While Minecraft started as a smash hit for PC gamers worldwide, the creative game got so many people punching trees that Mojang then decided it was time to bring Minecraft to mobile devices (along with an upcoming Xbox Kinect version), with the Xperia Play scoring a large period of mobile phone exclusivity.

That period, folks, is about to end, and users of Android phones can rejoice. For those with iPhones, Mojang still says you'll get your version by the end of the year.

The aptly titled Minecraft: Pocket Edition will be available on the Android Market starting this Thursday, September 29th and will run gamers $6.65, though you can always try the demo for free. Feel free to check out the official application page here, but don't expect the mobile edition to be quite as up-to-date as the computer variant.

Though users of Xperia Play will be used to only having Creative Mode, Mojang Press Representative Daniel Kaplan has been quick to reassure fans that survival would be the Pocket Edition, and it now seems like those pieces have finally fallen into place - though even the mobile version may not have it upon the first updated release. In classic Mojang fashion, that may roll out a later date.

The controls for the Android Pocket Edition are simple enough: players use a touch-screen based virtual D-Pad, and simply swipe along the screen to rotate the field of view. The well-known bottom-bar of blocks, used in the PC and Xperia Creative Mode versions, is included as well. Simply tapping one of the buttons will select the block, and tapping anywhere on the screen will place it. Holding down a block will destroy it.

The control scheme sounds comfortable and intuitive enough that it'll probably work well - and possibly better than the previously exclusive Xperia Play, of which we found a little hard to handle at E3 2011 this year - given that player movement and view turning will be much simpler.

Mojang were nice enough to release a simple video demonstration for Android users, which explains pretty much everything you'll need to know about taking Minecraft with you on the go. Check it out here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCcsuPH4vJY

Once again, the Android version will be coming out this Thursday, and is available at the Marketplace here.

What do you think about Minecraft: Pocket Edition? It is an application worth getting for you?

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Source: Pocket Gamer