Back a million years ago, during the innocent, bucolic days of E3, I reported on some Christian protesters outside the convention center, upset about EA's upcoming Dante's Inferno
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<span class='tooltip-active tooltip2 xbox-360'><div class='tooltip-name'><a href="http://g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/57216/dantes-inferno/index/" title="Dante's+Inferno">Dante's Inferno</a></div><hr /><span class='tooltip-column'><ul>
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<span class='tooltip2 PS3'><div class='tooltip-name'><a href="http://g4tv.com/games/ps3/57212/dantes-inferno/index/" title="Dante's+Inferno">Dante's Inferno</a></div><hr /><span class='tooltip-column'><ul>
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<span class='tooltip2 PSP'><div class='tooltip-name'><a href="http://g4tv.com/games/psp/61847/dantes-inferno/index/" title="Dante's+Inferno">Dante's Inferno</a></div><hr /><span class='tooltip-column'><ul>
<li><h6><a href="http://g4tv.com/games/psp/61847/dantes-inferno/news/" title="Dante's+Inferno news">News</a></h6> (14)</li>
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video game. In my original post, I considered the idea that the protest might be some viral marketing, but dismissed it as a silly idea. After all, religion is, by its nature, sacred, and mocking it to sell a dumb video game seems incredibly tasteless and amateurish, even for a video game marketing company. I was wrong.
Turns out the Christian protesters pointing people to a poorly designed website and giving out flyers reading "Our high score is in Heaven... and we hope you'll join us on the leaderboard" and "Turn in your PlayStation for a PrayStation" were part of a marketing campaign for EA's Dante's Inferno. Note to self: Always believe your most cynical instincts.
But there's another layer to the story: Real Christian bloggers are now angry at EA for using fake Christians to hype its video game.
Margaret Cabaniss of InsideCatholic posts:
"It's been clear for a while now that the entertainment industry views Christians on the whole as priggish, thin-skinned fun-killers. (That swipe about our Web design skills might be most hurtful of all.)
The institutional acknowledgment that these kinds of protests are the best possible publicity for their target is something Christians might want to bear in mind when the next Dan Brown film rolls around."
Catholic Video Gamer posts:
Gamers of all varieties will buy this product if its, well, actually a good game. So instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off and make it, ya know, something worthwhile?
Vake Xeacons, a commenter on GamePolitics, sums up the story thusly:
I turn the other cheek as much as possible, but real protests make us look bad enough. EA's fake one was humiliating. I'm with the bloggers; starting a war, then blaming it on us.
I agree wholeheartedly with all of these reactions to EA's tasteless stunt, and I can't believe I was personally fooled. I should have realized that the protesters were fake, if only because no one outside of the game-obsessed community has actually heard of a video game based on Dante's Inferno, let alone care about it.
As a follower of the Great Elder Gods Cthulhu and Azathoth (the Crawling Chaos), I can relate to Christians' offense at EA. My religion is constantly mocked for being imaginary, but when the stars align and Cthulhu rises from his undersea city and causes the earth to flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom, I'll be the one laughing... until I am eaten by His Great and Terrible Mouth.
Feel free to leave comments below, people. Everyone loves to discuss religion on a Friday!
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IcemanMX
Just when I think that EA couldn't get any worse, they do something like this. As a student of marketing, I have to give credit to the creativity and originality of a fake protest (not to mention the ballsy executive who authorized this stunt), but the Christian side of me is not happy that they used my religion as a marketing ploy.
I'm not buying or playing this game no matter how good it is. I hope G4 gives this game one star out of five when it comes out.
-M
Phuk5tar
As a Christian, I'm very angry. I don't think I'll boycott it (Dante's Inferno), but EA has suffered a serious blow to their credibility. This isn't just a bad decision, but a very poor, perverted, and disturbing one.
I also wouldn't go as far as to say that G4 should give it a 1/5 (as that 1 obviously reflects a personal opinion about something other than the game, itself), but this news should be mentioned alongside the review.
cmdluke
Thats awesome. I'm a christian and I think its pretty funny. A lot of Christians take things way too seriously and protest dumb things like games. Thats a pretty funny parody. When I heard about it, I was like, "great. here are some more uninformed idiots that have no idea what they are talking about making the rest of us Christians look like fanatics." but now that I know it was a marketing ploy, it makes me very happy. =)
Phuk5tar
cmdluke
You're happy? I hate over-sensitive, fanatical Christians as much as youu do (actually, probably more), but this is simply sick from a humane perspective. I would be just as angry if they did this to muslims, Buddhists, Jews, etc. Using religion to make money is just as bad as those who criticize religion for doing the very thing...which is what the protest was parodying. Now that I think about it, the parody was quite hypocritical and pretty counter-intuitive to their goal as this is the first time I really heard anything about these protests.
ZetaCrossfire
If i want to say god is not real am allowed to say that (even though i don't believe it) Freedom of speech people. I don't get it why religion is something that blocks that.
asthmagasm
Bravo I say. Apparently trolling people is okay unless you do it with religion?
Spiderish
It's not EA's fault extremist Christian's behavior make a fake protest so believable. I'd give the idea a passing grade if it actually made it onto news networks and drummed up the free advertising something like that was most likely intended to(Faux news anyone?). Since it's just ruffling bloggers(No offense) feathers it's not accomplishing what it could have, so fail.
cmdluke
This reminds me of when the movie Dogma came out. Kevin Smith went down to his local theater to protest his own movie cause he thought it would be funny. he had the most elaborate sign there and ended up being interviewed by a reporter who came down. that was pretty damn funny too. =)
asthmagasm
@cmdluke
That's exactly what I thought of when I heard about this.
Slaytanic40oz
"Turn in your PlayStation for a PrayStation" sounds dumb enough to be a real protest slogan.
cmdluke
@SJohnson
I just finished reading the article.
"As a follower of the Great Elder God Cthulhu and He Who Must Not Be Named"
You follow Cthulhu and Voldemort?
Nightshade386
There's a difference between excercising your right to freely market your video game and showing poor taste. Religion, as absurd as I personally find the concept, is taken way too seriously by way too many people for it to be intelligantly used in a marketting gimmick. For every decent religious person out there, there's another one who takes thier religion way too seriously.
I mean, never mind the rightwing nutbags in this country who think the Constitution should be torn up in favor of a theocracy, there are people in this world who are such zelots they actually believe that they're blowing themselves up to fight for thier God. There are other people who have stocked thier basements and are waiting for the Rapture to come. Why screw with people like that just to sell a game? That doesn't make sense.
I hope for EA's sake that they didn't actually engineer that little protest, because it's in pretty poor taste.
Stephen Johnson
CmdLuke: Do they really call that Harry Potter character "He Who Must Not Be Named?" I had no idea! Dammit all, I'mma edit my post!
ravenhermit
This was completely uncalled for and absolutely tasteless and it will not hinder me in the least from purchasing, or at least trying, the Dante's Inferno game.
198d
J.C. FTW!
l33t360
annoying christians, always thinking their opinion or values should be above everone elses.
GreedyMcNasty
I am not going to label myself as a christian. I believe in God and his Son. I could give to craps about fake protesters out front of E3. I think it is a cool idea and one that made it's point. It is very sad that the first people to point there finger and Judge others are so called christian's.
Oh and the big kicker is this was a book that has made up stuff in it that is buy no means in the bible itself. It takes place in Hell and has a bad guy named Satan, and shows how sinner's are punished in sick and violent ways. If this is how christian's act then I want nothing to do with there so called organized religion. I will believe in God and Jesus my way. I don't need other men telling me how to do it the right way.
cmdluke
Sjohnson: Yes. They are all so terrified of him they won't even say his name. =)
ravenhermit
@l33t360
Pretty much everyone thinks their opinions are above the opinions of everyone else. That's how we get movie and video game critics, that's why people have blogs, and that's why we have the freedom to comment on nearly anything.
Vesipham
Oh well, someone from EA made a bad decision. I still don't think it's fair to call Dante's Inferno a rip off of God of War when its developers are actually people who worked on GoW. Besides, the setting and story should at least differentiate enough to make up for the similar gameplay mechanics.
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