NOISEREDUX PLAYS GAMES
  • Blog
  • Blog

Minecraft

5/9/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
Today I was playing Minecraft and my wife asked me, "is it fun?" The weird thing was, I had no idea how to even answer that question. Is Minecraft fun? I don't know. If hard pressed, I guess I'd say no. I  guess I don't think that Minecraft is a fun game. But I don't think I play ift to have fun. It serves a different kind of purpose.

I had a rough week at work. It was one of those weeks where I felt sort of worn down and needed a little time to dust myself off. I mean nothing life-altering or anything. Just a tough week with some setbacks. I'll be fine. Totally fine actually. But y'know how sometimes you just need to take a night and have no responsibility? Maybe you order Chinese food and have a glass of Scotch afterwards and just sit and sort of sulk? That's where Minecraft came in.

And so I spent a few nights on the couch sitting next to my wife while she watched TV and I built myself a little world. I called it Pandora - the first name that came to mind as a James Cameron fan. I mean, I also thought of LV-426, but I wanted a peaceful Xenomorph-free world.

There's really only one way that I play Minecraft: peacefully. I set it to Survival, as I don't want unlimited resources nor do I want to fly. But I don't want to deal with the bullshit like remembering to eat, or finding shelter from Creepers. Nope. I just want to peacefully build stuff. I want a game that's the digital equivalent of a zen garden. I just want to push stuff around until I make sense of the pieces.

And so that's what I've been doing this week... pushing stuff around. Tearing things apart to build something new. Turning nothing into something. I don't know if I've been having fun, but it's been a good way to unwind I guess.

It's not the first time I've spent time with Minecraft, though. I'm not really "into" Minecraft, but gosh, I just keep finding reasons to mess around with it. Heck, I even have a copy of the Minecraft Essentials book in my library. So I guess that means something. Or does it? I don't even know if I like Minecraft. I just kind of... need it sometimes?

So what have I been doing this week then? Well, I spent some time scouting a place to start. I had a few meh spots until I finally settled on this one area right off of a little beach. So I built a crafting table, then the stuff I needed to make a stove. And then I started working on building myself a two level house out of dirt. It took me a couple of nights. I finished it off by putting in a front and back door, and then some windows - including a nice bay window in the front facing the ocean. Sweet view.

Next I collected a bunch of sand and built a super high tower that I topped off with a bunch of torches to help me find my way home when I venture off. And then I ventured off. I went and killed a few sheep so I could make myself a bed.

After that I decided to dig down. Luckily my new home was built right atop some easily accessible mines. So I made several trips down there just attempting deeper and deeper with no real goal in mind. It turned into a loop: enter the mines, try to go deeper than before. When my tools broke, I'd take some time to backtrack and find my way back up to the surface.

It was right around this point that my wife asked if I was having fun. And I couldn't actually answer affirmatively. I'm so used to playing games that involve a goal. Sure achievements were popping but so what? I play on Peaceful mode so there's no dragons to kill or anything. Instead, I was doing the zen garden thing. Nothing I did mattered. How zen was that?

But maybe Minecraft served its purpose this week. It helped distract me. It took my mind off whatever minor defeat had gotten to me. Even if the game amounted to nothing more than busy work, at least it did that well. I can't say that I'll ever be a huge Minecraft fan, but I find the history of the game fascinating. Likewise, I think it's incredible that this game is so ubiquitous with 'gaming' as it is with the kids of today. And that's really why I even delved into it to begin with.

Maybe Minecraft isn't supposed to be fun, though. Maybe it's supposed to be something that works out your mind. Or takes your mind away from life. I don't know. Even if I don't have fun with Minecraft, I do feel like it has its place in my gaming life. And I appreciate that.

...

Ten months later, here I am playing Minecraft again. It seems like it's become a sort of annual thing for me now. I just got the bug, and I spent some time just kind of doing nothing. It's... pretty great.

Over the years, I've had this habit of restarting a new world whenever I start playing again. Mostly, because it was different platforms that made me decide to try the game again. However this time I was revisiting that same world (Pandora) that I started last year.

The reason I was in the mood to delve back in lately is an interesting one. Because I've had a lot less time to actually play games lately, I've found myself spending more time watching games recently. Outside of some competitive stuff, I was never really one to watch a lot of game streams. But I've found myself turning on game streams a lot lately with my daughter sleeping on me. It doesn't really matter what game is on, it's just something different to watch and make me feel like I'm sort of participating in my hobby.

Games we've watched lately include Kingdom Hearts III (indifferent), Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (meh), Battlefield V (indifferent), and lots of Breath Of The Wild. But for some reason I decided to check out Minecraft videos instead one night and found that it made for a super soothing experience. Again, I'm a guy who doesn't really care for game streams normally, but I've been enjoying this. I watched a dude called Think Noodles (?) work on a huge pirate ship one night and it made me think, "wait a minute... I don't have a boat in Minecraft."

So I did a quick Google search and found out that a basic boat can be assembled with some wood and a shovel. I fired up the game a few nights ago, and was back in Pandora. It was a cool experience. I was familiar with the little house I had started and the area surrounding it. I crafted a quick boat and shoved off and found a bunch of local islands. I decided to put a tower with some torches atop one mountain so I'd recognize it for future exploration and then went back home.

Then I decided to build a little makeshift spot for my boat to dock near my house. And then I started clearing off the beach outside my door. Then I was sort of hooked on the busywork loop again. Granted, I'm playing in these short twenty minute chunks before bed. But it's been fun.

I spent one chunk carving out rooms on the second floor of my house; another I built a tunnel from my house into the caves below. It's certainly not the most compelling video game experience out there. But it is relaxing and a good way to unwind.
0 Comments

    Games

    All
    Aladdin
    Aliens: Fireteam Elite
    Animal Crossing: New Horizons
    Arena Of Valor
    Arise: A Simple Story
    Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon
    Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night
    Boxboy + Boxgirl
    Bravely Default II
    Bulletstorm
    Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
    Call Of Duty: Black Ops II
    Castlevania
    Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
    Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
    Chorvs
    Contra
    Crash Bandicoot Warped
    Crystal Crisis
    Crystalis
    Dead Cells
    Destiny
    Destiny 2
    Diablo III
    Dishonored 2
    Doom (2016)
    Double Dragon IV
    Dragon Quest
    Dragon Quest XI
    Dr. Mario
    Elden Ring
    FIFA 18
    Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
    Final Fantasy Type-0
    Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon And The Blade Of Light
    Fire Emblem: Three Houses
    Fortnite
    Forza Horizon 5
    Friday The 13th: The Game
    Ghouls N Ghosts
    Grand Theft Auto V
    Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
    Guardians Of The Galaxy: The Telltale Series
    Gunstar Heroes
    Halo Wars 2
    Hearthstone
    Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity
    Ice Hockey
    Islanders
    Layers Of Fear
    Life Force
    Life Is Strange
    Lightseekers
    Madden NFL 18
    Mega Man 5
    Mega Man X
    Mega Man X2
    Mendel Palace
    Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
    Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
    Metroid
    Mighty No 9
    Minecraft
    Monster Hunter Rise
    Monster Hunter World
    Monster World IV
    Overwatch
    Paladins
    Paper Mario: The Origami King
    Phantasy Star II
    Phoenix Point
    Plants Vs Zombies 2
    Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu
    Puyo Puyo Tetris
    Radiant Silvergun
    Railway Empire
    Red Dead Redemption
    Red Dead Redemption II
    Rocket League
    Rygar
    Shadowrun Returns
    Slay The Spire
    SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy
    Splatoon 2
    Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
    Super Castlevania IV
    Super Mario Bros
    Super Mario Bros 3
    Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
    Super Mario Galaxy
    Super Mario Maker 2
    Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
    Super Metroid
    Super Smash Bros Ultimate
    Tales Of Vesperia
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
    Tetris 99
    Tetris Effect
    The Legend Of Zelda
    The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
    The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening
    The Quarry
    The Walking Dead
    Toejam & Earl
    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
    Triggerheart Exelica
    Tunic
    XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen
    Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link

    Archives

    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    September 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    March 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    May 2012
    February 2011
    May 2010
    August 2008
    November 2007
    May 2006
    February 2004
    October 2003
    September 1999
    October 1998
    May 1998
    October 1995
    January 1995
    April 1994
    January 1994
    November 1993
    September 1993
    August 1993
    December 1992
    December 1991
    October 1991
    October 1990
    September 1990
    July 1990
    May 1990
    April 1990
    March 1990
    February 1990
    August 1989
    December 1988
    March 1988
    February 1988
    August 1987
    May 1987
    October 1986
    June 1986
    October 1985

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.