2Pac is risen – well, a digital render of him at least. Appearing in the latest Yakuza game, Stranger Than Heaven, the unexpected resurrection is making gaming fans and music buffs alike question whether the hip-hop legend's return is perhaps a step too far.
Despite the promise of an AI-free production and what looks to be some pretty solid video game character design, I can't help but feel that there's something slightly unnerving about the whole affair. Just because you can, doesn't necessarily mean you should, especially when it comes to raising the dead in gaming form.
Tupac will appear as a supporting character in the latest instalment of Toshihiro Nagoshi's Yakuza series, Stranger Than Heaven, alongside fellow rap icon Snoop Dogg and his son Cordell Broadus. While details of his part in the plot have been kept fairly under wraps, studio lead Masayoshi Yokoyama clarified that his character will be based on "who Tupac might be now."
“We wanted to say, ‘Okay, if he was still alive now, thirty years later, how would he act? How would he express himself in that way?” Yokoyama clarified in an interview with Game Informer. Right. It's slightly eerie, but here's the kicker. His cameo has been approved and supervised by his estate.
"RGG Studio is treating this integration with the utmost respect for his legacy, crafting every aspect in the close collaboration and without the use of AI, including his character design based on archival footage and photographs," the game's press release claimed.
Admittedly, I've never been the biggest fan of digital necromancy, so perhaps I'm biased in saying that Tupac's upcoming game cameo feels a little uncomfortable. Appearing as an entirely new character roughly based on his past self, it's as if the studio has appropriated his likeness, capitalising on his legacy to attract a fresh crowd of players. Ultimately, if his estate approves, I guess this counts as ethical resurrection, but that doesn't make it feel any less bizarre.
For more bizarre celeb revivals, check out Rod Stewart's uncanny AI tribute to Ozzy Osbourne or take a look at the strangest deepfake examples.
