As far as PR stunts go, this is a winner. EA will launch copies of Mass Effect 3 into space, which fans will be able to track down and keep when they decent back to Earth.
Eager fans will be able to track the games via the official site and, eventually, go on a wild chase for them when they touch down, in the best game of finders-keepers we've ever heard.
Of course, that means those who find the games will get to play it weeks before the March 6 (US)/March 9 (UK) launch.
A Mass Effect 3 demo is available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace.
Comments
33 comments so far...
CryogenicDead on 16 Feb '12 said:
It'll be a PR nightmare if a copy hits someone on the way down, funny, but a nightmare. >.<
corkscru74 on 16 Feb '12 said:
Anyone know the terminal velocity of a compact disc? Are we talking nasty cuts or severed limbs here?
And also...free games! If one lands in my home town I'm going on a scavenger hunt....if not, I'll wait for Lovefilm to fling a copy my way...maybe...I'm really not that interested. But Free gAMes!!!
MysticR on 16 Feb '12 said:
Surely they must have a parachute attached? Surely?
*Awaits Daily Mail front page*
gmcb007 on 16 Feb '12 said:
I'll be the first to say it but this ig going to go tits up big time.
They're either going to end up in the ocean
)
Get sucked into a plane's engine (which would be a massive amount of s**te hitting a turbofan
End up landing on a road and getting mangled
and so forth.
I'd save the money and just toss em off a skyscraper a week before release or make some people fight over it on some Japanese game show.
KMakawa on 17 Feb '12 said:
The chances of any of these landing into the hands of a gamer is quite low, ontop of that damage from coming back down will also be quite high in my view.
Its a good stunt, but a lame one at the same time.
The money involved in the campaign could of been used to turn a mass skyscraper into a billboard with sheppard on it, or make a life-size reaper.. or something.
funkadeefunk on 17 Feb '12 said:
...and Scotland misses out again. Unless there's a pretty awesome wind in the London area.
gunfighterii on 17 Feb '12 said:
there wouldn't be anything that'll land on earth...it'll last less the 5 seconds on the descent through the atmosphere..its made of plastic
disturbed0ne on 17 Feb '12 said:
"when they decent back to Earth"
Did you perhaps mean DESCEND?
Imaduck on 17 Feb '12 said:
Um, no dude, they aren't going THROUGH the atmosphere into actual space, if they did I don't think they'd fall never mind get here. Basically they're going to the clouds and then up a few more floors but without leaving the building, get me ?
echopark on 17 Feb '12 said:
I very doubt they would send them up if they dont know what there doing. Its not really the first time this has happened. They would probably do it in the same way as this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1ipDYpAgQ
EA/Bioware have far more money to do this with too.
Dralel on 17 Feb '12 said:
...Got to admit as much as I hate EA this is a unique marketing strategy.
richomack360 on 17 Feb '12 said:
So all that guff about high development costs for games actually means they are spending the profits on launching things into the atmosphere?
EA - get a life...you really don't need to do this to shift copies of ME3 you bunch of valves
Actually - could they do us all a favour and launch every copy of the monstrosity that is the Syndicate Remake into outer space, preferably towards the sun?
middle finger on 17 Feb '12 said:
They better not land on my lawn!
metallicorphan on 17 Feb '12 said:
probably NTSC copies anyway
Currychips on 17 Feb '12 said:
I think they should beam the Mass Effect 3 logo on the moon while people dressed as Asari's floating on hover scooters give out copies in shopping centers by firing them indiscriminately into crowds with a nerf type super canon powered by reaper technology.
But that's just me.
flyfletch on 17 Feb '12 said:
Just curious, how do you know the syndicate remake is a monstrosity?
moogiesboy on 17 Feb '12 said:
Perhaps THQ should do a similar promotion with thier Udraw tablets - but let them keep going?
Headsrinker on 17 Feb '12 said:
Great idea, i would be tempted to check it out myself, living in London, but work gets in the way. They will probably land in the sea anyway, or a river. Imagine someone drowning trying to rescue a copy, would EA get taken to court?? Sounds like a bit of an accident waiting to happen.
wrightandrewjame on 17 Feb '12 said:
Just been looking into how far a weather balloon can travel. They say on average on its journey up into the atmosphere it can travel about 40 miles from the start point. It can be between 0 - 200 miles dependant on wind. Weather reports in the UK have been showing wind coming from the West, which suggests to me that it'll probably end up over the North Sea or worse... Essex.
ted1138 on 17 Feb '12 said:
TheBusterMan on 17 Feb '12 said:
How much is this silly PR stunt costing? They could have spent the money on DLC,or better still given us some free DLC
I enjoyed the demo,seems more of the same(again with the reapers!),but am looking forward to this.Just hate these silly stunts.
El Mag on 17 Feb '12 said:
Yet when I tried to tie Jedward to a rocket and shoot them into space it was seen as a crime and I was promptly arrested?
Bloody unfair or what!
appyday on 17 Feb '12 said:
You got arrested for failing to send Jedward into space.... must try harder!!
EvilDog77 on 17 Feb '12 said:
Here's to the lucky few who find these copies and get to play them weeks before anyone else...
... then get perma-banned by Xbox Live.
Headsrinker on 17 Feb '12 said:
wrightandrewjame
Weather reports in the UK have been showing wind coming from the West, which suggests to me that it'll probably end up over the North Sea or worse... Essex.
LOL
MPH on 17 Feb '12 said:
The engine would be fine... at least if a few of them went in it would be. They're designed to withstand birdstrikes... even using large frozen birds in the tests. The problem comes, as per the Hudson river event, when a flock gets sucked in to all engines. Then the... ahem... s**t hits the fan.
MPH on 17 Feb '12 said:
They would eventually. The ISS has to engage thrusters at key points to stop it from being pulled back in. The only way the game would stay in space is to put it at the point beyond which the Earth's gravity stops having such a massive effect on it and the other objects in the solar system start to pull. Eventually even our own moon will float away. It used to be a hell of a lot closer.
Edited for clarity on what I was referencing.
hi0marc on 17 Feb '12 said:
Sadly Englands strong easterly's could see the London copy fly out into the sea
gmcb007 on 17 Feb '12 said:
Which would mean the PR company would be done for polluting.
dicky1993 on 17 Feb '12 said:
hmmm
GTCzeero on 17 Feb '12 said:
What'll actually happen is the local EA intern goes into the city centre, covertly chucks a copy of the game on the ground, and shouts "IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE!" while gesticulating wildly at the sky.
Much cheaper, and with far less risk of disks embedded in skulls.
The Bossman on 17 Feb '12 said:
They have to have parachutes for each copy, it'll be basically like firing them out of a bloody big cannon and hit whatever they hit on the way down without them.
Lucky people whoever manages to get hold of one of them though.
Nik666uk2 on 17 Feb '12 said:
Is it April already?