?
-Yup, here we go...whoa!
-
It feels really good, and it's very interesting,
what's going to happen.
-
We're going to have, like a, strategy meeting day thing,
trying to work out what we're actually going to do.
-
Let's do that again;
can we do that again?
-
-Wow.
-That's awfully bouncy.
-
We have to decide what actually, like,
the full version of the game is.
-
That's kind of the first step, I guess.
-
Then the next step is to do that.
-
Minecraft's a very dynamic game,
and it's 'cause it's still in development at the moment.
-
That means that it's continually being updated
with new stuff, and things are changing.
-
Back in like the '80s and the '90s
when you would get a game on PC,
-
or much more often, when you got a game on console,
when you got the game, that was it;
-
game was done, game wasn't gonna change;
and we've seen that change bit by bit.
-
And certainly it's happened more on PC
where people can patch and update games,
-
but I think none of that prepared anybody
for how malleable and evolving Minecraft was gonna be;
-
I mean, to the point
that you could buy the game, ultimately,
-
more than a year before
it was actually going to be finished,
-
and play the game as the creators
were updating the game.
-
And then slowly but surely,
it kind of, you know,
-
built attention and anticipation
about where it was gonna go.
-
So this is just like, the major headline;
some things we should add now.
-
Yeah, I think it's a bit like--
it's a weird way of making a game.
-
You just put it out and kind of
keep working on it as you're making it,
-
so it's kind of hard to say
is it released, or it's not released?
-
I try to make sure it's like,
yeah, this is not the game.
-
I'm just working on it and you can play it
while I'm making it.
-
Kind of, hopefully.
-
Should we go up with the dates, or should we just say this
will be released when it's done?
-
Or should we like, try to put up a date
and try to build hype?
-
I think date and hype;
I vote for that.
-
I think there's a difference between this and many other
games in that Minecraft has so many...
-
...so many users and so many players already;
and as we develop these things,
-
we're gonna--we're not gonna develop in, like,
in a lump and just put them all overnight and say,
-
"Okay, play this game, and now it's done."
It's gonna come, you know--
-
every other week or so
it's gonna be small update or a small change,
-
so can we really live up
to a hype, you know?
-
This is finally the finished product, and I said,
"Yeah, but it's the same product as last week."
-
What do you think of that?
-
It is--it's a bit intimidating, yeah.
I felt much more, just confident,
-
just going day to day
and just doing things as it went.
-
I don't think that works though,
if you have a company.
-
I'm a bit like--I don't really know
what Minecraft final will be yet,
-
but I think we kind of got
some kind of rough estimate, I think.
-
-The new roadmap.
-Yes.
-
We probably missed a bunch of things,
but I think this is a good basis.
-
-Oh, there they are.
-They want to film us eating the muffins.
-
-
Yeah, they announced the IGF finalists,
and Minecraft got in three categories:
-
it was the main prize,
technical excellence, and design.
-
So the main one, the grand one,
technical, and design; which is really cool.
-
You know, Markus, when he e-mailed me,
he said, you know,
-
"I'm hoping to win
some Independent Game Awards."
-
And he didn't really know what all these awards were,
but it was sort of a big trip to America;
-
really to, you know, meet the press,
and meet the industry for the first time.
-
And yeah, I think everyone then was starting to realize
that Minecraft wasn't some fluke,
-
it wasn't, you know, something
that was kind of coming and going.
-
It was building, and it was growing;
and that's what was great about it.
-
It's this virus
that was starting to spread.
-
-Hey, nice heads.
-Thank you; I have to say, it's an honor to meet you.
-
-Yeah, thank you.
-
-Hi.
-We're from high school.
-
-We just came here to meet everyone and see--
-Oh, cool, hi.
-
-It's so amazing to meet you.
-We all play Minecraft.
-
-Hi, it's an honor to meet you.
-You too.
-
-Man, you inspire us.
-Oh, cool, awesome.
-
-I gotta shake your hand one more time.
-Oh, of course.
-
-Notch.
-Hi.
-
-Pleasure to meet you; my name is John.
-Hi John.
-
-I was wondering if you could sign this for me?
-Absolutely.
-
-My name is Marie.
-I'm Markus.
-
It's amazing, and, I spend so much hours on it,
I can't believe I'm meeting you.
-
-Oh, cool.
-It's so fantastic, but um--congratulations.
-
Well, thank you.
-
-Hello.
-Hi.
-
Hello, how are you?
-
And it's fascinating to me
to see that happen, and you know,
-
see someone like him show up at GDC,
not knowing what to expect,
-
and then just have this constant deluge of people
coming up to him, saying, "I love the game."
-
You know, that's when I think it probably really hit him,
that, you know, Minecraft had grown...
-
...into something that people weren't just playing;
it was something that people were loving.
-
-Should we go on?
-Yeah, yeah.
-
Going back to what we talked earlier about...
-
How many new friends have you made
since you became successful?
-
How many relatives that come out of the woodwork?
How many lost cousins?
-
I probably shouldn't answer that.
-
So I only really just met you, but you seem
exceptionally cheerful, a cheerful man.
-
You just seem a happy man, and I'm wondering
if that is because of your success.
-
Are you always
kind of quite chippy and--?
-
-Jacob has known me for a long time.
-No, he's a total drag.
-
No he's not.
-
Yeah, I hope so, I try to feel so, but I still have
this kind of weird feeling that I don't really belong,
-
and I think it's called, actually,
"The Imposter Syndrome."
-
It's like an actual term for it,
if you're like, you're just faking it.
-
And I think it's gone too fast or something,
so I don't really feel like--
-
But yeah, I'm slowly trying to realize
that people actually do like the game;
-
which is kind of a weird thing to say,
but when you're just sitting in front of your computer...
-
...and you just see the numbers,
it's not the same thing as actually meeting the people.
-
Do you feel like you'll need to do a couple more games
to really feel confident in your own ability?
-
Yeah, I think so.
-
It's kind of weird; when I kind of grew up,
famous people, to me, like John Carmack and stuff,
-
were not really like,
actual people.
-
They were like forces of nature, almost,
that just did awesome things.
-
And now people tell me, like--
not everyone, but some people say, like,
-
"Yeah, you're the Carmack of this generation."
And to me, that's--
-
there's no way that can be true,
'cause that guy is...
-
...well, obviously, very talented in what he does;
and I just made a game.
-
And I kind of realize that on the surface
it sounds like the same thing--
-
he made a game, I made a game--
but it doesn't really feel like it's the same thing.
-
I kind of feel that all the time,
with the success of Minecraft;
-
it's kind of hard to fully understand it,
even to this day.
-
I mean, we're starting to see it because
we get so much feedback
-
and so many questions from big companies,
and people want to do business with and stuff,
-
so we're starting to grasp that.
-
I'm constantly thinking that maybe
this is just a really fragile thing;
-
that we have this attention now,
but we have no idea where we're gonna be in one year.
-
I mean, on one hand, it would be kinda cool to have
this kind of run, and then kinda slide into obscurity again.
-
I'll be like, nobody,
and just do my own thing again.
-
I think everyone feels
a bit like that, more or less,
-
and maybe some people don't even know
how to express that feeling.
-
But, you know, he's very, you know,
aware of his own feelings.
-
So I think it's just that he knows how to express that,
because I can recognize that from, you know,
-
when he started a new job, or, you know,
people say you're good and this or that,
-
and he's like, "Oh, they don't know,"
you know?
-
And really, just, you know, been lucky,
or this or that, you know?
-
I think that's just human.
-
Everybody, welcome to an all-new Bonus Round.
I'm Geoff Keighley,
-
this week, at the Game Developers Conference,
and this time,
-
we're gonna look
at the independent game scene.
-
There've been some amazing indie games
have come out over the past few years.
-
We've got an all-star panel to tell us about
what's going on in the independent games movement.
-
Although Minecraft,
you're a bit of a rock star right now,
-
Markus, with the success of Minecraft,
and all your fans out there.
-
How do you look at the indie movement,
'cause you've really sort of entered the scene here,
-
you know, in the past year in a big way, with Minecraft.
How do you define indie?
-
Yeah, for me, I think indie is--
well, there's a lack of a label for it;
-
it's kind of a concept of people
making games for the sake of making games,
-
or exploring games
as an art form, perhaps.
-
I think a lot of the large studios make games
to make money, or make games to make a sequel,
-
or to make a brand; but to make games
just for the sake of making a game.
-
Coming from that angle,
I think that's kind of the definition of "indie" for me.
-
We're gonna get a little philosophical,
because in my opinion, games have the potential to be,
-
what I call, the preeminent art form
of the 21st century,
-
sort of in the way that film was in some sense
the preeminent art form of the 20th century.
-
I figure we're about where film was in 1905;
whereas you think about it, in 1896,
-
they first filmed Fred Ott sneezing, and like,
"Oh my gosh, it's a guy sneezing, I can play it back!"
-
But it was a long time between then
and "Birth of a Nation" in 1915 or 1917,
-
where it's kind of the first quote-unquote,
modern film, where, you know, hey,
-
they didn't realize early on that you could film a movie
in a different sequence than you showed it;
-
like the concept of editing;
they had to figure that out.
-
They couldn't move the--they didn't know
you could move the camera, all of these things.
-
And so I feel like we're really,
really early in games, but I think they have the potential.
-
I mean, the way people interact with art entertainment,
whether it's music, or film,
-
or literature, any of these things,
is primarily at an emotional level.
-
The emotions that we support as games
is basically power fantasy right now;
-
whereas if I asked you to like, you know, make a game
about two people falling in love, you'd be like...
-
...I have no idea how--
there's no way to approach that problem;
-
we just don't have any idea.
And I think you see this in Minecraft, which is like--
-
the thing everybody mentions
is the huge component of it,
-
but then the game play that everyone talks
about is just surviving the first night.
-
Like, that's the magical thing that people talk about,
and that is a very human-scale thing.
-
You're not saving the world;
you're just trying not to die.
-
-It's very official.
-Oh yeah.
-
-Ready.
-All right, thanks guys.
-
-Yeah, it was good.
-Awesome.
-
-What about you guys?
-Yeah, it was good, thank you.
-
Ladies and gentlemen, the Game Developers Choice
Awards will begin in a few minutes.
-
We ask that you please
take your seats.
-
Video games...
-
...video game award shows.
Which came first?
-
In the early days of the games industry,
it really felt different than it did now.
-
Mostly it felt isolated, 'cause the Internet was not around;
so you just knew the people at your company,
-
and if you're, you know, lucky, you made friends
at the Game Developers Conference;
-
it was like the only time during the year you'd see
other people who had the same problems as you,
-
or, you know,
were in the same boat as you were.
-
So it was a lot more--kind of like islands,
like people making games...
-
...were on their own island making their game,
and then you put it out there...
-
...and you'd wait for a magazine review to come in,
and that was your feedback, you know?
-
But now it's like
everything is so instant.
-
You put a game--you can put an unfinished game
up on the Internet, for example.
-
But that would be crazy;
who would do that?
-
-Best Downloadable Game goes to Minecraft.
-Thank you.
-
And the Innovation Award goes to Minecraft.
-
And the Choice Awards for the Best Debut Game
goes to Minecraft.
-
Yeah, GDC, I didn't expect us
to win in anything;
-
I didn't dare, even hoping, that there was just--
-
well, I kind of had this, "I hope at least, something,
or I'm gonna cry."
-
Then we won like, five awards,
which was way beyond what I even dared hoping.
-
We started figuring it out when
we got to the center front table,
-
something big was gonna happen,
but I still didn't dare counting on it;
-
but then we won just a bunch of awards,
and it was just ecstatic, and we didn't know what to do.
-
It's still, like,
the biggest night of my life.
-
Please join me in honoring
Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studios Europe,
-
and co-founder of both Bullfrog Productions
and Lionhead Studios, Peter Molyneux.
-
I never believed,
never in my wildest dreams did I believe...
-
...that I would be standing out here
and getting a Lifetime Achievement Award.
-
The very moment I first saw Minecraft,
the very second I first saw it, it was like a--
-
it was like, you know,
the world changed for me a little bit.
-
What I did immediately;
I went 'round to everyone and said,
-
"Oh, you gotta go and play Minecraft;
you've got to look at this game."
-
And a lot people, a lot of my colleagues,
you know, Lionhead and Microsoft,
-
they looked at it, and--
some people looked at it and said,
-
"This is ridiculous. Where's the tutorial,
where's the challenges, where's the--?"
-
You know, there's this list of game must-haves;
and Minecraft broke every single one of those formulas.
-
You know, it is like--it is, in a way,
a social Lego, when Lego used to be a creative toy;
-
which I don't think it is so much anymore,
because it's much more prescriptive.
-
It's really interesting how Lego at the moment
is like traditional games design:
-
it's buy the box, open the box,
turn to the instruction sheet, make the model,
-
stick it on the shelf,
buy the next box.
-
That's exactly like traditional game design, you know:
buy the game, go through the challenges,
-
finish the challenges, stick it on the shelf,
buy the next game;
-
where Lego used to be just a big box of bricks,
and you used to take the bricks,
-
pour them on the carpet, and then make stuff;
and that's exactly what Minecraft is.
-
There was no instruction booklet;
but that's really what this points to,
-
is just how conventional game studios, how complacent
they were with the games that they were making.
-
And we need, this industry desperately needs
things like Minecraft to come along and say,
-
slap us 'round the face and say,
"Hang on a second. All those things...
-
...that you thought were absolutely certain in your life?
They're not certain anymore."
-
Definitely grown;
I think we all are.
-
I mean, it's an experience that I think very few people
will ever experience, you know.
-
There are few companies in the world
that have experienced this kind of growth.
-
It's very inspiring.
-
So we're kind of trying to figure out exactly what
we're gonna do with the company now.
-
Okay, so, we've discussed this before--
-
I think as soon as--
-
I sometimes find it hard to concentrate.
-
I don't think we have the grand master plan
of world domination; this seems fun now, let's go for it.
-
And I think that's great.
-
If I would have been Markus,
I would have, you know,
-
doing blow off hookers' asses;
that's what I've been telling people.
-
But seeing how he still remains
so humble and grounded in reality,
-
that's extremely reassuring
for someone like me, you know?
-
I'm very pleased.
-
Good.
-
-Oh, hello Notch.
-Hello.
-
We had a great party on Thursday,
celebrating two million.
-
Do you want to sum it up?
-
I was just gonna ask if it was good,
'cause I don't remember it.
-
Oh, okay, yeah.
Anyone else?
-
Cocaine's one helluva drug.
-
I'm really envious of the new crop
of game-makers out there, like Markus and other people,
-
who are just doing it themselves; like all by themselves,
with maybe with one or two people on their team;
-
'cause they keep the cost down, they can self-publish,
and they've just made so much more money.
-
That's the secret; when you take
someone else's money to make your game,
-
you have to give them
all your money after you're done.
-
Not that I'm bitter.
-
I think we all want to stay small, and we want to
stay in control, and we want to stop the world looking in;
-
it's very, very, very,
very hard to do so.
-
I mean, I think the perfect size for me
is once you reach over 20 people,
-
that's when it gets really tough;
because then you need to have...
-
...another layer of people
to manage the people that are there.
-
And when you can all fit in one office,
and you can stick your head up and say,
-
"Oh, what's that you're working on?" or,
"Look at this everybody," that's a perfect size.
-
But once you get over that,
it's really tough.
-
So if I was doing it all again,
I would say exactly what Markus is saying;
-
I would say, "I'm gonna stay small."
-
I don't want, like, a big office with like, 150 people;
it kind of turns into a 9-5 job.
-
I would say I'm afraid of doing what Id Software did,
but I'm not gonna say that,
-
'cause that's rude
against Id Software.
-
But I mean, their games
aren't as fun as they used to be.
-
I mean, they look better.
-
I mean, the MegaTexture stuff is really amazing,
but I'd rather play a fun game.
-
And I want us to make fun games,
not just big production games.
-
Ideally for me, it would just be like,
me and a box of Red Bull.
-
I'm gonna play dark ritual,
get some--two cultists.
-
And someone could, like, discard--
you could discard this.
-
Yeah, I will next time, yeah.
-
-What's the next big event coming up, E3?
-Yeah;
-
We have the E3,
which is basically,
-
not for indie game developers at all;
it's just about spending money, and launching titles.
-
I have to go, apparently.
-
I mean, it's a cool trip
and I really like going to the E3, but I kinda want to code.
-
Oh cool! That's why I--
that's why I recognize you.
-
I was like, do I know him?
I think I know you, what's happening?
-
To ensure we can accommodate
everyone's carry-on baggage,
-
please place smaller items
under the seat in front of you...
-
...and larger items
in the overhead bins above your row.
-
Yeah, we started the podcast in 2010,
in October, 2010.
-
This is maybe about a month
after we actually started playing the game.
-
So in a month's time,
we knew it was something special enough...
-
...that we wanted to devote our lives to talking about,
and to producing a show.
-
So we did know it was going to be
something big and something special.
-
And I forgot what you asked already.
-
This is for people who don't know;
this is where we talk about what we've been doing...
-
...over the past week
since the last episode.
-
But I've also been watching my son play Minecraft,
which has been fascinating, because--
-
Like the Shaft podcast guys, for example, I'm like,
"Wow, this is more than an hour just about Minecraft."
-
It still blows my mind; it's like, wow,
they're actually just talking about this game.
-
It's amazing.
-
So this is from Nergock who said,
"I have to thank you guys for suggesting...
-
...listening to a book while playing Minecraft.
It's greatly improved my Minecraft enjoyment..."
-
And we try to be on time, never skip one;
except we missed one episode...
-
...because tornadoes ripped up our city;
but that was the one we missed.
-
And honestly, when that happened,
the community got together, and,
-
awesome girls, too, Tory Love pulled all this information
from the community and basically--
-
it was an appreciation show for us, that she gathered
all this material so we didn't have to do anything.
-
I mean, I'm getting chills
just thinking about it right now;
-
it's just an amazing community
around the show and around this game.
-
Community is always going to be, probably,
the most important thing when it comes to Minecraft...
-
...because that's what makes it
bigger than itself.
-
It's very cool to see, you know,
people are so involved and really, like,
-
making something
that's just about this game.
-
I do think that there is something to be said for the fact
that so many people are excited about the game,
-
and they are excited to share
their excitement with other people.
-
And I do think
there's a synergy from that.
-
I've never seen
anything like this.
-
It is--it has so much universal appeal
over so many different kinds of people;
-
I've never seen anything like it.
-
I mean, Minecraft, because
it's such an open experience, an open world,
-
kind of naturally lends itself
to be populated by these sub-cultures...
-
...of machinima creators,
or podcasters, or live-streamers.
-
Yeah, Yogscast is certainly
one of them, I think.
-
We met because we both
were in the same World of Warcraft guild.
-
So we met in a thoroughly nerdy way
and ended up doing a thoroughly nerdy job,
-
which is, effectively,
playing Minecraft.
-
-That's our job, isn't it?
-Well, it's not just--video production, and--
-
but basically we do get paid to play Minecraft.
-
-Dude, there's something up there in that cave.
-Is there?
-
Yeah, it's a green thing, look, bouncing.
-
-Oh, Christ almighty, it's a creeper.
-It's gone.
-
-Yeah, those are very, very bad.
-It's gone, Simon.
-
They follow you and they explode;
don't go in towards it; it'll see you.
-
We don't script anything; we just play the game
and record it and put it on YouTube.
-
So, a lot of people watch it.
-
Good morning!
So we hit a million subscribers this morning.
-
I'm gonna go
and wake Simon up with one of these.
-
Morning Simon,
I've got you a coffee.
-
You all right?
-
But it doesn't pay, you know, super well;
you only get sort of,
-
nought point nought, nought, nought one cent
per, you know, view.
-
But because we have a million views on a video,
that actually ends up adding up to enough.
-
So it is a big audience of people, and I think we probably
do it a bit better than most, which is why we're just--
-
But we're still modest.
-
It's kind of like a journey for me,
playing Minecraft and watching...
-
...how it's changed
over the months and months,
-
and thinking in a few months' time
how different is it gonna be?
-
And I guess it is kind of nice to have
almost feel like you're a part of that,
-
because you've
experienced that as a gamer.
-
And since you're in debug mode;
-
you can just change the code and it just
instantly changes, which is very, very efficient.
-
Yeah, I can do anything; we can make arrows explode
when they hit the ground instead.
-
Arrow in ground; there we go.
-
When doing a game, it's more about
what to expect from a game...
-
...and trying to play around with those expectations;
that's kind of the most fun part.
-
Let's give it a bigger explosion!
-
There we go.
-
Oh, is that thunder?
-
-I think it's about 9,000.
-9,000?
-
Or something;
it's insane.
-
Minecon is basically a celebration
of the launch of Minecraft.
-
Do you think it's reasonable
time to do it in November?
-
Yeah, we can--
-
It would be cool to sort of do a live deployment on stage
when they deploy the one dot o version.
-
That would be cool.
-
Yeah, I will get nervous.
-
We haven't put up the site
where people can register yet,
-
so we have no idea how many are gonna show up,
and we signed the papers already with the hotel.
-
I mean, at least a couple of hundred should show up,
I think, but I have no idea.
-
It is a collaborative medium;
developers and gamers collaborate.
-
We are makers, we are creators,
and that's why we're here today;
-
because we're gonna celebrate
that collaboration between developers and gamers.
-
So I'm very, very grateful for everyone
who's come to join us today,
-
and I think it is particularly fitting
that our first presenter today is Mojang;
-
because it's hard to imagine a game that would,
like Minecraft, that would flourish,
-
because it breaks so many conventions and basically
hands the creative keys over to the gamers.
-
And that is truly revolutionary.
-
And so I am very, very pleased to introduce
Markus "Notch" Persson and Lydia Winters,
-
who are gonna show you
the Minecraft Adventure update.
-
Please welcome them.
-
Minecraft is why we do what we do,
because it--
-
you are literally looking into the future
when you see Minecraft, you know?
-
Like I said, we've always had these genres,
we always had the traditional stuff,
-
but this is the future of gaming,
you know?
-
This collaboration, this emphasis on creativity,
on freedom.
-
And it's thrilling to be able to be here and say,
"Yes, I was there when it happened."
-
He obviously knew he was creating building blocks;
but I don't think anybody could have expected...
-
...how ready so many millions of people were
to take those building blocks and say,
-
"Okay, I'm gonna create stuff in the game."
I don't think anybody could see that coming.
-
Sorry, that was
really horrible.
-
-Oh, it’s okay.
-It’s a good thing I left...
-
...because you would have been
very alarmed...
-
...that I was gonna die.
-
The fact in God games
you kind of own the world...
-
...isn’t as important
as owning your own house.
-
And that idea of building,
and creating,
-
and almost moding,
as part of the gaming experience,
-
is why it’s far better
than a God game,
-
and a game
that I’ve done.
-
Sure.
-
You’re, uh--
-
No, for sure.
-
It’s fact.
-
Because of Minecraft,
I think, it has changed...
-
...my view of what I do
on a day to day basis.
-
I still really believe
that I have got one great game.
-
You know, inside one great game
idea that I can inspire a team...
-
...to turn into a real
idea in me.
-
Well, everyone in the studio
is huge, huge fans...
-
...of Minecraft.
-
Oh cool!
-
It is amazing when
you do something like that,
-
and then it becomes this expression
of everybody’s creativity.
-
It is such a cool place
to build,
-
and grow a community,
and meet friends.
-
I wouldn’t even call Minecraft
a game anymore.
-
It’s come so much further
than that.
-
It’s a platform.
-
It’s a platform for us to develop
our architectural side,
-
our creative nature.
-
It let’s us be ourselves,
communicate with people,
-
and create things
that we maybe didn’t think...
-
...we ever could,
but now we can.
-
Anytime I get on that server,
I get astounded by the imagination,
-
the creativity of the people
that are on there,
-
and my jaw just
hits the ground.
-
I just can’t believe
what the people;
-
A, have the design sense
to accomplish.
-
I can’t do it.
-
I don’t know if it’s
just me,
-
And I’ll tell them.
-
I’ll say, “This is fabulous.”
-
“How do you do this?”
-
Hi there, everybody!
-
This is Halkun,
and I’m gonna demonstrate...
-
Now, first thing you’re gonna notice
is I’m kinda staring at a corner...
-
of a very,
very deep well.
-
And it’s made out
of bedrock,
-
and it’s very, very high,
and I’m sure you’re probably thinking,
-
“Why Halkun, that is a very,
very deep well.”
-
And I’m gonna show you
the reason why.
-
It is currently holding...
-
...this!
-
This is a 1:1 scale model
of the Starship Enterprise.
-
I haven’t slept yet,
so I’m gonna be a little loopy...
-
...as I show you what
I’ve got here.
-
So, as you can see there’s
still some scaffolding still up there.
-
So, why don’t we take a walk,
shall we?
-
I reversed 6502 code
for fun.
-
So, I have like disassembled
source code...
-
...from Final Fantasy I.
-
I have disassembled
source code...
-
...from ProDOS
for the Apple II that I’ve taken apart.
-
And that’s what I do,
I find these programs,
-
and take them apart.
-
I’ve been, I’ve been reverse
engineering applicate software...
-
...for like ten years.
-
I’m actually active
in a community...
-
...where we’ve been disassembling
Final Fantasy VII...
-
for the last decade.
-
Pretty much I’m all over
the map when it comes...
-
...to just things.
-
Intellectual property law,
I do reverse engineering,
-
I do the marketing.
-
So, it’s because I live in
a very tiny apartment,
-
and I’m often bored.
-
Um, let me see if I can find
my Enterprise.
-
So we’re sitting at...
-
8,984,531,
and I need to update these badly.
-
What are some of the comments
here that you have?
-
Nerd!
-
I need a girlfriend!
-
What a geek!
-
The Virgin Diaries,
because evidently...
-
...I’m a virgin, too.
-
Uh, I don’t think you guys
have never really appreciated...
-
...how absolutely huge
the Enterprise is,
-
but I don’t know,
this is kind of a shock to you.
-
This thing is fucking enormous.
-
People who don’t play Minecraft
just looked at this,
-
and go, “What on earth
did that nerd do?”
-
And a lot of people,
when they saw this too,
-
they saw the video,
and they never--
-
They didn’t know when Minecraft was
getting all trendy,
-
and everyone’s like,
“I don’t wanna play.”
-
“It sounds like everyone’s
just getting on the band wagon.”
-
And I remember when someone
saw my video,
-
and they posted underneath it,
“Okay, I get it.”
-
“I understand now.”
-
“Now I see why this is such
a game that--
-
why everyone’s playing
this game.
-
Before when you would go
on YouTube,
-
and you saw somebody
who modeled the Enterprise,
-
you’d think,
“Wow, that’s incredible.”
-
I could never do that,
I don’t have the knowledge,
-
of the modeling software.
-
Like I can’t do that.
-
But when you see Minecraft,
the Minecraft Enterprise,
-
you’re like,
“You couldn’t.”
-
Let’s be clear.
-
Like you could never
do that.
-
But there’s a part of you
that thinks,
-
“If I just had the time...”
-
It’s sort of democratized,
right?
-
Because everybody has
the same pieces.
-
And in this you’re making it
out of something.
-
And there’s a being in there
that is doing it.
-
Right?
-
So, it’s much easier,
I think,
-
to map yourself
to that.
-
This is Voyager.
-
There’s the Enterprise E.
-
There is the Klingon Bird-of-Prey.
-
So, we can make these ships,
take these blocks,
-
and put them in this world
where we can build our ships...
-
...with these blocks,
and then, you know,
-
wire them up,
give them life,
-
and see what happens.
-
But if you have something take it,
and try going in a completely different direction.
-
Take the seeds of it,
and then see what else you can do.
-
I don’t wanna see bigger
and better,
-
I wanna see this way
or that way.
-
Hey guys, I just want
to show you a project...
-
...I’ve been working on
in Minecraft.
-
It’s up here.
-
At least a good view
of it is.
-
This is a Arithmetic-Logic Unit.
-
And an ALU is found in every processor
because it does math.
-
When the Minecraft
Enterprise came out,
-
the computer came out
at about that same time.
-
It is 16-bit,
and somewhat slow,
-
and big,
and unwieldy,
-
but it’s implemented
in the video game what do you want?
-
I have it set up, hopefully,
so that when I add registers,
-
and ram,
probably not very much ram,
-
and program counter,
it will be a legit computer.
-
Okay, so this is the ALU
of a basic computer.
-
So, this is the output.
-
These are the inputs.
-
And these are the controls.
-
I’m gonna do 2+1.
-
I’m gonna turn that on
so it adds it,
-
and we look over here,
there’s a huge bus...
-
...taking all the values
from the end of the ALU,
-
all the way back over here.
-
So, bit wise I mean,
we added 2+1,
-
we get three,
which is one, one...
-
It can only add, really,
but multiplication...
-
is just adding over
and over again.
-
division is subtracting
over and over again,
-
and subtraction is just
adding a negative number.
-
If pieced together,
they can do any operation
-
that a regular computer
can do.
-
Okay, this has four bytes
of memory.
-
I would say in Minecraft
you could probably build...
-
...512 bytes of ram.
-
Which 256 bytes is the amount
that was in an Atari 2600.
-
So, that kinda gives you
a feel.
-
So, you could probably
double that.
-
So, here’s the entire computer.
-
Here you can see.
-
You can see the connections,
you can see the cross over.
-
You get a very visceral way
to appreciate what’s going on...
-
...inside these things
that we can’t see anymore.
-
There’s not just a disconnect
between regular people,
-
even programmers,
just usually taking on faith...
-
...that they click a button,
and now all this stuff they wrote...
-
...can be run.
-
That this disconnect can even
translates into people...
-
...who are suppose to know
what’s going on...
-
...is really interesting.
-
but there’s definitely this class
of machines we have now...
-
...that are tantamount
to magic,
-
and we just see them go,
and watch them do...
-
...all these amazing things,
and nod,
-
and say, “Okay, this is where
we are right now.”
-
And know that the chain
of us moving from the present...
-
...to the future.
-
And now there’s gonna be
even cooler things.
-
And that’s just kind of where
it stops,
-
and you don’t say,
“Okay, how does this work?”
-
“What are we really doing?”
-
I hope you guys
check in later...
-
...to see this once
I have a few other...
-
...finished chunks done.
-
Thanks for watching.
-
Infrastructure is such a key part
of Minecraft’s success, I think.
-
Because it’s a game
about sharing,
-
so you just need that infrastructure
in place to share...
-
...either your creations,
or your things...
-
...that you’ve engineered
in game...
-
...like a color printer
I saw somebody made last week.
-
To share those ideas,
right?
-
Those ideas need places
to move around.
-
Without YouTube,
without Twitter,
-
message boards,
community sites,
-
it wouldn’t have been
as successful, for sure.
-
So, I’m gonna now show you
some pictures of some...
-
...of the cooler things we found,
and people have built...
-
...in Minecraft.
-
Whoa, the Eiffel Tower!
-
What?
-
That is so cool!
-
How did they do that?
-
Okay, that’s--
Okay, that is a lot of work.
-
That looks pretty cool.
-
I would, like,
never thought of that.
-
Ooh, a castle!
-
Is that Hogwart's?
-
It is!
-
I’m smart!
-
No, you’re a nerd!
-
It’s self-perpetuating in that way
of because people create things,
-
They wanna share
those things.
-
So, automatically more people,
and new people are hearing...
-
...about that game
in a contextual way.
-
They’re not watching an add,
they’re saying,
-
“Hey, I made this.”
-
“You can do this too!”
-
“Do you wanna play?”
-
I found out through,
was it Tyco's post...
-
...on Penny Arcade?
-
I’m not sure,
but I heard about it there,
-
and my best friend was like,
“Hey, it’s a game where all you do...
-
...is mine and craft.”
-
And I was like,
“Really now?”
-
I definitely wanted to
spread the word too, like.
-
Yeah, there was an evangelical,
sort of...
-
It was at the very beginning
of the--
-
-The big, like--
-The take off of the game, right?
-
-Yeah.
-So there wasn’t a lot...
-
of material out there
about what it was like...
-
...to actually play it.
-
Like this game will suck
you in,
-
and you are in trouble.
-
And then you introduced
your son to it,
-
and every time I would go over
to your house,
-
he was playing it
the entire time.
-
Yeah, still is.
-
Hours.
-
Every night,
hours.
-
Hot.
-
I pictured him sorta getting in there,
and not knowing what to do.
-
So, where’s you’re, uh,
don’t you have...
-
...a train station
in here somewhere?
-
Oh wow,
that’s cool.
-
I saw the one that--
they had a bunch of music blocks,
-
and it played the song
from Portal.
-
He’s my boy.
-
I love you son.
-
What?
-
-What?
-Oh nothing.
-
You know, it’s interesting,
because especially as a parent,
-
you think, “Boy, I really need
to limit--”
-
You just hear you have
to limit his time--
-
You have to limit their time
in video games.
-
You don’t really know why,
and I think that’s...
-
...I think that’s just ridiculous now,
because you know,
-
what is a video game anymore?
-
When he’s been playing
for a couple of hours,
-
and I come in,
and I’m like,
-
“Alright, Gabe, I think
you need to take a break.”
-
And I look,
and he’s built a functioning aqueduct.
-
That’s no joke.
-
Like he figured out
how to get water...
-
...from one place to another
by building this contrap--
-
It’s like I’m not gonna tell you
to stop.
-
You know?
Parenting has changed.
-
We have, uh,
these nice people.
-
They’re from a real
film company...
-
...making a real movie
about Minecraft.
-
And they’re just gonna be watching
what we do.
-
We’re gonna be doing
what we normally do.
-
We’re gonna be
playing Minecraft.
-
I’m gonna be--
have activities for you.
-
You guys are gonna get
to do your own things.
-
But really just,
we’re gonna be ourselves today.
-
Kyle, yes.
-
I have always been
a gamer.
-
I still remember the day
my cousin brought over...
-
...a Pong machine,
and that was sort of...
-
...like a life-changing moment,
and I kinda grew up...
-
...with computer games
in my life.
-
Right now, I’m teaching
our Lower School Technology classes.
-
So, I’m mostly working
with first and second grade,
-
and I’m a big believer that
in bringing games into the classroom.
-
I think it gets the kids really excited
about being here,
-
being in school,
being in my class.
-
-
Well, what's your favorite--
do you like the Minecraft stuff?
-
Yeah, computer is
my favorite subject.
-
Kids are excited
about games.
-
This is where they live.
-
You know, they go home,
they play games,
-
that’s what they’re excited
to talk about with their friends.
-
It’s this generation.
-
-
Yeah, we have
a Wii,
-
an XBOX,
A PS3.
-
My older brother
has a PlayStation.
-
And they’re talking about
doing well in a class,
-
and leveling up.
-
I mean this is where
they live.
-
This is kind of where
their mental head space is.
-
And when I started playing Minecraft
this past summer,
-
I just, you know,
there was just such...
-
...amazing amounts of potential
that I really knew...
-
...that I had to try
to make it work,
-
and find a way to bring this
into my classroom.
-
I’m gonna break you guys
into groups.
-
And each group is gonna
make their own house...
-
...out of these different materials.
-
Max is off and running
making some tools.
-
Guys, I’ll make doors
for us.
-
-In the desert.
-Oh, I see it.
-
You got it.
-
You guys like the game?
-
Yeah.
-
It is really,
really fun.
-
Like, it’s kinda like
a free world.
-
It’s not like New York City
with all the traffic,
-
and all,
I love it.
-
I’m able to dream up
these different worlds,
-
and different adventures
that the kids can have...
-
...that I think they’re gonna
get something out of.
-
That they’re gonna have--
that’s gonna have...
-
...some lasting value for them.
-
Well, Minecraft is basically
another version of your life,
-
except it’s a magical version.
-
Lots of great team work today.
-
And I had a lot of positive feedback.
-
You know, our network administrator
told me really early on...
-
...this is one of the coolest
things I’ve ever seen done...
-
...in all the years of working
in schools.
-
Then the teachers who
are not gamers,
-
yeah, I mean,
I guess they would kind of...
-
...scratch their heads,
and they’d say that’s nice, Joel.
-
You know, I’m glad you’re doing
something fun with the kids.
-
But, once I would get them
in the room for five minutes,
-
once they would see
just how excited,
-
and how engaged
the kids were,
-
you know, almost everyone
of these teachers...
-
...would walk out of the room
a believer...
-
...that I was really
on to something here.
-
Not sure I fully
understand it.
-
I’m not sure I understand it at all,
to be honest with you.
-
When I first saw this game,
I thought,
-
“Wow, this is really pixelly,
and this reminds me...
-
...of my Atari 800 days.”
-
And I couldn’t believe that the kids
were satisfied with the graphics.
-
But they don’t even seem
to notice that part of it.
-
It’s awesome!
-
It’s so much fun.
-
That’s the only part
I don’t like.
-
Listening to everyone
talk about it all the time.
-
The kids come in,
and you literally...
-
...have to rip their hands
off of the keyboard.
-
It’s annoying.
-
And I love to talk
about it.
-
-No.
-Yeah.
-
But let’s remember
there’s things they can do...
-
...in Minecraft that they can’t
do in the real world.
-
I mean, I can’t drop a bunch of kids
in a forest,
-
and tell them to build
a shelter in real life.
-
And even if it’s not quite
real life,
-
they’re thinking,
“Well, what would I do...
-
...in this situation?”
-
What must it be like to build
a castle on top...
-
...of a mountain,
and try to fortify it.
-
What must it be like
to explore a jungle.
-
What must it be like
to farm,
-
and raise crops.
-
I mean, these are things
they can do in the game.
-
And then if a teacher is able
to spend a little time customizing it,
-
setting up these scenarios,
the potential is limitless.
-
Well, with the teaching,
we’re gonna go talk to...
-
...the Minecraft teacher
in New York.
-
Okay.
-
And we’ll see him teaching classes,
and things like that.
-
I mean is that something
you ever expected...
-
...would come with the game?
-
No.
-
I think his nickname is “Notch”.
-
Oh yeah, “Notch”.
-
Nacho,
you’re a great man!
-
“Notch”.
-
I think the person
would be very smart...
-
...to make Minecraft.
-
I think he likes adventures.
-
I actually look forward
to 15 years from now...
-
...when these kids--
well, not my age necessarily,
-
I’m a bit older than that,
but when they’re grown up,
-
and to have a conversation
with someone...
-
...it’s like,
“What, you worked on Minecraft?”
-
Well not really,
but I sat next to the guy who did.
-
Because I’ve--
just like you’re saying,
-
some of the games,
you played when you were young,
-
just, they stick with you.
-
And it’s gonna be that
over Minecraft as well.
-
It’s gonna be awesome to hear that
in 15, 20 years talking to people.
-
And it’s also gonna be very fun
to see what Minecraft means...
-
...at that point, so.
-
I’m very much looking forward
to that.
-
It’s gonna be interesting,
because they’re gonna...
-
...be looking back on it
nostalgically...
-
in like ten years
from now.
-
Ah, that’s a scary thought.
-
Yeah, that means,
yeah.
-
That means we really need
to do it right.
-
We have so much to do,
and not much time...
-
...until the release date.
-
And I was kind of joking
that the release date...
-
...that we’re told is not
really a release date,
-
it’s like, well,
it’s more like an aim.
-
But Carl didn’t agree.
-
He said, “It’s going to be released
that day regardless.”
-
My attempt to push it
a little failed.
-
Hey.
-
What's up, sir?
-
How's it going?
-
Good.
-
I don't feel like one.
-
It's going good.
-
I'm a bit stressed out.
-
Definite--the pressure is increasing
in the team I would say.
-
I need to finish this,
so I'm really focused on it,
-
so right now it doesn't feel like
we'll ever work on something new,
-
but I have all these
ideas that I want to try.
-
And I've actually like spoken to Jens
and he would be willing to take over...
-
...like the head of Minecraft
and he's really good at it.
-
So, I feel comfortable that he's someone
who could do a very good job at it,
-
but right now it feels like I'm gonna
keep working on Minecraft forever.
-
We'll see.
-
I'm very excited about it being done
because it's like a milestone, I think,
-
that would be really worth celebrating.
-
Like, "Yeah, now you've made
it, this game, now it's finished."
-
So, yeah, I don't
think it's sad like that.
-
I mean, maybe, you know, I don't know how
long this game will live and be popular,
-
but maybe when it fades,
then you would feel a bit sad like,
-
"Oh, yeah,"
I'd be nostalgic.
-
You know like, "Oh, I remember when
it was so popular," you know.
-
But, no, it definitely
doesn't feel like that.
-
I think it will keep
gaining, so.
-
Oh yeah, another bug, the bow doesn't
get damaged when you use it.
-
We're just taking today
as a final, like, polish day.
-
We have a few reported crash bugs that
we can't reproduce, so it's like,
-
we would like to fix them,
but we don't know how.
-
Yeah.
-
I'm a bit nervous because, mostly because
there are gonna be, hopefully reviews,
-
and those are gonna give the game
like a score and they're gonna say,
-
"No, this game is five percent less good
than the Super Mario Galaxy" or something.
-
Like here's a bug.
-
"Redstone torch randomly
burn out and never recover."
-
Okay, where do I start?
-
I have no idea, so.
-
Oh, so fun this is.
-
Oh, there we go.
-
Now that's right, correct.
-
Oh, damn it.
-
I'll mark this as
can't reproduce.
-
So you said you just
sent the game off?
-
Yeah, I put it on the USB sticks and then
I sent the final like zip file to Tobias,
-
so he can make
the upload script.
-
Now it's 20 minutes past 3
and I have one-and-a-half days to go...
-
...and then we go to Minecon.
-
So I figured I'd
play with Legos.
-
It's a bit weird 'cause
I still feel like I probably
-
should still be polishing stuff
'cause there's stuff to polish,
-
but I don't want to risk getting new bugs,
so we're not doing that.
-
And I'm super nervous about the flight,
not nervous, more like giddy or something,
-
like I can't wait
until the flight goes.
-
See you guys tomorrow.
-
Yup, see you then.
-
So, I think he feels that,
okay I can't do anything more now,
-
it's done and
I'm going to Vegas.
-
So, I think that's why
he's giddy and, uh,
-
and I started to feel that as well,
so probably tomorrow.
-
I'm gonna lock down the Scrolls
version tomorrow morning...
-
...and then I'm gonna just kick back
and put my feet up and play some...
-
...Virtua Tennis 4 and go out
and have a beer with Markus,
-
and you know, just cool down
before the trip to Vegas.
-
It took a whole truck.
-
It's very cool.
-
I mean, there's been talk
about 5,000 people.
-
I don't think there's gonna
be that many, but who knows.
-
Yes.
-
It doesn't work at all.
-
But, uh, we only have
a few more minutes left,
-
so we really do want to thank
all of y'all for coming here,
-
and this has been the highlight
for us of this past year...
-
...and what Minecraft
has done for all of us.
-
Because Minecon is finally
released, it's the end times.
-
No one thought it
would ever happen.
-
It's Minecon--sorry,
it's Minecraft.
-
That's okay.
-
I'm getting all of
your games wrong.
-
I've played it
a few times.
-
I heard you did, yeah.
-
Yeah.
-
-He's still learning.
-Yeah.
-
I guess just to close out,
I think you're obviously idolized...
-
...by a lot of, uh--I'm sure
that must make you feel...
-
...kind of weird at times,
but you're obviously idolized...
-
...by a lot of indie developers
and people that want to make games.
-
You know, they look at what you've
done as a kind of success story,
-
you know, like you went from being
a guy making an indie game...
-
...to a guy that can have 5,000 people
come out to a convention to see him.
-
So, do you have any words of advice
to people out there that are,
-
you know, trying to become,
you know, an indie developer?
-
I think that the best advice
I can give everyone is,
-
"Don't listen to advice,"
but if you are going to listen to advice,
-
then making sure you actually
do something is good advice.
-
If you just sit around planning
something and not doing it,
-
you're not actually
gonna get anywhere.
-
Cool, yeah, I think
that's a good.
-
-Yeah, cool.
-Are we good?
-
-Yup.
-Great. Awesome.
-
I'm actually not doing
anything myself,
-
but maybe I fall on
the stairs or something.
-
Music please for entry.
-
This is how it's gonna look--what it's
gonna look like when people are entering.
-
So they'll be the music on,
the lights will be low like this.
-
That's impressive.
-
-He's like a magician.
-That's so Las Vegas.
-
Everything's gonna get
dark for the HAT Films video.
-
It's kind of like how I said how I feel
the game deserves a six or a seven.
-
I do realize it's probably going
to get higher scores than that,
-
but I don't really dare hope
for that 'cause to me it's a--
-
There's so much more that
could be done to the game.
-
It's not really finished yet and I
don't think it's ever going to be.
-
Yeah, it sounds like
the closing ceremony started.
-
Yeah.
-
Well, would you like
to hear him talk?
-
Yeah!
-
Okay, so, Notch, how does
this feel to you right now?
-
No pressure, yeah.
-
It's very overwhelming.
-
I mean, the reason I started working
on Minecraft and kept working on it...
-
...was because of people playing it
and it's the reason we started a company...
-
...because there were fans, and now
we have like 5,000 people here just for...
-
...the game, for
Minecraft, and that's...
-
We are so thankful that you guys traveled
from all over, literally, the world.
-
We have people from all different
countries here celebrating with us...
-
...to be part of the official release
and we are so grateful...
-
...and absolutely humbled
that you would come all this way...
-
...for this game that this team
has been working on,
-
but now, for the moment that
you have all been waiting for.
-
Yeah, 2011 was probably
the weirdest year of my life.
-
It's a--feels like a blur now
that I think back on it.
-
So much happened and so
I can't even describe it.
-
The weirdest year
of my life.
-
It's really hard,
this summing up things.
-
You know, it's--'cause there's
so much that has happened...
-
...and at the same time trying to work and then
of course manage the family back home.
-
And we had some illness
in the family as well,
-
we're trying to balance that and it's just,
it was almost too much in one year...
-
...I have to say.
-
Let me show
you around.
-
Watch out.
-
Let's see.
-
Yeah, right as we enter, this is where,
sort of, everyone will sit and work.
-
A bar will be over there.
-
Next to it will be
a pool table.
-
Actually, we'll have
the logo on that wall too.
-
The logo, okay.
-
Yeah, and the logo
on that wall.
-
Cool.
-
Over here is the Marcus'
and Jacobs' room.
-
They'll have their own
sound-proof room.
-
Pretty good.
-
Yeah, it's gonna
be great.
-
It's really hard to,
really get your head around...
-
...everything and summarize,
but, you know,
-
obviously it's been the most
amazing year of my life.
-
Just going from, you know,
sitting in a shitty apartment,
-
you know, working on things
that I hate and you know,
-
absolutely seeing no
future for myself aside...
-
...from the few fleeting
moments of glory that I had,
-
you know, posting
some pixel art online,
-
you know, going from that
to actually, you know, this,
-
travelling around the world
meeting fans and stuff like that,
-
it's been a pretty
wild ride.
-
A lot of things
happened last year.
-
We recently changed
Minecraft's front page,
-
so it has my Twitter
account instead of Notch's,
-
so... one difference.
-
So yeah, slightly before Minecraft
I asked Jens to take over...
-
...as the new game developer,
the lead developer of Minecraft...
-
...and I left the game
and now Jens is doing it.
-
We, we sat down and made
a plan in the beginning...
-
...of last year and that is still,
we still use the same plan...
-
...because we only got
half ways through that list.
-
I mean, I think we should be
able to do this in half a year,
-
which means we won't, but at least
that's kind of a base "guesstimate."
-
I barely talk to him
at all about Minecraft.
-
Sometimes I ask him small things,
but he said he didn't want...
-
...to interfere and he
has definitely not.
-
Well it's a relief and kind of a curse
'cause I won't ever be able to top that.
-
It's a bit of a relief not to work
on something that big...
-
...because I think I've done
a lot of soul searching that...
-
...that I'd rather work
on something smaller like--
-
'Cause I made Minecraft
kind of for myself...
-
...and that's the kind
of games I want to make,
-
but now there are so many like kids
playing it and parents playing it...
-
...and I can't really
understand that audience.
-
So, it feels like there's a huge
responsibility to keep like...
-
...your child safe and make sure
the parents can actually use it...
-
...the way they want to use it
with their kids and stuff.
-
So, I'd rather actually work on something
where I kind of understand the audience more.
-
So, after Minecraft came out,
the launch was a huge success,
-
and then he handed the development
off to one of his colleagues.
-
I began to hear whispers of,
"Oh, he's just counting his money now,"
-
or, "He's not really that into
making games anymore."
-
And this struck me as strange
because it didn't really seem to fit...
-
...with the guy I had met a couple of times
and interact with over email or what have you,
-
and he seemed to me like somebody
who's like, he loved doing this kind of thing.
-
And it was, it was comforting and it was exciting
to find out that those whispers were wrong...
-
...when his next game, which I'm still not even
sure how to pronounce, was announced...
-
...and to find out very quickly thereafter
that it is potentially as insane as...
-
...Minecraft was conceptually.
-
Yeah, I kind of burnt out
towards the end of Minecraft,
-
just the pressure of releasing it and like
I realized that I was gonna move on,
-
and all that, and then I started getting
really inspired to make games,
-
started doing the space game and
it feels like the beginning of Minecraft.
-
It's kind of just--you don't really know
what the game is gonna be.
-
It's like--it's scary because it could be something
completely different than what you thought...
-
...and might not be fun at all,
it might be super fun.
-
So, it's very inspiring.
-
I'm pretty sure Bethesda doesn't
have a trademark called "Ten to the C."
-
Damn it, I pronounced it!
-
Damn it!
-
Damn it!
-
I think I could put this up now
if I wanted to, but it's not really fun yet.
-
So, once it's kind of at the point where I can--
I would get lost for an hour instead of developing,
-
then that's probably when
I'm going to release it.
-
I guess I'm kind of afraid of the fans
being disappointed with the new game.
-
I mean it's a space game, it's not like a fantasy,
chopping game or whatever.
-
What the first big chance of success and the
chance of expectation is that when you're...
-
...the new kid on the block, no one has formed
any expectations from you whatsoever,
-
and then when you exceeded, way,
exceeded people's expectations,
-
asking someone to do
that again is really tough.
-
Usually what happens in a successful
situation is that the person, you know,
-
the sophomore slump kind
of thing, or like blows it all.
-
I mean, if this was music, they'd blow it on crack
and hookers but, you know, I don't think--
-
And he's getting married and like he
doesn't seem like that kind of guy,
-
but at the same time, like stay focused on the thing
that you're trying to do and don't worry about all,
-
what I call, weather, right, like when you just can't,
you know, you can't control--it's gonna storm,
-
it's not, you know, whatever,
lightning strikes, sometimes it doesn't.
-
You know, do all the variables you can control
and that's the quality of the game.
-
I've often felt creatively, it's key to have
a really bad memory and to forget what...
-
...you did last and really start off each project
like it's your first one in a way,
-
and I feel like the trick is to do that almost
every time, just like go back to the beginning...
-
...and really treat each project like your
first project and start from scratch again...
-
...and not worry too much about people
are expecting or want from you,
-
but go back to the same place that gave you
your first idea, you know, you didn't get your...
-
...first idea by listening to some advice from
a publisher or, you know, you just kind of,
-
you followed what you love and cared about
and followed what really inspired you and that's...
-
...where your idea came from and that's
what you should do every time.
-
Great, sorry about
the coughing.
-
No, it's fine.
-
I'm sorry that, uh...
-
I had a cold and then I talked too much
and don't breathe enough and that's what happens.
-
We should probably try to wrap up
before we get stampeded.
-
Okay.
-
Okay, yeah, I think
we'll have lots of time.
-
I don't think so, I mean,
I'll talk forever, so like--
-
You gotta start
with something.
-
I'd still like you to
show us the game.
-
You guys should play.
-
All set?
-
That's a
clapper board is it?
-
Yeah.
-
Wow.
-
Awesome.
-
I wasn't even hot,
like it didn't even--
-
Shut up.
-
I'm burning up.
-
I mean it's not like we were
moving around or anything.
-
I was packed between
you two guys.
-
Minecraft--wait, it's an M.
-
Minecraft.
-
Feel free to use that
as your logo for your movie.
-
Minecraft--what are
you calling it anyway?
-
Yeah.
-
Minecraft.
-
Where do you
get your ideas?
-
There should be enough
in there to do something.
-
This guy up here.