Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Minecraft Ending: What the What?

    So, I finally went through the End portal in Minecraft.  For those of you who don't know, it's a portal in a dungeon that sends you to another world.  You are faced with a dragon that you have to kill.  Once you do, however, the game supposedly 'ends' and you are taken to the credits screen.
     This is where it gets weird.  Instead of the usual credits, you are presented with a series of textual voices.  These voices tell you that you have been in a dream.  That the entire world you live in, not only in Minecraft, is the universe talking to you.  That your existence in Minecraft is not only a dream, but the world you live in playing the game is a game.  That the universe is a series of codes, that your body is composed of a 'code' called DNA.  And that you are everything the universe has to offer.  The quote that stands out the most is "You are love."
    What really gets me is the depth of the game that I have always thought to be meaningless.  The only thing standing between you and the void of nothing (which, is impossible to imagine) is a series of code that makes you who you are.  Not only that, but the perceptions of this code (you) is dictated by the vast void of the universe.  That, the only thing you know--reality--is just a series of codes and sequences that just happen to make you who you are.
    My first thought was, "how very Buddhist."  Since, this is one of the core beliefs in Buddhism.  One that I personally believe to be true.  As a Buddhist, this end sequence really spoke to me.  It told me not only what I already know, but what I have been wanting to validate.  I don't know if the creators of Minecraft are Buddhist, but I have a growing suspicion that they are.  The thing that gets me, yet again, is the sense that the things they are saying are true.  It's that feeling you get when you see bits of 'wisdom' from more than one source.  That is how you know this 'wisdom' is true.
    I put 'wisdom' in quotes because there is no real way of knowing if this is wise or not.  The only thing that qualifies it as 'wise' is the belief that it is so.  This, I know for sure.  It's the only thing that I know for sure: that there is nothing for sure.  Even then, the ending of Minecraft was something wholly unexpected.  From a game that has little to no story to come out and slap you in the face with more story than one of the weaker mindset cannot handle in one dose.
    Which, brings to mind that the only reason it was such a large dose of story in one sitting was there really is no story to Minecraft.  The whole point of the game is to make your own story.  Admittedly this is limited, but for me the ending sequence of Minecraft is more than enough story for this simple little game.  One thing is for sure: from now on I will look at Minecraft with a whole new and deeper light than I have before.  Minecraft is now on my list of favourite games of all time.

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