Portable Minecraft with Gameband

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GameOnTheGo #CollectiveBias

You may have heard me mention Junior High Guy’s all-consuming love for Minecraft a time or twenty before … or fifty… or, well, those of you who parent or teach elementary or junior high kids will probably understand. I’m pleased that he is creating stuff while gaming rather than just shooting things (although yeah, there’s some competition in there too), and he’s pleased, well, with the world when he is Minecrafting. So he had a lot of fun checking out this new Gameband portable Minecraft device I picked up at Target last week (and Mr. 7 had a lot of fun trying not to rip it away from him!).

I’m also pleased that Minecraft, far from being a solo activity, is a way for Junior High Guy to connect with others — from his Minecraft loving little brother, to friends at school, to friends he doesn’t get to see very often in real life but interacts with online almost every day. So this cool little Gameband gadget from Now Computing (in affiliation with Minecraft) lets him get even more interactive. Above, he’s unhooking the Gameband from around his wrist, plugging it into the USB port on his laptop, and animating an “Exploding Creeper” to load onto Gameband and show his brother. The animation feature is one of his favorites, and he’s been using the included PixelFurnace app to animate words and images and personalize his device.

But check this out — Gameband makes. Minecraft. Portable! So Junior High Guy loaded his world onto his Gameband and took it over to my decidedly messy desk here. Trust me: Minecraft is not and never has been loaded on my computer, but he was able to plug the Gameband into a USB port on my PC and fairly quickly run Minecraft and his current world straight from the device. So it’s not just a USB like it appears; it’s actually wearable Minecraft! His world is now saved, too, not only on the Gameband, but backed up in the cloud.

Crazy! He’s itching to wear  his Gameband to his best friend’s house and show off ASAP. What a great conversation starter — Junior High Guy has never been into sports or some other common junior high boy activities, but video games, especially Minecraft, have been a common denominator.

If you’re also looking for Gameband at your local Target, be sure to check the mobile gaming section — and get it before it’s gone, since it’s likely to be one of those hot holiday gifts. If you miss it, maybe a birthday? 😉 Any feedback on the Gameband, reach out to Now Computing…

And you can check out the above “Unboxing” video for more on Gameband.