Unlike the Sopranos, which received a positive response from Italian critics
and audiences, the "Mafia: the City of Lost Heaven." videogame was 
immediately criticized.

Although I was disappointed by the Italian acceptance of "The Sopranos", 
I am pleased by their reaction to this Video game. I am however puzzled 
by the distinction they draw. 

Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven
http://www.mafia-game.com/ 

"City of Lost Heaven does not appear to be yet available in the US,
but is in the process of being "Americanized". 

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Protesting the Mafia Game
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Italian authorities came out against an unreleased videogame called "Mafia:
the City of Lost Heaven." Players take on the role of Tommy, taxi driver
cum-gangster, in a make-believe American town of the 1930s.

"In a spell-bounding story of human hunger for power, they will live through
everything taking place in underworld during this stormy period: mad car
chases, bootlegging, assassinations and bank robberies," says the company
site. The game, planned for release in March, is the work of US company
Illusion Softworks.

Unlike the Sopranos, which received a positive response from Italian critics
and audiences, the Mafia videogame was immediately criticized, even though
it hasn't been released. "I'll do whatever I can to ban it," said Roberto
Centaro, head of the National Antimafia Commission. "It's really a training
manual for aspiring Mafia members."

The game is also sure to spark controversy for stereotyping Italian
Americans. In the question and answer section, game makers promise to use
the "authentic" New York and Chicago accents of those with a "strong Italian
background."

Italians maintain the game is no laughing matter: "There is no way to joke
about the Mafia, ever," commented Carlo Taormina former undersecretary for
Internal Affairs. "Games like this shouldn't exist."