If you've been watching the All Points Bulletin video podcasts, you know that the past four episodes have focused mainly on a gameplay walkthrough. Well, the 13th episode was just released and features lead creative designer "KitKat" discussing the lore and story behind the urban MMO.

KitKat introduces players the two criminal organizations in APB: the G-Kings and the Blood Roses. The G-Kings are a gang of skater punks, while the Blood Roses are a group of wealthy kids led by an ex-Mafia boss. KitKat will talk about the two Enforcer organizations in the next episode.

Realtime Worlds' Chris Collins also reminds viewers to sign up for the APB closed beta, which is currently under way. You can fill out an application on the official site.

According to Kotaku, the All Points Bulletin closed beta is officially under way. Accepted players have received e-mails that give details on when they can play, which seems to be quite limited right now. Posters on the Eurogamer forum are saying that the beta is currently open on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings from 7-11 p.m., with the first hour being reserved for the "Social District" only.

You can still apply to be a part of the beta test on the official APB site. Check out the recent podcasts to see some actual gameplay in action, which certainly has that Grand Theft Auto feel.

The 12th All Points Bulletin video podcast has been released and contains the final part of the gameplay walkthrough video featuring Epic Games' Mark Rein and Realtime Worlds' Chris Collins. Be sure to check out the ninth, 10th and 11th episodes to complete the series and watch the urban MMO in action.

The podcast also contains a Q&A session with Design Lead EJ Moreland. Although the topic has been covered before, the most common question was if APB will be released for consoles like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Moreland said the first release will be for PC only, but "after that who knows." Player-owned vehicles can't be stolen and they're still defining the minimum system requirements for the release, although the beta will have a high spec requirement.

The first release won't have player or clan housing, but they'll look into it for the future. There's no real death penalty since it's a fast-paced action game, but it takes you out of the action for a bit to give the opposing team a tactical advantage for killing you. Check out the podcast for answers to other questions.

If you've enjoyed the ninth and 10th All Points Bulletin video podcasts featuring Epic Games' Mark Rein and Realtime Worlds' Chris Collins playing the urban MMO, you'll want to check out the newly released 11th episode. This one showcases in-game combat and demonstrates how the game dynamically matchmakes enforcers against criminals. The final podcast in the Rein saga will be posted on the site next week and will include a Q&A session, so be sure to e-mail any APB questions you may have to podcast@apb.com.

The 11th episode also gives information on the APB 1,000 Push Up Challenge, which involves 10 Realtime Worlds employees attempting to do 100 consecutive push ups each after four weeks of training to raise money for the WWF. You can make a donation to the wildlife fund here.

According to GameIndustry.biz, Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale confirmed at the Tech Media Invest conference in London that the All Points Bulletin beta will begin next week. If you'd like to participate in the testing process for the urban MMO, be sure to fill out a beta application.

Gameplay footage of APB can be seen in the ninth and 10th video podcasts, as well as in the most recent trailer. Fans of Grand Theft Auto will definitely want to check out this game.

In cased you missed it, the ninth All Points Bulletin video podcast showed in-game footage of the urban MMO as Epic Games' Mark Rein and Realtime Worlds' Chris Collins took a virtual tour of the city. You should definitely check it out since the newly released episode 10 shows the second part of that gameplay video. Rein and Collins continue their tour as they "explore a day in the life of the enforcers in San Paro."

Collins explains that the footage is taken from an early version of the game, so you can expect the launch version to look even better. He also reminds potential players to sign up for the upcoming closed beta and follow APB on both Twitter and Facebook to keep an eye on future announcements.

Kotaku has posted the newest trailer for All Points Bulletin, and this one is comprised solely of gameplay footage. If you're a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series, you should definitely check out this urban MMO. The video shows characters attacking other players both on foot and in cars, which certainly has that familiar GTA IV feel.

There's still time to fill out an application to be a part of the game's first beta test. Realtime Worlds hasn't announced an official start date for the test yet, but has confirmed that players who apply will be entered in a pool to participate in various beta phases leading up to the launch of the game.

The ninth All Points Bulletin video podcast has been released, and this one was filmed at last month's GamesCom convention in Cologne, Germany. In addition to capturing the reactions of fans who got to see and play APB at GamesCom, the podcast also shows Epic Games' Mark Rein and Realtime Worlds' Chris Collins playing the game.

During the gameplay section of the podcast, Rein says that the controls are very easy to understand and are exactly what you'd expect if you've played other shooting games. Collins shows viewers some of the controls and then takes Rein on a virtual tour of the city.

We are constantly impressed by the amount of work Realtime Worlds is putting into APB, which is why we've nominated the game for "Best Presentation" in our first Penny Arcade Expo awards. If you're a Grand Theft Auto fan, be sure to watch the podcast.

This year we decided to cover PAX more aggressively than we have in the past and one of the by-products of that choice is our first annual PAX Awards. Even though the convention focuses on tabletop, PC and console games, MMOs were featured extensively, demonstrating they continue to become more and more popular in the gaming world. As such, due to our MMO focus we had to be extremely selective about what kind of awards we gave out and who we gave them to; however, we’re happy with the end result and we hope that you, our readers and the recipients of these awards will be as well. So without further ado, the Nominees!

The recently revamped All Points Bulletin Web site has been lacking regular updates for the past month, which is most likely due to the game's presence at conventions during this hectic season. But despite the lack of updates, a comment made to a Eurogamer staff member at the Penny Arcade Expo regarding the upcoming closed beta test shows the team is still hard at work putting the finishing touches on APB, which is tentatively scheduled to launch "early" next year.

According to Eurogamer, community officer Chris Collins said the team is "weeks rather than months away from starting closed beta." The comment was made following a presentation of an extensive APB demo. If you're interested in participating in the beta, you can still register by filling out this application.