Dante's Inferno ASCII art invades gaming sites

This morning, the GamesRadar editorial staff witnessed, what might possibly be, the best videogame publicity stunt of all time. Check out the source code on sites, such as GamesRadar, Digg, IGN, Kotaku, GameSpot, Daily Motion, and WWE. You’ll find some amazing ASCII art for Dante’s Inferno.

Take a closer look at the ASCII demons, and you’ll find a hidden URL directing you to the website, www.hellisnigh.com along with one of six passwords. Enter all six passwords, and you’ll be able to download a mysterious file called EARTHLY_REWARDS.zip. So what’s your reward for finding all six passwords? A collection of Dante’s Inferno wallpapers, posters, three MP3s from the game’s soundtrack, and a lovely 25-page PDF that’s full of Dante’s Inferno artwork.

You can start surfing to get your share of Dante’s Inferno’s Earthly Treasures. Or, just scroll down for a password cheat sheet and a quick sample of some of the items in the EARTHLY_REWARDS.zip file.

How to download your Earthly Rewards

- Go to www.hellisnigh.com
- PASSWORD #1: excommunicate
- PASSWORD #2: scythe
- PASSWORD #3: grafter
- PASSWORD #4: styx
- PASSWORD #5: unbaptized
- PASSWORD #6: Alighieri

Above: Look at the source code on GamesRadar’s homepage and you’ll find this Dante’s Inferno ASCII art with directions to visit www.hellisnnigh.com and the fifth password (unbaptized) 

What’s inside EARTHLY_REWARDS.zip

Above: One of nine desktop wallpapers

Above:  A bunch of vertically aligned posters you can print

Above: A 25-page PDF with some gorgeous concept art

Feb 4, 2010