PETA Hates Pokemon

I will warn you up front, this is not one of my normal posts, but rather a flaming rant.

The title says it all, but the evidence is just horrifying. To think that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has the audacity to start taking games that kids play and use them to make a political statement is just surreal. PETA is living in a wonderland where they think reality and fantasy are the same.

I understand the need to save the animals from cruelty. I get that they want people to not eat meat (I guess if you can’t hear a plant scream, it is okay to chop, cut  and eat it (O_o)). I think that they had a good cause in mind, but for some reason have gone off the deep end. I used to look up to this organization back in the day, but now, I feel like they have lost touch with the core values they started with.

I can’t see how they are calling these spoofs ‘Animal Friendly Games’. I am sure you heard about the Super Mario Bros game that they did and also one for Cooking Mama. Now Pokemon: Black and White is being attacked. They made this ‘game’ because the ‘animals’ are put into battles to fight one another (like Pitbulls and Roosters). They are also forced into ‘little balls’ to be stored away until the next battle (confined in cages). WTF did Nintendo do to you to warrant such an attack.

Why they are doing it after the game has been out for years is beyond me. This game is one my son plays and enjoys, so it really struck a nerve with me. Let’s take a look at their naming conventions for these games they developed. I added the links as well to these ‘games’ with a brief description.

Be forewarned that these are not ‘Kid Friendly’ games.

Mario Kills Tanooki, which is about Mario wearing the skin of a Tanooki. Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals, I guess is self explanatory but you get a turkey ready for Thanksgiving. Pokemon: Black and Blue, Gotta Free’em All, it is about the Pokemon fighting back against their ‘Captors’.

I actually played the Pokemon game part way through to get an idea of how it was designed. In their game, the Pokemon are actually fighting back against the Trainers and Professors. You start off with Pikachu, then you get a Tepig, Snivy and finally Ohawott after other battles. Right off the bat each of these Pokemon has something wrong with them. I think the worse one was Snivy who had a hypodermic needle in their head.

When you battled with them, it was even more of a joke. With Pikachu, you had 4 moves (Quick Attack.ThunderShock, Group Hug and Protest). It seemed this theme was on the other Pokemon as well since you had 2 regular attacks and 2 ‘PETA’ attacks. The Trainers/Professors had their own attacks as well. It changed depending on the character, but a couple of theses were Choke Collar and Dissection. Nurse Joy was in this as well, but they were kind to her character. She was the one that gave you your first bonus which was in a Treasure Chest. However, inside it was a video showing different animals being abused in a variety of horrific ways. The second chest you found had a computer wallpaper of the game showing the characters and the logo. The final chest has Pokemon Cards in them that you can print off - but not sure you want to!!

I actually talked to my Son about this and showed him the game. He said that Pokemon (the real one), was just a game and that he would never harm ‘real’ animals. He likes playing Pokemon and is trying to get all the characters and their evolutions. He knows the difference between a game and reality.

After he watched me play the game, he said, 'This was one of the dumbest game I have ever seen with Pokemon. Whats wrong with these people?"

If they are trying to ‘save the animals’, then why aren’t you going after Skyrim (killing Dragons) or WoW (Riding animals and fighting Pandas)?

Is it because these are made for adults and that isn’t your target audience. I guess kids can’t argue or defend their games, so you end up picking on them. Oh wait, could it be that the graphics are too hi-res for you and your simple minds can’t comprehend how to build a game around it. I guess it could be that these are US based companies that would haul your ass into court in a heartbeat for doing it.

You are a sad little group that seem to be dredging the bottom of the waste barrel for something to gripe about.

Source: CNET