" I think it's especially silly because it's not even accepted Biblical 'canon'.  Are you sure this isn't viral marketing? "

" U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, B, A - Infinite souls unlocked. "

" Viral marketing "

" That should be EA's new catchphrase for the game:  Hell is not a game: Be Prepared. "

" Surprised? A late-term abortion doctor, whose had attempts against his life made many times, was shot over the weekend. He was killed dead. Religion makes people crazy. Tsk tsk. "

" That should be EA's new catchphrase for the game:  Hell is not a game: Be Prepared. "

" Oh, this is totally marketing. Check out their website: http://wearesavedgroup.org/ "

" I can't believe so many of you guys think this is real. It's really embarrassing. "

" Cheat codes won't save your soul, lol. "

" They bitch about anything. Just attention whores. "

"

@pissedoffthewitch said:

" They bitch about anything. Just attention whores. "

...you did catch the part where this is fake, yes? "

" @Diamond said:

" I think it's especially silly because it's not even accepted Biblical 'canon'.  Are you sure this isn't viral marketing? "

That actually was my first thought. I'd bet good money EA paid these people; where else would they have fucking heard about Dante's Inferno? Or even care? The Inferno isn't considered biblical canon by even the rightest of wings, and it isn't like this is the first time "hell" in any of it myriad of forms has been represented in gaming. So  yeah, this seems really bizarre to me. But hey, at least their signs didn't have pictures of aborted fetuses on them, right? "

"Turns out EA did pay good money to these people.  The whole thing was fake.  EA admitted it as reported by Joystiq. This was just bad marketing I believe.  If people can't tell if you are or aren't selling a product then the sale is lost.  This game is long past the point where shady viral marketing will increase public awareness.   People who are talking about the scene are focusing on the staged protest with only passing mention of the game's title.  This advertising SNAFU did little to create buzz for Dante's Inferno in my opinion.  "

" Isn't this marketing done by EA themselves? "

"

@PenguinDust said:

"Turns out EA did pay good money to these people.  The whole thing was fake.  EA admitted it as reported by Joystiq. This was just bad marketing I believe.  If people can't tell if you are or aren't selling a product then the sale is lost.  This game is long past the point where shady viral marketing will increase public awareness.   People who are talking about the scene are focusing on the staged protest with only passing mention of the game's title.  This advertising SNAFU did little to create buzz for Dante's Inferno in my opinion.  "

The point of advertising like this is to keep people talking about the game, keeping it fresh in their minds and keeping hype for it up during a long development process. And it has worked, hasn't it? We wouldn't be talking about it now if it wasn't for this "protest". So it has worked. It's keeping people talking about it, reminding people that the game exists and keeping peoples interest. "

"

@MattyFTM said:

"

@PenguinDust said:

"Turns out EA did pay good money to these people.  The whole thing was fake.  EA admitted it as reported by Joystiq. This was just bad marketing I believe.  If people can't tell if you are or aren't selling a product then the sale is lost.  This game is long past the point where shady viral marketing will increase public awareness.   People who are talking about the scene are focusing on the staged protest with only passing mention of the game's title.  This advertising SNAFU did little to create buzz for Dante's Inferno in my opinion.  "

The point of advertising like this is to keep people talking about the game, keeping it fresh in their minds and keeping hype for it up during a long development process. And it has worked, hasn't it? We wouldn't be talking about it now if it wasn't for this "protest". So it has worked. It's keeping people talking about it, reminding people that the game exists and keeping peoples interest. "

What he said. The point of vital marketing isn't necessarily to talk up how great a product is (in fact, this is when viral marketing becomes the most obvious,) but rather to get people talking about the product in any way. This is especially smart because it uses the percieved distaste traditional gamers have for any and all groups that protest games (think Jack Thompson), and raises the game itself to something to be defended. Think of Manhunt 2; that wasn't the greatest game in the world, but people came out of the woodwork to defend it when all the censorship occurred. We're here, talking about Dante's Inferno in some sense, which is the best possible scenario for EA. I think the only fault they made is fessing up so quickly that it was indeed fake; they could have milked it for a few more weeks, claiming innocence in the whole thing. "

That sounds like manipulation.  Do gamers want to be tricked into supporting any game because of a manufactured controversy?  Isn't that the same thing the gaming community gets upset over when FOX News creates discord in order to boost ratings and get their focus audience up in arms?  How can it be not okay for them to deceive the population to push their agenda but okay for EA to do the same thing to push their game? "