‘Minecraft PS Vita’ Sees Sony Testing, ‘Minecraft PS3’ Update Rolls Out And Educational Projects For Fans Spotted

Coders Rest In The Office Of Swedish Company Mojang In Stockholm — Coders rest in the Mojang company office in Stockholm January 21, 2013. A pool table, a pinball machine, board games and Lego dot the offices of Mojang, the small Swedish company behind the wildly popular Minecraft video game, and one of its founders is wearing a tuxedo and purple tie on a recent "formal Friday". The atmosphere reflects the independent spirit that has contributed to the raw identity of the game that has just sold 20 million copies. The founders want to keep it that way. Mojang, the Swedish word for gadget, has so far resisted selling to a bigger player or listing on the stock market even though that could mean monster payoffs for the 25-person staff and funding to expand dramatically its games. Picture taken January 21, 2013. Reuters/Ints Kalnins

PS Vita fans who have been waiting for any update on the handheld port of the popular building game "Minecraft" can finally rejoice. Developer 4J Studios has finally revealed a few new updates, starting with the port's progress.

Announced via their official Twitter page, the developer has informed fans that "Minecraft PS Vita Edition" is now in the hands of Sony for its final testing. If everything goes smoothly, fans may expect to see the release in the next couple of weeks, considering the developer's track record.

But that's not the only update. Fans who play "Minecraft" on the PS3 can expect a new update that's brimming with a couple of new packs:

A #MinecraftPS3 update is rolling out now in Europe & North America to add Skin Pack 3, Cartoon Texture Pack & Fantasy Texture Pack trials !
— 4J Studios (@4JStudios) September 24, 2014

As stated in the tweet above, the "Minecraft PS3 Edition" update will be released in Europe and North America. It's best to check if you have access to the update already.

Education and 'Minecraft'

Ever since Microsoft's acquisition of "Minecraft," many personalities in the industry has had their own thoughts about the matter. However, given Microsoft's plans for the franchise as well as growing talk about how "Minecraft's" educational angle will be emphasized more clearly, more educational projects have been popping up in relation to the building game.

KPBS reports that ThoughtSTEM's "Minecraft" classes have become very popular especially with kids, as they are using code to build things and items in "Minecraft" that would otherwise be hard to build in-game. The class itself has taken a life of its own, with 200 kids currently taking the class and 100 people already on the waitlist for the next batch.

Coding with ThoughtSTEM's LearnToMod is not the only thing brewing in the "Minecraft" community as it also includes simpler projects such as the one featured over at the Minecraft Forum. Showing off the solar system in the most unique way possible, and one that's not shown in school these days, modder and YouTuber Capp00 has created a model of the solar system complete with all the planets and their respective moons.

The project can be seen in the video below. This goes to show just how much can be made in "Minecraft."

'Minecraft' Project for U.K. Map Updated

As far as projects go, there's one that's closer to home compared with the recreated solar system. This other project features the map of UK that is so detailed that the creator, Ordnance Survey, is even inviting people to check out the interactive map, where they can see their own home.

According to BBC News, the map has been an ongoing project, with the latest one having been doubled scale-wise so that there can be more information and details incorporated in it. "I've attempted to re-create Great Britain to be more realistic, while maintaining the gameplay elements people love from the game," said Joseph Braybrook, the original creator of the Minecraft UK map in a statement quoted by BBC. Check out the Minecraft map project here.