Electronic Arts Stages Protest of Dante's Inferno at E3
from the it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time dept
At the E3 Expo a few weeks ago, Electronic Arts showcased an upcoming game, Dante's Inferno, to awkward protests from a group of concerned Christians going under the name, "Salvationists Against Virtual and Eternal Damnation." They had signs like "Trade in your PlayStation for a PrayStation," "Cheat codes won't save your soul," and "Hell is not a game," as well as a 1996-esque website complete with animated GIFs and multi-colored all-caps text. The protest was covered by the LA Times, the San Jose Mercury News and many gaming blogs. That sort of controversy might make the game more appealing to some... except, EA admitted that the protest was entirely staged by the viral marketing firm that they hired (though, it didn't fool everyone).As the popular gaming blog Joystiq puts it, there's got to be a better way to promote the game. A faux controversy might seem like a clever idea, until people realize it's just a publicity stunt. Plus, it doesn't seem very smart to alienate Christians when you could be selling them the game instead (as Thomas Peters from AmericanPapist.com writes, "getting to play Dante as he slashes his way through hell? It sure beats Tetris."). Electronic Arts recently landed in some hot water for another clever viral marketing idea, which involved shipping brass knuckles with the Godfather II press kit, despite mere possession being a first-degree misdemeanor in some states to which they were shipped. They get points for creativity, but they might want to think twice before acting on some of these ideas...
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Filed Under: dante's inferno, publicity stunt, religion, video games
Companies: ea
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Too bad we can't resell this stupid stunt.
Especially when they publicly announce they're going to start catering to gamers who own a Wii console.
EA is just a bad company now and represents what goes wrong when a company retains the #1 title of its field.
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Re: Too bad we can't resell this stupid stunt.
They all got treated like crap and were expected to work 80 hours a week to get a game out on time. Now I understand crunch time, but it shouldn't last for an 8 month period.
Any company that treats their employees so poorly throws up warning signs to me. A cancer of poor judgment is eating EA from the inside out.
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Re: Re: Too bad we can't resell this stupid stunt.
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Whois search says this is bunk.
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Admin City:Scottsdale
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Admin Postal Code:85260
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.4806242599
Google the address to get:
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15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353 Scottsdale, Arizona United States, 85260
work 216-961-8468
I don't know what mature escorts and out spoken christians have in common...
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Re: Whois search says this is bunk.
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As true as that may be
At the very least, I approve of the diversity they are showing. Making a game out of an incredible story is far better than stamping out copy after copy of generic sports game number three. Not to say those games aren't profitable, just not as creative.
I will very likely buy Dante's Inferno. Admittedly not because of the protest gimmick...but because it appears to be a good game.
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Re: As true as that may be
Not everything is for everyone. This campaign is targeting me. If people don't like it, don't buy the game, but leave the faux outrage at home.
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It's the law that's the problem
As to the protest, I don't think they will alienate any real christians or anyone that would have gotten the game to begin with. The rest wouldn't have gotten it just because their 'rightous Christian ethics' wouldn't have allowed it.
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Re: It's the law that's the problem
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Re: Re: It's the law that's the problem
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Re: Re: Re: It's the law that's the problem
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's the law that's the problem
@The Cenobyte: I agree sending melee weapons that are authentic and therefore illegal is downright dumb. I totally disagree that making it legal to carry melee weapons in todays world are some sort of necessity.
Alienation of any sort in marketing is rarely going to be pulled off for positive gain. While Christians are always an easy target to mock the gamin industry is again very foolish if they don't realise that a lot of their audience will be related or positively exposed to Christian morals or be Christians themselves. To mock something like religion openly like this is just bad marketing in my opinion.
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I am a Christian
Why is it OK if it is Christians? Why not have fake Jews protesting? Why not fake Muslims? They would never do that. Hypocrites.
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Re: I am a Christian
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Re: Re: I am a Christian
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Points for trying
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