Earlier this week, we got an e-mail about Mass: We Pray, a Wii-like game where you Church at home. The Web site and video for the "game" was pretty outrageous, and pretty much bordered on heresy. Well it turns out the whole thing was a viral for the Heretic section in Dante's Inferno!
Reader patty n. went back to the Mass: We Pray Web site today to see if the pre-order link would work. Instead, patty got the above trailer showing off the Herectic level. After the trailer finishes playing on the Mass site, a link comes up for you to damn your friends on Facebook with this app. It's neat in a "I have five minutes to kill" kind of way, I guess.
If I was a bad dude, the last damsel I would choose to distress is one who pals around with a large guy named Dante, who just happens to carry around a scythe composed of bone and sinew all hours of the afternoon. But bad guys rarely make reasonable decisions, it seems, and that holds true in Dante's Inferno.
After watching the above, it’s plain to me now that I’m now made of the same stuff that a villain is, but that lesson wasn’t really the point. Rather, the video is supposed to give the viewer a sense of the game’s story elements. And I think I got it: girl - life + Hell = Dante searching in Hell for life of girl.
I’m not sure where boss battles factor into that equation. I’m still working out the kinks in my grand formula.
"@TheHunter234: I thought exactly the same thing. It's looking that way. Maybe it's not rape, though... just because of all of the action scenes thrown in around it, it may not actually be an acti..."...
Last month, we brought you a very early look at the Dante's Inferno action figure. Now, NECA Online shows us exactly what the figure will look like. Dante has 30 points of articulation and a interchangeable right hand that lets him hold his Cross weapon or his eight inch tall scythe.
The Dante figure will be available in North America for those that pre-order Dante's Inferno from select retailers in February. Check out more images of the Dante's Inferno figure over on Tomopop. What do you all think of the Dante figure
[Update: Yup, this sure does look a lot like that pre-order item you get when you reserve the game from GameStop.]
"9.99/10 times they will give you the items when you pick up the game (when it's released). So the putting it $5, getting it, then canceling won't work."...
When Visceral and Electronic Arts announced the Dante's Inferno demo for December, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was not, as many demos seem to be these days, tied in to a pre-order bonus.
Instead, Dante's Inferno is getting something a bit better -- a Dante's figure. GameStop is offering up the collectible figurine with pre-orders of the title. The figure looks pretty detailed and posable, but there's no indication as to how big it is. Dante is also, as GameStop points out, holding the tattered remains of his red Snuggie.
If you enjoy the demo, is the promise of a figure enough to get you to throw down your pre-order dollars?
"I want this figure, but I can't force myself to pre-order through Gamestop! How much do these things usually eBay for? You know what, I'll look it up..."...
Those on the fence about Visceral Games' videogame adaptation of Dante Alighieri's poem The Divine Comedy will get their shot to try it out this December. Electronic Arts has announced that a demo for Dante's Inferno will be available for download next month.
The demo will expore the game's "Gates of Hell," and giving you a chance to hack and slash your way up to a battle with Death himself. The demo will also feature two of the game's cut-scenes, which promise to (at the very least) be flashy.
"The demo will give everyone some insight into how we are treating the story and a taste of the gameplay," says executive producer Jordan Knight.
So, naysayers -- are you willing to give Visceral the benefit of the doubt? Will you give the Dante's Inferno demo a try?
"Will it give us a chance to battle Death, or will it give us a chance to get annoyed because it will end with a cliffhanger in which you were supposed to battle Death ?"...
Dante's quest will take him through all of the Circles of Hell and the latest developer diary for Dante's Inferno brings us to Heresy. As Dante gets lower in Hell, the more Hellish things become. Fire is everywhere, souls are filling the air with screams and the rivers are made of blood.
The video also shows that Dante won't just be saving damned souls. Players will also have the choice to save enemy creatures and it will all add up to Dante ending the game as a good person or being of pure evil. It's a pretty interesting twist and it at least makes the morality system not so cut and dry.
I don't really care how contrived Dante's Inferno may or may not be. As a die-hard action fanatic, I'll be playing it either way -- on a console, that is.
As for the PlayStation Portable version, not so much. If I couldn't play God of War: Chains of Olympus because the PSP's nub passionately hates my hands, I won't be playing Dante's Inferno either.
We were handed some screenshots of the PSP game, which looks similar to its console brethren, but scaled down in terms of graphics; not exactly ideal for a portable system, but what did you expect? The weird thing is, the pictures are huge. Why? I have literally no idea. Check the gallery to see what I mean.
Also, the signature for the PR company that sent the images over started with "Go to Hell." These guys are committed.
"Hi there is a great chance of winning a PSP on the link http://forums.zapak.com/Axe/viewforum.php?f=79
Just play the Axe Inxtinct game and make the highest score best of luck and enjoy..."...
Electronic Arts is at it again, continuing its Dante's Inferno marketing/PR-related mailbox assault.
Yesterday, a gigantic box cardboard box showed up. Inside that box was big and dirty wooden box. What was inside? Well, that's what the video is for. And well... yeah. I've got nothing.
"Well they know that most everyone hates Rick Rolling now so that you would want to make it stop. The only way to stop it is to smash the box showing Wrath. Well played Ea... well played."...
Dante’s Inferno and Fairytale Fights share a few things in common. One of those things is an Achievement that nets players points for killing children -- an action most developers tend to avoid in their games. In Dante’s case specifically, Visceral Games plans to dish precious points for killing unbaptized infants with the “Bad Nanny” Achievement. This is, naturally, drawing ire.
The International Nanny Association has made it plain that they aren’t happy with the award, saying (via Game Politics) that it was “created out of poor taste and bad judgment” and play “maypromote violence towards children.” Continuing in a statement of sorts, the INA says, furthermore, that the Achievement -- remember, dubbed “Bad Nanny” -- is “offensive to our organization.” Go figure!
We all knew this one was coming -- baby killing is generally frowned upon. But we look forward to a response from Visceral Games re: baby killing in regards to the INA’s statement. Of course we won’t see one, but still, it would be interesting.
If you were unsure that EA was making a franchise out of Dante's Infernohere is another hint. Dante is getting his own action figure. I think the movie adaptation in the works was probably a bigger hint, but they both get the same point across. We know Dante's Inferno action figures were coming, but this is the first look at what seems to be the final take on the action figure.
Anyone a collector out there and does this get you randy? There's been some changes since Dante showed up at the New York Toy Fair it seems, but I'd say they were for the better. The figure looks a little tougher, and of course having the massive scythe right next to him instantly makes him cooler. The figure will be out in February when the game launches.
Another month and another layer of hell in the videogame version of Dante's Inferno. This month brings us to Anger, in which things get really angry... or something. According to the devs anger means that you'll be kicking a lot of butt on this level of hell, really just ripping loose. Thus the above video is all about the combat system and how it's really fluid and cool.
Unlike previous levels of hell, this one isn't standing out quite as much too me. Maybe it's just that anger is a bit harder to encapsulate than the other levels, but maybe not. I'm actually more interested in next month and how they handle heresy since that seems like a much harder theme to handle in an interactive medium. So far no stunt for this month's level and that means no tacos, but all members of the Dtoid staff have been put on high alert just in case this month's stunt is an angry man punching anyone whose ever given an EA game a bad review in the face.
"@ bobyoko: Im fairly certain a lot of Dtoider's have read Inferno. They just choose to save their nerd rage for something more deserving. End of the day, the game is a game and the book is the ..."...
As you heard this morning, EA’s Visceral Studios is working on a game based on the famous 19th century serial killer, Jack the Ripper. Our sources dropped hints about the title to us back in May, and now is a good as time as any to tell you what we've heard about The Ripper.
When you think of Jack the Ripper, you think of a psychopathic serial killer right? Well, what if everything we knew about Jack was wrong? What if Jack the Ripper was actually a good person, killing to save other people’s lives?
That’s the Jack our sources tell us you're going to experience in The Ripper. He’s a supernatural slayer protecting people from demons, vampires and other evil monsters. And seeing as how this is Visceral Studios, don’t expect your typical, played-out demons. Instead, imagine a cross between the monsters from Dead Space and Dante’s Inferno. Jack will have an assortment of over-the-top weapons to take on these demons, and we're told gameplay involves a special ability that lets him slow down time, too.
That’s all we know for now, and until EA and Visceral decide to officially unveil the title, it may be a while before we get the official word. It's likely they're trying to space out their promotion, as the team just released Dead Space: Extraction and still have Dante's Inferno on the way. They still haven’t even confirmed Dead Space 2, even though we all know it’s happening.
What do you all think of this potential re-imagining of Jack the Ripper?
"So EA's new thing is putting naming games after real things and then making them nothing like those things... next up Ted Bundy: Defender of Women's Rights!"...
Not many would liken Dante’s Inferno to Duck Hunt. The brutal action title set in the underbelly of Hell has neither ducks, laughing dogs or even the color blue. But we do compare it to the God of War. It’s only natural, of course: both titles deliver plenty of brown and buckets -- nay, barrels -- full of gore. While seemingly annoying, it appears as though this comparison doesn’t irk the Dante team. In fact, they consider it a compliment if producer Jonathan Knight does indeed speak for the whole team.
“We never get sick of hearing it because it’s the greatest compliment we can be paid, Knight said in the most recent issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine. “We hope to be worth of that. Those guys are at the top of their game and there’s no question God of War III is going to be spectacular. I'll be the first in line to get it.“
“I hope those comparisons are being made because of our combat system and is just as responsive -- the control over the character is very immediate, it's very fast-paced, you can branch out of moves very easily, you feel very powerful and overall is a very fun game to play," said Knight.
Knight continued, telling TOPM that the Dante team has other influences not named God of War. He stopped short of revealing them. Instead, he talked about the fiction Dante is attached to and how fresh game ideas evolved from it.
The two games appear strikingly similar on the surface, but there are some key differences. Foremost, we’ve yet to see monster-filled demon breasts in God of War. We’re pretty sure Dante has that one on lock.
You may have heard some rumblings: Yes, as a promotion for Visceral Games' forthcoming multi-platform Dante's Inferno, Electronic Arts sent out $200.00 checks to select members of the media. Why?
The idea, we're told, is to educate people about Dante Alighieri's poem. More specifically, the fourth circle of Hell, Greed. Ours arrived yesterday, after a slight layover in the tenth circle of Hell -- my previous mailing address. (Hint to aspiring gaming writers: Don't ever move or change your address. Ever.)
The decorated wooden box contains the check you see above, which I can confirm is an actual no joke legal check that I could cash at a bank (and likely get a lot of funny looks). The dilemma is such -- do I give in to greed and cash the check, and basically kiss any credibility I might have goodbye? However, if I don't cash it, that could be considered wasteful.
"He who squanders wealth allows the first fruits owed to heaven to rot on the vine," explains the words on the inside of the box.
Quite a conundrum. We're still scratching our chins over this one, but we have a few ideas, which you can find after the jump. What do you think we should do?
Dante’s Inferno has music. Who knew? I, for one, was entirely too busy ripping the heads off of organic boats, riding monsters, and killing evil babies to pay attention to the original score. But the game does have a famous -- or at least notable -- videogame composer doing the music. It’s Garry Shyman, the dude who composed the original score of the eerie shooter, BioShock.
In the official release, Shyman said that Dante’s was one of the most “challenging projects” he’s ever done. He added that being asked to score Hell was “fantastic.”
We like the enthusiasm.
Dante’s Inferno will ship -- with music (and evil babies) -- on February 12th. If you’re the pre-order type of person, you can grab a wicked deal over at GameStop.com right now.
The Internet wing of the juggernaut videogame retail thing GameStop will have a time-sensitive exclusive “program” for Dante’s Inferno tomorrow. On September 9th (09/09/09), EA Visceral plans to reveal a new circle of Hell (Greed) on the game’s official Web site, and with that reveal comes the program: anyone with the stuffing to pre-order the brawler will receive -- on that day only -- $6.66 off the pre-order.
You see what they did there?
Just hit this GameStop.com link when the stuff goes live and the day of evil commences. Also, if you’re in the mood, here’s some newwallpaper courtesy of the studio. Slap one of these babies on ye’ old desktop before you pre-order. It should add to the experience. We think it will, at least.
EA released a brand new Dante’s Infernotrailer today which shows off all the circles of Hell you’ll be visiting throughout the game. It’s an interesting trailer, only for the fact that you don’t really get an idea on what the other circles of Hell are like. They do a great job showing off Gluttony as one of those fat b*tches (that will vomit and shit attack at you by the way) is munching down on some poor soul. The rest though, not so much.
Everyone in Hell is angry, everyone there had to have committed some kind of heresy and there’s violence all over Hell. Are demons more violent in the violence level? How do you fight fraud? Is it going to be like a demon holding out candy to you and as you approach to get the candy, the demon quickly pulls away and yells “just kidding, tee hee!”? Man, f**k fraud demons. Give me some damn candy!
I really want some candy right now.
Dante’s Inferno will be out on February 12, 2010 and you can view the new trailer after the fold.
Offering crisp visuals and twisted slaying scenes to boot, Dante’s Inferno can sicken the most iron-bellied players with its gore. The narrative content may also sicken most classical lit majors, but the game is what it is -- a brawler that borrows concepts from Dante Alighieri’s epic poem. Check those story expectations at the door because from what we’ve seen thus far, this thing is nowhere close to exploring the nature of sin or faithfully following the author’s journey to the depths of Hell.
I recently got my hands on the title -- still months from release -- at Gen Con '09. The statue of the game’s protagonist, Dante (no longer a poet, but a scythe-wielding and armored badass) standing tall in the booth was another indication that I was in for a nasty, visceral experience. I’ve seen the game once before, at E3 2009, and I’m glad I did: the playable build at Gen Con is the same build shown to press at the big industry event.
It starts in Limbo and runs through a snapshot of Gluttony. Read on for a walkthrough and my impressions from the PlayStation 3 demo.
We spied this statue of Dante and scythe back in June at E3 2009. Now this darling monument to EA Visceral’s God of War-style brawler is sitting proudly in the middle of the game’s gothic booth at Gen Con 2009. Below in the gallery we’ve provided some pictures of the statue as well as the decorated cardboard rotunda it sits in.
Of course, the statue isn’t the only thing prospective fans can check out. There are roughly ten kiosks in and outside of the structure equipped with playable builds of the title. It’s the slice of content we merely watched at E3 2009 that includes the King Minos fight, a few monumental tamable creature scenes, and a glimpse of the level Gluttony and its beautiful women.
Many a sound of surprise and excitement came out of open mouths whenever Dante performed one of his QTE brutal slayings. It seems like people were impressed, and you can throw me in that lot, too. We’ll bring you a fresh look from the demo soon.
Remember EA's #Lust contest for Dante's Inferno that they ran at San Diego Comic Con? Well, in a strange twist of fate, PixelPoet of GayGamer came in as a runner up in the contest, after submitting somepictures of himself with a Booth Bro (suggest a better name for them if you've got one) from PAX.
When he found out that he won one of the five runner up prizes ($240 to the EA Store and a shirt), he declined the offer and sent back an email to the people at EA, pointing out how narrow-minded the contest was. PixelPoet also pointed out how just the week before, EA had run an event in San Francisco with GLAAD, where they talked about many publishers still had a "boys club" mentality about who played their games.
And so, what to do with those $240? Well, PixelPoet had a couple of suggestions:
1) A new sexual-harassment training video/seminar 2) Another PR team to try to spin this whole debacle of a contest into a positive light 3) A direct phone line to EA's legal depart to use before you try anymore PR stunts 4) Six copies of your game when it releases, since I know you've lost at least that many fans with this stunt 5) Or the next time you go to Hooters (for the wings, of course), leave a $240 tip for your waitress in a karmic way of balancing out what has been done to the booth babes of SDCC due to this contest
Kudos to PixelPoet for his letter back to the folks at EA, which is fully available over at GayGamer. I think this just adds to the hilarity of all the backfire this event caused EA at SDCC. Did any of you readers actually enter the contest?
Oooh Lord. Where to even start with this one? Let's get right to it: Electronic Arts and Visceral Games have cooked up another awful PR campaign for Dante's Inferno called "Sin to Win." If alienating Catholic gamers at last month's E3 wasn't bad enough, Visceral and EA can mark "women" off the list of potential buyers.
Here's the set up: commit an "act of lust" by taking a photo with any booth babe at this year's Comic-Con; submit the photo via the @Danteteam Twitter or on Facebook; win a date with "two hot girls." In short, as if being a booth babe weren't already creepy enough, EA has given everyone at Comic Con some extra incentive to ogle not only their own booth babes, but any booth babe at the con.
To be honest, I don't really know how to feel about this. One the one hand, the job description for "model" opens women up to this sort of thing: models exist, inherently, to be objectified and sell products. Obviously, these girls don't have any moral opposition to it, or they wouldn't have taken their clothes off and signed EA's contract (not necessarily in that order.) Besides, pictures with booth babes are a convention staple -- it's going to happen either way.
On the other hand, there's something repulsive about offering people up as prizes in your PR stunt, especially given game culture's bad habit of over-sexualizing its female characters anyway. And while our beautiful free market ideally allows booth babes to opt out of stunts like this at their discretion, let's be realistic: living in California ain't cheap and the rent still has to get paid. Even if there's nothing technically wrong going on here, it's still sleazy and, at the very least, alienating.
To make things worse, EA seems to have its wires crossed here. Even though the flyer (in the gallery) says "take a photo," it also says "commit an act of lust." I've seen some of the more, ahem, creative photos you guys have managed to come up with for our contests (or just for lulz), and I can't imagine what the people at Comic-Con will come up with. Too bad it won't win them anything: the contest has a legal disclaimer disqualifying any mention of sex.
Not to mention that EA has stupidly opened this up for any booth babe on the floor. I'm sure whoever is working, say, the Capcom booth didn't sign up for this sh*t. You stay classy, Electronic Arts.
"Get of your high horses. People aren't "prizes", the night out with them is the prize. You don't get them. I hope you're completely against 'hot girls' auctioning themselves off for charity as we..."...
Wait a minute -- Visceral's action-adventure game Dante's Inferno isn't going to be released on PC? Huh? I had always just assumed such a version was in the works, seeing as how the game is miraculously coming to the PSP, but apparently that is not the case.
When nudged by Big Download for clarification, EA responded with the following statement: "When Dante's Inferno was originally announced in December, we attached no platforms to the project. When we came out with a first look for press in February we announced 360/PS3 and then in April we announced PSP."
"We never announced a PC SKU nor are there plans for any." Harsh. Who knows, though. There's always the off chance that Dante's Inferno will meet sales expectations and get ported over to PC down the line, right?
"Hmmm... The sooner EA gets out of the PC game business the better for all gamers. Let's hope this is a sign of the good things to come for gamers."...
EA and DC Comics/WildStorm have partnered up to bring us a comic book mini-series based on Dante's Inferno, the videogame. The comic will be premiered this week at San Diego Comic-Con and Con-goers can get their hands on a special "issue 0" preview of the comic from either EA's booth or DC Comic's booth. The comic is written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Diego Latorre and the six-issue comic mini-series will go on sale this December.
The world premiere trailer for the Dante's Inferno animated movie will also be shown off at Comic-Con this week. The film is being worked on by Starz Media and will be released in 2010, the same day that Dante's Inferno, the game, is released.
EA is going to have a very big week at San Diego Comic-Con this week. They're showing off a ton of games and hosting a number of panels too. Check out this post to see everything EA has planned for Comic-Con and hit the break to see when you can get your hands on a Dante's Inferno Limited Edition Lithograph.
Electronic Arts has over a dozen games they want the San Diego Comic-Con masses to get their hands on. Here’s everything that EA will be showing off on the Comic-Con showfloor:
Outside of Comic-Con, EA will be hosting the EA Gaming Lounge presented by Xbox 360 at the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter Hotel from Thursday to Sunday. Here you’ll be able to play:
The EA booth will also have the comic artists behind Army of Two: The 40th Day, Dead Space Extraction and Dante’s Inferno giving out their autographs. In other news, these three games are going to be getting comic adaptations. Looks like EA will keep up the practice of getting their IPs involved in other mediums like movies and comics. A good move, if I do say so myself.
Electronic Arts will also be holding some panels! Hit the break to check out what they’re going to be talking about.
"Dr. E to Change His Name to Dr. EA @ The 2009 Comic-Con! Electronic Arts Finds Great Inspiration and Exalting Direction in Dr. EA's (formerly Dr. E) 2005-08 words/patents/blogs!
http://www.gamas..."...
As someone who cares deeply about literature and its legacy, I have been keeping tabs on Visceral Games' upcoming Dante's Inferno. As someone who also has a very public forum to express his ideas about literature and its relationship to Dante's Inferno, this article is a long time coming: it's been cooking in the dark recesses of my psyche since I read Jim's pleasant invective on the subject almost six months ago.
The crux of Jim's argument is that publisher EA and Visceral are under no obligation to Dante, his work, or those who love it, and that they should be free to take the artistic liberties they need to make a fun game. For the most part, I totally agree with him. The last game to follow the Inferno word for word was Denton Design's Dante's Inferno for the Commodore 64 in 1986; by all accounts, it was dogsh*t.
Jim eventually comes to the conclusion that we bookworms should just lighten up, and that 2009's Dante's Inferno should somehow be immune to criticism. I'm not sure when the game became off-limits, but I prefer to hold my games to the highest standards possible, even literary ones.
Before we go any further, I should clarify that I'm not out to vilify Visceral Games or rant about about how much better the poem is than the game. On the contrary: instead of writing off Dante's Inferno as a knock-off God of War or ridiculing English nerds for their devotion to the literary canon, taking a good hard look at what Visceral have set out to do will provide insight into the core of contemporary games design philosophy and Electronic Arts as a publisher in general.
"I think, no matter whether you think the game will be good or not, you have to admit that this game has the potential to be better through more thoughtful storytelling. I'm sure, at the very leas..."...
The new Dante’s Inferno dev diary shows us the oh so sexy second layer of hell known as Lust. We get to see what the environments look like and what it could of have looked like. One thing that I love seeing is concept art and I enjoy seeing the really f**ked up character designs that almost were.
At the 3:37 mark, you’ll see a fat ugly looking creature that Dante rips apart. Of all the enemies I’ve seen so far, she’s my favorite. Her attacks consist of her throwing up and sh*tting at you. Yes, really. Get behind her, and she sh*ts out acid poop. There is also blood mixed in with her poop attack. Gross!
Hit the break to check out the latest dev diary. What do you all think?
"You know, I'm fairly sure that circle of hell - the lust circle - had only souls were really, really wanted to fuck, but couldn't. It was an eternity of sexual frustration, right? Not far off fro..."...
A new circle of Hell opens up every ninth day of the month over at the official Dante’s Inferno Web site. Today, we got a chance to see what the second circle of Hell, Lust, looks like.
It’s a very sexual circle. Tits are everywhere, monsters with demonic mouths for vaginas are all over the place and there’s a giant boss with breasts bigger than Brad Nicholson’s biceps. If you get tired of all the boobage, you can also check out the other new section on the Dante’s Web site that’s all about Dante Alghieri, the author of the Divine Comedy.
By the way, you can win some signed prints of the art work that’s used on the Dante’s Inferno Web site. All you need to do is either Tweet something from the Web site or tag yourself in a photo at their Facebook page. More details on how to win after the jump.
Oh, by the way, Production I.G confirmed during Anime Expo that they’re going to be working on an animated version of Dante’s Inferno. More details will be popping up during San Diego Comic Con.
Also, I am so horny right now. Those vagina demon mouths got me super excited. Sh*t. Thanks a lot, Visceral Games.
Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press living the dream since March 16, 2006
5:00 PM on 11.20.2009, 
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