Whether or not one thinks C++ is a "good" language, I always thought that (original) Minecraft busted the myth that blockbuster games had to be written in C++.
Being written in Java was probably instrumental in enabling the huge modding community around Minecraft. Which in turn was probably in large part responsible for its success.
And more to the point for this thread, writing it in Java let Notch build and iterate extremely quickly. Minecraft originally came out of a 24 hour game writing competition in which most competitors were using C++, but Notch always used Java because coding speed was the most critical thing in that context.