Interview: The Pornstar Gamer

I was wrong.

Back in January of 2008, I wrote a lengthy feature explaining that pornstars and video games simply don't mix. It was in response to another article that supposedly pointed to several adult entertainment stars who love games, and at one point in my rebuttal, I wrote this:

"I will say this- if there is a female adult entertainment star out there who actually plays video games, and she comes to us, we'll tell ya all about it. Heck, we'll even do an interview."

Obviously, when no such thing happened, I would prove my point. However, nearly two years later, I see an e-mail in my inbox that, lo and behold, has forced me to eat my words. Say hello to Mia Rose, adult entertainment star and – oh yes – a Level 80 Warlock in World of Warcraft whose first game was the original Final Fantasy back on the good ol' NES. And now, due to the obligation I imposed upon myself, we are giving you an interview that might just surprise you in a variety of ways.

PSXE: When did you first start playing video games, and what (or who) really got you started?

Mia: "It was my dad who first got me started; I was supposed to be a boy, and he never got over the fact that I wasn't. Obviously, I wasn't born with a controller in my hand but it was pretty damn close; my dad got me into gaming and I was taught how to camp, fish, climb trees, and game. I started with the first Final Fantasy s (you know, the little box shaped guys moving from square to square) and ended with my favorite, FFX. Goddamnit, they really screwed up with FFX-2; almost made it into a dress-up game.

Then there was Chrono Cross , Kingdom Hearts , Zelda , Gran Turismo , the Halo s, [etc.]. I play World of Warcraft now. ( when prompted about the Wii ): I won't touch it. I refuse to. I just don't like it…I mean, gaming is where you sit down and relax and kick back. Moving and playing? I mean, what the fu** is that?"

PSXE: Do you think games appeal more to girls now than ever before? If so, why?

Mia: "Well, the thing is, now it's become 'the thing to do,' I've noticed. Yeah, there are definitely games that are more appealing to girls now, but in some ways, it makes it harder for us. Like, you see all these hot girls gaming and stuff, and that's a new thing."

PSXE: When people find out what you do and also that you like video games, what’s their typical reaction?

Mia: "I'd say about 75% of the time, people are actually rude. They're really rude and mean, especially when they're inside a game and they find out about me. I guess if I ran into someone who did something I wanted to do, or just someone a lot of people knew, I might be a little bitter, too. But when you get over that bitterness, I'd think it would be cool to play with that person. I mean, there are a lot of people who are well-known and play games…millions play, so how can there not be semi-famous people who play?

But for me, I didn't realize I'd become known and I use my name. But when I became known, it got a lot harder for me to play. Everyone gave me sh** so I had to really work for whatever I got. Guys are di*** online and when you're better than them…oh God forbid. I got to the last boss [in the last Warcraft expansion] and there was this guy playing and he was like, 'I can't believe this bi*** is telling me how to heal,' and then he left and called me a dirty whore. I was just like, 'you just had to stand in a different spot.'"

PSXE: Do other people in your line of work play games, too, or do they think it’s a little weird that you do?

Mia: "There's a bunch that do; I know there are at least a few. For example, Belladonna and her husband play, and then there's the guy who got me into Warcraft and we started "Whorelore." Activision Blizzard actually sued us over the first two names – "Whorecraft" and "Whore of the Warcraft" – but now they really can't do anything. I think they just gave up. So yeah, there are a bunch of us that play."

PSXE: Adult entertainment and games have crossed paths before. For example, Tera Patrick was featured in Saints Row 2; do you think we’ll see more of this? And would you like to be in a video game?

Mia: "Did you see those iPhone Apps? They have pornstar iPhone applications now and I think industries are finally starting to get it: nerds are a huge fu**ing audience, so I'm sure we're going to see more of it. I don't know if this will be good but if it works, more power to them. I just hope they get real gamers in those games rather than just pornstars. < /p

And actually, they're going to be making an NPC of me in [game name withheld for our reasons]. And I want to do stuff like PR or spokeswoman or something. I went to BlizzCon this year and it was fu**ing unreal and there were spokespeople there and I was like, 'I could get paid for this.'"

PSXE: All these fashion magazines always list someone’s "turn-ons" and "turn-offs." Would you say a guy who plays games is a turn-on for you?

Mia: "You know what, I don't know, really. Sometimes it's bad because I know how I am with games. I know how much time I spend so maybe I wouldn't want to date me. But still, talent is hot; any kind of talent is hot. And I'm not really into the whole musician thing, but if you're really good at something, that's really hot…so if you're good at video games…

But if you suck, I'm going to make fun of you. 'laughs'"

PSXE: Do you see yourself still playing games well into the future as you get older?

Mia: "I sure hope I will; games are only getting better so [my love for games] better not fu**ing go away. No, I'm not giving this up any time soon. It's really fun to play games; it's sh** you can't do in real life. I like being involved…something like GTA wasn't really my thing; I just found it a little pointless, but I certainly appreciated it for the brilliant game it was."

And by the way, Mia would like to give a shout-out to a couple WoW buddies: the Death Knight, "Pmo," and the Druid, "Noble."

End Interview

Learn more about Mia at her MySpace page , and feel free to check out her character sheet . Yeah. She's the real gamer deal.

We thank Mia for taking time to prove to everyone that this industry attracts all types. And some additional end notes- Mia is mostly retired now (you'll have to get your porn fix elsewhere in the future) and currently trains seeing-eye dogs. She also loves cars and on that subject, the mere fact that she had a 350Z is only the start of the irony; as most of you know, Arnold has his 350Z and I also owned for a while, so we had a laugh about that. Furthermore, anyone who can talk about the Aions in Final Fantasy X and look like that at the same time…? It's more than just refreshing; it's freakin' awesome.

And lastly, I did this interview because I knew we had a mature and intelligent community, so don't make a fool out of me by filling the Comments section with junk. You guys never do that, so don't start now; if you choose this opportunity to abuse the interviewee, I'm gonna come down on you hard. She seemed very nice, so leave her the hell alone; if you want to go on a moralistic rant, feel free in the forums, provided there's no personal bashing going on. I'll be keeping a close eye… Thanks.