Now ain't that something. Ten-year-old Julien "SuperKraft11" Wiltshire from LA, California, won the world's first Minecraft National Championship. He competed against over a thousand other, and much older, Minecraft players. Super League Gaming hosted the championship over a six week period in cinemas across 40 major cities in the United States.
The fifth grader won a $5,000 scholarship and a Super Bolt trophy. His team also came out on top, bagging another $10 000 scholarship to share. I just wish Super League Gaming explained the competition mechanics better than "he had the most points." What I can gather from their website, the competition consists of three phases; build, mayhem and crystal crater.
- Build - Work with your team to build the coolest project. Winner selected by most votes.
- Mayhem - A free for all brawl. Points allocated for takedowns.
- Crystal crater - Power your crystal while destroying the opponent's crystal. Points awarded for surviving the longest
"Julien's skill, creativity and teamwork during this season was amazing to watch and we couldn't be happier to name him our first ever Minecraft National Champion … The league format teaches teamwork, sportsmanship, and other social skills; while playing Minecraft has proven to give kids an edge in math, science and computer technology," said Super League’s Chief Visionary Officer John Miller.
On February 2, Super League Gaming kicks off the second Minecraft National Championship, and doubling the entries to 80 cities across the US.
Like we said many times before; gaming is good for kids. It helps with autism, is good for kids on a social and cognitive level and according to an Oxford survey; "Kids who play video games for an hour a day are happier." Gaming can also help develop things like emotional IQ, decision making and confidence. And yes, it can also be a bad thing - if parents allow kids to play any game they want. However, the benefits far outweigh the risks, and like anything else in life, requires an involved parent.
Source: TheNextWeb
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