Celebrities Don't Sell Games

Danielle D of VideoGameOlogists.com writes:

"I didn’t buy Fallout 3 because Liam Neeson voiced the main character’s dad. I didn’t buy L.A. Noire because half the cast of Mad Men were in the game. I didn’t play the Assassin’s Creed series because of Kristen Bell’s minor role in the game. So why do we make such a big deal about big named celebrities in our games?"

[NastyLeftHook0]

especially jack black.

[afterMoth]

Agreed, can't stand him. I still downloaded the demo and that didn't help the cause as the game isn't good regardless of him being in it or not.

[deep_fried_bum_cake]

"I still downloaded the demo and that didn't help the cause as the game isn't good regardless of him being in it or not"

I'm sure I don't need to point it out to you but that sentence made your opinion on the game completely invalid. And Brutal Legend was not a bad game, it was a very good game.

Not really sure why it's used as an example here though, as the game sold well over a million copies, which is rather good.

[rdgneoz3]

It was a good game, its just that people didn't expect it to turn into a RTS, which not everyone liked.

[JakemanPS31994]

For some it does! example; a couple of years ago right after GTA 4 came out, i was reading a game informer and somebody wrote in saying they scored it to high since it didn't have enough high end actors/voice actors especially compared to past gtas.

[Agheil]

I COME TO PLAY GOOD GAMES, it doesn't matter to me if an ACTOR I like is in the game ( It's nice but not enough to buy a game for) , if the story is bad or the gameplay is horrible but a famous actor is in it, I wouldn't buy it still.

[RXL]

never thought about that actually..huh..

and i DON'T care about "big named celebrities" being in games as long as they do a great job..

otherwise..i don't bat an eyelid.

but do care about well known voice actors (I.E Nolan North, John DiMaggio..etc..)

[archemides518]

anyone remember wheelman???

[YoungKingDoran]

cant beat KH1's voice line up.
i think KH1 is the most impressive voice actor roster ive ever seen in a game, both english and japanese.

[BitbyDeath]

Depends on the type of game.

[SleazyChimp]

Exactly! Games with movie ties should definitely use the actors in the movie. As a matter of fact thats the first step to making a decent game based on a movie.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

*Looks at copy of LOST: Via Domus*

*sigh*

[ApolloTheBoss]

Brutal Legend was awesome. But the tower defense wasn't needed to tell the truth.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

Agreed, entirely. It got too hard for me. :/ I couldn't finish the game, so I had to YouTube the rest. If they hadn't included that stupid tower defense gameplay, everything would have been perfect...and it would be in my top games of the generation.

[Relientk77]

I loved Apocalypse on PlayStation. It starred Bruce Willis

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

That depends.

Spider-man (PS2/GC/Xbox) was narrated by Bruce Campbell. That's why I bought it.

Certain actors can persuade me to play a game, read a book, or watch a movie/tv show.

If Steve Carell voiced Link...I would buy every Nintendo system ever made, just to show my support for that decision.

[ZBlacktt]

With Brutal Legend the problem was the game itself sucked hardcore. So it didn't matter what celebrities were in it. It was doomed from the start.

[Snarkasaur]

I bought Brutal Legend because Jack Black starred in it. I hadn't yet played any Tim Schafer games and Tenacious D is my jam. So I think this article it wrong. I'd probably buy Beyond simply for Ellen Page's presence as well if I didn't already want to buy it because Quantic Dream is amazing.

Don't generalize your own opinions I guess.