Because I know some people here are interested in Star Citizen, I thought I'd give you guys a heads up.
There are 2,700 alpha slots left out of something like 260,000. On Thursday they will be doing an in depth reveal of the dogfighting alpha at PAX East, which will be available for people with an alpha slot to play in a week or so. I expect the rest of those slots will be gobbled up quickly after PAX.
The cheapest package with alpha access is $40, which comes with a bunch of other in game stuff as well (not to mention the full game itself, once complete). So far the game seems increadibly promising, but in the next week or so we'll finally be able to get a real feel for how it will play. The smart shopper would wait for reviews of the alpha to come out, but I fear by that time you might be out of luck on an alpha slot.