FemShep is really popular in Mass Effect

There’s another Commander Shepard that lurks in the Mass Effect series if you’ve ever created a female character. FemShep as she’s known, is selected by roughly 18% of the players who create a new character in the game. Though her popularity is obviously growing. The female version of Commander Shepard will be getting her very own Collector’s Edition featuring her on the cover come March of 2012. Fans of the franchise have noted Jennifer Hale’s voice work in the game as superior to Mark Meer’s male counterpart and have based their decision on that.

Mass Effect 3‘s female version of Commander Shepard is due to make an appearance shortly, and will be featured in her own trailer for the game which is sure to stoke the embers of the characters rising popularity as of late. As Bioware’s marketing director best put it in a recent interview:

“There aren’t enough female heroes in games in general, so it’s something that people can rally around and celebrate,” he told the site, “Jennifer Hale does an absolutely incredible job doing the voice of FemShep, so people really connect with that.”

I’ve never had the pleasures of playing with the female version of Shepard, I’ve always played with the default character. Silverman also revealed that only 13% or so players pick the default version of Shepard. I must be special. How do you play your Mass Effect, and what are your plans for Mass Effect 3?