EA Rickrolls Yahtzee

Yahtzee was pretty angry at the package that EA sent him today, but don't worry - that was the whole point.

It seemed pretty obvious that the wooden box addressed to Yahtzee had something to do with Dante's Inferno, given that the inside of the lid read "The Fifth Circle of Hell Is Close." Members of The Escapist staff crowded around the box, eager to find out what was inside. We were somewhat bemused to discover nothing but a small burlap bundle containing safety goggles and a ball peen hammer.

Then the music began, and it all became horrifically clear.

"Never Gonna Give You Up..."

We all got a good chuckle as we realized that EA had just managed to Rickroll Yahtzee through the mail, but our laughter quickly died out when we discovered that closing the box didn't shut off the song. Yahtzee looked at us, then at the box, then at the hammer in his hand.

And then he got to work.

Strapping on the goggles (he is nothing if not conscientious about safety), he set about smashing the box. He had to break through three layers of wood, bones, and insects, but he finally got to the sound box's guts and yanked out one of the batteries. He also found a small scroll that had been tucked into the musical workings, which read:

The sin of wrath is yours. You have succumbed to anger and opened an infernal spring that seethes with dark waters. Quelled not, your anger begot rage. The waters have risen unchecked and ye will be drowned in stinking mire.

Go to Hell.

Ok, so the note is a bit heavy-handed, but I'm still giving this round of Dante's Inferno publicity a thumbs up for overall creativity and cleverness. Besides, it's not every day you get to see Yahtzee smash something to bits with a hammer.

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Yeah. Blame the Uk->Aussie transplant for the broken EA gift box...suuuuuuuuuure.

ROFLMAO!

Cannot....stop.....laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!

Pffffffffft hahahahahaaha.

Oh wow. EA. This is the Redwood group of them that make good games right? I applaud you, you magnificent bastards.

Damnit; EA stole my idea. Except mine actually had Rick Astley in it, and he was armed with knives, so that he and Yahtzee would have a no holds barred battle!

Do we have video footage of Yahtzee smashing that box with a hammer?

But this is funny. Not quite laugh out loud funny, but very amusing to say the least.

Very funny joke. If only EA were as creative in their games as they are with their publicity stunts...

Okay, they win mucho kudos points for that. You have to hand it to them, that was a neat trick

hahaha... brilliant, just brilliant ;D

Now that is clever.
All this Dante's Inferno advertisment is working, I wasn't even going to try the game out before, but I am now.

I smell a special ZP episode about this.

Damn, I'm not a fan of EA, but that is GREAT!

It's good to see that people are still being creative with advertisement (Or whatever this counts as) these days, I doubt they'll earn points with Yahtzee though. Still awesome.

You have to hand it to EA. Their marketing campaign for this game is absolutely genius.

And Yahtzee demolished that bloody box.

That is very clever. Props to EA marketing for that one.

Hahaha that is awesome, and in great humour as well. Shame there isn't a video of it happening. Publicity stunts like this I think do help to push a game past the plethora of mediocrity out there, and shows EA aren't the faceless corporation of gaming =p

Rickroll via mail? Ima have to try this...

Well, that was a good read. Now what?

Crap.
I guess I shouldn't have just chucked that box in the fireplace.
Oh well, got a free hammer out of it at least.

Oh. Hm...*Throws grammar and spelling to the wind*

ROFLMAO THIS IS AMAZING. PWNT33 LOL1L!!!!!!!!!!!111!!

Eh-em.

That's funny.

EA would have received a shipment of cookies after I read that, but I was feeling peckish...

Something is quite wrong in today's world:my respect for EA is actually growing.

What kind of twisted joke are the gods playing on us?

This is fucking wonderful. I seriously hope someone recorded that shit.

CantFaketheFunk:
You have to hand it to EA. Their marketing campaign for this game is absolutely genius.

And Yahtzee demolished that bloody box.

You mean like the fake protests or more controversy than actual game info?

That is really damn clever! Hats off to EA on that one. See that is how you do proper marketing, none of this booth babe sin bullshit.

Amazing. I would pay good money to see a video of it.

*applause* Now that's a marketing stunt.

Sure beats leaving bits of dead bodies over Tokyo.

Haha, that's great. xD A very clever idea.

That's it, I'm picking up this game. They won me over with their marketing alone. And I will pick up this game, even if I must sell my soul.

Well, nice to see that EA has a sense of humour,but a hammer Yatzhee? Come on! Just throw it out the nearest window and hope it smashes to a million peices upon impact.

Heart of Darkness:
Do we have video footage of Yahtzee smashing that box with a hammer?

But this is funny. Not quite laugh out loud funny, but very amusing to say the least.

Sadly, no. Here's the thing - our video crew just happened to be out at Red Storm when Yahtzee opened the box and weren't due back for at least an hour. And the music wouldn't shut off, so...we had no choice.

Now I wish I worked at the Escapist even more...

CantFaketheFunk:
You have to hand it to EA. Their marketing campaign for this game is absolutely genius.

And Yahtzee demolished that bloody box.

It's the first time that marketing for Dante's Inferno hasn't been a completely misguided, farcical manifestation of raw stupidity.

EA actually has a soul?

This is just amazing, EA just went from "meh" to "slightly better than meh". I still don't like EA that much, but this sure was an awesome idea.

Susan Arendt:

Heart of Darkness:
Do we have video footage of Yahtzee smashing that box with a hammer?

But this is funny. Not quite laugh out loud funny, but very amusing to say the least.

Sadly, no. Here's the thing - our video crew just happened to be out at Red Storm when Yahtzee opened the box and weren't due back for at least an hour. And the music wouldn't shut off, so...we had no choice.

Aw, dammit. The video would have been pure gold...

I'll just chalk it up to "wrong place, wrong time." Wrong place for the video crew to be, wrong time for Yahtzee to open the box.