The Minecraft version of Denmark is being attacked, hilariously

In Denmark, it's someone's job to monitor and maintain a replica of the country in megapopular exploration game Minecraft
. If you take away one thing from this piece, make it that.
Now that we've gotten that
out of the way, apparently the replica of Denmark that the Danish government sanctioned and built in Minecraft is being attacked. Though dynamite is banned from the server which hosts the virtual replica, players found a way to sneak in hilariously large quantities by using a mining cart full of dynamite. Not so much a loophole as an amazingly huge mistake. As such, varying levels of damage have been done; some American flag fans even redecorated one area, as seen above.
The Danish government department responsible for maintaining the server told The Register
that it isn't too concerned about the "minor" damage done. "We consider that as a nature of playing Minecraft," chief press officer Chris Hammeken said. He also said that his agency "will rebuild minor areas if buildings are removed and nothing new is being created," but in general, he sounds pretty casual about the whole affair.
Looking to get in on the action yourself? Grab your best Danish-speaking buddy and head right here for more info.

Open data gives rise to a virtual Denmark in Minecraft

Since the US government opened its troves of public data we've seen some pretty neat projects like climate-change prediction tools and deforestation-monitoring systems. Denmark, on the other hand, has taken a different approach: the Danish Geodata Agency used internally developed topographic maps and elevation models to build a 1:1 recreation of the happiest country within Minecraft's blocky confines. Unlike the virtual Great Britain we've seen before, this pixelated Denmark is more than just natural features like hills and forests. As Ars Technica has spotted, it includes accurate replicas of highways, homes, landmarks and businesses too. The project was intended to showcase the country's open-data initiative to its students and educators, but anyone can take a gander until the Danish government's game servers shut down in late October. Server rules, however, have disabled enemies and TNT -- no Creeps allowed, naturally.

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Danish Geodata Agency (Danish)

Tags: data, denmark, gaming, hd, hdpostcross, mapping, minecraft, opendata, pc, PcGaming, TopographicMap Next: Hulu attempts to block international viewers who use VPNs .fyre .fyre-comment-divider

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Amazing first Fire TV games include in-house titles and Minecraft

Amazing new Fire TV media hub may be focused on video, but it's going to have a significant game roster--including some examples from the company itself. Amazon Game Studios is building more than a dozen titles for the set-top box that include Sev Zero, a Gears of War-like sci-fi shooter. Youll have some third-party games to choose from, of course, such a special port of Minecraft Pocket Edition, a Monsters Inc. endless runner and the arcade racer Asphalt 8. "Thousands" of games will be available within a month, and youll see software from major developers like Ubisoft and Take Two. While you shouldn't count on Fire TV replacing your PS4 or Xbox One any time soon, it's evident that you won't be hurting for things to play.

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Tags: amazon, amazongamestudios, amazonvideo2014, firetv, gaming, hdpostcross, minecraft, monstersinc, sevzero, videogames Next: TiVo co-founders ' new Qplay web video service is now available for everyone

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