Majesco staging $1 million Advent Rising contest

Up-and-coming publisher Majesco today announced that it will offer numerous prizes to the first 500,000 people who purchase its upcoming Xbox action adventure game, Advent Rising. The contest is entitled "Race to Save Humanity," and the top prize is $1 million.

According to Majesco, the first half-million copies of Advent Rising will be specially marked and will include a free two-month subscription to Xbox Live. Starting on June 9, players who sign onto Xbox Live with Advent Rising will receive a patch that plants a hidden "A" icon Easter egg somewhere within the game. When players find the icon, they will receive a code they must enter at the Advent Rising Web site using their Xbox Live gamertag. Majesco will then select winners of a series of hundreds of prizes, including Sobe paraphernalia and cash amounts ranging from $10,000 to the grand prize of $1 million.

The contest will run from the week following the release of Advent Rising until August 15, and new Easter eggs will be added regularly. Also, while the "Race to Save Humanity" contest is open to Americans and Canadians, it is void in Vermont, Maryland, and Quebec province.

Advent Rising has endured a lengthy development process, and its release date was pushed back last summer, though at the time, Majesco claimed the delay was due to concerns about an already-crowded marketplace. The game should arrive on the Xbox and PC at the beginning of June.