dantes-inferno posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Pre-order 'Mass: We Pray' for free Dante's Inferno trailer

by JC Fletcher { Nov 20th 2009 at 10:40AM }

We had an icky feeling when we first watched the Mass: We Pray teaser. Not because of the toll excessive devotional gameplay might take on our souls, but because we were pretty sure we were being virally marketed to in some way or another. It turns out, our unease (also felt by a few others, including The Escapist) was spot on, as We Pray has been revealed as the latest move in the Dante's Inferno marketing campaign's fight against good taste.

Clicking to pre-order the game on the website or to get a better look at the controllers, now triggers a message about heresy, along with a trailer for Dante's Inferno and a link to the Facebook app, "Go to Hell." Sorry if you were looking forward to We Pray!

[Thanks, Thomas]

Video: The story of Dante's Inferno

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 18th 2009 at 6:00PM }

To: Electronic Arts
CC: Visceral Games
RE: Voice-over suggestion for latest Dante's Inferno trailer
ATT: dante-story-trailer.flv

Male (30s, 40s - Gruff, gravelly voice)

"The denizens of Hell stole the woman he loved ... but they didn't realize they were messing with the wrong 14th century Italian poet. In a world where the damned scream out for absolution, one man will fight for justice. It's time for some serious payback, and the Devil just wrote a check he can't cash. Electronic Arts presents ... Dante's Inferno. Next Spring, there's going to be Hell to pay." (Alternate closer: "Next Spring, it's damned if you do, damned if you die.")

Thank you for your consideration,

Dante's Inferno anime remains faithful to Visceral source

by Andrew Yoon { Nov 13th 2009 at 9:01AM }

With talent from "Blood the Last Vampire" and "Ergo Proxy" (oh, and "Samauri Champloo") involved, it should've been clear that "Dante's Inferno: The Animated Epic" was going to be sickeningly violent. A newly released trailer for the straight-to-video anime spin-off reveals that this Dante's Inferno project isn't a single film, but rather a compilation of animated shorts, much like "The Animatrix," "Batman: Gotham Knight" and, most recently, "Halo: Legends."

We're pretty certain Dante Alighieri is rolling in his grave right now, as this anthology of multiple interpretations of Visceral Games' interpretation of the original epic poem is so very far removed from the source. But hey, it's Alighieri's fault for not having the foresight to write about someone's head getting chopped in half!

Expect The Animated Epic to arrive on DVD and Blu-ray in February, the same month as the game.

Dante's Inferno concept was greenlit immediately

by JC Fletcher { Nov 11th 2009 at 4:31PM }

The Dante's Inferno game concept -- a totally brutal action-adventure based on Dante Alighieri's epic poem -- seems like a hard sell to us, but it was no problem getting EA on board. As it turns out, EA was all in from the very beginning, according to Visceral creative director Jonathan Knight's recollection during a PlayStation Blog interview (that you can watch after the break). He got the go-ahead "pretty much right away," as EA executives apparently saw "the potential in the mythology" glowing green before their very eyes.

"Nobody's really taken on that kind of medieval Christian notion of the afterlife as a very real place that you go to, you know, just under the ground, and there's monsters and demons and rivers," Knight said. "It's just a crazy, fantastical, incredible vision that Dante Alighieri had for Hell, and my execs immediately saw the potential there for a real game."

In addition to the appeal of Hell -- a concept that "everybody has some knowledge of" -- we can imagine that EA appreciated what is basically a licensed game based on a public domain property, especially these days.

Gallery: Dante's Inferno

Continued →

Dante's Inferno demo burning up Xbox 360 and PS3 next month

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 10th 2009 at 11:30AM }

Though Visceral Games' video game adaptation of the classic parable known as Dante's Inferno (which, fun fact, was actually a book adaptation of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey) won't see the light of day until next February, we'll be getting our dirty, sin-soaked hands on a demo for the game in December. In 'The Gates of Hell,' players will be able to traverse the entire first level of the game, taking them from the surface world to the titular portcullis, where they must battle (and presumably kill) Death himself.

We imagine the game gets much easier after, you know, there's no more Death.

Infinity Ward's fourzerotwo thinks devs should 'take control' of marketing

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 26th 2009 at 2:18PM }

With the release of the highly anticipated Modern Warfare 2 just over two weeks away, Infinity Ward's Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling has been quite vocal with the press. Speaking with MCV, Bowling unequivocally states his opinion that game developers should retain control of marketing and PR for their own games. "I don't think any developer should not have control of how their game is presented or marketed or communicated," Bowling said. "And they should take control of that a lot, lot more."

Using his own Twitter account as an example, he points out that he has a "direct line to our audience and the press," cutting out the "middleman" of a publisher handling marketing/PR duties. "Not only do we know the game but we know the gamer," he continues. Then he must know about the 160,000 or so people and nearly 600 Diggers upset over his studio's decision to not support dedicated servers on the PC, right? Ahh, the double-edged sword of control: while IW may be the one making vital decisions on its own game, the blame falls squarely on its shoulders when things go wrong.

Gallery: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Dante's Inferno draws fire for baby murder Achievement

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 23rd 2009 at 4:00AM }

Dante's Inferno is getting flak from a nanny group over an Achievement for killing unbaptized babies -- not ironically, it's named "Bad Nanny." As GamePolitics points out, the International Nanny Association (INA) released a statement calling the 'cheevo "offensive to our association," as it seemingly defies the INA's goal to "promote and educate the public regarding the selfless work nannies do to support families."

We here at Joystiq are thoroughly offended too, though mostly because we know that more than one person on staff will be once again be forced into a morally compromising position in the endless hunt for virtual grandeur.

Gallery: Dante's Inferno

Academy Award nominee penning script for Dante's Inferno

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 10th 2009 at 12:00AM }

A recent Visceral Games press release revealed the talent behind the script of Dante's Inferno: Will Rokos, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the screenplay for Monster's Ball. We missed out on that one when it was in theaters, but a quick Wikipedia search taught us that it's a troubling tale of ingrained racial conflict, shattered families, coping with lost loved ones and brief, uncompromising shots of Billy Bob Thornton's testicles.

So, yeah. Lots of overlap between that and an action-oriented video game based on a 14th century epic poem.

Gallery: Dante's Inferno (E3 2009)

Video: Dante deals with Anger, kills demons

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 9th 2009 at 10:00PM }

The latest in a series of developer diaries for Dante's Inferno has been released and, as we've come to expect, it's more familiar gameplay wrapped up in the hideous guise of a ruinous literary interpretation (one that Dante himself would supposedly approve of, no less). It's hard to say that the game doesn't look enjoyable, because it really does. The scythe and cross, which feature heavily in the video, look like a lot of fun to wield. The pursuit of a smooth, 60 FPS frame rate is admirable as well.

Unfortunately, the arrival of this "Anger" video also likely means the arrival of something in our own Chris Grant's mailbox. Some grim, tasteless thing that will shake our faith in humanity and the wisdom of EA's marketing department. And so, we wait.

TGS 2009: The Recap Post

by Xav de Matos { Oct 2nd 2009 at 10:10PM }

Last week, the Tokyo Game Show brought in over 100 posts worth of news, previews, interviews, galleries, and videos. Clearly, a lot happened. If you're looking for a comprehensive list of all the goings-on during TGS 2009, Joystiq has you covered -- and organized!

Click on a platform below to scan the highlights:

(On the far right: that's "News" and "Culture" on the top and bottom, respectively)

Continued →

TGS 2009: Hands-on with Dante's Inferno in the Land of the Lust

by Ross Miller { Sep 25th 2009 at 5:45PM }

We've talked up Dante's Inferno and its similarities to God of War before -- and not much has changed in that regard in the game's latest build. So, instead of going deep into the gameplay here, we'll focus on the content we saw in the new level, based on the sin of "Lust." It's quite the hellish journey, especially for the folks at the ESRB.

(Just a warning: despite our best efforts, given the subject matter, some of the content described might be considered NSFW. Read on at your own risk.)

Gallery: Dante's Inferno

Continued →

Overheard@TGS: A high five from the real Dante

by Ross Miller { Sep 25th 2009 at 5:13PM }

"Well, you know, I do think Dante would approve of our game. He was a man ahead of his time," supposed a Dante's Inferno developer about Dante Alighieri, author of 14th-century epic poem the Divine Comedy; the first part, Inferno, serving as the game's source material ... in theory.

TGS 2009: Hands-on: Dante's Inferno (PSP)

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 24th 2009 at 10:59AM }

While the PS3/360 game is largely criticized for being exactly like God of War, we could only wish the same held true for the PSP version of Dante's Inferno. Developed by A2M, the PSP version falls short of every benchmark set by Ready at Dawn's critically acclaimed Chains of Olympus. While few developers have been able to wring such incredible power out of Sony's handheld, it's immediately clear that A2M's efforts fall flat. Whereas Chains of Olympus featured volumetric fog and dynamic lighting, Dante's Inferno looks dull and lifeless.

The console versions of Dante's Inferno do a remarkable job of copying Kratos' moves, button for button. The PSP game also does a copycat job: everything, from the standard strike, to the spin move, to the dodge, is mapped exactly according to the blueprint laid out by Sony. However, a good game requires more than just copying another game's controls. Dante's Inferno misses the flourishes that made Ready at Dawn's game so successful: visual flourishes, subtle pauses when striking, dynamic camera movement, and easily accessible finishing moves.

Gallery: Dante's Inferno (PSP)

Continued →

Get greedy with this lengthy Dante's Inferno trailer

by David Hinkle { Sep 10th 2009 at 11:15PM }

If you're looking for a trailer comprised of nothing but gameplay, then you're getting into the spirit of this Dante's Inferno trailer. You're being greedy and your greedy nature will not be rewarded -- that is, unless you're willing to work for that greed. You'll roll up your sleeves and sift through the trailer, extracting all of the juicy portions of gameplay one by one. Sure, you'll have to put up with producers and designers chatting up their version of the fourth circle of Hell, but thankfully all of that hard work is worth it, because there are some genuinely impressive environments and enemies to behold. Enemies and environments you've never seen in any other game ever. Seriously.

BioShock maestro making Dante's Inferno sound like Hell

by Randy Nelson { Sep 9th 2009 at 7:45PM }

We did a little background check on Garry Schyman, the guy EA has picked to write the score for Dante's Inferno. Yes, as the publisher brags, he did the music for BioShock. But it may be his earlier material that caught the ~~eye~~ ear of Visceral Games. We are, of course, referring to his work on the late-'80s sing-a-long sitcom Rags to Riches. Check it out and you'll know why he was tapped to create a soundtrack for Hell.

Schyman, whose Inferno score has already been recorded at London's famous Abbey Road Studios, was also the composer for the likes of Destroy All Humans! and -- most recently -- Resistance: Retribution. You'll be able to buy (but not copy!) his latest soundtrack in January.