You, Me And The Celebrity

The idea for this blog formed in my mind as I watched a towering, bald, Irish man re-creating Solid Snake. That man was Dara O’Briain, comedian and fellow gamer. He ranted and ran around stage, explaining how he kept toggling between maps, mission briefs and feeding Snake rations, all the time making FOXHOUND wonder why this was their top man!

So, I'm FOXHOUND's top agent?

Celebrities are people just like you and I, only with more money and less privacy. Like us mere mortals, celebrities do play computer games in their spare time to get away from the glitz and glamour. They also feature in computer games, be it in voice and/or pixel form. Actors like Nathan Fillion and the male cast of Firefly gave us Halo ODST, Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry and John Cleese helped out with Fable 3 and Hollywood A-listers Gary Oldman and Ed Harris voice act in the recently released Black Ops. I guess we can also count the Rock Band games, The Beatles and Green Day. They still feature celebs, musicians in this case and we are given the opportunity to take on their roles. Even Dara himself admitted to owning Rock Band in order to play as the Beastie Boys, but wasn’t too happy that he had to play through 83 different songs before he got his moment as a fellow Beastie Boy. I love listening to celebrities talking about their gaming experiences, from Patrick Stewart enjoying Brain Training on the DS, to Jodie Foster playing Guitar Hero with her family! Even Daniel Craig has admitted to being addicted to video games.

Which is the real Daniel Craig?
This is what nightmares are made of!

But also there are the celebrities who release their own games to the public. Yes, Im talking about the dreaded money hungry celeb whom probably hasn’t really played a computer game in their life. The Imagine game series that was helped along by Holly Willoughby and annoying sidekick Fearne Cotton is a good example. They helped push the mind numbing games onto girls aged 10 and up by making babysitting and teaching look so much fun when it’s with your best friend… pass the puke bucket please. And now Mel B, formerly known as “Scary Spice” thought she would jump onto the bandwagon and is planning to release a fitness game known as “Get Fit with Mel B” specially for the Wii. I wonder if any of her “hits” will be featured in game to sweat it out to? Let’s face it, it can’t be worse than Britney Spears’ PlayStation 2 disaster, “Britney’s Dance Beat”. Can it? I for one don’t want to find out! From movies and magazines, music to TV shows, celebrities are everywhere. It appears the gaming industry has become the new and more exciting port of call for them and their talents. Games seem to need at least one star in their casting list in order to help push the game and get people to sit up and take notice. I myself don’t mind celebs appearing in the gaming industry, to them it’s another job. To me, it can make the game more fun and maybe more exciting. Or just a complete waste of time. I’ll let you be the judge. And all I can say is… “I’M A COMPUTER GAMER! GET ME OUT OF HERE!”


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8 responses to “You, Me And The Celebrity”

  1. DelTorroElSorrow avatar
    DelTorroElSorrow

    That last picture = A scene from all my worst nightmares.

  2. Optimus Pints avatar
    Optimus Pints

    Also theres the Wossy who has been in halo and fable 3, Command and Conquer really pushed the boat out with celeb intervention. Like you say, it is a double edge sword with celeb endorsement I believe it’s palatable when they are voice acting or using thier likeness E.G Bourne conspiracy could of been better with MAAAAT DAAAMON beacuse it would be nice to watch him get pummeled but when they are on adverts it can be pretty much for the worse….apart from mr t and his nightelf mohawk, that was a typical ploy to target the niche market of people who think “MR T i’m well getting that!….i also want a marathon bar for some strange reason”

  3. Optimus Pints avatar
    Optimus Pints

    Also Loz I think from the top picture Dara O Brian would of been brilliant as a bond baddy XD

  4. Ninja avatar
    Ninja

    I read an article about voice actors over the weekend; specifically, about Northern Irish and Irish actors taking on VG voice roles. I was quite surprised at the amount from these shores in games – Michael Fassbender being a high-ish profile one (in Fable 3) and of course some bloke from Ballymena hi 😀

    Matt Damon has turned down such offers though. It was either because he thinks games are shite or he doesn’t need the money. Maybe even both.

    I do laugh at celebs endorsing games (or being linked to them in other ways) when they have no idea what’s going on. Like Pharrell Williams and the Halo 3 premiere if I remember right.

  5. The Rook avatar
    The Rook

    I like trying to recognise celebs voices in games but sometimes it’s not easy. Recently I was trying to hear Matthew Perry’s voice as Benny in Fallout New Vegas, it wasn’t easy and if I didn’t already know it was him I would never have figured it out on my own.

    I like celeb voices in games, as long as they can act. 😀

  6. pints of two formely optimus pints avatar
    pints of two formely optimus pints

    @ ninja, actually Matt Damon turned down bourne conspiracy because he said that the game would be too violent. He ment that with a film you watch with a game you have to control the character. Pharrell Williams moment was damn funny i agree with you on that.

  7. Ninja avatar
    Ninja

    I didn’t know about his reasoning for Bourne Conspiracy, just meant in more general terms. Not my words though; damn those filthy lying journos 😉

    Ant and Dec pimping the Wii gets on my nerves though, like a twisted version of Willoughby and Cotton.

  8. pints of two avatar
    pints of two

    Shameless promotion theyre good cannon fodder for ripping lol. I think the best cameo in the gaming world was patrick moore in games master.

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