David Bowie and the Celebs You Never Knew Were in Video Games

The Gaming Deals team was gutted by the death of music legend David Bowie this week.

Bowie will live on many, many ways. His pioneering music. His flamboyant personas; Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke and others. Even his movies – my personal fave would have to be the brilliant Labyrinth.

But Bowie was always at the cutting edge – so do you really think he missed out on being involved in video games? Hell no!

Let’s take a look at the mark David Bowie left on the world of gaming – and other big celebs you might not have known were game stars too.

David Bowie - Omikron: Nomad Soul

Love the interactive drama games made by David Cage and Quantic Dreams, like Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls? Without David Bowie, they might never have been made.

Quantic Dreams’ very first effort was an adventure game called Omikron: Nomad Soul (or just Nomad Soul here in the UK). And it featured none other than David Bowie, who provided music, voice acting and even input on the story and design.

Typically for Bowie, Omikron was a genre bender of a game that mixed adventure, FPS and fighting mechanics to create something new.

Check out David Bowie’s scenes in Omikron: Nomad Soul:

Of course, there are some who think David Bowie is in EVERY game. But that’s just silly.

Stephen Merchant – Portal 2

In the brilliant Portal sequel, your goofy robot sidekick is played by the gangly one from Ricky Gervais sitcom Extras.

He’s a favourite gaming character of mine. Not just because we share the same name – Wheatley – but because of the award-winning performance by Stephen Merchant and great writing by Valve’s Erik Wolpaw.

Here are some of Merchant’s best bits as Wheatley:

Liam Neeson – Fallout 3

Gruff Taken star Liam Neeson isn’t just a Jedi/Thor/Wolf Fighting hero. He’s even found time, somehow, to star in a game as well.

And not just any game. Beloved 360/PS3-era RPG classic Fallout 3. If you’ve played Fallout 3 and found your character’s dad’s voice strangely familiar, now you now why.

Here’s a clip of Neeson being very disappointed in you:

Samuel L. Jackson – Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

“I play video games for a long time, I still play sports games… I haven’t played the games that have storylines. But the more I see ‘em, the more tempted I am to see how that world works.”

Those were Sam Jackson’s words in 2010. But he’d actually already starred in one of the biggest story-driven games of all time – GTA San Andreas.

Here’s one of Jackson’s scenes:

Who did we miss?

So, three huge stars (and Stephen Merchant) – it just goes to show how strong the pull of video games is today.

Did we miss anyone even bigger? Let us know in the comments, and share your Bowie tributes too if you like.

Now let’s end with a great song.