Mass Effect 3 Space Edition Blastoff Begins Tomorrow, Announcement Trailer

We’ve already known about this promotion for some time now, but it wasn’t until this afternoon that EA fired over a press release announcing plans to launch the first several copies of Mass Effect 3 into Earth’s atmosphere, where they’ll then drift down to scavenging fans’ hands. You can even track their progress and check out a promotional trailer:

And here’s the full press release:

BIOWARE TAKES MASS EFFECT TO ASTRONOMICAL NEW HEIGHTS WITH THE MASS EFFECT 3 SPACE EDITION

Starting on February 23, EA and BioWare will be making history by launching the first copies of Mass Effectâ„¢ 3 into outer space! Blastoff will take place in San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York and cities in Europe, giving gamers all over the world the opportunity to track and collect these limited early copies as they touch back down on Earth. The lucky fans who win this intergalactic scavenger hunt will be the first to own Mass Effect 3 before the game hits store shelves on March 6 in North America and March 9 in Europe. See www.masseffect.com/space for more information.

To successfully dispatch the Mass Effect 3 Space Edition into orbit, BioWare is partnering with Ben Longmier, Ph.D., of Project Aether, a program at the University of Houston designed to promote accessible space exploration for high school and college students. The Aerospace Engineering students of the High Altitude Balloon Club at Texas A&M University will be assisting with the launches in order to gain valuable first-hand experience before setting out on their own trip to Fairbanks, Alaska. EA will be donating the brand new equipment and hardware used in the Mass Effect 3 Space Edition launches to aid the gifted students at Texas A&M in their attempt to discover more about the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis. The valuable data generated from this groundbreaking research project will be used to help better predict weather patterns and protect communication satellites from harmful solar flares.

By using high altitude weather balloons and specially designed payloads composed of HD cameras and GPS tracking devices, the dedicated team will handle the launch, recovery and delivery of the Mass Effect 3 Space Edition copies. Starting tomorrow, with the first launch in San Francisco, fans can get a birds-eye view of Earth and track each Space Edition’s journey by logging into www.masseffect.com/space. Official Rules and registration for the Mass Effect 3 Space Edition Contest for the US locations will be available at www.masseffect.com/space prior to the targeted 7:00AM San Francisco launch.

Also, BioWare announced yesterday that PlayStation® 3 owners will be able to pre-order Mass Effect 3 as a digital release through the PlayStation Network. This digital copy will be available for download on March 6 and will feature an exclusive PlayStation theme and the M-55 Argus Rifle.  

Another way to get your hands-on Mass Effect 3 before the game launches is to check out the extensive Mass Effect 3 Demo, available for download now on Xbox® LIVE, PlayStation® Network and through Originâ„¢ on PC. For more information on Mass Effect 3, please visit http://masseffect.com, follow the game on Twitter at http://twitter.com/masseffect or “Like” the game on Facebook at http://facebook.com/biowaremasseffect.