Minecraft and the Escapist

New Troll

New member
Mar 26, 2009
2,984
0
0
So, I work selling games for a living. And I talk to hundreds of gamers a day. And most every friend I have is a serious gamer, since I made most said friends during my hardcore gaming days. And yet for having all these people constantly running through my life, I've yet to find a fan of Minecraft. Most have never even heard of the game!

So my question is, does Mojang owe it's popularity to the Escapist? I mean, it's not a bad game, though I personally haven't cared for it, but would it be anywhere as known if it wasn't for this site? Does all it take for a game to become a winner is for a couple of the staff here to say they like it? And would it really count as a winner if only people on this site actually play it? Or am I just living in the Bremuda Triangle of gaming here in Oklahoma?

Edit: a little more detail on my locality, I'd guess the Final Four if March Mayhem was voted by my customers would be Treyarch vs. Bungie and Epic vs. Game Freak with Treyarch beating out Game Freak for the win.
 

CODER

New member
Nov 19, 2009
45
0
0
uhhh... probibly.
Everyone who i speak to, whether at the local warhammer club, school or on the internet seems able to talk for hours about their recent exploit in mine craft.
 

New Troll

New member
Mar 26, 2009
2,984
0
0
CODER said:
uhhh... probibly.
Everyone who i speak to, whether at the local warhammer club, school or on the internet seems able to talk for hours about their recent exploit in mine craft.
So you're saying probably to me being in the Bermuda Triangle I take it?
 

Rayne870

New member
Nov 28, 2010
1,250
0
0
Minecraft was largely successful by how "viral" it went. Word of mouth is not to be underestimated.
 

CODER

New member
Nov 19, 2009
45
0
0
New Troll said:
CODER said:
uhhh... probibly.
Everyone who i speak to, whether at the local warhammer club, school or on the internet seems able to talk for hours about their recent exploit in mine craft.
So you're saying probably to me being in the Bermuda Triangle I take it?
yep
 

Pielikey

New member
Jul 31, 2009
1,394
0
0
To be honest the first time I ever heard of Minecraft was on the TF2 blog and since then it exploded.
 

Tearopenthelives

New member
May 15, 2008
88
0
0
I'm gonna say no,

While it was popular on this site I've heard of it in several other places. A friend who doesn't visit here just turns round to me one day and in essence asks if I'd heard of it

It simply got the formula right, low production costs with massively entertaining output for many who play.

It just amassed it's free advertising following through being damn close to what gaming truly needs right now, and we've supported this.
 

Xirema

New member
Nov 12, 2010
48
0
0
First heard about it on VG cats' news posts, then a few months later, I saw a few youtube videos and bought the game.
 

ilspooner

New member
Apr 13, 2010
655
0
0
Nope. Its not just the escapist. My friend told me, then I told my other friends. Its quite popualar in my group of friends. :)
 

New Troll

New member
Mar 26, 2009
2,984
0
0
TU4AR said:
New Troll said:
Edit: a little more detail on my locality, I'd guess the Final Four if March Mayhem was voted by my customers would be Treyarch vs. Bungie and Epic vs. Game Freak with Treyarch beating out Game Freak for the win.
There's your problem. Mine was Blizzard, Bioware, Mojang and Valve, and look what happened.

Mincraft went around at school, and I know noone there was on The Escapist, so I really don't think this site is like a one-man army behind it.

Basically, no, games stores are different to people who buy everything over Steam.
Those final four are NOT my own, just what I would guess from sales. And a lot of people I know mainly buy off Steam, XBL, and PSN, and yet none of them like Minecraft though several have tried it. Actually easy to find people who've tried it if they've heard of it since it was free, but I only know a handful of people who still mess with it, though more out of boredom than being a fan.

Maybe it's an age thing then? My friends and I are well out of school and most my customers are as well. Yet those who are still tend to prefer blowing people away more than mining for resources.
 

MiracleOfSound

Fight like a Krogan
Jan 3, 2009
17,776
0
0
Seananners has had a large role in its popularity, practically the entire Youtube COD community jumped onto it because of his videos.

 

SteewpidZombie

New member
Dec 31, 2010
545
0
0
Minecraft isn't a game considering it's still in BETA...and it's just a ripped off idea...and it's the only game Mojang has ever worked on...so remind me?...what qualifies Mojang to even BE in this tournament?

Like honestly...if anything Bioware DESERVES to win. Considering it is technically the ONLY game developer left in the tournament, and it has made like 100% more games then Mojang, plus Bioware makes 'GOOD' and 'Industry Changing' advancements to the trade. I bet voice acting in RPG games would've NEVER been where it currently is today if Bioware hadn't done so well, and the whole 'Dialogue choices being VOICED!' is KICK ARSE when you consider games like Oblivion, Fallout 3, and pretty much any other RPG still has you choosing text and then letting the NPC respond.
 

omicron1

New member
Mar 26, 2008
1,729
0
0
So, these customers of yours... they represent part of Minecraft's next 0.245 million purchasers, right?

I mean, you send them to the Minecraft site so they could support Notch's newest vacation plans, yes? You can't have just let them live on in ignorance...


...Incidentally, Minecraft purchasing is up by 25% over the normal. I suspect it has something to do with March Madness.
 

DustyDrB

Made of ticky tacky
Jan 19, 2010
8,365
3
43
I hadn't heard much talk about Minecraft here over the last many months (until March Mayhem).

That's a big reason why they were pretty much an afterthought when I filled out my bracket.