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Details have emerged that an unofficial Minecraft convention in Orlando, Florida, called Meeting of the Mines has provided a sub-par experience far from what was promised and seems to have aimed at making the organisers a lot of money off the backs of the thriving Minecraft community, especially parents and children. The stories now circulating the Internet are unbelievable and quite frankly appalling to hear.
MOTM was meant to have happened back in December 2013 but was delayed to March this year because of ‘red tape’ stopping them holding the event when it has been advertised. While it was supposed to have been a weekend event, many have said that the event was called off early because it had apparently ‘gotten out of hand’. Also a lot of advertised give-aways and competitions either didn’t happen or had the winners having their prizes rescinded after the event, with these cases usually being money prizes.
The kicker comes though when you hear of the specifics of the ‘StarCraft’ event. This contest had children compete to craft the best structures in the game with a fairly hefty prize at the end. A prize which can be quickly and easily summed up in two words – ‘Youtube stardom’. On par with that of CaptainSparklez and IcanHasCupquake (which they don’t even spell right in the contest text). The organisers promised for the 6 winners, their own Youtube channel, websites, branded merchandise and even ‘you first subscribers’ made up of the other attendees for the event. All set up within their ‘MOTM network’ of course. Since these things are often dreamt about by the younger viewers of such popular Youtubers, it just sounds like an almost shameless ploy to get kids to bug their parents to buy tickets for the event and make them more money.
Of course, getting refunds from the organisers has proven to be a difficult task with the organisers even beginning to accuse people of stealing the con’s décor. The MOTM website has vanished along with the head organiser’s Facebook, Twitter and pretty much every way to get in contact. Tickets have already been sold for another MOTM event supposed to be held in New York, but the venue has not been booked and no further details are available so it looks as if the organisers have taken the money and run with it. Since they took roughly $50k for the event that (sort of) happened alone, it is a LOT of money they have taken. The attendees for the event have even set up a Facebook group dedicated to sharing stories and doing their best to get their refunds or at least some sort of closure from the entire fiasco.
If you want a better, clearer picture of the entire event, BebopVox’s video sums it up pretty well (and also includes tips on how to spot conventions and events that could be potentially scams in disguise, as well as plenty of links to information in the description):
As I said above, it had to happen eventually to the Minecraft community, but that doesn’t make what happened any less terrible, especially as it has disappointed so many children. I can only hope the organisers of this event are found and made to pay for what they have done.
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement about Disney buying Maker, comes another announcement about a big company acquiring a smaller, very popular company. Facebook have just issued a press release stating their intention to buy VR innovators Oculus.
More information will become available soon, but for now take a look at the press release that was issued:
“MENLO PARK, CALIF. – March 25, 2014 – Facebook today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Oculus VR, Inc., the leader in immersive virtual reality technology, for a total of approximately $2 billion. This includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock (valued at $1.6 billion based on the average closing price of the 20 trading days preceding March 21, 2014 of $69.35 per share). The agreement also provides for an additional $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones.
Oculus is the leader in immersive virtual reality technology and has already built strong interest among developers, having received more than 75,000 orders for development kits for the company’s virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus’ existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas. Given these broad potential applications, virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform.
“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”
“We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world,” said Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR. “We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it’s only just the beginning.”
Oculus will maintain its headquarters in Irvine, CA, and will continue development of the Oculus Rift, its ground-breaking virtual reality platform.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.”
It will be interesting to find out what Facebook could possibly have in store for Oculus when more information becomes available. Facebook’s creator has given us some idea though in a post which talks about using the VR technology of the Rift to extend beyond gaming and into places such as seats at a game and more. Either way, it does sound rather exciting but I can’t help but feel that the Rift is a long way off yet from taking us to the theatre from the comfort of our own sofas.
Last year, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that Game Boy Advance games are on the way to Wii U’s Virtual Console – and now the Japanese gaming giant is making good on the promise.
Nintendo UK took to Twitter and Facebook to announce that hand-held classic Advance Wars is on the way to the Wii U’s Virtual Console on April 3, marking the first GBA title to hit the Wii U Virtual Console. The game will be playable on your TV or through the Gamepad’s own screen like most Virtual Console classics, so you can either recreate the hand-held experience it was made for; or beam it up to the big screen.
Advance Wars is the first of what will likely be a wave of GBA titles which will gradually hit the console over the coming weeks and months – Satoru Iwata already confirmed in last month’s Nintendo Direct that Metroid Fusion, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Super Mario Advance: Yoshi’s Island are also planned releases. However, none of these have yet been given an English launch date. With the precedent now in place, however, it’s likely we won’t have much longer to wait – watch this space!
