Gaming Beta-tests

Night0wl writes "With the recently ended beta of Earth and Beyond I'm left wondering where can one find beta test accepting applications? I heard of the EnB Beta from Tech TV, but not all beta's are publisizing on tv. Where do you geeks find your hopefull prospects? Are we really left to hovering over a game we love, or random picks from a google search?"

Ask EA?

[Anonymous Coward]

EA published E if you did a good job betaing it, EA may look favourably on you testing their next one.

ahem...

[ceejayoz]

http://www.betanews.com/ [betanews.com]
http://www.gamespot.com/betacenter/ [gamespot.com]

Also useful: go to Blue's News [bluesnews.com] and search for "beta".

Well, if you've got both a Mac and PC ...

[tdelaney]

... go have a look at Ambrosia Software [ambrosiasw.com].

The third in one of the best series of games is actually going to be ported to the PC. Finally game makers are realising that there's money to be made on the Dark Side too ... ;)

Of course, since I want to be in on the beta, I'm not deep-linking to the info :)

Some advice...

[PhaseBurn]

I was in the Earth and Beyond beta test as well, from Phase 4, as well as being previously in the WarCraft 3 beta, the Diablo 2 LOD Exp beta, and many other betas in the past, so, I speak from experience here mostly...

Once you're in a beta, it's a lot easier to get into others. The first, on the other hand, is usually luck. I went to E3 (http://www.e3expo.com) several years ago, and met with a few people in the gaming industry... One of them was kind enough to give me a beta back then, and register me as a "press/site beta" which means I wasn't in the technical beta phase, but rather, was trying to get a preview of the product. After a few bug reports though, I was then asked to join their next beta project after this one was over. That built a rep for the company, and on subsequent beta apps to places, I now put down past experience (most places that don't choose at random ask for this - the ones that do choose at random is exactly that), and they take that into consideration.

Basically, it's just about being in the right place at the right time. You can e-mail [e-mail] reguarding all MS betas (they're always doing something - Office 11 should be in beta soon, for example), some of the links mentioned above are good - BetaNews is on my slashdot homepage as a side box, as is Blue's News - they post a lot about the gaming betas, usually a few days too late though... If you're looking specifically for gaming betas, getting affiliated with a gaming site and put on press contacts may be the best way to go... I run a small gaming site that has gotten me on the press-release mailing lists for most companies, and, that's the first place betas are announced...

Hope this helps...

Re:Some advice...

[Night0wl]

First off, wow, I'm amazed. I posted this ask slashdot not more then two days ago. My first acceptance on slashdot. heh. :)

Secondly, Thanks. This is a load of information. I will certainly look into those links above. As I was doing the random google pick and filling out applications for a few that seemed ineresting enough to dedicate beta testing time to, I did notice a majority of them asked which beta's I've particupated in if any.

And as for you mentioning reporting bugs, with Earth and Beyond I unfortunetly only joined in the end during there stress test. But something is better then nothing. :)

thanks for your information.

well...

[68k geek]

I'm left wondering where can one find beta test accepting applications?
in Geek dream land.

AA

[TheDarkRogue]

You can always apply to become a Beta tester for Americas Army [americasarmy.com]. You should play it abit, and get to know it all before you go and sign up [penny-arcade.com] though.....

Hi

[aukks]

I saw this post and desided to register. There is an excellent upcoming MMORPG currently at open betatest. It's called A tale in the desert. check out www.ataleinthedesert.com and www.atitd.net for more details. The game is just about to end its Beta 2 phase, and will go for a break for few weeks, while the developers get everything prepared for Beta 3 phase. So, browse the web pages, and when Beta 3 starts, be ready :)

just do a good job

[entrails_770]

Play it alot be active in the forums and plateste it properly and post bugs.You hopefully will get noticed and then for the next one u can add the 'i betatested so and so ' to the next application.Ive done a few but no longer have the time due to rl and kids:)

Odd headline

[Insightfill]

Am I the only one who saw the headline and saw "Gamma Beta Testing"?

First I thought of "The Incredible Hulk", and experiments involving people strapped in chairs.

But then, I figured they were looking for people to try out new letters that were going to be added to the Greek alphabet.

Sigh. I think I'll go lie down, now.

PlayStation2 beta -- EverQuest Online Adventures

[vharron]

EverQuest Online Adventures (EQOA) is currently taking applications for its beta cycle. EQOA is a massively multi-player online RPG for the PlayStation2. You need a PlayStation2 and a network adapter to participate. Sign up at:

http://everquestonlineadventures.station.sony.co m/ beta/

Vince

P.S. This is a brand new game, designed for the PS2, not a port of the PC product.

P.S. This is a brand new game, designed for the PS2, not a port of the PC product.

Re:PlayStation2 beta -- EverQuest Online Adventure

[vharron]

Apparently, if your link exceeds one line of this tiny edit window, it will punish you by inserting spaces into your URL. The link in the previous post is broken, click here [sony.com] instead.