The date for Star Trek: Online's open beta has now been announced and confirmed by Cryptic Studios to be happening early next year. So if you missed your chance in the closed beta, there shouldn't be any reason for you to miss out on this opportunity now.

Better practice your Klingon, Star Trek fans. It turns out that "first quarter of 2010" release window that Cryptic Games gave Star Trek Online was right on the money. The upcoming MMO has been confirmed for a February release in both North America and Europe.

A new expansion for Turbine Inc.'s MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online has been announced to be launched this holiday season. Siege of Mirkwood will be coming to add some more action and adventure to the world of LotRO on December 1st, 2009.

Could the wait be almost over for Codemasters and NetDevil's much-awaited new space combat MMO, Jumpgate Evolution? Almost, but not quite, probably, but the two companies have released a press wire announcing astounding news. The Beta sign-ups for the game in North America and Europe has hit a landmark score of 250,000, making it Codemasters Online's biggest Beta Campaign. Ever.

Come April 7, 2009, players of Square Enix MMO players will be introduced to the publisher's new Square Enix Account System and Square Enix Security Token. These new security details will be implemented across the board in the territories of Europe, Japan and North America, specifically for added security on Final Fantasy XI.

Turbine has released the latest update to Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria. The expansion is now on Book 7: Leaves of Lorien, which adds new features and gameplay enhancements. Check out details and screenshots after the link.

A sure sign that you're losing players is when you have to reduce the number of your servers. This is precisely what's happening with Funcom's Age of Conan as the company closes down over half of their servers, this revealed in their very own forums.

Some are Indie gems, some are big name AAA releases, but all the games on this list have gotten the short end of the stick. Perhaps they were unfairly reviewed, maybe they were overlooked by the media... what do you think?

So. What does the final TGS attendance tally read? Why... it's over nine thousaaaand!!! Oh, hell yeah, it's way over nine thousand indeed. CESA, the guys who organized the event, released the final number of attendees for this year's Tokyo Game Show. Compared to last year, TGS 2008 has gotten about a thousand more attendees, thus setting a new record for highest turnout in TGS history.

Let's take a short break from the Tokyo Game Show as we bring news to the MMO crowd. The first retail expansion pack to Lord of the Rings Online, Mines of Moria, has been given a release date. Expect it be available on November 18. Pre-order pricing details after the link.