It used to be that the characters you would find in video games were only found in video games. Whether it was Pac-Man, Q*bert, Mario, or Sonic, you would only be able to see them when you put a quarter in a machine or turned on your console. Well, that has certainly changed. From merchandise to cartoons, the reach of these characters has extended way past video games. And this phenomenon now works the other way as well. Characters you see in TV shows and movies appear in video games all the time.

Sherlock Holmes is a great example of this. While the good inspector's popularity has had quite a renaissance over the last decade or so with multiple movies and TV shows, the character first appeared in book form almost 150 years ago. Author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have seen some films in his time, but certainly no television. And he surely didn't have any concept of video games. Yet, his legendary character has been in quite a few over the years.

One of the more recent games to come out is Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments. It's an adventure/puzzle game in which players attempt to solve six different cases. Unlike many similar titles, this one makes you think and come up with your own conclusions, says a review on IBT. What's fun is that the evidence you gather can lead you in different directions and it is up to you to decide which path to take.

Another game featuring the British sleuth can be found in the slots section of Betfair. Sherlock Mystery is a slots game where players spin and try to match up familiar characters, such as Watson, Moriarty, and Holmes himself, along with familiar items like guns and magnifying glasses. There is also a bit of intrigue and maybe a surprise or two along the way.

Betfair also has games featuring people who, like Doyle, probably had no inkling about video games and would probably be shocked to learn that they are featured in some now. Take someone like John Wayne, for instance. The man's-man movie star has his own slots game, and even Marilyn Monroe appears in her own game. Though, perhaps with the amount of shirts, wallets, posters, and other stuff her face shows up on nowadays, it may come as little surprise.

Speaking of unusual people in video games, did you know that Ricky Gervais makes a cameo in Grand Theft Auto 4? Or that Ozzy Osbourne plays a shopkeeper called the Guardian of Metal in Brutal Legend? For more celebrities you wouldn't expect to see in a video game, check out this list on Smosh.

This, in essence, is one of the great things about video games. No matter if it is literature, film, or music, they have the ability to cross all entertainment boundaries. And we as players get to reap the rewards, whether the games feature a 19th century detective, a cowboy movie icon, or the musical Prince of Darkness.