Dante's Inferno Very Naughty, Say Nannies

Kris Erickson • Oct 23, 2009 • Comments (4)

For the second time before its release, EA's upcoming gothic adventure game Dante's Inferno finds itself the center of controversy. The first episode was the result of an elaborate hoax by the publisher, who hired fake Christian actors to 'protest' the game outside the doors of E3. Now the game has come under fire from another special interest group, and while unusual, we assure you that it is not a hoax. The International Nanny Association (INA) has caught wind of a special achievement in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, and they are not pleased about it. The achievement, called 'Bad Nanny,' is won when a player slaughters a certain number of unbaptized children. You see, in the original Divine Comedy, one of the levels of purgatory is inhabited by dead demon babies who passed away before being baptized. Whether or not it is appropriate to make a video game about such a thing is still open to debate. Here's the official Nanny word on the game:

"The INA feels this video game component of Dante's Inferno was created out of poor taste and bad judgment. INA is opposed to video games that promote and encourage players to 'kill' babies, even in fantasy play. It is our opinion that this type of play may promote violence towards children. The name of the trophy or achievement, Bad Nanny, is offensive to our association in that we strive to promote and educate the public regarding the selfless work nannies do to support families by providing quality in-home child care. We have urged our membership to take action concerning this issue through the appropriate channels, as well."

So there you have it folks, Mary Poppins and the rest of the INA is strongly opposed to the murdering of demon babies and the denigration of the Nanny profession.

Electronic Arts marketing executives are either cowering in fear, or rubbing their hands together gleefully.

[Source: Game Politics]

Comments

a nanny

- October 25, 2009 12:04 PM

I'm actually a member of INA, a full time live-in nanny, and I have a college degree in child development and I know that for 99% of the game playing public the rating of "bad nanny" for killing these very unrealistic demon babies will be nothing but a silly amusement, and the other 1% would kill babies because they are truly sick. I don't understand calling out a game that most people won't even know exists. It's obvious the game is for adults and not for children. I believe in the freedom of speech and don't want to live in a country that censors all material above the level of a 10 year old. I believe in parents being parents and censoring what comes into their home based on their own morals and values. I also think that calling out this product is feeding right into the hands of EA’s PR.

Kris

- October 26, 2009 8:58 AM

Thanks for your thoughtful response on the matter. Most of the time when these controversies happen the groups make insane claims about how video games are 'murder simulators' and the like. I think this game is actually not that interesting and EA is doing everything they can to make it sound cool.

Nettie Weber

- October 30, 2009 3:42 AM

INA continues to stand by its position: International Nanny Association Demands Drastic Changes to Dante's Inferno Video Game or No Release Irresponsible to market "baby killing" to group which statistically has highest percentage of individuals charged with child maltreatment, says INA Oct 29, 2009 – Last week the International Nanny Association (INA) drew heat from the gaming and tech world for their public statement denouncing a level of Electronic Art's (EA) upcoming game, Dante's Inferno-- the level unveiled during the company’s Naughty or Nice press event on October 14, 2009. INA took issue with the "lust level" of the game, which has a February release date, in which “un-baptized babies” are slaughtered by the game player to earn the achievement of "bad nanny." Lynne Kenney, PsyD, known as "The Family Coach" and author of The Family Coach Method insists "INA has not over-reacted.” She says, “We live in a culture that has become desensitized to killing. To encourage even adults to play games that celebrate and reward killing babies is disgusting and sick. Social isolation, gaming that emphasizes ‘kills’ and companies that spend man hours on this sort of game development contribute to the dehumanization of children, which is appalling." According to The Entertainment Software Association, in 2009, 68% of individuals in US households now play computer or video games. They also state that the average player is 35 years of age. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the median age of an individual who is charged with child maltreatment is between 30 and 33 years of age. INA is shocked by the amount of excitement and anticipation being expressed on hundreds of video gaming message boards and blogs over the unveiling of the lust level in Dante's Inferno. INA feels strongly that marketing a video game that promotes “baby-killing” (a term EA has coined) to an audience that statistically has the highest percentage of individuals charged with child maltreatment is extremely irresponsible. INA stands by its original statement and demands that Electronic Arts either not release the game or drastically change the verbiage and nature of the lust level in the game.

Reno

- November 4, 2009 4:17 PM

Here we go with the blame game again. People who normally have nothing to do with video are claiming that once we start killing babies on a video game we are going to go out into the real world and start killing babies. Instead of blaming video games why not blame the individual person who is either with mental issues or there family history causes them to lash out. Wow can't people figure this out?

PSP World

The GameFlavor Network