Hyperchild September 22nd, 2008

From Slashfilm:

Avi Arad has optioned the movie rights to Bioware’s sci-fi action role playing game Mass Effect.

Avi Arad is best known as the producer of the Spider-Man films and Iron Man, but many forget that he was involved with some Marvel’s unspectacular film projects like Hulk, Elektra, Punisher, Fantastic Four, and Ghost Rider. Arad also produced the Bratz movie, Man-Thing, the upcoming Punisher: War Zone and a film based on the toy robot Robosapien. So I’m not convinced that the project is in the right hands with Arad. It all depends on which director is hired to bring the game to the big screen.

Bioware has said that the game is the first part of a trilogy, which gives a potential film adaptation franchise possibilities. I’ve never played the game as I have a strong affliction for role playing games, but the concept certainly sounds like it could be made into a fun sci-fi film.

We’re so excited about this one! Speculation on who will play the ‘default’ Shepard may begin now! We hope they still can cast actors like Seth Green, Marina Sirtis and Keith David in their original roles and then bring in the A-list to play Shepard like a Gerard Butler or a Mark Whalberg, but a great Shepard would be Jason Statham with an American accent. If Channing Tatum (see below) does an amazing job as Duke in the G.I. Joe movie he also has that space-marine look. Too bad Michael Biehn is getting on in the years or else he would be the one and only choice!

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Hyperchild August 4th, 2008

Here is a sneak peek at the Saren sculpt. This is obviously just the head, as we are not releasing a Saren-head-on-a-pike variant here. This is what we send to BioWare for their approval.

Stay tuned for more as we take better photos of the final clay sculpt.

Saren profile from MassEffect.com:

Saren Arterius is the longest serving turian member of the Spectres - the elite military operatives answering directly to the Citadel Council. For 24 years he has been an agent of the Council’s will, a zealous defender of galactic stability in the unsettled border region of the Skyllian Verge.

Official records of Spectres are sealed, but it is known that Saren followed turian tradition and entered the military at the age of 15. In 2155 he was promoted to active service after only a year of training, though it is unclear whether his unit was involved in any of the battles against human forces during the First Contact War of 2157.

In 2159 he became the youngest turian ever accepted into the Spectres. Intelligent, cunning and capable, Saren quickly developed a reputation for ruthless efficiency. Although there were a number of unsettling rumors about the brutality of his methods, there was no denying his results.

In recent years Saren has become an outspoken opponent of human expansion. Like many other non-humans, he believes the Alliance has become overly aggressive in its efforts to establish the people of Earth as a dominant species in Citadel space. As a Spectre it is generally believed he will continue to follow the will of the Council in this matter, but there are some - particularly among the Alliance - who fear Saren may soon decide to take matters into his own hands.

We found this fan-created music video on YouTube that is a collection of Saren movies and images set to Linkin Park’s In The End:

Watching this video reminds us just how great a game Mass Effect is and how lucky we are to be working with BioWare on these products and to be part of the game’s legacy in a small way.

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Hyperchild July 28th, 2008

Here is the final box and statue shot of the Commander Shepard statue for you all to check out.

We’ve been sending out all the HighDome.com pre-orders already, but there are alot so please be patient as we get them out as quickly as possible. Hope the images here can hold you over for a little while longer.

Now that Shepard is complete we’ll be concentrating on Saren who is already under development and we’ll be bringing you early sculpting images of the rogue Specter agent himself in August.

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Hyperchild July 21st, 2008

Hi all - we worked up this Mass Effect Statue Series video commercial to promote the new Commander Shepard statue that is SHIPPING RIGHT NOW - The HighDome store has been working in overdrive to get you your statue, so if you pre-ordered your limited edition Shepard from HighDome.com then it should be on route to you this week.

Below are a few versions of the Shepard video that we’ve uploaded to different sites: Veoh, Vimeo, Blip.tv and YouTube. We’d love for you to help us post it on your site or your favorite forums and help us spread the word. Let us know where you’ve done it in the comments - if you roll over the videos the “embed” codes should be easy to find.

Click To Play

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Hyperchild June 30th, 2008

Yes, we know we’ve defeated the purpose of the blog by only updating once a month but we wanted to post at least somewhat substantial updates.

We’re happy to announce that the Commander Shepard statue is completed and is now on route by sea to our various distributors around the world and you should be getting it in the mail or in stores in the next few weeks. Its been a long journey for us and for some of you who have been very supportive of us and have stood up to the plate and pre-ordered from us and we appreciate that more than you can realize. We will definitely be “giving back” to those that came in early on Shepard with our second release Saren, so expect some details in your inbox when we open Saren for pre-ordering.

An army of Commander Shepard’s get ready to be added to your collection:

Delicate hand-painting of the Shepard head:

Speaking of Saren, production has begun and we have already submitted some Phase 1 sculpts to BioWare, and we’re refining the rogue Spectre agent together, when he’s at a better stage we’ll be bringing him out to showcase here hopefully before the end of July.

And finally, the big San Diego Comic-Con International is coming up July 24-27th and if you drop by the Diamond Comics booth you’ll be able to see the Commander Shepard statue there if you want to check it out and you’ll be able to find out from them a list of U.S. retailers carrying the Shepard statue.

If you were waiting for it to be completed, you can order now at HighDome.com.

And in case your didn’t know (because you are a Mac person) Mass Effect is now available on PC. Click here for more info.

And oh yeah, we just saw this today on the Marvel site. Thanks for noticing us, Frank Castle. Who says The Punisher doesn’t read our blog:

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