Brandy Norwood, the actress and vocalist best known solely by her first name, is extending her talents into the video game world. She will provide her voice and likeness, and help develop the story line for a sci-fi/action game that will ship in the first quarter of 2007.
The game comes from Matty/Markus Games, a Los Angeles-based firm founded by director Matty Rich (“Straight Out of Brooklyn”) and video game veteran Frederic Markus (“Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure.”)
Brandy will develop an original soundtrack for the as-yet-untitled game, which will also be available as a separate CD simultaneous with the game’s retail release.
“An original soundtrack from artists that we build games around will be part of our release model at Matty/Markus Games,” said Rich, who is working with rapper the Game on an original Mature-rated lowrider street-racing PSP game for release in the fall. A video game soundtrack will hit stores before that title’s release as well.
According to the Entertainment Software Association, 40% of gamers today are female. Rich said his plan is to provide a strong female protagonist for gamers as an alternative to the typical female caricatures games often feature.
“Brandy will play a strong female character who is put into a situation that she must react to — one which has the fate of the world hinging on it,” said Rich, who added that he wants to incorporate Brandy’s personality, emotions and music into the game.
“She’ll play a very dynamic character,” Rich said. “The success of games like ‘Tomb Raider’ has shown that there’s a need for strong female characters.”
