Kahunaburger:

Internet Kraken:
I don't like this, because it seems like a pointless thing. The gender of Shepard should not matter. By making trailers for both genders there putting a lot more importance on gender than I think they should be. I know it's just for publicity, since apparently some people can't tolerate anything with male Shepard for some reason, but I still don't like it.

The_root_of_all_evil:
Bets on her cup size being at least an E, and generally fulfilling the 36-24-36 image?

Come on, we know Bioware treats all their female characters with enough respect to not sexualize them. I mean just look at Miranda!

In all seriousness that's one of the things that always struck me as odd about Mass Effect 2. Bioware doesn't seem to sexualize women but Miranda is handled horribly in that regard.

Yeah, other than Morrigan, Isabella, Merrill, Silk Fox, arguably Tali, and the entire Asari species, Bioware never designs a character or a character's appearance around sexualization :)

(Although, to be fair they do this with male characters, too.)

No, I agree with Kraken. I mean, just because they show that there are asari strippers, you don't really see any incredibly revealing bikini battle suits. And Tali just has a snug suit, It doesn't really show anything off. I mean, sure there is some, but compared to other games its not as bad.

I'm looking forward to the time they'll add the cardboard box version of Sheppard. You know, the one with a chance to exude more emotion than the current ones.
You would think dieing would leave a hint of emotional damage on a person, then again, Sheppard isn't a person.

Only one fifth of Mass Effect players prefer Jennifer Hale's voice acting? I find that hard to believe.

Kahunaburger:

syrus27:
much better voice actor

Lol, no. Seriously, play them both back-to-back :)

As someone who has done exactly this, I still prefer Male Shepard's voice acting. Jennifer Hale does a decent job, but my problem with her voice acting for femshep is and always has been A) That she sounds like she's trying too hard to sound tough, and B) she has a tendency to misplace some of the emotional inflections in her voice, resulting in scenes that are overdramatic. On the other hand, Mark Meer can be too flat here and there so it kind of balances out.

Neither Male Shepard or Female Shepard have perfect voice actors; hell, I'd be willing to argue that literally every other character in the game has better voice acting, save for some of the one-liner NPC's.

Actually, the marketing Shepard isn't even canon...

Internet Kraken:

Okay yeah I forgot about some examples. Honestly though for being an all female race the Asari aren't sexualized that much. I'm sure the initial idea for them was born from a desire to pander to sweaty nerds but Bioware has made an effort to make them more than table dancers. They have a developed culture and respectable positions in the Mass Effect universe.

Another weird example of Bioware sexualization is Samara. She's this old respectable Asari warrior that for some bizarre reason has a horribly degrading outfit, complete with exposed boobs and high heels. Seeing her wear that only gets more ridiculous when you walk around in hazardous environments with her chest exposed. But there's nothing else about her that's sexualized. You can't even have sex with her. Why they made her into a sex symbol baffles me.

Yeah, the Asari really aren't as bad as they could have been. There's just so much missed potential there haha!

And I totally agree with you on Samara. There is literally no reason for her to be walking around dressed as a stripper. Especially since she's at the stage in her life-cycle where her sex (or I guess sex-analogue) drive is way down. One of the things I really liked about Samara, though, was that there was no other option than for her to turn you down. It annoys me when RPGs design every single character's sexual life around the protagonist.

Kahunaburger:

syrus27:
much better voice actor

Lol, no. Seriously, play them both back-to-back :)

I have, otherwise I wouldnt have passed judgement on both of them ;)

Internet Kraken:
I don't like this, because it seems like a pointless thing. The gender of Shepard should not matter. By making trailers for both genders there putting a lot more importance on gender than I think they should be. I know it's just for publicity, since apparently some people can't tolerate anything with male Shepard for some reason, but I still don't like it.

The_root_of_all_evil:
Bets on her cup size being at least an E, and generally fulfilling the 36-24-36 image?

Come on, we know Bioware treats all their female characters with enough respect to not sexualize them. I mean just look at Miranda!

In all seriousness that's one of the things that always struck me as odd about Mass Effect 2. Bioware doesn't seem to sexualize women but Miranda is handled horribly in that regard.

Some women are sexualized, though. It would be weird for there to be an entire universe with no skanky women. I guess you could say Jack is sexualized too...if you're into that whole look.

Nicolairigel:

No, I agree with Kraken. I mean, just because they show that there are asari strippers, you don't really see any incredibly revealing bikini battle suits. And Tali just has a snug suit, It doesn't really show anything off. I mean, sure there is some, but compared to other games its not as bad.

Other than Samara, you mean?

You know what problem I have with this whole voice actors debate? People assume that Femshep and Maleshep have to be competing for some reason. Like there's some rule that says one of them is clearly the best Shepard. I don't see it that way. Male Shep is Mark's take on Shepard, Female Shep is Jeniffer's take on it. There is enough room in this world for both of them, especially if you do multiple playthroughs like me.

DustyDrB:

Some women are sexualized, though. It would be weird for there to be an entire universe with no skanky women. I guess you could say Jack is sexualized too...if you're into that whole look.

The thing is that Bioware sexualizes characters where it's not appropriate. The thing about Jack is that sex has to due wither her personality, so for her to be under-dressed is appropriate. But then there are characters like Samara where sex is not a part of their personality, yet they are still sexualized. The latter is what really pisses me off becuase it's pointless and only undermines the character.

On the subject of Jack I think she would've been better topless, becuase that belt looks fucking ridiculous.

I figured they were just going to go with the default appearance for FemShep. Huh, either way I'm thrilled with this news!

All I can say is: it's about damn time. Female Shepard's VA, Jennifer Hale has been lobbying to have the character in trailers since the franchise started.

I've played both. I like them both. Honestly, I feel BroShep is a better renegade, but FemShep makes a far more convincing and materal Paragon. It's true that FemShep doesn't get enough screen time, but the way people get so up in arms about it is a little nuts. It's one of the many reasons I feel the gamer community really doesn't have enough to harp on.

About fucking time. Have played with male Shepard only once to get some nobbing action from Ashley (yeah I know I'm a sick bastard) and he was about as emotional as amoeba aerobics.

Its funny that this article was posted today, I just finished the first Mass Effect game today. I now wish that I'd played it much sooner. I'll go back now and create a female Shepard, and at some point I'll get Mass Effect 2.

Captcha: Hard and fast. What?

JourneyThroughHell:
There should never be a canonical Shepard. Everyone's Shepard is canonical for them, just like every event is canonical for that playthrough. Making it not so would take all the fun out of me.

Also, they only now started doing that? Well, all in good time, I guess.

P.S. Mark Meer > Jennifer Hale. I can do that "obviously a better VA" stuff, too, you know.

I think what they mean by Canon shepard is for non user edited verison of him/her as in if they deside to make a movie that's the look they have to shoot for or writting stories with visuals of the characters you have to have a point of reference or there isn't really a Shepard at all.

Worgen:
the advertising for mass effect always bugged me, they loved to stick the most boring looking version of shepard in the ads and it was annoying how they only used the maleshep since femshep had a much better voice actor, in my option

I can agree with that, after my first play through of ME2 I decided to go back and do it all again with Femshep just to avoid more bad voice acting in ME3.

I hope having FemShep on some of the marketing materials means she'll get a new custom appearance like MaleShep or some seriously better choices for the creation tool. FemHawke's default hair from Dragon Age II would be awesome for my FemShep - a voice transplant wouldn't be amiss either, Jo Wyatt > Jennifer Hale.

Logan Westbrook:
It may have taken three games to do it, but BioWare is finally featuring the female Shepard in Mass Effect marketing.

About damn time. ^^

This makes me very happy. FemShep is the ONLY Shep worth playing. Well, except for Romancing Tali, but hopefully ME3 is fixing that little oversight too. ^^

And to the person who said "listen to them back to back" about Male Shep being better - you are clearly insane. I did exactly that (months ago) and Male Shep is dull, flat, and boring compared to sassy, emotive, and interesting FemShep. He sounds like every male protagonist in everything ever. I might as well be playing Halo or Gears of War or something. Bleck.

The_root_of_all_evil:
Bets on her cup size being at least an E, and generally fulfilling the 36-24-36 image?

Judging by the previous games, she'll be relatively realistic, even when her figure isn't hidden behind a suit of power-armour.

I think this is a good idea, I always preferred FemShep and she seems to have a larger fan base than the standard male shep.

ThreeWords:

The_root_of_all_evil:
Bets on her cup size being at least an E, and generally fulfilling the 36-24-36 image?

Judging by the previous games, she'll be relatively realistic, even when her figure isn't hidden behind a suit of power-armour.

I'd really like to believe that, but I'm still betting on the image above.

My goodness! Will the advertisement have voice acting.. With actuall emotions? With quality? Wow..

Also; Yay!

DustyDrB:
Actually, the marketing Shepard isn't even canon...

So... Shepard technically doesn't even exist?

I like both and have both characters.I think that Hale has too much oomph for a renegade while Meer get's the nearly antisocial voice perfectly.It's good to see she's included even if just for the choice system.

Btw anyone get the feeling the choice system of Bioware is actually exceptionally silly and shallow after playing The Witcher?Anyone?I mean I always favoured Bioware for it's choices but it doesn't have the same drastic change as one would expect.I really hope ME3 changes that.

Internet Kraken:

The_root_of_all_evil:
Bets on her cup size being at least an E, and generally fulfilling the 36-24-36 image?

Come on, we know Bioware treats all their female characters with enough respect to not sexualize them. I mean just look at Miranda!

In all seriousness that's one of the things that always struck me as odd about Mass Effect 2. Bioware doesn't seem to sexualize women but Miranda is handled horribly in that regard.

Look what they did to Ashley Williams.

Not exactly holding my breath over here.

Glad to hear they are putting the Shep' I use in the marketing. Always bugged me that she was never on the adverts especially when Bioware are always pushing for more inclusion in their games. Can only see this as a positive for the gaming world.

Irridium:

Internet Kraken:

The_root_of_all_evil:
Bets on her cup size being at least an E, and generally fulfilling the 36-24-36 image?

Come on, we know Bioware treats all their female characters with enough respect to not sexualize them. I mean just look at Miranda!

In all seriousness that's one of the things that always struck me as odd about Mass Effect 2. Bioware doesn't seem to sexualize women but Miranda is handled horribly in that regard.

Look what they did to Ashley Williams.

Not exactly holding my breath over here.

Ugh, I forgot about that. Worst fucking character redesign I've seen in a long time. For as much as Bioware likes to portray themselves as "the masters of video game storytelling", they sure do have a lot things they should be ashamed of.