复古游戏变身另类圈钱机器

    2009年，32岁的程序员马库斯•佩尔松开始着手开发一个名为Minecraft的编外项目，当时，几乎没有任何迹象显示它会成功。他的老板当然也没有想到。“说老实话，我当时看不出它有任何潜力，”时任照片共享网站jAlbum CEO的卡尔•梅奈说。没过多久，Minecraft创造的收入就超越了jAlbum。梅奈意识到自己完全错了。现在，梅奈率领独立视频游戏开发商Mojang公司的25位员工，全身心地致力于这款游戏的开发工作。Minecraft业已成为游戏业的新贵，而且发展势头没有显示出一丝放缓的迹象。

    唯有在最松散的意义上，Minecraft才称得上是一款视频游戏，更准确地说，它是一款数字沙盘游戏。玩家们使用类似于各种多边形积木的3D立方体，自由构建建筑物和物体。这款可在个人电脑、苹果（Apple）和谷歌（Google）手机等平台上运行的游戏没有运用时常在当代电脑游戏上看到的那种电影大片式的超现实图像。Minecraft的像素和块状材质让它看起来像是雅达利（Atari，美国一家电脑游戏机厂商——译注）时代的遗物。在一种模式中，玩家们必须在白天收集资源，在晚上击退怪物的攻击；在另一种模式中，玩家们可自由创建他们喜欢的任何东西。

    这款游戏的难度增添了它的守旧风格。学起来或许颇费脑力。游戏开发者没有提供使用手册，而是鼓励用户与一位“导师”交朋友，向他学习使用方法，或者在用户论坛和网络视频上搜寻游戏诀窍，比如怎样寻找原材料，怎样建造巨大的纪念碑等等。“人们喜欢Minecraft，与喜欢创造自己的音乐录影带或尝试着在Etsy网销售自己的手工艺品的原因如出一辙，”游戏产业网站 GamaSutra自由编辑李•亚历山大解释道。

    这款自由形态的游戏催生出了一种活力四射的文化：玩家创造并在线分享自己的设计。过去一年中，一个常见的网络惹点“玩家某某某又在Minecraft上重新创建了某某事东西”，比如著名建筑师弗兰克•劳埃德•赖设计的流水别墅（Fallingwater），电影《哈利•波特》中的霍格沃茨魔法学校（Hogwarts）等等。虽然 Mojang公司的开发团队表示，其最大的用户群体是15岁以下的孩童，但Minecraft用户的年龄分布在9到70岁之间，既有休闲玩家，也有骨灰级高手。到目前为止，这款游戏的注册用户已经超过了2,500万人，其中500万用户付款预定了一个增添了许多新功能的高级版本。

    这一切已经转化为一门不可小觑的生意。至2011年年底，Mojang公司创造了8,000万美元的收入，1,350万美元的利润。大型游戏发行商纷纷登门洽谈收购事宜，据说报价已经接近10亿美元。明星企业家肖恩•帕克邀请开发人员飞赴伦敦参加一个聚会，希望讨得他们的欢心，让自己成为一位未来的投资者。

    Minecraft游戏年度盛会MineCon是一个绝佳的晴雨表，从中可看出这款游戏流行指数的飙升。2年前在华盛顿贝尔维尤举行的第一次集会非常低调，只有佩尔松和大约50位忠实拥趸参加。去年11月份，MineCon吸引了约5,000名粉丝，挤满了拉斯维加斯的曼德勒海湾博彩酒店。梅奈说：“当我们从（位于瑞典的）狭小办公室来到MineCon，见到这些人时，我们意识到Minecraft用户群已经多么庞大，这款游戏已经产生了怎样的影响力。”

    When programmer Markus Persson, 32, began working on a side project called Minecraft in 2009 there was little to indicate it would go anywhere. His boss certainly didn't think so. "I didn't see any potential in it, and that's the honest truth," says Carl Manneh, who was then CEO of photo-sharing site jAlbum. When Minecraft revenues surpassed jAlbum's shortly thereafter, Manneh realized just how wrong he'd been. Now, Manneh runs Mojang, the 25-person team behind the game. And Minecraft has become a gaming phenom with no signs of slowing down.

    Minecraft is a videogame only in the loosest sense. Digital sandbox is a more accurate description. Players are free to construct buildings and objects out of 3D cubes, polygonal Legos of sorts. The program, which is available for PCs as well as Apple and Google phones, eschews the ultra-realistic, blockbuster graphics of contemporary computer games. With its pixelated, blocky textures, Minecraft looks like a relic from the Atari era. In one mode, players must gather resources during the day and fend off monster attacks at night; in another, they are free to create whatever they like.

    The game's difficulty adds to the old school flavor. The learning curve can be punishing. In lieu of a manual, users are encouraged to buddy up with a "mentor" to show them the ropes or crawl user forums and web videos for tips on everything from scavenging for materials to building huge monuments. "The same thing that draws people to Minecraft is the same thing that draws people to make their own music videos or to try to sell their own crafts on Etsy," explains Leigh Alexander, editor-at-large for game industry web site GamaSutra.

    This freeform gameplay has generated a robust culture, with players creating and sharing their designs online. A common internet meme over the past year has been "xyz re-created in Minecraft," from Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater to Harry Potter's Hogwarts. Although the Mojang team says its largest demographic set is under 15, Minecraft's users range in age from 9 to 70, casual gamer to seasoned veteran. To date, the game has more than 25 million registered users, 5 million of which paid upfront for a premium version with additional features.

    That has translated into a real business. The company reported $80 million in revenues -- and $13.5 million in profit -- through the end of 2011. Large publishers have come knocking with acquisition bids, rumored to be worth close to $1 billion. And rockstar entrepreneur Sean Parker flew the developers to Londonfor a party hoping to woo them as a future investor.

    A good barometer of how rapidly the game has grown in popularity is MineCon, the annual Minecraft convention. Its first gathering in Bellevue, Washingtontwo years ago was a low key affair attended by Persson and around 50 other devotees. Last November, MineCon drew 5,000 fans, packing the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. "Going from your small offices [in Sweden] to MineCon, and meeting these people, that's when we realized how big Minecraft was and what kind of impact the game has made," says Manneh.