Swedish video game programmer Markus "Notch" Persson first created in 2011, and though he's worked on a number of projects since then, he hasn't released any new games. At least, not until today! Enter Cliffhorse, the latest Indie game that's sweeping the nation.

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The time has come for Mojang's second game, a digital collectible card battle game, Scrolls. Though, to be clear, the alpha has come; not the final build. Mojang fans will recall that early released alpha versions of their products don't exactly go poorly, as that was the route the ever popular Minecraft took long before it ever released as a "retail" build. The game isn't downloadable by all, however, and Mojang will be sending out alpha keys via email to a modestly sized list of lucky participants. More details below.

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Mojang founder and Minecraft creator Markus Persson (AKA Notch) has announced via Twitter that the company has settled their ongoing battle with ZeniMax Media -- which owns game studio Bethesda -- over the "scrolls" name. With the legal issues out of the way, this will hopefully clear the path for Mojang's forthcoming Scrolls game to become a reality. Sadly, it probably means that Notch's proposed Mojang/Bethesda Quake 3 duel is off the table.

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Back when Minecraft creator Notch tweeted that he'd fund a sequel to Psychonauts, the gaming Internet freaked out, seeing as how Psychonauts is one of the best video games ever made, but unfortunately didn't make enough money to convince publishers to fund a sequel. After Notch and Tim Schafer tweeted a bit about the situation, they went quiet for the most part, and the news got overshadowed by Tim Schafer' development studio, Double Fine, raising almost two million dollars on Kickstarter for the development of an adventure game. Notch spoke up on his blog about the Psychonauts sequel, giving everyone a status update, and some insight into what caused him to make that initial tweet offering to fund the game.

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Tim Schafer's Psychonauts is one of the best video games ever made. It's that simple. It has its flaws, sure, but everything has flaws, and the ones in Psychonauts are so minute that they're extremely easy to overlook. Similar to how good television gets canceled in season one or two, no one bought Psychonauts when it first released. After dropping in price over the years and releasing on other platforms (like Steam), Psychonauts started making money. Mastermind Tim Schafer never let the initial abysmal sales get to him (which would make sense, considering the critical acclaim the game continues to receive, even to this day) and revealed to Digital Spy the other day that he pitched a sequel to the game to publishers "several times," but no one would bite. "I'd love to do that game," he said, "but I'd have to convince someone to just give me a few million dollars, that's all." In a perfect storm of beloved gaming icons, Notch got wind of Schafer's statement, and tweeted that he'd fund the making of Psychonauts 2. Wat.

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Despite stepping down as the lead developer, Notch just can't seem to get away from Minecraft. As a participant in the latest Ludum Dare, Notch found himself creating Minicraft -- a familiar but unique 2D take on Minecraft. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Ludum Dare is a great little recurring competition in which game developers create a game from scratch in 48 hours based on the theme of that particular event. This event's theme was "Alone," something Notch obviously has some experience with in Minecraft, and continues to explore in Minicraft.

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It's here, ladies and gentlemen. It's almost time for the official, live release of Minecraft 1.0. I don't think I'm being sensationalistic when I say this is a historic moment in gaming, even if it is sort of a technicality. If you've been keeping up on your prereleases (like I have), you've been playing what is basically the 1.0 release for almost a week now. If you're like me, the release itself isn't going to have much of an actual effect. But all that being said: Minecraft is totally coming out, you guys. Like, actually coming out. For real. Even if it's in name only, we've been waiting for this for over a year. The game that shook up the whole indie gaming world while in beta is coming out. Also, Notch is giving a cool speech. Livestream after the jump. Don't miss it.

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Like me, I'm sure you wish you were at MineCon in Las Vegas right now instead of sitting at work on a Friday, waiting for the official release of Minecraft 1.0. The event proper starts at 10 a.m. PST, but the real fun doesn't get started until around 1 p.m. when Minecraft 1.0 is due to go live during Notch's keynote speech. Later on today, at 4 p.m. there's a Scrolls and Cobalt demo and there's even more planned for tomorrow including the Mojang Developers' Panel at 11:15 a.m., a Yogscast Panel at 1:30 p.m., and closing ceremonies of some sort at 5 p.m. I'm really not making things any better for either of us, am I?

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With Notch busy over at Minecon and the entire Minecraft world eagerly awaiting the game's graceful departure from Beta, there was just one thing missing: Minecraft on your iPhone. Though it has long been known to be in the works, the game apparently launches tomorrow, November 17, or now if you're in New Zealand. See more pictures and read get more information on the game, after the break.

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So, if you haven't been keeping up on the Minecraft 1.9 prereleases, you've been missing out on a lot of crazy new features. Since 1.8.1, things like dragons, alchemy, and a whole new dimension -- The End -- have been added to the game piecemeal,  so there'll be a lot to catch up on come full release on the 18th. And if all doesn't sound wild enough, 1.9 prerelease 6 adds an ending sequence and credits. Ladies and Gentlemen: You can now beat Minecraft.

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"While I am sceptical of the free to play trend, what I hate is the wording 'free to play'...we should call it 'as expensive as you want it to be' or something." Minecraft creator Markus Persson, otherwise known as Notch, musing on the free-to-play trend that is rising to prominence in the gaming arena.

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Internet overlord Notch tweeted that Mojang won the interim injunction versus ZeniMax regarding the Scrolls naming lawsuit, wherein ZeniMax claimed the name to Mojang's next game was too similar to their venerable franchise, The Elder Scrolls and people would confuse the two. The case never made any sense, and though ZeniMax can still appeal the ruling, this initial ruling is probably a step toward Mojang (and us) not having to deal with the nonsense any longer.

What always seemed especially odd about the case, is that ZeniMax claimed the name was too similar and people would confuse the two titles, but not only are both games wildly different in presentation, but are geared more toward the hardcore gaming crowd -- a crowd that wouldn't make such a mistake as to confuse the two. It looks like maybe Notch's offer to settle the dispute via a match of Quake 3 might've faired better for ZeniMax than taking Mojang to court.

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As of this morning, one of the long-awaited Minecraft updates has been released, update 1.8, otherwise known as the Adventure Update. However, it is important to note that though this is the Adventure Update, this is not Adventure Mode, but rather is an update that brings a load of new features that will help the coming Adventure Mode settle into the game. In college terms, think of this update as Minecraft pre-gaming before it goes out clubbin', clubbin' of course being the Adventure Mode.

Head on past the break for an exhaustive list of the added features, which are many, and some new recipes and screenshots.

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Sometime this afternoon a more-or-less stable version of Minecraft 1.8 was leaked on to these great wide webs. The update, which has been long-awaited by fans of the game, will add several new features to the Minecraft experience. Including new terrain, lighting engines, and the terrifying Endermen. There is some chatter on Reddit that the leak may be intentional. Considering that the file is available from a Mojang domain, specifically at http://assets.minecraft.net/1_8-pre/minecraft.jar, and that earlier today developer Jens Bergensten said he would be uploading the game for "expert users." That, and the fact that Mojang founder Notch is encouraging people to report the bugs they find, makes this sound fairly legit. Regardless of the motivation behind the leak, all accounts are that the game is still buggy. I'll see if I can resist running it myself, but I doubt that will last. (via @notch)

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It's been a rough few days for us Minecraft fans. While Notch, the game's creator, has been living it up in Seattle at the PAX gaming convention, the rest of us had to look on full of green-eyed jealousy as he livestreamed footage from the latest unreleased version of the game and held totally awesome parties. However, some news about the impending 1.8 Adventure Update has started to trickle out. Once implemented, Minecraft 1.8 will have two modes: Adventure and Creative. In Creative Mode, users can fly, do not take damage, and have access to every item in the game. Adventure Mode adds several new features to the game, including a new health system. Users will continue to automatically gain health (hearts) provided the newly introduced food bar has points in it. Eating food, which now includes chicken, replenishes the food bar and does away with the weird direct connection between food and hearts. Players can also look forward to improved particle and lighting effects throughout the game; charge-up attacks with a redesigned bow and arrows; torches that now give off light when carried; as well as new geographic features like NPC villages, dungeons, and rivers. Without a doubt the biggest question was when players could expect to get their hands on the 1.8 update. Notch says that he's currently planning on splitting the Adventure Update into two parts, 1.8 and 1.9 respectively. It's not clear what features will be in which update, but the good news is that 1.8 will perhaps be coming within weeks. Once it's done, of course.

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About a week or so ago, game developer Notch pointed his massive Twitter following toward Pig Tales, a video about some sock puppet Minecraft pigs. Visitors to the site could enter their own subtitles, but it was clear that something larger was going on. Now, we know the truth. It turns out that those adorable sock puppets weren't puppets at all, but socks! Shocking! More surprising is that those socks are now for sale from the Swedish company Happy Socks as part of a box set of Minecraft-related foot coverings. There are three in all, which ship together in a handsome box mimicking the iconic look of the grass block. One celebrates the "natural" beauty of the Minecraft landscape, the second are designed after the pink blocky pigs that roam the digital fields, and the third take their form from the highly explosive creepers. Warm up your credit cards and read on after the break for a look at these handsome socks.

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As we speak, the mind behind Minecraft is hard at work on a new game, and he has only 48 hours to finish it. As announced on his Twitter feed, Notch (aka. Markus Persson) is livestreaming his work on a new game as part of Ludum Dare, an accelerated game development event. To participate, coders have to complete a playable game from scratch in a weekend. Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, you can watch too! Now, watching over someone's shoulder while they write code may sound boring -- I'd be lying if I said it was a thrill-a-minute experience. That said, it's pretty amazing to watch a developer as talented as Notch work his magic. Also, Notch seems to talk while he works, occasionally explaining what he's doing and giving little hints and tricks along the way. For those in the audience interested in game development, it could be a good chance to learn from the master. Check it out over on LiveStream. UPDATE: Stream has been moved here. (via Hacker News)

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