Primitive Coding: Minecraft Busts Out A New Block

On the face of it, "game adds new block type" might not seem a big deal. When that game is Minecraft though, and that block is a fully-programmable one that lets server admins take control of their worlds, things get interesting very, very quickly.

Revealed by Jens Bergensten on his Twitter, this new block is primarily aimed at adventure worlds. Admins are the only ones who can place them, and imbue them with scripts - the basic example being handing a player 500 points for accomplishing something. That may sound simple, but lest we forget, this is the game whose playerbase routinely does stuff like recreating the whole of Westeros. You just know we're going to see some impressive stuff here, especially when you factor in mods and groups of players willing to play by the rules of stuff like a Hunger Games recreation instead of having to be forced to be nice by a computer.

Hmm. Until people start playing with it, there's not a lot else to say. So... semi-related, did anyone else ever feel slightly unnerved by that oddly dystopian Blockbusters intro? Seriously. An entire planet apparently on the brink of being annihilated by a supernova, seeking temporary solace at The Hot Spot, before returning to lives of being crushed by the all-consuming Blockbusters Corporation. A world of inequality, where two against one is not merely encouraged, but the law. Where giant shrieking hexagons attack out of nowhere, blocking any hope for freedom. A city where humour begins and ends with smirking while asking "Can I have a P please, Bob?" and is followed by savage beatings and life-long imprisonment in a gigantic hive on the orders of mighty Zeus, King of the Olympian Summer Games Gods. Truly, it is the Sodom and Gomorrah of pointless trivia; the Sin City of light entertainment.

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Just me then? Oh. Well, at least we can probably agree this Minecraft thing is quite neat.