Mass Effect 3 demo to unlock Kingdoms of Amalur armour, and vice versa

Demos for Mass Effect 3 and Kingdoms of Amalur are due to arrive shortly, the perfect excuse for another weird pan-series promotional deal.

and Kingdoms of Amalur are due to arrive shortly, the perfect excuse for another weird pan-series promotional deal. When you boot up the Mass Effect 3 demo, you'll get access to a version of Shepard's famous N7 armour in fantasy RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur. Beat the demo and you'll unlock a pair of "Omniblades" which look just like Shepard's glowing techno arm-spikes.

It goes the other way, too. Playing the Kingdoms of Amalur demo will grant you Reckoner Knight Armour and a "Chakram Launcher" in Mass Effect 3. Both items are designed by comic book artist Todd McFarlene. Get a closer look at all the bonus gear in the screenshots below.

Once upon a time you'd buy a game and play the game, and that would be that. Big modern releases are sprawling multimedia assaults wrapped in pre-order deals, tie in iPhone games and cross-series promotions. The Dragon Age Dead Space armourwas especially odd, but nothing's managed to beat the Force Unleashed/Monkey Island crossoveryet. What do you think of these cross-promotional bonus deals, a bit of fun or a bit too much?