It happened in the pixelated world of the video game Minecraft.

Minecraft is an oddity in today's games industry, where there are two shortcuts to making a smash hit.

《我的世界》是当今游戏业的一个另类。在游戏业蹿红有两个捷径。

When programmer Markus Persson, 32, began working on a side project called minecraft in 2009 there was little to indicate it would go anywhere.

2009年，32岁的程序员马库斯•佩尔松开始着手开发一个名为Minecraft的编外项目，当时，几乎没有任何迹象显示它会成功。

A good barometer of how rapidly the game has grown in popularity is minecon, the annual minecraft convention.

Minecraft游戏年度盛会MineCon是一个绝佳的晴雨表，从中可看出这款游戏流行指数的飙升。

With its pixelated, blocky textures, minecraft looks like a relic from the Atari era.

Minecraft的像素和块状材质让它看起来像是雅达利（Atari，美国一家电脑游戏机厂商&译注）时代的遗物。

Microsoft has acquired Mojang, the maker of Minecraft, one of the world's best-selling video games.

微软收购Mojang公司，该公司创作了全球最畅销的电玩游戏《我的世界》。

And minecraft has become a gaming phenom with no signs of slowing down.

Minecraft业已成为游戏业的新贵，而且发展势头没有显示出一丝放缓的迹象。

Minecraft is altogether more wholesome.

《我的世界》总体来说更为健康。

Minecraft is a "sandbox" video game that's popular with kids.

“我的世界”是一种“沙盒”视频游戏，很受小孩子欢迎。

Minecraft is widely seen as the game the Danish toymaker should have made in its attempt to conquer the digital world but its own plan, Lego Universe, flopped.

人们普遍认为，乐高在征服数字世界时原本应该制作出《我的世界》这样的游戏，但乐高自己的开发计划，即《乐高宇宙》（Lego Universe），却没有取得成功。

One person who will not stick around to see what changes lie in store for the game, however, is Minecraft's creator, Markus Persson.

但是，《我的世界》的创造者马库斯·佩尔松（Markus Persson）不会留在公司，亲眼看着它发生变化。

The plan was to develop other games but instead Minecraft became a bigger success than anybody imagined.

他们原来的计划是再开发一些别的游戏，可《我的世界》火得超乎任何人的想象。

In his spare time Mr Persson developed Minecraft and within a few months it was making nearly as much money as JAlbum, which had more than 1m users.

佩尔松利用业余时间开发了《我的世界》，几个月后这款游戏创造的收入就快赶上有逾100万用户的JAlbum了。

As part of the deal, employees of Mojang, the Swedish developer that created Minecraft, will join Microsoft Studios, which already publishes games like the blockbuster Halo.

该交易的内容之一是，《我的世界》的瑞典开发商Mojang旗下员工将加入微软工作室（Microsoft Studios）；后者已经发行过一些游戏，比如大热的《光晕》（Halo）。

Minecraft does not come with predetermined goals.

《我的世界》不预先设定目标。

Yet Minecraft looks little like Halo and its Hollywood-level graphics.

然而，《我的世界》看上去和《光晕》及其好莱坞级别的图像效果相似度极小。

Minecraft players have made cruise liners, rocket ships and even basic computers, as well as pixel-perfect recreations of Minas Tirith in Lord of the Rings.

《我的世界》玩家已经造出了游轮、火箭船甚至是初级计算机，还用像素完美还原出了《指环王》中的米那斯提力斯城堡（Minas Tirith）。

The uncompromising interface is probably why so many parents are baffled by their children's love of Minecraft.

许多家长对孩子热衷《我的世界》百思不得其解，很可能是因为其游戏界面有些单一。

Mojang remains dependent on one product but Minecraft's continuing success has dulled questions about developing other games.

Mojang仍然只依赖一款产品，不过《我的世界》的持续成功，让开发其他游戏的任务显得不那么紧迫了。

Small children often cry after a minor bump.

小孩子常常是稍微磕碰一下就哭。

He raised his voice a little, talking into the wind as they walked along.

他们往前走时，他略微提高了嗓音，迎着风说话。