Weekly Recap: Minecraft Movie And 5 Other Surprising News In Gaming

Warner Bros., Entertainment has gone and done it... they've gone and went off the deep end, or they've gone and went for broke. Either way, they have an exciting and risky development on their hands as far as video game movies go, I'm talking about Minecraft: The Movie.

The popular game that mimics LEGOs meets zombie-survival has been a huge thing the world around, with tens of millions of people getting in on the action. But Minecraft isn't the only zombie-oriented property big in the news this week. DayZ's development takes a startling turn thanks to an unexpected announcement by lead designer and creator, Dean “Rocket” Hall, and the creative director for The Last of Us breaks a wee-bit of silence on the possibilities of the sequel on the PlayStation 4. These stories and more in this March 1st, 2014 edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap.

Minecraft Movie In The Works

Who would have thought it possible? Certainly not I. The studio heads at Warner Bros are obviously all in on a Minecraft movie, based on the uber-popular indie title that sees gamers building up whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. How will this translate into a full-length feature film? I have no idea, but we take a few guesses at the concept anyway. The news comes in tow with a quick update that the latest patch for the Xbox 360 and PS3 is still weeks away, all thanks to the lengthy certification process. Hurray for software bureaucracy. But, while you wait for the console versions to get updated, you can always check out the newbie guide on how to get started in playing the game.

Last Of Us 2 On PS4 Won't Star Joel Or Ellie?

With the controversial ending of the Last of Us still burning bright in the minds of gamers from just last year, it's hard to see how the sequel could pick up from where it left off. Creative director Neil Druckmann seems averse to bringing back the titular characters Joel and Ellie for the Last of Us 2 on the PS4. Such a shame. Nevertheless, there's still plenty left to explore in the fungus-torn world where vegetable zombies roam free and civilization is on the brink of self-destruction. I'm sure they can come up with plenty of stories... it seems to work out just fine with all those Let's Play videos out there of DayZ.

DayZ Loses Dean “Rocket” Hall

Speaking of DayZ... say it ain't say so, Batman. The man that brought the zombie genre to the forefront of intensity and interactivity with a true open-world survival title will be parting ways with Bohemia Interactive. I'm curious how well this will work out with the game's potential port to the home consoles? Anyway, Dean “Rocket” Hall, the lead designer of the mod that helped make him a mega-star and the standalone game that made him a millionaire overnight is just going to be a big blot on his resume as the thing that helped propel him to stardom. Cliffy B and Peter Molyneux better watch out, because the “Rocket Man” is in town. Hopefully he finds success in his new start-up the same way he found success with DayZ.

Titanfall's Install Size Is Huge

The “all-digital future” keeps hitting a bunch of road bumps, mostly with the download and install sizes for certain new generation games. The latest game detailed in the digital metaverse of the Xbox One is Titanfall, and it's huge. The game clocks in the double digit gigabytes when it comes to the download and install and it has some people up in arms about how well that all-digital future will play out when those bandwidth caps and ISPs are starring them hard in the face regarding all that usage. Your bandwidth also isn't anymore safe after the game downloads and installs given that Twitch will also launch with Titanfall, and that could definitely help bring the bandwidth caps to whole new heights as you watch people play games while watching TV on your TV, or while the NSA and GCHQ watch you on TV while you watch TV.

Xbox One Price Cut And Spying Take Place In UK

The Xbox One is back under the spotlight for shoddy government dealings, this time with the British spy agency, GCHQ. The agency has been spying on nearly two million people, using things like webcams and the Xbox Kinect. It's not just that they've been spying, but a lot of the images and content they've gathered from Brits and Yanks alike (yep, the British are also spying on Americans), are of a sexually explicit nature. The “NSA Spybox” is no longer just a worthless moniker but a cold, hard truth. A fact that was exacerbated by a very thorough article by the Guardian. On the upside, Microsoft announced a price-cut in the UK, so you can now get your hands on an Xbox One for a few bones less.

Nintendo Shuts Down Wii, DS Online Modes

It was bound to happen, but a lot of us probably didn't expect it to happen so soon. Nintendo is shutting down their WFC for their Wii and DS games. It's a sad thing considering that there are some truly great games on both the DS and the Wii and it's such a shame that the service is shutting down so soon. Nintendo has never been a trend-setter in the online space, and we're definitely seeing how it's not quite panning out the way some people want, sort of like how third-party publishers are dodgy on putting games on the Wii U because they can't do lazy ports.