When E3 conference-goers arrived at the show this week, some were greeted by a small crowd of protesters ostensibly upset at EA's upcoming action game Dante's Inferno, in which the lead character must fight his way out of Hell using a crucifix as a weapon, reports the LA Times.
Fyi, the Tenth Circle is for falsifiers.
Says the Times: "The protesters, who came from a church in Ventura County, held signs with slogans such as 'trade in your playstation for a praystation' and 'EA = anti-Christ' as they marched and handed out a homemade brochure that warns, 'a video game hero does not have the authority to save and damn... ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE. and he will not judge the sinners who play this game kindly.'"
Only one problem: the protesters were hired by a viral marketing agency to promote the game, EA spokesperson Holly Rockwood told the Associated Press. The crowd dispersed literature referencing wearesavedgroup.org, a recently-created web site that -- amid many references to "virtual HELL" and "occult iconography" -- heavily promtes trailers for the game, which is due to release early next year.
Publicity stunts aren't uncommon at E3, which returned this year to the big-budget, high-octane format it abandoned in 2007, but EA's latest masterstroke is going to take some beating.
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Posted: 5 Jun 2009
