Porn Starlet Tera Patrick Joins Saint's Row 2

Weapons? Drugs? Violence? What doesn't Saint's Row 2 have (that Grand Theft Auto has already done)? A porn starlet on the development team. No, not 'on' the development team. CVG reports that Veteran adult entertainment engineer Tera Patrick has apparently joined the team at Volition as a "special producer". What exactly she will be producing remains up in the air at this time, but I am assuming it has something to do with procedurally generating sales to the sort of people who know her work intimately. Having seen Ms. Patrick performing her work accidentally via the internet in the long-distant past a week ago, I can't imagine what else she might be bringing to the table, other than wobbly table legs.

All will be revealed soon, teases the game's publisher THQ. In the meantime, Tera will be at the company's booth at Comic-Con on Saturday to pose for photographs and give convention goers the completely false impression that they have a chance in hell of getting together with her.

Porn star joins Saints Row dev team [CVG]

THQ Signs Up With GameTap

While Turner Broadcasting's GameTap service gave us a scare awhile back by cutting off it's editorial arm, the game download side of things is still as strong as ever, and growing even strong still as they announce a long-term partnership with THQ to include the publisher's games on the service. This will add existing games like Company of Heroes, Warhammer 40K, Titan Quest and Red Faction to the service, while securing future titles such as Saint's Row 2.

“Our new partnership with GameTap allows both a brand new audience and fans alike to enjoy our titles and franchise games online,” said Adrienne Lauer, National Sales Director, Market Development for THQ, “Digital distribution is a great way to extend the reach of our properties and GameTap is an ideal outlet for this effort.”

See? GameTap knows what it's doing. The editorial content always seemed unnecessary to me anyway. More games is good! Hit the jump for the full PR.

Saint's Row 2 Weapons - Ready, Clear!

Saint's Row 2, Hijacked By Gary Busey

Give Gary Busey a green screen, some video game footage and whatever marvelous concoction of narcotics he must have on constant drip, and you get three new Saint's Row 2 trailers called Street Lessons With Uncle Gary. Sometimes funny, often scary and always Busey, these new ads will give you a slightly better glimpse of the game than the more dramatic, less footagey trailer that debuted last week.

I'm hanging out at Volition in a cozy darkened side room, waiting for their presentation on Saint's Row 2 to begin. Producer Greg Donovan (right) is with me and we sit there a bit awkwardly, waiting for the game's Lead Designer, James Tsai (left), to join us.

It's not Donovan's fault that things are weird. Someone has painstakingly setup a small table filled with various drinks and snacks that, as Donovan explains, "aren't there everyday."

Things are weird because I have an absurd headache on top of an even more absurd head cold making me a complete bitch to talk to. Donovan breaks the silence again.

A load of new details have just dropped on Saint's Row 2 over at Gameplayer. And the sequel's updates all sound promising. First and foremost, the game will be adding a full-story co-op multiplayer experience ala Crackdown. (Do we need to mention yet again just how awesome this industry trend of co-op multiplayer is?) In addition, a boatload (literally) of new vehicles will be available, including planes, helicopters, jet-skis and speedboats (hence the pun). And yes, concerned citizens, these planes can crash into buildings.

Building interiors will also be a new focus of the game, with over 130 throughout a city that's now 45% larger than SR1. Oh, and you can be a transsexual now, too. Hmmm...I wonder what I have to do for another invite to Volition...(not just because I'm extremely interested in transsexuals or something).

Saints Row 2: A first look at GTA's competition [via n4g]

Who Likes Saints Row? Denny Crane!

Speaking of cameos, the latest episode of ABC legal drama Boston Legal featured a brief guest appearance by THQ and Volition's Saints Row. A portly William Shatner as chronic nutjob Denny Crane is seen getting his virtual hooker on, probably at the behest of some nerdy writer on the show's staff. Either that or a production assistant was tasked with getting "one of the Grand Thefts for the Nintendo PlayStation so Mr. Shatner can keep busy between takes." Surely, THQ didn't pay for this kind of product placement. I hope.

Thanks for the tip, Greg!

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Out of Bounds in the Saint's Row Demo

The Games of E3