Today BioWare revealed the release date for sci-fi RPG Mass Effect 2. When they said "early 2010", they really meant it.

ME2 will arrive on January 26th in North America. Europe gets it on January 29th. It seems the PC and Xbox 360 releases will be simultaneous, after all.

BioWare also mentioned in the press release that North American gamers will get special gear by pre-ordering the game through GameStop. The so-called "Terminus Gear" set (pictured on the right) includes the following two items:

• The Terminus Armor is designed for use in extreme planetary conditions, increasing run speed and personal shields, and augmenting weapons with an additional magazine of reserve ammo.
• The M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon generates a high-powered localized gravity well, accelerating particles to near-infinite mass, and ultimately expanding the selection of heavy weapons available to players when they gear up for combat missions in Mass Effect 2.

Buying a new copy of Dragon Age: Origins, due out in the first week of November, will also get you a set of armor usable in both games.