Famous Cameo: 5 of the most unexpected celebrity appearances in games
By ForGeeks It’s no secret that pop-culture paschalas and celebrity cameos are adored not only by movie buffs, but also by gamers. That’s why developers of both famous titles and niche projects like to say hello to actors, singers, or athletes. And finding pixel references and jokes hidden in game worlds is always fun and interesting. In addition, there are official promotional collaborations that give a boost to online and mobile projects from the celebrity fanbase. And even though not all of them can be called successful, they deserve attention. We decided to look back at 5 examples of the funniest and most unexpected celebrity cameos in the world of video games.
AZDZ guitarist, Lionel Zamessi, Swylor Twift and other stars in Plus City
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This popular mobile game lets you build your own virtual city, play mini-games and complete tasks from Yandex services, gaining new features in the game and earning real Yandex Plus points that can be spent on cab rides, shopping and orders. Interestingly, many in-game characters of Plus City are inspired by stars of mass culture. Thus, players meet guitarist AZDZ, soccer player Lionel Zamessi, singer Swaylor Twift and other celebrities. In addition, all fans of cinematic Easter eggs will be pleased to notice Le Big Mac, Barbiegamer, Bane’s Jacket and King Rockture’s Sword in the neighborhoods of their own virtual city. Another Plus City feature is that locations, characters, and objects are updated in real time, so gamers can expect some pleasant surprises in terms of ironic and topical cameos.
Directors, actors, artists, TV personalities and Kojima’s friends in Death Stranding
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We all know that Hideo Kojima loves working with celebrities, but in Death Stranding, a cross-platform game, the maestro of Japanese gamemaking went all out. During the story missions, the protagonist in the guise of Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead meets digitized copies of horror manga artist Junji Ito, American comedian Conan O’Brien, Hollywood director Edgar Wright and The Game Awards organizer Jeff Keely. In addition, the leading story roles went to famous actors Lea Seydoux and Mads Mikkelsen. Some celebrities appeared as survivalists – people living in isolated bunkers. The player can bring them orders, communicate with them by mail, and even receive gifts. However, the genius of this game has turned out so many characters that cameos by director Nicolas Winding Refn Hartman, Japanese singer, composer and dancer Imura or the mother played by Margaret Qually seem to have already been added simply because of the developer’s familiarity.
Seikkelsen’s game has a lot to offer.
Two whole Snoop Dogg’s in the Call of Duty series
The rap legend has repeatedly professed his love for video games, so it was only a matter of time before he made a 3D cameo. And he’s not just appearing once, as the enterprising developers of the popular shooter series have created two versions of Snoop. The first one is for Call of Duty: Mobile. Mobile rapper walks around in a suit with gold embroidery and shoots from the iconic submachine gun. The second is for the video games Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Vanguard. The multiplatform Snoop has three looks and comes bundled with the exclusive Snoop Dogg Operator Bundle. The bundle consists of ten items and 20 levels of rewards, including costumes, graffiti, and other items. It’s unknown whether the American rapper himself came up with a biography for his character, but it sounds quite in the spirit of his self-irony. In the game, Snoop is part of a group of operatives, and in his spare time he paints, blows smoke, and listens to… No, not rap, but K-Pop. Sounds like a heartfelt confession from a legend who has aged in body, but not in soul.
Pop queens Ariana Grande and Katy Perry in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
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In an exclusive collaboration between the American performer and publisher Square Enix, the popular action-RPG series now features a character modeled after Ariana herself. Grande’s avatar wore a latex rabbit mask, referring to the Dangerous Woman album cover. In addition, the pop diva even did a voiceover for the character. A character with several outfit options could join the team of adventurers. After the stunning success, Katy Perry was also added to the game, which in honor of the collaboration even released a music video. The promotional trailer for the in-game add-on shows how during Katy’s performance some sort of glitch occurs, causing her and her dog to transform into a pixel character Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. The game’s creators and Perry’s stylists picked out a sparkly, luxurious dress for the pop queen, in which she and players are ready to fight monsters in dangerous dungeons and earn coins and experience points.
Bryan Cranston, Patrick Stewart, Stan Lee and more in Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff
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One of the main draws of the Family Guy animated series has always been the pop culture references and cameos by Hollywood celebrities. It’s no surprise that a city-building mobile game set in the universe of the cult sitcom features characters that make you smile just by appearing: Bryan Cranston, Patrick Stewart, Nathan Fillion, Stan Lee, and Ron Perlman. Fans got visual jokes, gags, and one-to-one animation just like the animated series. So don’t expect mobile Family Guy to become any less amoral and ridiculous. Players together with Peter will have to rebuild Spooner Street on the principle of a typical mobile “farm”, only instead of “crystals” there are golden oysters. By the way, another hilarious Easter hack can be called the possibility to open a profile in the social network FaceSpace – it is in it that all unlocked celebrities tell each other about the current events. Naturally, it’s not without below-the-belt jokes and references to US pop culture.
