Dante’s Inferno comes out today and, according to Rich, it may outsell God of War III. Regardless whether you agree with him or not, there is little to deny that there has been a huge marketing campaign in support or this game. From checks to press editors to the Super Bowl, there is no denying the massive advertisement pressure. While watching the Super Bowl commercial though, something caught my eye at the end. EA decided to make an anime based off of the video game. Dead Space also did this, but I didn’t see it -let alone even know about it. And I wonder if anyone cares about a Dante’s Inferno anime.
When playing Dead Space, I never thought to myself “you know, I would love to see an anime version of this.” and I’m going to go ahead and assume you didn’t either. As a consumer, I’ve never been interesting in much cross-media marketing (as I’m calling it, this may be a real business term).There is rarely a desire to read a novel based off of a game, and it seems risky to jump the gun and release it a the same time as the initial product.
Mass Effect is getting a comic series, but it’s happened after a universe has been established. People care about Shepherd and his adventures. When the first Mass Effect novel came out before the first game, nobody cared and it didn’t initially sell well. It probably would have done just as well if it came out around the same time as the first game.
The comic will sell well though. Following the sequel, people are clamoring for more adventures from the Normandy crew. People can’t clamor for more if they don’t have any key media in the first place.
This doesn’t mean the Dante’s Inferno anime is bad. In fact, the cut-scene narrative in the game seem really interesting. It very well may cater to an anime, but does the Dante’s Inferno story fit at all into a possible OVA story? Last I checked, Dante Aligheri didn’t leave much space for a prologue or epilogue in his epic poem. Not that the narrative fit into a video game well either though. That didn’t stop EA from turning Dante, a poet, into a badass crusader.
Dead Space also seemed odd for an anime, and it was designed to be a franchise. John Ricotello was planning for the game to be something new and exciting. It was, but people don’t want preemptive cross-marketing. If people want it, people will ask for it. Nerds are good at that.
Please give us a Persona 4 anime.
EA isn’t the only guilty party of cross-marketing though. Every movie tends to have a novelization. Also, George Lucas has done two major independent cross-market attempts over the last twenty years. Both Shadows of the Empire and The Force Unleashed were attempts to tell a whole story with both a video game, novel, and comic book. I played both games, skimmed one of the comics, and didn’t care at all about the novels. The Apprentice wasn’t interesting enough to carry three separate mediums. Dash Rendar was only slightly more compelling.
To sum this article up, please give us a Persona 4 anime.
I think that the animated feature tie-in for Dead Space was more successful than the one for Dante’s Inferno. The Dead Space animation does a great job detailing all the events leading up to the beginning of the video game. Of all the reason’s I enjoyed it, the most important reason it is successful is that it focuses completely on events before the game and gives a more detailed back story and addition insight into the Dead Space world.
The Dante’s Inferno animation, on the other hand, doesn’t succeed in the same way. The animation is like a condensed version of the game. It takes a tour of hell, hits all the major boss battles, and key story events of the game. I didn’t like this part of the animation.
The one thing it does well, and better than the game, is the parts it takes the time to tell the backstory. The game is actually quite ineffective at detailing the events that took place during the Crusade with Dante. Even after having watched the animation, the game’s cut-scene were confusing at best.
I think if the animated feature spent more time showing the relationship between Dante and the other character develop before Dante goes to Hell would have been much better.