Hey, you know that game you’ve never heard of? Mine- something or other. You have a randomly generated world in which you gather resources, dodge zombies and exploding creatures and build pretty much whatever you feel like. Oh and you can bring friends in as well, if you so wish. Ring any bells? Well anyway, the Xbox 360 Edition of it released some time ago and now its first patch is coming out today.

Don’t get too excited though! It’s not a major content update or anything like that. What it should bring to you is a more pleasant and smoother experience due to the many fixes. There are some new features as well too. Those include an autosave function, an interfact opacity slider and a co-ordinate display for the in-game map. At this point you should be making generic studio audience cheers and hollers.

Here’s the full list for those who like that kind of thing. What’s that? When is the first content update for the game coming? We still don’t know – keep it in your pants for now, please.

Features:

• Added an autosave, and the ability to turn autosave off, or set it from 15 minutes up to 2 hours in 15 minute steps.
• Split the sensitivity controls into an in-game sensitivity and an in-menu sensitivity.
• Added an Interface Opacity slider in the settings for plasma screen users.
• Added a gamertag display in splitscreen, and the ability to enable/disable it in the settings.
• Added an option in the settings menu to enable/disable in-game hints.
• Added an option in the settings menu to enable/disable tooltips.
• Added a co-ordinate display to the in-game map.
• Added new sections in the How To Play on Multiplayer, Sharing Screenshots, and What’s New.
• Added a warning message when attempting to place lava near the spawn area.

Fixes:

• Fix for the leaderboard crash when toggling between filters/leaderboards.
• Fix for server disconnect message appearing when offline or in leaderboards.
• Fix for issue where posting a screenshot to Facebook caused a back out to the main menu.
• Fix for clay generation.
• Fix for ‘Awaiting Approval’ showing all the time on some signs.
• Various crafting menu fixes.
• Fix for being able to stand on sugarcane.
• Fix for intermittent crash on saving.
• Fix for duplication bug with the furnace and dispenser.
• Fix for not being able to place water near the spawn area.
• Fix for intermittent problem on entering the Nether putting the player above the Nether world.
• Fix for frame-rate drop around the edge of the world.
• Fix for intermittent problem where some achievements were not being awarded.
• Fix for graphical issue with stairs.
• Fix for issue with enemies spawning inside a house when they shouldn’t.
• Fix for Zombie Pigmen not being counted for leaderboard scores.

You can purchase Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition over on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 1600 MSP.

One of the unique features of Minecraft on the Xbox 360, which was released yesterday, is that players could participate in four player splitscreen. We noticed that we were getting quite a few comments on our site about this feature and outrage also kicked off in the Minecraft forums; many people asking how to make the splitscreen work. It turns out that in order to access that feature you need to have a HD screen, though no one was told this prior to buying the game.

The developers who handled the port, 4J Studios, were asked via Twitter whether a HDMI input was required to make the splitscreen work, to which they replied with this tweet:

“Splitscreen mode needs a High Def screen, so either HDMI or Component cable.”

The problem with this requirement is that it was never stated anywhere (and we mean anywhere) that this was the case. The press weren’t told, it was never included in statements about the game, the trailer or even on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Kotaku contacted Microsoft about the dilemma and they then released this statement:

“In order to deliver the best consumer experience, and to support the text needs of the inventory and crafting system, split-screen multiplayer in Minecraft does require an HD screen. Currently, in game prompts alert players of the HD requirements for split-screen multiplayer.”

So there you have it – you need a HD screen in order to access Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition‘s splitscreen. It would be nice if they had told people beforehand though, eh?

You can purchase Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition over on the Xbox Live Marketplace and you can find out more information about the game on its official website.

With the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft releasing on May 9th, a launch trailer has been released which shows plenty of gameplay of the splitscreen variety.

For those few people who haven’t played Minecraft before due to waiting for its release on the Xbox 360, your time is nearly up. Minecraft will be released on Microsoft’s console on May 9th and will cost 1600 MSP, which works out to about $20/£13.20.

This console version of the hit title from Mojang will come with 4 player splitscreen and will support 8 players online in a single map. The main thing missing from this edition of Minecraft is the modding support and other customisation features, but these may be added at a later point.

Though the wait is nearly at a close, you’ll no doubt want to see some gameplay, in which case you should consult the just released launch trailer for the game. You can see that everything looks about the same, there’s a few tweaks to adjust to the gamepad controls in the crafting screens by the looks of it, but that’s about it. Enjoy!

More information on Minecraft can be found on the game’s official website.