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As you may have readtoday, Ricky Gervais has a cameo role in GTA IV, performing a fewminutes of new material in a comedy club within Liberty City. Thecomedian was somehow scooped into a motion capture suit so hismovements could be faithfully recorded for his cameo. He'll also pop upelsewhere in the game, but wouldn't provide more details.
Of course, Gervais isn't the first actor to appear in a game,they've been cropping up for years, either digitised into sprite or 3Dpolygonal form, or simply filmed for one of those interactive moviesthat briefly became popular in the early nineties.
So what's been your favourite example of a real-life star - eitheractor of musician - crossing over into the digital realm? I suppose youcan include voice-overs too if you must.
Here are five of my favourites:
Bruce Lee (Bruce Lee, 1984) Appeared in barely recognisable form in his own game, courtesy ofDatasoft. Released on the Atari 400/800, Spectrum, C64 and other 8bitfossils, this was a great little platformer, with Bruce kicking theNinja and Yamo enemy characters into submission over and over again,while exploring caverns and temples.
Corey Haim (Double Switch, 1993) His teen idol career had already slopped down the plughole when Coreytook a lead role in this Mega CD FMV 'classic' from Tom Zito's DigitalPictures (also responsible for controversial censor-baiter, NightTrap). He plays appartment building security geek Eddie, trapped in thebasement and attempting to see off ninjas and mafia hitmen with varioustraps. An engrossingly manic performance. (Here's the attract mode).
Mark Hamill (Wing Commander III, 1994) Another career on the slide, but I love the world-weary resolve thatHamill brought to his role as hardened star fighter Colonel ChristopherBlair. This was another interactive movie abomination, although it didhave the grace to include proper space combat elements. Watch the opening movie sequenceand rejoice that games are no longer like this. Hamill crops up aboutfour minutes in, watching a CGI firework display with the Welsh blokefrom Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Takeshi Kaneshiro (Onimusha, 2001) Capcom's samurai adventure features a lead character modeled on thefamed Japanese/Taiwanese actor, singer and Prada model. Kaneshiro willalso star in the movie version of the series due out next year. Quite agood-looking chap.
Emmanuelle Vaugier (Need For Speed Carbon, 2006) The lovely Canadian actress was digitised into EA's urban racer to addsome glamour (and pre-release publicity) to the game - sort of likeKelly Brook's appearance in Need for Speed Underground 2, but moreclassy. Unfortunately, she's also set to appear in the Uwe Boll movieadaptation of Far Cry. Why?!