Getting early access to a game used to be a pretty tall order. You might weasel your way into a limited beta, find a preview disk in a magazine, or poke around the shadier parts of the Internet. Today, it’s much easier: you can just buy your way in. Whether it’s through Steam or directly from the developer, increasing numbers of games are offering prospective players the chance to play the game before it’s official release. Of course this brings into the question the definition of release dates and what it even means to call a game “finished.” This week, we use Rowan Kaiser’s article on the topic to explore early access trend and what it means for customers, designers, and critics. Feel free to jump into the comments with your thoughts!- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes- Find the show on Stitcher- Here's the show's stand-alone feed- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.Show notes:- "Early Access exposes the lie that the best games should, or even can, be finished," by Rowan Kaiser, via Polygon- Runtime: 34 min 44 sec- Music by: Brad Sucks