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EA's Fake Dante's Inferno Protest Upsets Religious Websites

June 15, 2009 in News comments 13

Last week we all found out that E3's Christian protest against Dante's Inferno was a publicity stunt on EA's behalf. Whether or not it was successful viral marketing is up for debate, but the news of the fake protest certainly didn't impress some religious sites...

Margaret Cabaniss of InsideCatholic has taken issue with the religious theme of EA's publicity stunt:

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It's been clear for a while now that the entertainment industry views Christians on the whole as priggish, thin-skinned fun-killers... Has anybody at EA actually read the Inferno?


Meanwhile, Catholic Video Gamers writes:

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Gamers of all varieties will buy this product if it's, 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?
Miss Razz via gamepolitics.com »
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  • 0
    Bale Fire* Jun 15, 09
    It's upset some Christian bloggers, not religious groups. It explicity states that at the bottom.

    Though I kind of agree with some of the blogger's points. The Christian nutter stereotype is being abused so much these days.
    • 0
      Miss Razz Jun 15, 09
      Sorry, I meant 'groups' as in a group of religious people. Not an entire religioun or organization as a whole. (if that makes any sense?)
  • 0
    Play ISDF Jun 15, 09
    Don't like it Christian bloggers? Don't buy the game. Problem solved.

    Can't people just see this for what it was? Something to laugh at? Sure it's poking fun at Christians but come on, comedians poke fun at everything all the time and nobody jumps on their backs. Besides, EA admitted it was a publicity stunt, it's not like they're hiding it or anything. Give 'em a break.
    • 0
      HisServant77 Jun 15, 09
      Sure! I mean, that completely makes sense! Just remember to laugh every time gamers are degraded by certain . . . say, religious groups, family-oriented groups, or even government.

      Oh wait. I'm sorry. Those times have already come and gone and we've seen gamers' reactions: explosive.
      • 0
        Play ISDF Jun 16, 09
        The difference is when gamers typically get attacked, it ISN'T as a joke and is actually just pure ignorance, Fox News is probably a huge example along with our good friend Jack Thompson. This was a joke, and people get pissy. Great! Maybe next time EA can use emos and goths, maybe that will get received better.

        Oh and you know what? I'm a christian too. I easily laughed at this.
        • 0
          HisServant77 Jun 16, 09
          There's a saying, "Many a truth is told is jest." It does beg the question of which is worse, joking at someone's expense, or being serious at someone's expense. Sometimes the former is worse because it seems to reach more. Nonetheless it's still a matter of degrading. Whether joking or not. I mean look at the recent article about the 11-year old genius. He simply says in passing that he though gaming was a waste of time and what was the response to that from gamers? So what seems to be smaller in comparison. A passing comment, or a deliberate publicity stunt that was seen by many and for a while was believed as truth by most?

          I'm not saying I'm bothered by the stunt. Again, the thing I AM bothered by is that people think Christians shouldn't get upset at this, meanwhile getting upset over things themselves (many times those things being fickle in comparison). It just seems double-standard-ish and hypocritical IMO. And I correct Christians who are hypocritical, so I'll show the same for my fellow gamers who do the same.

          EDIT: Please note, I'm not saying all are being hypocrites or something. So please, everyone don't flame me and say I'm calling you a hypocrite.
  • 0
    Existence Jun 15, 09
    So, EA games were making a religiously touchy game, and some Christians were pissed at it, only they weren't pissed off, and now some Christians are really pissed off since EA paid some actors to act like pissed off Christians.

    lawl.
  • 0
    conel3 Jun 15, 09
    As much as I hate religion the second guy has a point. I don't see how this will make any more people buy the game. Most publicity stunts are a waste of money just like this one.
    • 0
      Daweii Jun 15, 09
      In the grand scheme of things the publicity stunt was very cheap. Probably only cost them about $2000 and considering the E3 booth's and press events cost up and beyond $12 million to maintain and put on, hiring a bunch of nobody actors was a very low cost gimmick.
  • 0
    conel3 Jun 15, 09
    $2000 wasted that could have been put into producing the game.
  • 0
    HisServant77 Jun 15, 09
    I can't say I blame them. I'm a Christian Minister. I play video games. I was upset at this stunt merely for the fact of what reaction it produced: anti-Christian thoughts.

    It's bad enough that it appears Christianity is the most hated group of people to a lot of gamers. They don't need any more help.

    I can understand humour and everything. No problem with that. I'm a very lighthearted guy and many of my comments are done jokingly. I joke with just about everyone around. But I'm not going to make people think this or that person said or did this negative thing (especially to thousands of people who already dislike that person) and then turn around and say "Oops! I was just joking!"

    Turn the tables around and see if you'd still find it "hilarious, a publicity stunt" if a group you belonged to (gamers or whatever it may be) was on the receiving end. Honestly think about it, don't just say "Oh I'd never get upset!" Then if you personally don't get upset, would you say it's wrong for others to get upset because it was just a joke?

    Now this publicity stunt doesn't hurt my feelings really. I grew up being beat physically and even having people try to kill me because I'm a firm Christian who isn't ashamed to stand for my faith. So this thing here is nothing to me personally. But it does get me irritated at the thought of how it makes it even harder to be a Christian in a gaming community.

    And I definitely don't blame other Christians for being upset. I get irritated at the thought that people say they shouldn't get upset, yes.

    I'll be real about my faith. I actually put it to use in my life and I think that coupled with the fact that I will not force someone to believe what I do if they don't want to, causes a lot of non-Christians to respect me for that. I would hope people could see what I'm saying regarding this and understand both sides of the spectrum and not think it's stupid for Christians to get upset about it.
    • 0
      Shinobi_razor Jun 16, 09
      agreed man. im a Christian too, and while i wasnt really upset by it, it just really made me *facepalm* more than anything. it really makes me think that this game is gonna suck if EA is trying something as controversial as this to get interest for it. its probably too much of a GOW clone to really stand out at all.
  • 0
    Shinobi_razor Jun 16, 09
    the second quote up there from the Catholic Video Gamers rocked my world! why not focus on making the game good instead of trying to drum up fake interest in the game by conducting a mock protest. EA should be ashamed, it was in very bad taste and just made themselves look like even bigger asshats. perhaps they are over compensating for a POS game...

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