Electronic Arts has revealed that religious protests made against Dante’s Inferno at E3 were a publicity stunt.
According to The AP, a group of 20 protesters stood outside the Los Angeles Convention Center handing out pamphlets and waving banners such as ‘Trade In Your PlayStation For A PrayStation’ and ‘Hell Is Not A Video Game’.
EA’s Holly Rockwood later revealed that the protests had been carried out by a viral marketing agency, after they were reported by local news agencies.
Dante’s Inferno, which is loosely based on the epic poem The Divine Comedy, will be released for the 360, PS3 and PSP in 2010.
I wonder if they go on to make a game out of Dante’s Purgatorio if they will hire fake Protestants to protest it. “Where is that game in the Bible?”
15 comments
Someday we’ll fine out that Westboro Baptist is a big scam too.
Really?
A video game based on The Inferno?
I bet they didn’t put Muhammad in the game.
In which circles/bolgias do the programmers place [fill in the blank]?
It could be worse. Meatloaf could have released a “Beatrice Out Of Hell” CD and followed it up with expensive, cheesy videos.
Let’s see…advertisers belong on the back of the tick that’s attached to the mole on Satan’s left butt cheek…and for their punishment they have to eat their own limbs.
Fr. Philip, OP
What circle of Hell, you ask? Why, don’t you remember? They had to construct an entirely new circle of Hell specifically for “demographers, advertising executives, tobacco lobbyists, monopoly-law experts retained by major corporations … creators of office-based sitcoms” and the like.
“Prior to the construction of the tenth circle, many among the new wave of sinners had been placed in such circles as Hoarders and Squanderers, Sowers of Discord, Flatterers and Seducers, Violent Against Art, and Hypocrites. Hell authorities, however, say that the new level, the Circle of Total Bastards, located at the site of the former Well of Giants just above the Frozen Lake at Hell’s center, better suits their insidious brand of evil.“
That’ll teach ’em.
I dunno seems to me the tenth circle would be reserved for the media.
Spenser’s FAERIE QUEENE for me.
Seems to me that river of boiling pitch set aside for “grafters” (i.e. corrupt politicians) in the 7th Circle would be getting pretty crowded by now. It’s probably going to require major expansion in the future at the rate things are going 🙂
I think Muhamad was in the 8th circle he did not quite make it to the 9th though it wasnt for lack of trying. I think his nephew Ali did make it to the 9th though.
This game looks awesome though, I will totaly buy it.
No, no, no. See, I read that “Heaven will never be the same.” So I’m guessing they’ll be right next to Mr. Enthusiasm.
Someone please tell me what’s offensive about this? The game is just a knock-off of God of War, and nobody complained about that game. And as far as the picketing demonstration, the video game blogs immediately caught on that it was a PR stunt because of how witty the signs were. EA simply marketed the product brilliantly and now everybody knows about the game.
Someone please tell me what’s offensive about this?
Deception is deception is deception. Christianity reduced to a marketing ploy regardless of how quickly gamers caught on to the stunt. Really now, someone please tell me how someone could miss that?
True but at least when they got cought they admit it to it.
Again this does look preatty awesome and yes its a bit of a knock off from God of War but still looks good on its own. Hopefuly it wont suffer from tons of bugs.
And yes I think that this will actualy spark some interest in the book.
The questions is going to be how they will deal with Muhamad in Hell when the last part of the trilogy is done.
The circle of hell for ad execs would be among the “panderers”.
Had they known in 1998, when the 10th circle was finished, how slimy things would get they would have built 2-3 more circles in anticipation to get a better deal on construction.