Quake Live Beta Opens Up Next Week

What would you do if someone ran up to you on the street and said "hey, you wanna play Quake III Arena for free via some kind of wild browser-based launcher?" I'd probably kick them in the stomach because they're talking wild about things that just aren't possible.

That's my stance and I'm sticking to it, but that's really only because I haven't seen Quake Live running for myself. It claims to be some kind of free, ad-supported, browser-based first-person shooter based largely on Quake III Arena. As the sort of man who spent a sizable chunk of time playing Quake III Arena and still occasionally gets the urge to play it, being able to pop it open for some quick Quake sounds pretty appealing. Of course, the in-game advertising that's supporting it makes it sound a little less appealing. But I'll wait and see how that's stuff works out next week.

"Next week," you ask? This is the part where I stop blabbing on about my hopes and dreams and tell you that the ongoing beta for Quake Live is going to shift into open beta next week, on February 24. Sounds like the beta currently only supports Windows, though it'll eventually work as a cross-platform product. That's good, because if I have to return to my desktop machine to play it, I might as well just dig out my Quake III and Team Arena discs and reinstall the real thing.