Tired of waiting for games to be fully complete and released before you can buy them? Wish you could play a game while it's still a bug-riddled, in-development mess? Well, Valve has got you covered with its new "Early Access" sales program.

In all seriousness, Early Access is being sold as a way for players to purchase, um, early access to games they're excited about and actively take part in the development process. For developers, it's a way to raise additional money for a game that's not quite complete yet and get a bevy of eager beta testers to help work out the bugs before a game is finally released. "This is the way games should be made," trumpets the launch FAQ.

Valve is launching the Early Access program with 12 games, ranging from the alpha for massive shooter Arma III to super-indie efforts like Prison Architect and Kerbal Space Program. Those who buy the Early Access editions of the game will get regular updates from the developer and full access to the final game when it is deemed "released." Valve is looking to slowly expand the program with games from Steam Greenlight and other titles that are already approved for Steam.

This kind of buy-and-try pre-release sales model isn't that new anymore. Millions of people paid to download Minecraft when it was still technically in alpha and beta, making the game a phenomenon well before its "official" full release on November 18, 2011. Many crowdfunding efforts also promise that early funders will be among the first to play a game's beta when it's ready. Steam's Early Access program is a little different, though, in that they are only selling access to games that are playable from the moment you pay for them. Even games that are actually fully "released" these days often get significant post-release updates that make the initial purchasers into effective guinea pigs.

All in all, this is definitely a better system than digital pre-orders, where you pay upfront and have to wait, sometimes for months, before actually getting what may or may not be a great game. Still, with the almost total lack of refunds for Steam purchases, you're basically taking a similar risk in being disappointed with an unproven purchase. Then again, if an Early Access game sucks, you can actually tell the developer in time for them to do something about it, which is always nice.