Dante's Inferno might have been pushed into 2010, but publisher Electronic Arts promises that gamers will get a chance to get a taste of the game this year. Unfortunately, that promise doesn't include PSP owners, because the demo will be for the console version only. It seems that similarly to other multiplatform releases, development of the PSP version has taken a back seat to the handheld game. This makes us wonder whether EA has seen Sony's new memo about 'no quick ports', and more importantly, whether they 'get' the PSP platform at all.

Developer Visceral Games today announced that the so-called 'Gates of Hell' demo will arrive on the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles this December, just in time for Christmas. Despite the timing, there probably won't be much holiday cheer on display in this demo. Visceral Games, who are responsible for last year's horror-fest Dead Space, suggest that there will be entirely new levels of gore and depravity on offer in Dante's Inferno.

The game, which has already drawn its fair share of real and fake controversy, is loosely based on the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Inferno will take players on an epic descent through Dante's nine circles of hell - limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery. At least one of those levels is going to be filled with half-dead demonic babies, but that is a different story. The developer promises that everything runs at 60 frames per second, with each circle featuring unique environments, new creatures, terrifying demons, story elements and suitably creepy music.

The upcoming 'Gates of Hell' demo includes the entire opening level and will introduce players to the game's hero and story. In this first area, players will experience some hack-n-slash combat as they fend off waves of enemies before taking on the ultimate battle against Death (and this is only the first level, mind!). After defeating this boss, Dante will be armed with Death's scythe, a powerful holy cross, and will be ready to tear open the Gates of Hell.

"Our main goal from the start of this project has been to create a journey that will make gamers truly feel like they are going through hell," said executive producer Jonathan Knight. "The demo will give everyone some insight into how we are treating the story and a taste of the gameplay. And with nine more circles of hell to explore once the game comes out in February, we are literally just scratching the surface."

Gamers will get to go to hell in North America beginning February 9, 2010 and in Europe on February 12, 2010 for the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation Portable. The Gates of Hell demo will be available for download on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in December.