April 28th, 2009
Inferno Diagram
Kotaku – Dante’s Inferno Preview: Looks Like Hell – Dante’s Inferno
Go to the article linked above to read first impressions on EA’s game.
The author points out several ways that the game could be more true to the original poem–even stating that Limbo in the game does not quite match up with Limbo in the poem. See? I am not the only one who thinks about this stuff.
Apparently the game is going to be very much like another EA game, God of War, a game that is highly praised. So, for me, having not played God of War (give me a break, I only have one console, and if I only have one console, it will be a Nintendo console), this will be a new experience for me. For more seasoned players, the similarities to God of War may make the Inferno redundant.
Not much more to say about the game at this point … still no release date as far as I can see.
Since I do not own a PS3 or a 360, I will have to rent this game when it comes out and play it at my cousin’s house. Have hell, will travel …
Category: Dante, Video Games Tagged: inferno, Video Games No Comments »
March 30th, 2009
Yosemite Sam in Hell
Hell just keeps popping up. So, there is a Dante’s Inferno video game coming out and there is movie coming out that is based on the video game. Now, there is another movie coming out; this time, it is an animated version.
Hell depicted in a cartoon? Well, it has been done before (see image above as Yosemite Sam decends via an escalator). But this time the cartoon is a full-length movie … I think. This movie will go straight to DVD and will probably be available at the same time as the video game and may even come packaged with the video game. Why? Because this animated movie is headed up by EA, makers of the video game.
EA has done this before with one of their other franchises, Dead Space. It proved to be successful (so much so that apparently there is a theatrical-release movie in the works). It is good to see that EA is going all out with the Inferno. “A” for effort, so far.
Going one step further, EA is having separate animation studios each handle a different circle of Dante’s Hell. That means nine different studios designing one circle each. Now that is a creative approach. Each area of the Inferno would have a different tone, look, and feel. Hmm, this direct-to-DVD release could possibly turn out to be the best of these three takes on the Inferno (the movie, the video game, and the cartoon).
I continue to watch this news with great interest.
Source: Ben Fritz report from Variety
Category: Dante Tagged: cartoon, hell, inferno, movies No Comments »
March 24th, 2009
The news continues for Dante’s Inferno and its adaptation to a video game by EA. Yes, a movie is being made, too, but like all things in Dante’s vision of hell, it is all backwards. The movie is based on the video game, and the video game is based on the epic poem (loosely).
The adaptations made to the poem in order to make it a video game are quite understandable. Video games are about action, fantasy, and interactivity. The actual plot of the original poem does not make for the greatest interactive experience. EA had to heat things up a bit (har har, pun intended) by making your hero a warrior from the Crusades and not an exiled poet. You have a weapon, a scythe (and a crucifix from what the trailers present), and not a pen. In video games, the sword is mightier than the pen (unless the game is Okami). Yet, for movies, they are nothing without a good script.
Enter Dan Harris, recently named the writer for Dante’s Inferno’s screenplay. He co-wrote X-Men 2. Cool. He co-wrote Superman Returns. Hmm … well, okay. There is some excellent drama in both of those movies–pretty good action, too. Not too bad a choice, I guess. But basing the movie on the video game, to me, is a missed opportunity. The original text is rich with themes that would translate quite well to a cinematic experience–especially the visuals.
In the end, however, I’m fine with the video game character of Dante being, more or less, an action hero prototype, but the movie character of Dante ought to be someone with which I can identify. I should experience his journey through Hell through his eyes–he should feel how I would feel when encountered with this sojourn in the afterlife. He should be a sympathetic character; instead, he is going to (probably) be some wise-cracking meathead. This could be bad. This could be hell.
Sources: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001343.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
http://kotaku.com/5181302/dantes-inferno-the-movie-has-a-writer
Category: Dante Tagged: hell, inferno, movies 1 Comment »
March 20th, 2009
I saw this dail recently inside an eye doctor’s exam room. I never knew there was a mechanism, let alone an actual dial, to switch OFF muzak! Every doctor’s office and supermarket should have these dials available to the public … to turn to the OFF position …
On second thought, let us not have these publicly available so as to not introduce the insipid temptation to turn it to the MAX position; God help us. Instead, let us simply not have muzak at all.
Finally, let this be proof that muzak sucks. As the dial shows, it only goes to 7 (or “max”). And we all know music that rocks goes to 11.
Category: Annoyances Tagged: muzak No Comments »
February 24th, 2009
Now we get some (what I presume to be) gameplay footage of Dante’s Inferno the video game from EA. A bit of plot seems revealed as Dante (your character) is lots in the woods (i.e. The Dark Wood of Error) and sees who I believe must be Beatrice. I thought then that she would be replacing the role of Virgil and show Dante the way in and the way through Hell. But instead she gets captured.
Captured? How? Some demon rises up, just grabs her, and pulls her down to the abyss. Dante tried to stop the demon by throwing some weapon at it which did about as much good as you would think a dagger would do against a creature from the underworld. Zero.
So … that is the story, eh? The tried-and-true-and-so-cliché “damsel in distress” that has been used in video games for the last 25 years? The original text has Dante rescuing his own soul through this journey while Beatrice is safe and sound in Paradise. Demons have as much ability to do that as I do flying to the moon by jumping really high.
But, that’s the book. This is a video game. And when you make a video game you follow certain patterns and that often involves obtaining or saving something physical. So if Mario and Link are out to rescue their respective princesses, why not Dante, too? The difference now is that the setting is not the Mushroom Kingdom nor Hyrule, it is Hell.
In the end we get a video game, with a video game plot, and video game mechanics. Good. This time, however, it will have thrilling new backdrops and perspectives. From text to game the story may be changed, but just as important is the vision, Dante’s vision, remains. And that is what has me interested, the visuals. Dante describes what Hell looks like. Let us see how EA models it in interactive 3D graphics. Judging from the trailer, it looks as frightening and disgusting as it should be.
Category: Dante, Video Games Tagged: hell, inferno No Comments »
