I explained something to my brother today: Mass Effect’s Commander Shepherd, default-named John… ie: John Everyman.
The protagonist of Mass Effect is named John Shepherd by default. He’s also the kind of guy who shaves his head more than he shaves his face, and doesn’t look like he knows how to smile (he does, but that’s more if you take Paragon choices and comfort people instead of bashing their face in). Male Paragon Shepherd feels a bit more of a Psychologist than a Space Marine, to me. Kind of textbook at talking to people. Kind of like our Prime Minister, actually… hehe. “Fem Shep” by comparison sounds like a soldier chick should, even as a paragon. Her name’s Jane, as in John and Jane Doe or John and Jane Smith. Johnny sounds textbook because he is clearly a blank slate for adolescent men to project themselves onto (which, let’s face it, is the point of space marine games). He’s the last 20 FPS game’s protagonist. He’s Bella Swan with a gun and ammo – metaphorically and literally. (oh hey, that reminds me… http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally) Fem Shep has a lot more personality, which I know from experience.
Did you also know that Stargate Atlantis has a John Shepherd? Crazy ain’t it.
On another note, today I saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It was okay, not great. My only real complaint was it was hard to follow in a confusing way, not a complex one. There’s a different: complex is good, confusing isn’t. So feel free to be complex, just make sure it it’s clear. The action was enjoyable, the slow-motion bits near the end awesome visually, though the dialogue felt like it was squashed in. And in a bout of brain-fail I got my ticket, drink and edibles an hour early. I failed Maths today, and apparently English too when I updated my Facebook status. Sigh. At least I wasn’t using my own money.
What? I got a gift card for Christmas. It wasn’t like I pirated it. Though speaking of pirates, I found a very fun book at Pulp Fiction last week, and got another in the series today at my second-favourite still-in-business bookstore, Dymocks. The staff asked if I needed a hand just as I found exactly what I was looking for. Talk about timing!
Dinner tonight was a sausage roll with tomato sauce (the only kind you need), leftover stir-fry chicken and apple sauce. Mmmm, I love me some apple sauce…
