I just saw that EA has announced that the developers of Dead Space are working on an adaptation of Dante’s Inferno. Here’s the part that bothers me. Listen to the quote by the executive producer:

"The time is right for the world of interactive entertainment to adapt this literary masterpiece, and to re-introduce Dante to an audience that, until now, may have been unfamiliar with the remarkable details of this great work of art," said Jonathan Knight, executive producer for Dante’s Inferno. "It’s the perfect opportunity to fuse great gameplay with great story."

Oh, COME ON. We all know that the game is going involve the player beating the crap out of demons and monsters (watch the trailer on the website if you don’t believe me). There isn’t going to be anything “literary” about the experience, or more specifically the interactive portion, which will be mindless violence. Maybe the non-interactive cutscenes will display some elegance if we're lucky.

I don’t think the producer is a jerk or anything, I’m just tired of people in the game industry thinking that just because their third-person brawler features characters taken from a revered literary or film source, that all of a sudden it becomes a mature work of artistic achievement.

-Jason