This is certainly one of the more unique--if not outright strange--promotional campaigns you'll see.

NCsoft's Richard Garriott, the brains behind the MMO Tabula Rasa and the Ultima universe, said Wednesday that he will take "digitized DNA of select video game players and space aficionados" to space when he visits the International Space Station this October.

The U.S. campaign will give Tabula Rasa players the chance to have their DNA sequenced, digitized and sent into space in the "Immortality Drive" time capsule.

"A select few U.S. players will have their DNA digitized and sent," said Garriott. "And, theoretically, if anything happens to the human race, it could be their DNA that is used to resurrect humanity.”

A rep for NCsoft told Edge-Online in a phone interview that DNA donors would be active Tabula Rasa players selected in a random drawing every Monday through the month of August.

"[Richard's] been trying to go to space for many many years, so this is the culmination of a project of his that he's been working on for a long time, pre-dating Tabula Rasa," said Janna Bureson. "But we thought it'd be nice to do something with the trip [to promote the game]."

She added, "It's important to note that the DNA will be digitized. It won't be live bio that we're sending into space."

Player DNA will be gathered via a cotton swab to the inside of winners' mouths.

Anyone with active Tabula Rasa retail accounts on September 2 will have their characters uploaded to the Immortality Drive as well.

NCsoft is also offering free trials of Tabula Rasa at http://www.plaync.com/eu/trials/rgtr. There is also a website at www.operationimmortality.com where players can vote for the greatest achievements of humankind. Results will be uploaded to the Immortality Drive.

Operation Immortality's website amusingly calls the drive "humanity's save game."