The writer of the article didn't consider any novels to be in the running (or non-US television shows really), so of course Banks didn't warrant consideration (although humanity is in a pretty privileged spot in The Culture, just not terrestrial humanity)
The general setup of Mass Effect vis a vis humanity's political significance is pretty similar to Brin's Uplift Universe. We're small potatoes and upstarts and most of the players hate us.
I'd also have to say that the article almost seems to ignore Mass Effect 2, in which humans are (or can be, depending on what you did in the original) pretty much running things. (that's how it was for me, and I believe the proximate cause was that I didn't go out of mY way to save the council at the end of thE first installment, because I hate the worn out "let millions die to save the privileged few / my girlfriend" trope in action adventures.
The general setup of Mass Effect vis a vis humanity's political significance is pretty similar to Brin's Uplift Universe. We're small potatoes and upstarts and most of the players hate us.
I'd also have to say that the article almost seems to ignore Mass Effect 2, in which humans are (or can be, depending on what you did in the original) pretty much running things. (that's how it was for me, and I believe the proximate cause was that I didn't go out of mY way to save the council at the end of thE first installment, because I hate the worn out "let millions die to save the privileged few / my girlfriend" trope in action adventures.