Electronic Arts’ upcoming game, Dante’s Inferno, is using an unlikely ally in its latest publicity stunt. Instead of going with the Xbox or the PlayStation, they are using a Church’s game system. Well, sort of.

In a controversial move, the latest game trailer is “hidden” in a web page promoting a video game console called Mass: We Pray. This imaginary console comes with stools and cross shaped controllers that look like WiiMotes and supposedly simulates the experience of attending mass. When any of the links in the page are clicked, the page changes to the latest trailer for Dante’s Inferno.

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) hosted a panel discussion at the BAFTA venue in London earlier this week (October 9, 2008) during which a series of church and charity leaders discussed the ways in which video games can be a “force for good in today’s society.”

Mike Royal, the national director of the Lighthouse Group (a charity that specializes in helping young people who have been, or are at risk of being excluded from the school system), noted that games are useful in educating children about “boundaries” and the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.

Martin Houghton-Brown, The Children’s Society’s deputy director of new business, explains that children in the United Kingdom now see gaming as a…