Religion and Gaming Just Don’t Mix

Wow…the Catholics are pissed. There’s a big surprise! EA better take a slap on the wrist via Sister Mary Margaret’s ruler and accept the punishment of 100 Hail Marys and 250 Our Fathers! All kidding aside (I grew up Catholic, I can have my fun!), the Catholics are really pissed about EA and their little stunt at E3.

If you aren’t sure what stunt I’m referring to, one needs only to head over to Joystiq and click on the following link. For those who are too lazy to click a link, the point of the situation is that EA set up a protest outside E3, as a publicity stunt, to protest the game “Dante’s Inferno,” which has yet to be released though it was prominently featured during the E3 conference.

The protest, disguised as a religious protest was actually a stunt. I’ve been following this story online since E3. I did very much enjoy some of the “signs” the protesters held up, but my favorites were:

“Trade in your PlayStation for a PrayStation”
“Cheat Codes Won’t Save Your Soul”
and “Hell is not a game”

Of course, there is the cheesy, which includes “Just say infer-No!” and “EA = Electronic Anti-Christ!” But…that’s beside the point. The point is that this little staged protest is making the Catholics mad. It’s funny mad, too. I’ve always believed that when you are religious, it’s always best to try and make a low blow at any opponent. Turning the other cheek is too Jesus for the majority of society.

The Catholic blogging community is up at arms about this. You can see what Catholic Video Gamers had to say from their Blogspot location by heading here, though I know some of you are lazy, so let me weed through the incredibly long-winded, though one paragraph long, diatribe for the best part:

“Gamers of all varieties will buy this product if its, well, actually a good game. So instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off and make it, ya know, something worthwhile?”

“God of War” rip off? Yowza! Now I haven’t played God of War all that much, but I didn’t get that vibe from the trailer for “Dante.” Furthermore, since most of us gamers are “Richard Dawkins-loving, fundamentalist atheist, “I’m-so-much-smarter-than-you-are-because-I-don’t-believe-in-God” types,” what the heck is a blog named Catholic Video Gamers doing out there? If the gaming community is such a God-hating community (I take offense to that slightly – well not really…I don’t know Andy Kirchoff personally, so it’s hard to be offended — but I’m no Atheist Jack – I’m a polytheist. That means I don’t have one God, I have many…oOooh!), then why are the Catholics even trying to be a part of it? For example, I might reconsider my place here if the community was full of polytheist-hating, scary, fundamentalists, who tried to make all games full of moral values.

Seriously though, I don’t get why this is such a big deal. EA’s promotion was actually pretty funny and the Catholics are ensuring the game gets all the attention EA wanted it to have. Bravo on a magnificent PR campaign EA. Truly. You are making the Catholics dance like puppets, just the way you wanted them to. The best move would have been for the Catholics to avoid mentioning the game, but any publicity, negative or not, is always a plus in the entertainment industry.

Margaret Cabaniss from InsideCatholic also shared her thoughts on the issue, but they were rather boring for my tastes. The basic jist of what she said was that EA had a built in market of Christians they were ignoring and that the stunt made them look ignorant. If you really want to read what she had to say, look her or InsideCatholic up.

Ultimately, as I stated previously, all this is doing is giving EA even more publicity. Way to go Catholics! By the way, “Dante’s Infermo” does look pretty awesome. I’m glad my soul won’t be ‘going to hell’ for playing the game when it’s released.

Technorati Tags: Catholics, Christian protest, EA, Electronic Arts, Dante’s Inferno, Video Game, Controversy, Gaming, Religion

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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick is in his late 20s. Having been born in the 80s gave him a unique advantage to experience the development of gaming into the massive industry it has become today. From the days of Atari to the purchase of his very first NES (before his 10th birthday), Dominick has been involved in gaming. Initially, a huge fan of Nintendo, he's delved more into the exciting world of Xbox 360, and everything Microsoft in recent years. His favorite games are Action/Adventure, Shooters (especially WWII or Historical based games) and racing games. Of course, some days he enjoys playing an old fashioned game featuring his original gaming heroes, Mario and Zelda. In a wheelchair since age 16, Dominick has the unique perspective of gaming with limited mobility. When not gaming, he is a human rights activist, a creative mind, and he enjoys spending time with his family.