The Man behind Minecraft 「創世」巨星馬庫斯•泊松 Learn how a Swedish▼programmer created one of the world's most popular games. 來看看這個瑞典程式設計師如何創造出世上最受歡迎的其中一款遊戲。
Video games are no longer just the hobby of the young. Big game development studios spend almost as much money as Hollywood movies studios. But the real rock stars are the programmers—the ones who turn lines of code into the next Call of Duty. One of the biggest star programmers in years is Markus Persson. Persson was born in 1979 in Stockholm, Sweden. By the time he was seven years old, he was already writing programs on his dad's Commodore 128. Just a year after his first line of code, he made his first game—a basic text-based▼ adventure. It was only natural that, as an adult, Persson would go on to be a game developer at a large studio that made mobile games like Candy Crush. He loved making games so much that his main hobby was making his own games in his free time. One, a boxy-looking open world game where players choose to do whatever they want, would become more popular than he could ever imagine. He called it Minecraft and first released it on online forums in 2009. In just a month, the game went on to sell one million copies.
▼Swedish a. 瑞典的；瑞典人／語的 ▼ text-based a. 透過文字（而非圖像）進行／處理的；文字式的
1. programmer n.（電腦）程式設計員 program n.（電腦）程式／序 As a programmer, Ben has a good chance of making money off of the programs he designs. 作為一位程式設計師，阿班自己設計的程式可望為他帶來收入。
2. no longer... 不再……，再也沒有…… We no longer talk to Miranda since she moved out of town. 自從米蘭達搬出城外後，我們就再也沒和她說過話了。
3. hobby n. 嗜好，業餘愛好 Listening to music is a hobby you can enjoy all your life. 聽音樂是一個你可以終生享受的嗜好。
4. development n. 開發，研製 The development of that medicine took many years. 該種藥物的開發耗時多年。
5. code n. 編碼／號；密碼；代號 In this code, each number stands for a letter of the alphabet. 這個編碼裡的每一個號碼都代表一個字母。
6. natural a. 合乎常情的，預料中的 With the way Anna shops, it's only natural that she is often broke. 以安娜的購物方式來看，她經常身無分文已不足為奇。
7. mobile a. 在手機上執行的；移動式的 This mobile app operates better when you are connected to WiFi. 這個手機應用程式在連線至無線網路時運作較佳。
8. boxy a. 像盒子般的，四四方方的 Samuel built a boxy little house on his farm. 山繆在他的農場上蓋了一間四四方方的小屋子。
你是哪顆星？ 本文 "One of the biggest star programmers in years is Markus Persson." 中的名詞 star 表「最優秀／出色者」，除了可指戲劇表演中的傑出演員之外，後面若接上 programmer, player 或 salesman 等名稱，即可代表「該群人中的出類拔萃者」。而「主打星／最受人矚目的明星」則可以 star attraction 表示。例：
The addition of the star player helped our school volleyball team win the game. （那位明星球員的加入讓我們的排球校隊贏得了這場比賽。）
Pandas used to be the star attraction at the zoo until the koalas were brought in last summer. （去年夏天無尾熊被引進之前，熊貓一直是那間動物園的主打明星。）
