For those of you not up to par on your Star Trek calendar, that’s actually January 12, 2010. The open beta will run through to January 26, giving players two weeks to play the game prior to the February launch. Open beta keys will be given out on a first come, first serve basis, with players urged to watch the game’s official website at http://www.startrekonline.com to keep abreast of the situation.

“We are excited to announce the dates for the open beta phase as this is one of the final steps in launching Star Trek Online to the public,” said Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer on Star Trek Online. “We are looking forward to the launch of our first-of-a-kind MMORPG with anticipation and excitement and we expect Star Trek Online to explode onto the scene, giving fans and gamers a Star Trek experience like no other.”

Star Trek would be a much bigger hit with the fans if video game website writers didn’t have to covert dates to stardates of their own accord. Just sayin’.

M.A.G. – or Massive Action Game – is a 256-player shooter for the PS3. With player numbers like that, it’s gonna need some serious beta testing, especially in Australia. So hop over to the PlayStation website to register and do your bit for the cause.

Load up for the MAG Beta [PlayStation.com.au]

Funcom wants you back in Age of Conan, and they want you back bad. As of today, they are offering two free weeks of Age of Conan to returning players, with some rather special incentives for those who pony up cash for a renewed subscription. One month nets you a free week’s worth of game time, which I suppose is nice, but not nearly as nice as the three months incentive. Re-subscribe to Age of Conan for 90 days and you get a beta slot in The Secret World, which is looking much more interesting than many MMO games out today, including Age of Conan.

But wait, there’s more! Subscribe for six months and you get all of that, plus a 10 per cent experience boosting helmet, and a year will get you the beta spot, the helmet and the upcoming Age of Conan expansion, Rise of the Godslayer, completely free! All of this, plus double XP for everyone in the month of November.

A desperate move by a desperate company, or an outpouring of love for the fans that they’ve lost? Is beta access to The Secret World worth $US40 or so? You be the judge.

Earlier this week EA DICE shot down rumours of a November 19 launch date for the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta for PS3 owners, but now it looks like they just wanted to announce it themselves instead of having GameStop doing it. To participate in the North American multiplayer beta test, PS3 owners need only reserve a copy of the game at the GameStop website or retail locations, at which point they will receive a key allowing them to join in the fun on the 19th.

The multiplayer beta takes place on the Arica Harbour map, pitting Americans against Russians in ground and vehicular combat for up to 24 players. You can check out the official beta announcement trailer below.

“With Battlefield: Bad Company 2 we’re looking to raise the bar across all aspects of our multiplayer experience, setting a new standard for online play,” says Patrick Bach, Senior Producer on Battlefield: Bad Company 2. “From the graphics to the vehicles, weapons and destruction, we are delivering the best online multiplayer game next year, and we want gamers to experience it themselves by playing the beta and demo.”

What about the Xbox 360 and PC gamers out there? Don’t fret too much. The PC open beta for the game kicks off next month, followed by a multiplayer demo for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 early next year.

Image courtesy of the PlayStation Blog.

Why “pre-season” you ask? The competitive online strategy game uses a seasons model in order to keep gameplay fresh for everyone involved. October 27th sees the start of its pre-season, a period in which players can form teams, learn the game, and formulate strategies in advance of season one, which kicks off in early 2010. The model also allows Riot to cycle content, meaning the set of Champions you have at your disposal and the maps you play on can change with each season, keeping the game fresh and the competition on their toes.

Riot has just opened up the beta for the game, allowing anyone interested to sign up and participate for free, holding on to their accounts once the game launches. The closed beta has been running for awhile, so you’re late to the game, but every extra day helps. You’ve got five. Go play.

I’ve been following Earth Eternal for quite some time, and AJ recently had occasion to go hands-on with the game, dispelling worries that the game was for furries. After all, only 16 of the game’s 22 player races are animals, with the rest made up of mythical beasts and machines with only a passing resemblance to people in animal costumes. The ancient beasts that man descended from have returned, and you take on the role of one of these, confronting dragons, fairies, gods, demons, and titans — you know, the usual.

The browser-based game is now available for all to play for free. Simply visit the game’s official website and sign up for an account. I’ve signed up, but judging by my current schedule won’t have time to actually play until sometime in 2011. Till then, I live vicariously through you.

According to MTV Multiplayer, Microsoft plans to issue said beta publicly “middle-towards-end of October”. That would point to a finalised roll out likely sometime in November, perfect timing for commercials that would air just prior to Black Friday’s holiday shopping madness.

Xbox 360 Dashboard Update Public Beta (With Facebook) Coming This Month [MTV Multiplayer]

Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale was on hand at the Tech Media Invest conference in London, where he confirmed that the game some describe as a persistent world Grand Theft Auto would slowly begin letting in beta testers next week. One would expect those accepted into the test to find out extremely soon. Dale also made a point of mentioning that the number of beta participants would steadily increase leading up to next year’s launch, so don’t give up on it, baby.

I honestly have no idea where that last bit came from.

APB beta to go live next week [GamesIndustry.Biz]

Signing up for the Star Wars: The Old Republic community is your first step towards become a closed beta tester for the next big Star Wars MMO. BioWare wants active community members as testers, as active community members are more likely to provide feedback than dirty, stinking lurkers who lurk and stink. Once you’ve become a member of the community, you can visit the Game Testing Portal to sign up for your chance to be a part of Star Wars history or something.

Mind you there are no guarantees, but such is life.

Sign up to test STAR WARS: The Old Republic! [Official Website]

How limited? Downloading the alpha client takes only a moment, and that’s because there really isn’t all that much to it. You’ll be able to see the Love client running on your system, giving you an idea of how well the finished product will perform, but there are no servers and no logins. How does this help Eskil? When you open the client, it will send him data on your video card, and whether or not it supports the OpenGL extensions he is using. It’s not much, but it should prove extremely helpful to the development process.

Check out the gameplay video we posted of Love back in April for a better idea of what Eskil is creating.

Stand up and be counted [Quel Solaar - Thanks, Chris!]