My nephew, whom I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, really wants a legit copy of Minecraft. Now, History shows a bunch of porn links and he might have been surfing porn; but another likely scenario is that he was searching for ‘Minecraft! Full Version! Free Download!’ and he got malware from sites targeted at people who want something for nothing. In any case, he really wants the game. He’s suggested that I should buy it for myself and we can play it together. :rolleyes:
Well, his birthday is at the end of June and I have to get him something. Minecraft is fairly cheap compared to some toys. I’d rather get him something else for several reasons. But suppose I want to get him the game? AFAIK it’s a download thing. I can’t wrap it up and send it in the mail. How can I download software as a gift for someone else? (Though the nephew issue brings this up, I’m curious now in a general way.)
Have you tried the following link: http://www.minecraft.net/store/gift
With online distribution now days company often allow you to download the full client with no restriction but it will be locked until you enter in a key to verify you paid for it, it then becomes unlocked. So in theory you can purchase a key for your nephew, have him download the game then send him the key trough e-mail so he can activate it.
Buy it. Download it. Burn it to a CD. Print pictures or ads for the game and slip them into a jewel case or DVD-style case. If codes, passwords, etc. are needed to activate the software, print up instructions and put them inside.
You can also get creative about just putting the information inside of other gifts. When I got my wife tickets to a show, I put them in a box of chocolates. I could just see myself buying a pair of socks for the nephew and putting a printout of his Minecraft registration code inside.
Or there’s the time I bought my father a koi for Christmas. I obviously couldn’t put the fish under the tree, so I had the shop reserve the fish I wanted. I printed a picture of the fish, cut it out, laminated it, and put it in a bag of water in a wrapped box under the tree. I even punched holes in the box, as if I thought it needed air. And boy was my father’s face priceless when he saw what he assumed was a dead $80 fish in a box.
Purchasing Minecraft isn’t quite the same as other downloadable games. First, you register for an account on minecraft.net. Unless you want the game for yourself too, the easiest way to purchase it for him would be to register an account for him, make the purchase, then turn the username and password over to him. When he’s logged in to the account, he can play the game in a browser or download a stand alone launcher. You could also register an account for you and then purchase a gift code for him.
You can register an account without purchasing the game. You just can’t purchase the game without having an account.
You could consider getting Terraria instead, which is:
On Steam (which has a gifting system already set up; for some reason Minecraft uses their own distribution system instead of signing up with Steam or Impulse or Origin or what-not)
Cheaper
A very similar style of game
An all-around better game (IMO) (Although it does lack mods, if he wants mods)
<p>Edit: oh, and it doesn’t require Java. Java’s basically a wide-open door saying “viruses wanted!”
