Did you know that today is Ice-T's birthday? He plays video games. There, now it's on-topic.

News Blips:

Mass Effect 3 publisher Electronic Arts is sending the game into space -- kinda. EA will launch six high-altitude weather balloons, each of them carrying a copy of the highly anticipated title, into the stratosphere from six different cities around the world next week. Fans in and around New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Berlin, London, and Paris will want to keep an eye on the GPS tracking information on Mass Effect's official site, because once the crafts return to Earth, the discs are free for the taking. I was imagining this playing out as a zany Cannonball Run-style race, but then I realized that the balloons have equal odds of landing in the ocean. [USA Today]

2K Games has announced that it's working on an expansion for Civilization 5, due out this spring. The add-on, titled "Gods and Kings," includes the new civilizations, units, and leaders one would expect from an addition to a Civ game, but more interestingly, Gods and Kings will bring back Civilization 4's religion mechanic. According to the official press release, "Players seek out Faith, choosing a Pantheon of the Gods and creating Great Prophets to found and spread their customized religion across the world." Full details on the expansion are available at 2K Games' blog. I can't wait to introduce everyone to my religion: Barbeauanism. It's a strict orthodox worship of actress Adrienne Barbeau. I anticipate a pretty high conversion rate, especially among those who have seen John Carpenter's The Fog.

Trion Worlds' online role-playing game Rift has broken the world record for "most in-game marriages in a 24-hour period." While you and your special someone were sitting around on Valentine's Day looking into each other's real, human eyes, 21,879 couples were toving virtual mazels in Telara. “It’s great to see the seeds of love blooming in virtual worlds, and particularly impressive to see so many gamers getting together to say their vows for one event like this," said Gaz Deaves, Guinness World Records' Gaming Editor. The record will be "considered for inclusion" in the 2013 edition of the Guinness World Records Gaming Edition. I hope it makes the cut; otherwise, I don't know what all of those avatars will tell their digital grandchildren.