One of the MMOs I've been keeping my eyes on for the last year or so is Aion: Tower of Eternity.  The closed beta sessions are done, the game is nearing its release, which happens later next month.  Before that, however, they're going to give everyone a chance to try it out in an open beta format, for about a week.  September 6-13 anyone will be able to download version 1.5 of the game and experience the first 30 levels of what this new MMO has to offer.  Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, since I was unsure if I actually wanted to pre-order the title, or get heavily involved in it at all.

Also announced was the pre-order head-start that we heard about a while ago.  If you pre-order the game, you'll get a two-day head-start over the rest of the world.  That head-start will begin on September 20.  There's still time to pre-order from any major brick-and-mortar store to qualify for that head-start option.

Aion officially releases on September 22 in North America and September 25 in Europe and seems to be shaping up to be a great-looking game.  I would expect nothing less from NCSoft.