New Mass Effect 3 Video / Early SPACE copies!

There is no doubt that the heat from Mass Effect 3 is reaching critical mass, and the folks at Bioware and EA want to see if they can add the heat of atmosphere to the equation.  Working with some very smart folks at Texas A&M, they’ve given us gamers a chance to get our ME3 fix early, but also a chance to fun important atmospheric research.  Check it out:

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.

They’ve also kicked things into high gear with an incredible trailer entitled “Take Earth Back”.  Even if you aren’t a fan of the series, you can’t argue the incredible CGI work of this team.   Mass Effect 3 will hit PC, Xbox 360, and PC on March 6th, with a new option for digital download coming exclusively (with a weapon) to the PSN.  Stick around after Take Earth Back to check out the Space trailer as well!