While there have been precious few details about the newly confirmed Mass Effect film, the fact that the film will indeed be centred around the core plot line of the games (i.e. the story of Cmdr. Shepard) seems to be universally assumed.  My question is this:   ....why?
 
I don't know...it seems to me that a game whose real strengths lie in the personalization of one's experience would not benefit from a homogenized, railed romp through what is one of the most intriguing sci-fi universes I've ever dealt with.  Personally, I have grown quite attached to MY Shepard, and I don't want to go see some Hollywood B-lister shit all over the character that I have already spent hundreds of hours bending my mind around in interactive form.  The way I see it, Bioware has invented this massive universe with back story to burn.  Already from playing the first two games we know probably dozens of possible movie plots from codex entries alone.  To me, these would all be fair game - they are set aspects of the universe that won't change.  For instance:  How about a story about the quarians and the geth?  Or how about a story about discovering the prothean ruins on Mars and the events that led up to the First Contact War?  These things would advance the canon without fucking with our personal interpretations.  I mean, come on...a movie about the First Contact War?  That would be so awesome.  Can you even imagine how cool that would be?  Or for something more exotic how about a movie about the freaking Protheans?  The list of possibilities goes on and on...which is a testament to the strength of this universe.  Given this, why not stake a claim for this IP in the long term market by expanding DIFFERENT plots through DIFFERENT media just like the books do?
 
I have to admit that Mass Effect is likely my favorite game franchise.  I love it so dearly that it pains me to think that it might not amount to anything significant other than the games and novels, because the universe is so rich that it could be the next big thing.  Granted, this is not my IP...and they can do whatever the hell they want with it...but PLEASE bioware...use this movie as an opportunity to expand this universe!  Don't market it as just another video game movie, because we all know how that will turn out (cough Prince of Persia cough)!!!!!  
 
MAKE THIS ONE COUNT!