Minecraft help

My son asked me for a minecraft account.  I know absolutely nothing about minecraft.  Where do I go to get an account?  How do I set it up, does he need an email address or does it use its own log on?  How much will this end up costing?

@kmt used to be a resident expert in Minecraft I think. But I don't know if the "@" thing works in the new forum.

Minecraft cost about $25 and you download it from their own website, just google minecraft. it may be that the provider is called mojang (it's been a few months since I went through the same). If your computer isn't very new, I'd check first that it will work though because I was planning to hand down my laptop to my child but that didn't pan out because the computer was too old to cope with the graphics.

Depends on age and how you want him to play.  

The fullest Minecraft is on the PC, and is generally played on servers run by others.  Some are nicely moderated, while others can get nasty.  An older kid can probably manage with limited supervision, but using it can take some setting up, especially if your kid gets involved in different "mod" packs.

For younger kids, there is also an X-box version, which is nice for playdates as 2-4 kids can play together on a split screen (as my 8 year olds did with a guest today).  In addition, there is a tablet version (Minecraft Pocket Edition, $6.99?).  The x-box and tablet versions are not as complex as the original PC version, but they are much easier ways for younger kids to get involved, without playing on more public servers.

In our house, the teen occasionally plays the PC version (or runs a server for younger brothers and cousins), while the second graders play on X-box or android tablet.

I'd be happy to pass along questions to my resident Minecraft expert, but she is behind on her homework tonight!

My son was introduced to minecraft by his classmates, but had been using their account.  Having discussed time limits, we agreed to get him his own account.  My husband downloaded it to the PC.  We have some sort of gaming system (PS2 maybe?), but it hasn't been touched in years.

We don't really do computer games in this house much anymore, except for a train simulator program that my husband and son both love. Years ago I used to play Myst, Sam and Max, Sims, and some D&D type game that my ex got me hooked on, but it has been a long time since I've had the time for anything more involved than Candy Crush. I guess I'm just and old fogie still stuck in the 90's where you went to a game store and purchased a disk and then installed the game on your computer.  Downloading games, online servers, and all that other newfangled stuff is better left to those young whippersnappers.

My son plays MineCraft on PS3. I'm not comfortable with him playing anything online at his young age.

My eight year old really enjoys Minecraft and gets to play on our aging Mac. We purchased/downloaded the software from Mojang, but he doesn't play online with other people. You can do tons of stuff on your own - no need to set up an account, e-mail address for your kid, etc.

I believe that there is a way to set up your own private network so kids can play with other kids they know, but we haven't gotten to that point yet.

I asked my son if there were other players on his game, he said no, only zombies.  Of course, he then asked me to help write a sign telling the zombies to keep out of his garden, like that will help LOL