by Shaina Lange
While there is a fear that so many children and teenagers are separating themselves from intellectual and physical play due to the popularity of video games, as well as questions about the kind of graphic content and their effects on our young adults, there is now a video game that has prompted widespread recreational reading in kids and turned into a large market of YouTube videos, books, handbooks, and fan fiction.
Minecraft, a video game that has sold over 50 million copies since its release in 2011, has evolved into an incredibly successful and rapidly upward moving franchise in the publishing industry. According to the game’s website, Minecraft is all about building blocks and physically building the world around you. Players can break and place blocks to build structures and geological features in order to protect themselves from different nocturnal creatures. Players can even collaborate to create and protect their virtual communities. The game itself teaches children to work together, along with integrating concepts of geometric, geology, creative thinking, and analytical skills.
From the game, Scholastic Inc. has produced a series of guides and handbooks all under $10 each, selling already more than 6 million copies via in-store sales, book fairs, and book clubs. In addition to the guides published by Scholastic, Minecraft has inspired hundreds of fan fiction stories and at least ten self-published books.
These books are part of a completely new genre of literature that is increasingly successful and popular. Last year, a book on The Legend of Zelda was a best seller for Amazon, and books based around games such as Halo and World of Warcraft were also notable. This genre is particularly interesting as we think about missions and target audiences. If children need a genre like this to encourage them to read while using critical thinking skills, then there is clearly a market for it and a benefit that will come of it.
Full article: http://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2014/09/03/minecraft-now-publishing-sensation?page=2
Minecraft, a video game that has sold over 50 million copies since its release in 2011, has evolved into an incredibly successful and rapidly upward moving franchise in the publishing industry. According to the game’s website, Minecraft is all about building blocks and physically building the world around you. Players can break and place blocks to build structures and geological features in order to protect themselves from different nocturnal creatures. Players can even collaborate to create and protect their virtual communities. The game itself teaches children to work together, along with integrating concepts of geometric, geology, creative thinking, and analytical skills.
From the game, Scholastic Inc. has produced a series of guides and handbooks all under $10 each, selling already more than 6 million copies via in-store sales, book fairs, and book clubs. In addition to the guides published by Scholastic, Minecraft has inspired hundreds of fan fiction stories and at least ten self-published books.
These books are part of a completely new genre of literature that is increasingly successful and popular. Last year, a book on The Legend of Zelda was a best seller for Amazon, and books based around games such as Halo and World of Warcraft were also notable. This genre is particularly interesting as we think about missions and target audiences. If children need a genre like this to encourage them to read while using critical thinking skills, then there is clearly a market for it and a benefit that will come of it.
Full article: http://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2014/09/03/minecraft-now-publishing-sensation?page=2