Okay, I’ll start by admitting that this isn’t an easy task. I think from the reports I’ve read, there will only be 5 copies of this ultra special edition in existence.

EA reports that they will be releasing copies of the game into the upper atmosphere via weather balloon, which will include a camera and a GPS tracking device which you can follow on http://www.masseffect.com (there will most likely be updates on their twitter account as well @MassEffect.

The balloons will be launched from New York (I’ll be watching that one), San Francisco, Las Vegas, Berlin, London and Paris. The exact date of the launch and expected touchdown have yet to be revealed. They simply advertise the opportunity to get the game a week early, so I expect it will be sometime next week (Feb 23rd to March 3rd, 2012). I expect, if you’re interested, that it’s best to keep tabs on the site and twitter feed.

Personally, I think this is some pretty damned rad marketing and you can bet your sweet bippy (if you DO, let me know, my bippy was kind of sour and I threw it away), that I’ll be tracking the NY copy and have my sneakers sitting on at all times, ready to bolt out at a moment’s notice, haha.

-Chris