Well, that's one way to get into a closed beta…

There are a lot of enticing games out there right now that are still in closed beta, and if you can’t get an invite code, you can’t play. Gamers have been known to go to great lengths to try to get these codes, but here’s an approach I’ve never seen before: a young gamer in China camped outside of Giant Interactive’s Shanghai office and used his dog to beg for an activation code.

The game in question, a 2D MMORPG called Jianghu (江湖), entered its first round of closed-beta testing yesterday. With activation codes still quite rare, the price for a code on Taobao had already surged past 1000 RMB ($163) when 18-year-old gamer Zhang Min (not his real name) tried to buy one after failing to get one on the game’s official site. Finding that to be a little steep for a beta, Zhang decided to take another route, bringing his rather large dog to the offices of Jianghu developer Giant Interactive and having it sit outside the entrance with a sign that reads:

Begging for a Jianghu activation code for my master.

It’s worth noting that this kind of stunt is even more eye-catching in urban China than it would be in other parts of the world. Large dogs like this one are banned in many Chinese cities, and they’re not seen often outside of rural areas.

Zhang Min and his canine friend camped outside of the Giant Interactive offices for a few hours on two separate days, and on the second the company’s door guard was so taken with the boy’s persistence and his unique approach that he promised to pass his contact information on to a team leader on the Jianghu project.

There’s no word on whether or not he actually ended up getting an activation code, but I think at the very least the dog deserves a code for his loyal work here. Man’s best friend, indeed! (Now if only I could train my dog to help me get video games.)

(via QQ Games)