Gamers Take Note: 'Mass Effect' is Coming Soon to a Movie Theater Near You

Hollywood, I ask not much of you. I tend to expect even less. But this one time – just this one time – please, either treat the cherished “Mass Effect” video game franchise with love and do it justice, or just don’t make the movie.

I’m laying down my prediction right now that when the annual San Diego Comic Con opens its doors this July 22, one of the most talked-about and anticipated geek-out moments will be Legendary Pictures’ panel featuring “I Am Legend” writer Mark Protosevich and Casey Hudson, BioWare’s producer of the acclaimed “Mass Effect” soon-to-be trilogy, to discuss what is to be a live-action film adaptation of the game. Warner Bros. is set to distribute the film.

For the uninitiated, the game takes place in the year 2183. It follows Commander Shepard of the SS Normandy as he and his team combat an aggressive alien race that seeks every 50,000 years to wipe out all organic life in the galaxy.

This series’ sprawling, epic scope and transposed themes of cultural and racial tensions have made this something much more than just a successful game. “Mass Effect 2” accomplished more than just winning numerous 2010 “Game Of The Year” awards from numerous publications.

It’s set to be included in the upcoming “Art of Video Games” exhibit in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The presentation of the first trailer and game-play footage for 2012’s finale “Mass Effect 3” was one of the 2011 E3 Expo’s presentations most anticipated by gamers and gaming journalists.

Speaking personally, the game ranks highly on my all-time favorite list. I would love nothing more than for this movie to leave me gob-smacked at how Hollywood did right by a hit game’s adaptation. It’s such a cinematic, story-driven, dialogue-heavy series in the first place that doing this well wouldn’t take much more than just sticking with the original story.

Video game movies repeatedly go wrong – and seem never, ever to learn from their mistakes – by adding unnecessary material that had nothing to do with the games themselves or straying from what fans love about the games in the first place. The ones that get it right faithfully recreate the games’ most beloved elements – like “Mortal Kombat” – and embrace the games’ unique atmospheres – like “Silent Hill.”

The ones that stand out so embarrassingly? Well . . .