What's the Big Deal With the Minecraft Beta?
Anyone who's interested in the game that has become one of the most talked about games on Facebook is likely very excited to hear about the latest version - Minecraft Beta. It's still unclear whether the new release by Mojang will be an improvement over the alpha version that was released a few months ago, but there's no doubt that it's looking pretty good so far. Android users can already choose to add their friends to the beta and opt-out from the Facebook page. It's unclear when Mojang will decide whether they'll be able to unlock the game for other platforms such as Windows Mobile, but you can get a taste of what's in store for you in the YouTube video embedded below.
As if you couldn't tell from the video, Minecraft Beta has been changed quite a bit since it first debuted. The biggest change is obviously the rename of the game, which has now been officially re-branded to simply "Minecraft". Minecraft refers to a game that is played on the computer, meaning it doesn't use any actual gaming hardware. Since the game doesn't use any of the standard computershare systems, it's important that the name is changed in order to allow more people to find the game.
One of the most interesting features of the Minecraft Beta is the fact that Mojang has decided to rename all the blocks in the game. While the Vanilla game had only two different block types, the beta packs have several more. There are even different names for the grass, gravel, and water blocks. Even the recipes for those items have been simplified so that they match the rest of the pack. This means that if you're familiar with the Vanilla game, then you should easily be able to get use to the new loot in the beta. There's also no sign of any additional mobs being added, which is probably going to be a nice change as well.
