It's official: Redheads have more fun. Or at least, they get to kick more Reaper butt.
After months of listening to fan input, famed game developer BioWare has announced that the official female version of Commander Shepard will be a fire-red ginger for its forthcoming "Mass Effect 3" game.
That's right, the blond FemShep never stood a chance.
Commander Shepard is the heroic star of the epic and much-loved "Mass Effect" games. Throughout the trilogy, gamers are given the opportunity to play the character as a man or a woman. But while the male version of Shepard has received all the publicity in recent years, it's the female version of the commander (lovingly referred to as FemShep) who has been not-so-quietly growing in popularity.
BioWare and publisher EA have taken note and decided to give the lady space hero more face-time as they gear up to launch "Mass Effect 3" on March 6, 2012. But to do that, they had to settle on an official look for her.
After not one but two rounds of vigorously debated polling on Facebook, the franchise's many fans helped select first her facial structure and now her hair color. The redheaded news was announced at the Penny Arcade Expo with Jennifer Hale — the actress responsible for the awesome FemShep voice acting — in attendance.
The final results broke down like this:
Blond FemShep: 5,434 votes
Brunette FemShep: 5,573 votes
Black-haired FemShep: 12,834 votes
Redhead FemShep FTW!: 19,571 votes
"I want to say a huge thank you to everybody out there who plays FemShep who spoke up and said 'we want to see FemShep,'" Hale told the cheering audience as the results were announced. "You have no idea what that means to me."
Keep your eyes peeled for the new FemShep who will be appearing in future marketing materials, on the collector's edition box art and in her very own "Mass Effect 3" trailer.
Oh and ... power to the gingers!
Fore more video game and PAX news, check out:
- The unfairness of female body armor illustrated
- Who needs a PAX ticket when dancing zombies are free?
- The Lando Society thinks you belong among the clouds
- Hair Wars! 'Mass Effect' heroine needs a color
Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things here on Twitter or join her in the stream here on Google+.And be sure to check out the In-Game Facebook page here.