Forget Dante's Inferno 2, Visceral Wants Macbeth

[Mr.PlanetEater]

After what they've done to Dante's Inferno..I'm 100% convinced this studio's trying to commit literature Genocide. That said, a Macbeth game wouldn't work very well..I can't even imagine how they'd turn the play into a playable experience.

 

[thenamelessloser]

The cartoon Gargoyles had Macbeth and was AWESOME. But from what I played of the EA demo of Dante's Inferno I doubt it will be anywhere as cool as that cartoon.

Gargoyles may have been more historically accurate than that hack Shakespeare's writings anyway... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth_(Gargoyles)

But seriously, Gargoyles had tons of characters from Shakespearian plays and due to good writing was still an awesome show to watch.

I guess Gargoyles along with Batman: The Animated Series were the zenith of action American cartoons while if this Macbeth game comes out it will just be another God of War clone...

 

[malestrithe]

I can't believe he actually used the word "interpretation" to describe what they have done to Dante's poem. Adaptation, I could stomach. But seriously, no. Interpretation refers to what you think the poem is about, and I don't care how much postmodernism you subscribe to; if you think that Inferno is about murdering demons then you are provably and laughably wrong. The allegorical function of Dante's journey through hell is to present his audience with a series of morals to abide by in life, by depicting how sinners are punished via poetic justice. For example, the greedy are punished by being forced to spar against one another using giant weights they push with their chest. If you can't see the symbolism in that, you need help. The idea of Dante going through hell and killing everything he meets throws all concepts of poetic justice out the window; as there is nothing symbolic about killing the damned with a scythe - that's just cliche. What this game represents is how the very concept of Hell has been re-appropriated in modern culture by games like Diablo; where rather than a place created by God to punish sinners, Hell is Satan's personal funhouse and where he trains his armies.

So, your only gripe about the game boils down to "him using the wrong noun" and nothing else?

One of the other definitions of interpretation is "the rendering of a dramatic part, music, etc., so as to bring out the meaning, or to indicate one's particular conception of it." The studio is taking the poem and rendering it as a video game. Interpretation works for this game.

The meaning of the Inferno, the one that most people subscribe to, is one where Dante is confronting his demons and coming to grips with his sins. Whether it is done with a hacksaw or wordplay, the result is the same.

In postmodernist circles, the term they like using is actually parody. To them, parody means taking parts or a whole of something out of original context and reused, with no intent to ridicule. The studio took parts of the game and reused them.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Most ideas can turn out good. Macbeth is no exception. I honestly feel that if done right, it could be a great game and I would buy it.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Macbeth?
First thought: NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Second thought: Well, I guess it isn't that bad
Third thought: NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I think Macbeth is a bit too slow and based on emotional conflict rather then physical conflict to make an interesting game in a direct adaptation. That worries me that they will bastardize it by taking the name and a few key ideas/themes and rewriting the rest. That isn't that bad on its own but it would destroy the good name of the book and skew people's image of it.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

MacBeth? bah!
No way a sane investor wants that as a gaming IP...
If ever released I bet it'll clone Assassins Creed.

 

[dibblywibbles]

Macbeth? really? why not do the strange case of doctor Jekyll and mr. Hyde instead? that you could have soooooooo much more fun with. I'd love to go around late 19th century london beating people with a cane!

 

[Chewster]

I want to know what happened to American McGee, since his sole attempt at translating an old work was pulled off well. I had heard he was to do Oz next, but nothing became of it.

 

[sln333]

I don't see how a Macbeth game would work. I wonder how the Shakespeare crowd would take to it.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

[small]"Press X to Soliloquize"[/small]

Brilliant!

And now I must away.

 

[lodo_bear]

Man, there's a point in which something gets so stupid it wraps around and becomes awesome, and Dante's Inferno is already edging pretty close to that line. I'll buy any brawler they release turning classics of literature into bloodfests. Show me Don Quijote stomping giants into a pool of blood, a retelling of The Murders of Rue Morgue in which you are the gorilla, and an insane axe maniac's rampage in CRIME AND PUNISHMENT II: PUNISH HARDER. Hooray for public domain!

...That thing with Don Quijote looks cool, though. An action game showing the things he imagines are happening. I'd buy that.

Spoiler: XKCD had thoughts along a similar vein

XKCD [http://xkcd.com/] comic #556 [http://xkcd.com/556/]: Alternative Energy Revolution

The moment their arms spun freely in our air, they were doomed -- for Man has earned his right to hold this planet against all comers, by virtue of occasionally producing someone totally batshit insane.

I would probably buy a Don Quixote game (is it X or J?). I would hope that such a game would feature exciting battle sequences in which you must fight knights, ogres and giants, and also some mystery and tension about whether those battles you fought actually happened.

 

[maninahat]

Of all the Shakespeare plays, they had to use the shortest.

 

[paragon1]

I...don't see how a Macbeth game would work out all that well.

 

[Sonicron]

I see people are still not done trashing Dante's Inferno. Wheeee...

I've just finished the game, and guess what? It wasn't bad.
However, in regards to the OP, I feel the need to grow six extra sets of eyes and raise all those eyebrows. The last line you read in the game's outro cinematic is - yes, you guessed it - "To be continued...".

Spoiler: Major spoiler!

In the end Dante makes it out of the Inferno, standing on the threshold of what is presumably Purgatory or Paradise and rips that tapestry he'd sown into his chest, now merely a scorched piece of fabric, off his flesh, discarding it without a second thought. Unnoticed by Dante, the scorched cloth dissolves into black smoke which ultimately resolidifies into a snake; a faded, sinister chuckle is heard as the snake slithers off, so I guess Lucifer has gotten out of his prison in Lake Cocytus after all. That's when the "To be continued..." appears on screen, just before the credits start rolling.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Well... if they make Macbeth into a Mass Effect-style RPG... I could see how this could work (not nearly as epic... but the dialogue system, consequences for actions and so forth). But after playing Dante's Inferno for about 4 hours at a friend's house... while the game is by no stretch of the imagination true to the literature... it does make enough references to keep all but the most die-hard literature buffs happy. Obviously, they had to take SOME liberties with it, because otherwise the game would just be a walking tour... not very interesting. However, I think Macbeth could work better, so long as they make it an RPG. Otherwise... it'll be completely fucked over.

 

[Ancientgamer]

I...uh...wha.. I don't even....

 

[Slash Dementia]

I've always wondered what a MacBeth game would be like, and I'm pretty happy that it might get made.
Hopefully they'll do the play good.

 

[oppp7]

Forget Macbeth, I want Dead Space 2...
When is DS2 coming out? I want to see if Isaac died.
O, and just so I don't go too offtopic: I can't see how Dante's Inferno or Macbeth video games could possibly stick to the storyline even remotely.
Level 1: Kill the old Thane of Cawdor, fair enough.
Level 2: Kill the king and his guards, a stealth aspect leading to a short fight? Pushing it but not too strange.
Level 3: Kill... Banquo? Macbeth didn't kill him though...
Level 4: Talk to witches and kill Macduff's family? Quick time events suck and he didn't do the latter either...
Level 5: Fight to the death, ok, it would be a nice twist I suppose...
Seriously, unless they show the perspective of a different character, they are going to mess the storyline up so much that it would make literary fans vomit blood.

 

[teknoarcanist]

Raise your hands if you want to play The Super Karamazov Brothers.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

I can't believe he actually used the word "interpretation" to describe what they have done to Dante's poem. Adaptation, I could stomach. But seriously, no. Interpretation refers to what you think the poem is about, and I don't care how much postmodernism you subscribe to; if you think that Inferno is about murdering demons then you are provably and laughably wrong. The allegorical function of Dante's journey through hell is to present his audience with a series of morals to abide by in life, by depicting how sinners are punished via poetic justice. For example, the greedy are punished by being forced to spar against one another using giant weights they push with their chest. If you can't see the symbolism in that, you need help. The idea of Dante going through hell and killing everything he meets throws all concepts of poetic justice out the window; as there is nothing symbolic about killing the damned with a scythe - that's just cliche. What this game represents is how the very concept of Hell has been re-appropriated in modern culture by games like Diablo; where rather than a place created by God to punish sinners, Hell is Satan's personal funhouse and where he trains his armies.

So, your only gripe about the game boils down to "him using the wrong noun" and nothing else?

One of the other definitions of interpretation is "the rendering of a dramatic part, music, etc., so as to bring out the meaning, or to indicate one's particular conception of it." The studio is taking the poem and rendering it as a video game. Interpretation works for this game.

The meaning of the Inferno, the one that most people subscribe to, is one where Dante is confronting his demons and coming to grips with his sins. Whether it is done with a hacksaw or wordplay, the result is the same.

In postmodernist circles, the term they like using is actually parody. To them, parody means taking parts or a whole of something out of original context and reused, with no intent to ridicule. The studio took parts of the game and reused them.

No, I have plenty of gripes about the game based on what I've seen from pre-release footage. I'm just focusing on his choice of words.

I've no idea which dictionary you took that from, but the closest comparable definition I can find in the OED is the following:
c. The representation of a part in a drama, or the rendering of a musical composition, according to one's conception of the author's idea.
This does not refer to the taking of an existing text and modifying it to produce a new one; this refers specifically to the way that an actor may represent the playwright's meaning through his or her choice of physical and vocal technique whilst performing his or her part, or how a musician may elucidate a composer's meaning by his or her choice of instrumentation, arrangement, legato et al. It has nothing to do with taking a poem and turning it into a novel, a play, or even a game. That would be an adaptation.

You are correct in saying that Inferno focuses on the rejection of sin: however, this is part of its overall place in The Divine Comedy as part of moving closer to God; hence I stand by my point that its function is to provide a moral education for his audience. The whole crux of his argument is that sin is its own punishment - as the guilty are punished in hell by an inversion of their sin. Killing the inhabitants of hell only inverts the sins of those who are murderers.