Playing John Malkovich

Games where a person from real life is a playable character.

• 50 Cent (50 Cent: Bulletproof)
• Britney Spears (Britney's Dance Beat)
• Bruce Lee (Bruce Lee)
• Charles Barkley (Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden)
• Chuck Norris (Chuck Norris Super Kicks)
• Gene Simmons (Tony Hawk's Underground)
• Michael Jackson (Michael Jackson's Moonwalker)
• Michael Jordan (Michael Jordan in the Windy City)
• Redman (True Crime: New York City)
• Shaquille O'Neal (Shaq-Fu)
• Snoop Dogg (True Crime: Streets of LA)
• Jackie Chan (Jackie Chan: Stuntmaster)
• Steven Seagal (Steven Seagal is The Final Option - cancelled SNES title, there's a beta available)
• NBA Jam Tournament Edition has a lot of people as secret players, most notably Bill Clinton
• I'd say Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story also counts
• for some reason, the first that comes to mind (that isn't already listed) is the wu tang clan, in that ps1 fighting game they were in.
• fred durst was in wwf smackdown 3. oh! andrew wk and the insane clown posse were in those backyard wrestling games, i think there were some pornstars in those too.
• lemmy in motorhead for the amiga.
• mikhail gorbachev in ganbarre gorby! on game gear.
• wasn't there a ps2 game where you play as jet li?
• i think kato and ken, from the pc engine game of the same name were japanese comedians.
• there's a l'arc en ciel racing game on ps1.
• Jeanne d'Arc (Jeanne d'Arc)
• Frederic Chopin (Eternal Sonata)
• Major General George Armstrong Custer (Custer's Revenge)
• The cast of Dynasty Warriors
• Play as Tim Schafer - host master and the conquest of humor
• Mitsunari Ishida and Tokugawa Ieyasu (Kessen)
• Takeshi Kitano (Takeshi no Chōsenjō)
• Abraham Lincoln (Fight Club)
• John F. Kennedy (Call of Duty: Black Ops)
• The various rappers in the Def Jam fighting games
• Fred Durst also is in the Fight Club game.
• What about some characters in Brutal Legend, like Ozzy Osbourne or Lemmy?
• Also Henry Rollins and Carmen Electra and Jacob the Jeweler, and some more…

• Socks (Socks the Cat)

For games where you play as a fictionalised version of a real person, where the 'fictionalised' version has become a character in and of itself.

• Amakusa Shirō Tokisada (Amakusa Shirō) - Samurai Shodown, and others
• Goemon (Ishikawa Goemon) - Goemon

• Anna Nicole Smith
• Busta Rhymes
• Carmen Electra
• Carrot Top
• Chris Kirkpatrick
• Dennis Rodman
• JC Chasez
• Jerry Springer
• Joey Fatone
• Justin Timberlake
• Lance Bass
• Marilyn Manson
• Miss Cleo
• Mr. T
• Ron Jeremy
• Shannen Doherty
• Tommy Lee

Professional and College Sports Players, Sports Games Musicians in the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series

Larry Bird & Julius Irving (Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One) Daley Thompson (Daley Thomphson's Decathlon) Emilio Butragueno (Emilio Butragueno Futbol) Eddie Edwards (Eddie Edwards' Super Ski) Emilio Sanchez (Emilio Sanchez Vicario Grand Slam) Eric Bristow (Eric Bristow Pro-Darts) Eddie Kidd (Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge) Angel Nieto (Angel Nieto Pole 500) Barry McGuigan (Barry McGuigan World Championship Boxing) Carlos Sainz (Carlos Sainz: Rally Championship 1990) Fernando Martin (Fernando Martin Basket Master) Gary Lineker (Gary Lineker's Superskills) Brian Jacks (Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge)

geoff capes (geoff capes strongman) david beckham (go! go! beckham!)

Tomonobu Itagaki is a preset character choice in Saints Row: The Third.

MMA fighter and Japanese internet meme Bobby Olugun is playable in the PS2 revision of Power Instinct Matrimelee. I believe he was removed for the later arcade revision.

3LW is an unlockable team in the first NBA Street.

Gameloft made a pathetic cellphone game to cash in on the Chuck Norris meme. Also there was this, featuring Chuck Norris as I think himself on the Collecovision:

Lagaf' in Lagaf': Les Aventures de Moktar, later re-edited as Titus the Fox.

groby's pipeline

The Beastie Boys are an unlockable team in NBA Street V3 and NBA Jam: On Fire edition.

Shaquille O' Neal and Micheal Jackson were also unlockable in Ready 2 Rumble Round 2

The Tony Hawk games have had a lot of non-skaters as secret characters including

Billie Joe Armstrong, Lil' Jon, Gene Simmons (As mentioned in the OP), Steve-O, Cut Chemist and Travis Barker.

Xenosaga: Mary Magdalene and Jesus

Henry Morton Stanley in Stanley : The search for Dr Livingston.

Shadow Hearts: Mata Hari

Shinya Arino in Retro Game Challenge

Danica Patrick in Sonic & Sega All Star Racing Transformed

There must be a bunch in historical strategy games. All the Three Kingdoms games, etc–though sometimes you are not nessesarily playing as any of the characters, I guess. There's that Napoleon game on GBA (that I would love to try some day) where you control him directly on the battlefield. There are the Genghis Khan games. There must be some Roman and Greek ones. You can be Oda Nobunaga in the Nobunaga's Ambition games.

• Playing John Malkovich - Galaxy Oddity thread.