Minecraft 1.0 strikes gold, is officially complete

Among other things, Minecraft's won countless awards, moved four million copies , and invented a whole new gaming genre. Pretty good for a game that's not even finished, huh? In a few short (or - depending on the potency of your Minecraft addiction - unbearably long) days, however, the "beta" tag's going into permanent retirement.

Today, Notch tweeted the modern classic's latest milestone: "So, yes, Minecraft has gone gold. :D," he said. That, of course, doesn't mean he'll suddenly stop building new bits onto his block-based masterpiece when the "final" version is released on Friday. There's 1.1 to look forward to, after all. But everyone deserves a chance to pop some champagne and celebrate the fact that their twisted mind gave birth to the most frequent star of my nightmares . So then, next stop? Vegas .