Up late talking games & writing? You're...

Just a quick one today. As much as I'd love blogging to pay my bills... it doesn't.

The day job calls.

Writing: Got some good work done last night on my new short story and I got some great feedback on the last one, Love Means Leaving Together. Now that things at home are settling back into their old grooves, I'm going to be cranking up the story writing and dialing back the games writing for a bit. You've been warned.



Games: In yesterday's GameDaily, there was a brief report that porn star Tera Patrick will be providing one of the voices in the upcoming Saints Row 2. I had to scratch my head a little on this one... I'm all for quality voice work in games and I think it adds a lot when it's done well, but to be perfectly honest, I could care less about having a recognizable "name" in my games.

There are a ton of absolutely fantastic voice actors (VAs) out there who do a better job than some of the so-called stars that producers and drop a ton of money to hire. I don't think anyone from Hollywood genuinely does a better job than the good VAs, and according to all sources, voice actors cost a fraction of what TV or movie stars do.

Additionally, when I do hear a movie star's voice, the first thing in my head is "Oh, that's so-and-so doing the voice" instead of simply hearing what the character has to say and buying into them. It's a distraction.

You wouldn't believe how long it took to find a not-naked picture of her.

Anyway, what made this announcement really puzzling is that Tera Patrick isn't even a regular star... I mean, is anybody really going to notice that any moans and groans that find their way into the game are actually hers? And if she speaks, is anyone going to recognize her voice if she's not moaning and groaning?

Including her in Saints Row 2 seems more like a way for the devs to hang out with a porn star than a genuine effort to include something that's going to add real quality to the game... unless THQ is thinking of adding their own version of Hot Coffee, that is.