Once again, Electronic Arts has exploited Christians to help promote its upcoming video game adaptation of Dante's Inferno.
The official website for Mass: We Pray now unsurprisingly reveals the Church-centric mini-game compilation to be a hoax.
"He who betrays the beliefs of the Church blackens his soul with the sin of Heresy. A Mass not celebrated by ordained priest or on consecrated soil is naught but false ritual condemned by clergy," declares the message that pops up when users click to either pre-order the game or send a "digital blessing" to a friend. From there, users are presented with the ability to watch "an Exclusive Dante's Inferno Trailer" and the option to "Damn thy Fellow Sinners to Hell" through a "Go To Hell" Facebook application.
"After all, a family shouldn't have to wait until Sunday to worship the Lord," read the original press release for Mass: We Pray, which described the title as "proof that videogames can be used to spread the Good Word" and "a revolutionary videogame that allows families to go to church every day from the comfort of their own home."
Electronic Arts drew outrage from Christians earlier this year, after staging a fake protest against Dante's Inferno at video game industry trade show Electronic Entertainment Expo. Actors held signs containing such phrases as "Trade in your PlayStation for a PrayStation," "Hell is not a game," and "My high score is in Heaven."
Another controversial campaign for Dante's Inferno, held during Comic-Con, asked participants to commit "acts of lust" for a chance at "a sinful night with two hot girls."
Electronic Arts later apologized for the Sin to Win contest, explaining that it was "part of our marketing efforts around the circle of Lust (one of the nine sins/circles of Hell)" and "each month we will be focusing on a new Circle of Hell."
Kick BrickBreaker to the curb. Mobile games have evolved far beyond the simple diversions that most people think of when gaming on cell phones. Thanks to more powerful processors and graphics chips, and the advent of application marketplaces that have attracted big-name developers, entertainment seekers now have mobile titles that nearly rival what you’ll find on the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable. These app stores have a mix of free and paid titles, but if you want the deepest gaming experience, you’ll have to shell out 99 cents or more for a quality game. We’ve thoroughly tested ten of our favorite iPhone and iPod touch games to help you determine which titles are worth paying for.
Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart return to the big screen in Twilight: New Moon this Friday. The first installment shied away from vampire myths and offered a modern take on the subject. Last year, Christopher Beam pointed out that Twilight and other recent movies were quick to discredit old vampire legends. The original article is reprinted below.
There's a scene midway through Twilight, the new 'tween vampire flick, in which the heroine, Bella, arrives at the vampire Edward's house—a bright, spare, Modernist home that seems stocked with Calphalon pans and furniture from Design Within Reach. She looks around wonderingly. "What did you expect?" he says. "Coffins and dungeons and moats?" It's a familiar scene to anyone who knows vampire movies: the part where the vampire (or vampire expert) turns myth-buster and explains what vampires are really like.
A perfect example is this exchange from HBO's True Blood. "I thought you were supposed to be invisible in a mirror," marvels Anna Paquin's Sookie, reclining in a bathtub. Sorry, says her vampiric love interest, Bill. "What about Holy water?" she asks. "It's just water." "Crucifixes?" "Geometry." "Garlic?" "It's irritating, but that's pretty much it." Irritating, indeed.
Vampire myth-busters are a cocky lot. Take this scene from Blade, when vampire hunter Wesley Snipes explains "vampire anatomy 101" to his new protégée. "Crosses and holy water don't do dick, so forget what you've seen in the movies," he says. "You use a stake, silver, or sunlight. You know how to use one of these?" He shows her a gun. "Silver hollow point filled with garlic. Aim for head or the heart. Anything else is your ass." http://www.slate.com/id/2236182/pagenum/all/#p2Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart return to the big screen in Twilight: New Moon... more
A family shouldn’t have to wait until Sunday to worship the Lord. Now you can go to church every day without leaving your home. Participate in more than 24 unique and exhilarating Ceremonies. Be sure to try them all. The more you play, the more Grace points you collect. Then trade in your Grace points to unlock the Holy Mysteries.
The sales numbers for the first five days of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have been released by Activision. According to the publisher, the hit first person shooter is the largest opening for any form of entertainment and made $550 million, beating the worldwide release of Harry Potter And the Half-Blood Prince, which made $394 million.
Having two teams dedicated to annual output of Activision's Call of Duty franchise may not be enough for the publisher. A report from the LA Times says that a third team is now tasked with Call of Duty development duties.
While the news outlet doesn't name the studio responsible for providing gamers with even more of the Call of Duty that they clearly crave, having a third team dedicated to pumping out future iterations could mean any number of things.
A new Mario game with much improved graphics similar to the DS. Use the arrow keys to move and jump Check it out here: http://easygames4you.com/mario-adventure-2/A new Mario game with much improved graphics similar to the DS. Use the arrow keys to... more
The most popular games are: Assassin’s Creed II (Xbox 360, PS3), New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii), Left 4 Dead 2 (PC, Xbox 360), The Sims 3: World Adventures Expansion (PC, Mac), LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC, DS), Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii), God of War Collection (PS3), Little Big Planet (PSP), Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery (DS, iPhone) and Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (PSP).
This week's listings of the Top 50 bestsellers for the regions America, Japan and Europe on Amazon, for all systems combined.
For the USA the first 10 listed today are:
1. New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
4. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Wii)
5. Wii Sports Resort with Wii MotionPlus Accessory (Wii)
6. Mario Kart with Wii Wheel (Wii)
7. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
8. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
9. Dragon Age: Origins (PC)
10. Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
For those who have kids, an iTouch, or an iPhone you might like to check out Tickle Tap Apps. They focus mainly on educational games such as number counting, shape matching, and color learning.
Ladderball is an alternative lawn sport where participants can drink and play with their balls (bolas). The Ladder Ball Association of Greater Santa Barbara talk about their love for the game, beer, and Olympics, during their fall 09 Halloween tournament.Ladderball is an alternative lawn sport where participants can drink and play with... more
This is the second promo video for DAYCON PACKET WARS. This was the 3rd Annual Dayton Security Summit and hacker games.This is the second promo video for DAYCON PACKET WARS. This was the 3rd Annual Dayton... more
From the beginning, the profitability and viability of popular Facebook social networking games Mafia Wars and Farmville were predicated on the backs of scams, boasts Zynga CEO Mark Pincus in this video. "I did every horrible thing in the book just to get revenues," he crows in the clip to a gathered bunch of fellow scumbag app developers.
If you have an iPhone, you can extend your enjoyment of college football season even further with applications that let you keep up with news, check stats, make wagers, support your team and much more.
After Infinity Ward's bizarre embargo on reviews finally lifted at midnight last night, at the same as the game went on sale, the praise has come flooding in for what's already being tipped as the game of the year.
The cheeky Guardian broke the embargo and gave the game 5 out of 5 stars, calling "exactly what fans were expecting" and "the most polished FPS of the year".
The Telegraph followed shortly after and also gave the Modern Warfare 2 a perfect score, heaping on the praise:
"All told, Modern Warfare 2 crosses into the must-have category of video games effortlessly. It offers an unmatched shooter experience, a compelling story mode, a slick package of mini missions and a multiplayer which is pretty much unparalleled in depth. It’s sure to satisfy the demands of its fan base, and anyone who considers themselves a fan of shooters in general should definitely pick up a copy"
The gaming geeks are equally enthralled. IGN gives it 9.4 out of 10, Gamespot's editor rates it 9.0 and Gamespot's users award the game a slightly more generous 9.4.
As is often the case, it was Charlie Brooker who provided the voice of sanity over on Twitter:
"In summary: it's very good, but it's not the flippin' messiah or anything. And it has the intellectual depth of Die Hard 4."
And finally, just to really capitalise on the hype, Modern Warfare 2 launched at midnight with a whopping-great film-style premiere in Leicester Square, hosted by... well... Vernon Kaye. From the sounds of things, this might be the only bad thing about a seriously epic game.
