I was wondering the same thing. I just pre-ordered the game itself but would love to get the beta version to get a preview.

I guess they're neglecting this site in order to get the new Gal Civ II expansion out. It would be nice to have some communication from them though.

Ok, checking on the main Stardock forums I found this thread. https://forums.stardock.com/309510

Looks like beta's been delayed, but no word on how far back it's been pushed.

it was supose to come out right after release of the GC expasion at thats what i was told when i emailed them.

Sorry to say this, but because of the lack of updates/communication from Stardock on this game, I cancelled my preorder last week. It looks good and everything, but it is very unlike Stardock to not give any progress reports or updates. They never announced on the front page of the game that the betas were pushed back, they haven't announced or predicted when the new beta will be, or even if there will be one since we're getting so close to the announced release date. They seem more interested in creating pages on social networking sites (twitter, facebook) which have the exact same (lack) of information as the main site.

Maybe when it's released I'll purchase it, but this silence made me uneasy about my preorder. I wish Stardock luck with the rest of the development, and like I said, I might give it a shot when it's finally out.

I was hoping to at least get a beta before I leave for Vietnam June 13. Now it looks like I won't be able to play TPM 2008 until mid July. I had planned to show it to some Vietnamese people I know. However I do have to be discrete. They are fascinated with our political system. This game would be a huge hit among a certain group there. I was planning to leave them my CD of TPM 2008 and then buy myself another copy when I return.

I might be able to download the final version while I am in Hanoi, but I have to decide if this might get me in trouble. Also I could not give the download to my Vietnamese friends.

Please Stardock, send me something before June 13. Don't let me rot in some foreign jail--or worse--lose my laptop, just for downloading your program in a communist country. (Probably being a little dramatic--but you never know.)

I'm not sure of the exact day it was released. However I was able to download the beta via Impulse on the 24th of May. Have a look in the games tab of Impulse.

Download a copy of Impulse, then provided you've pre-ordered go to the "My Games" tab where you should see "The Political Machine 2008" select it and install.

I preordered late last night and there's nothing relating to Political Machine 2008 appearing on Impulse yet.

I'm guessing I have to register it by putting in the serial code in "My registrations". I dont have this code yet, only an order number.

Hoping to receive a serial number via email today, but if not then perhaps I've missed the chance for beta access.

So Jinksy has got it but nobody else has, that seems quite odd.

This is just plain strange. I've been playing it for the last few days without a problem. I'm not sure why I've got it before anyone here has; I pre-ordered it the first day I saw it listed on TGN so maybe its based on the processing of orders - not sure.

One thing I have noticed is that in Impulse the icon for political machine 2008 is the TGNET icon. Possibly someone goofed and I'm not supposed to have it just yet. If that's the case, well I must have been lucky.

The beta seems quite stable and playing with the bubble head dolls is fun. Hope someone else receives it shortly as I went to the online multi-player section and the silence is deafening.

I wasn't aware of anything relating to a small group of testers. I just booted up impulse and there it was.

I just had a look at the version number: 0.90.006 with a date of 5/23/2008 so there must be at least someone else with it now.

I'm having a bad computer day.

I had written a nice long response and then my computer hung (freaking Thinkpad hangs if it's not plugged in).

Anyway...

Long story short:  We're not going to be able to do the open beta like we had hoped.We're pretty bummed about that as the public betas are our favorite part of the development process.  Due to the tigher than expected deadline, we've been burning the midnight oil (I'm finsihing up a 40 hour day) to get it done so that it can hit shelves on June 17th.

I'll put together a guided tour. It's just so much better than the original.

Indeed. I should clarify that we do have it available for a handful of people who have TGN accounts.  But we have no formal beta program.