Yesterday, I commented on people complaining about the trailer to the Dante's Inferno game, where a few isolated pockets of gamerdom have been whining that the game won't be a literal depiction of Dante Alighieri's work. In case you didn't read yesterday's Thought of the Day: Gaming, I'll sum it up right here: Shut the hell up! Well, I'm not done. Here's a postfrom the 360 forum:

Somebody said:

I think this game's going to be a blight upon c|assic literature.

::sigh::

All right, let's get to work on this...

First, what, is the Divine Comedy supposed to be sacrosanct or something? So it's okay to write a work of fiction based on the teachings of a major world religion, but it's not okay to write a work of fiction based on a work of fiction based on the teachings of a major world religion? Why? The existence of this game shouldn't be any more offensive than Virgil being a guide to the Christian afterlife.

Second, as I briefly mentioned in yesterday's entry, games have been developed around great works of literature since the very beginning of gaming. How many games are based on stories from c|assical mythology? Here's one that was just released: Rise of the Argonauts. So why isn't anyone all cheesed off about game developers "perverting" Greek myth?

Better yet, how many games based on The Lord of the Rings have been made? A boatload. Tolkien's work is certainly a significant piece of Western literature. (I once read that The Lord of the Rings is the second most read book in all of history after the Bible.) How many of those games have altered Tolkien's stories to suit their needs? Pretty much all of them. Why aren't all these ivory tower gamers whining about these games? Who knows.

Speaking of the Bible, what about all the games based on stories from the Bible? Off the top of my head I can't think of any good games based on the Bible, but there are plenty of mediocre onesin existence. So that's got to be really offensive, right? Not only are they changing the story of a significant work of Western literature, they're also changing the story of the world's largest religion (hmm...kinda like the Divine Comedy did).

Being upset that a game doesn't literally depict a work of fiction is stupid. Being upset that a game is based on a work of fiction at all is really stupid. If you're in either of these camps, you need to be pissed about hundreds, probably even thousands of games, not just Dante's Inferno. Furthermore, you need to ask yourself why you're even upset about it all. Why is a game based on the Divine Comedy going to be a blight on Western literature? Really, why? Is there some ethical law stating that no one is supposed to make adaptations of Renaissance fiction? I'd love for someone to explain this to me, so A.) I can understand the thought process behind this, because as far as I can tell, there isn't one, and B.) I can tear said thought process apart in a future issue of Thought of the Day: Gaming.