A new version of Minecraft was announced today by Mojang. Version 1.8.4 fixes a few minor bugs, and one very large and embarrassing security vulnerability in the Minecraft server. The JDRGaming Minecraft server is now running version 1.8.4, and the Minecraft page on this site has been updated with the latest information.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle has overturned a 2012 decision by U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez in Seattle, which dismissed claims against Microsoft based on a 2009 ruling that was later overturned as well. The upshot is that the class action against Microsoft for knowingly selling defective consoles will continue.

There's a complete analysis of the XBox 360 disc scratching problem elsewhere on this site.

This is encouraging news, but the fight is far from over. Still, it's a step in the right direction. Even if nothing else ever comes out of this process, I'll be satisfied if Microsoft admits the defect and its subsequent failure to provide appropriate relief to affected customers.

Due to a router change, the IP address of all JDRGaming game servers has changed to 96.49.181.168. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Apparently version 1.8.3 of Minecraft was released on February 20 to address a crashing bug. There was no proper announcement for this update. A couple of lines were added to the version 1.8.2 announcement on the Mojang blog, but this meant that there was no corresponding RSS update.

The JDRGaming Minecraft server is now running version 1.8.3. The Minecraft page on this site has been updated with all the latest information.

The server hosting the JDRGaming game servers has experienced a major hard drive failure and is down until the failed drive can be replaced. I expect to have the server itself up and running later today, but the game servers may not be up until Sunday. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Update: The server (and all three game servers running on it) are back up as of 10:33am, March 7.

Mojang has released a new version of Minecraft, 1.8.2.

Notable changes in 1.8.2:

• New statistics
• New frame time graph in debug screen. Activated by pressing Alt+F3 to display frame time bar chart in lower left of screen.
• Spectator Mode: Mobs no longer follow/attack you in spectator mode.
• TNT: Reverted explosion physic changes to those before the 14w31a snapshot. Explosion force is no longer directionally biased.
• Oak and Dark oak trees: Oak and Dark oak branches no longer replace blocks.
• Beacons: Now ignore bedrock above them when determining a clear view to the sky.
• Mobs: Ocelots now spawn at or above sea level, rather than at Y=63. Squids now spawn below sea level, rather than at Y=63.
• Carrot on a Stick: Crafting one now removes all enchantments from the original fishing rod.
• A rather massive list of bugfixes!

The Minecraft page on this site has been updated with the latest information.

The JDRGaming server has been updated to version 1.8.2.

The stats for TPU have been reset for the new year. As usual, the previous year's stats have been archived and can still be accessed by clicking the '2014' link in the left sidebar.

UPDATE 2015Jan31: After I originally posted this, my curiosity got the better of me and I bought the game. Wow. It's terrific. I particularly enjoy the 'solo' mode, where you're playing in the same universe as everyone else, but you never encounter other human players, only NPCs. Given the data storage requirements for a fully-populated Milky Way galaxy, the dynamic nature of the universe, and the fact that I can play without ever having to deal with griefers, I can totally live with the lack of an offline mode. It's a huge contrast with that griefer heaven, EVE Online. It's fun to see how EVE expats want desperately to play E:D, but are then turned off because they can't pick on less experienced players.

Say you're a game developer, and you need money. Step 1: promise your new game will have features people really want, like offline play. Step 2: rake in the dough via Kickstarter. Step 3: announce that the game won't have offline play after all. Step 4: refuse to give refunds to anyone who contributed money and actually played the early demo version. Step 5: face the wrath of gamers and the ridicule of the Internet.

This is exactly what David Braben did with the upcoming Elite:Dangerous. If this scenario sounds familiar, it's probably because EA did something very similar with SimCity 5. Except that EA never promised offline play or took money from people before disappointing them. They just said offline play wasn't possible, when in fact it was, and forcing online play was only done to prevent unauthorized copying (DRM).

What Braben has done is much worse. Why would anyone trust him or his projects in the future?

Minecraft 1.8.1 fixes 116 bugs and improves performance.

Other changes of note in 1.8.1:

• Jack o'Lanterns - Can be used to create iron golems and snow golems again
• Maps - Changed some colors
• Mobs - No longer run from creepers
• Potion of Leaping - Can now be extended with redstone
• Witch huts - Newly generated witch huts can spawn witches on Y 64 to 71; this allows for three spawning floors in witch farms
• Options - Renamed "Multiplayer Settings" to "Chat Settings". Off/fancy/fast clouds. Off/on entity shadows. Fast/fancy now only controls leaves and rain particles.
• Dropped items - Now rotate on fast graphics

The main Minecraft page on this site has been updated with information about version 1.8.1. The JDRGaming Minecraft server will be updated to version 1.8.1 shortly.

It looks like the geniuses at Nintendo haven't learned anything, and are continuing to act like that console you purchased isn't actually yours. Nintendo recently changed the Terms of Service on its Wii U consoles, which in itself isn't a big deal, but in this case, choosing to disagree with the new ToS will cause your console to stop working. Exactly what Nintendo hopes to accomplish with this idiotic move is a mystery.