Deus Ex Alpha

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, who recently defeated the mighty Valve to earn a place in the March Mayhem finals, has opened a brand new "Minecraft Store" with a big range of in-game items for sale.

When Mojang, the studio formed by Persson to handle all things Minecraft, was put up against the behemoth Nintendo in the opening round of March Mayhem, I didn't think it had much of a chance of making it out. I was wrong. Its odds against Namco Bandai in the second round struck me as pretty thin too. Wrong again. I was sure there was no possible way it could beat Epic in round three, and it did, so when it stomped Obsidian's guts out in round four I didn't even pretend to be surprised. But then it ran into Valve in the semis; great, all-powerful Valve, the home of Half-Life, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead and Portal. Surely, little Mojang's luck had finally run out.

Wrong.