Following on from the release of Pokemon Black and White 2, PETA has announced its own flash game that parodies the experience and suggests that while you might find Pokemon fun, it is in fact promoting animal violence and cruelty, especially among children.
The game, entitled Pokemon Black and Blue (get it?) features Pikachu and a few other bandaged pokemon attempting to escape from crazy eyed trainers. Each of their foes features bloody clothing and weaponry, far more violent than any Pokemon game released in an official capacity. While in the real games, Pokemon might be fought against one another, at no point do you ever see a trainer using a baseball bat to brain a Pikachu. In PETA's game, the one attempting to help show you that Pokemon is a violent and cruel game, it turns out to be more violent and cruel than anything released before it.
Good job PETA.
Anyone that gives the game a try will also quickly find themselves bogged down in endless, dreary exposition. If PETA is worried about children being corrupted by the influence of Pokemon games, perhaps it should consider tailoring the gameplay experience to something that they might actually enjoy? There aren't that many young kids that want to sit through minutes of reading to play a second rate Pokemon game.
It should also be noted, that Pokemon as a franchise often promotes caring for the little critters. Professor Oak hammered that point home in the very first game, reminding the player's main rival that the reason he wasn't the champion and the player was, was because he didn't care and love his Pokemon enough - he was only interested in battling.
What do you guys think? Does PETA have a point, or is it simply being an over-reacting ninny?
The official PETA statement released with the game reads: "Much like animals in the real world, Pokémon are treated as unfeeling objects and used for such things as human entertainment and as subjects in experiments. The way that Pokémon are stuffed into pokéballs is similar to how circuses chain elephants inside railroad cars and let them out only to perform confusing and often painful tricks that were taught using sharp steel-tipped bullhooks and electric shock prods ...if PETA existed in Unova, our motto would be: Pokémon are not ours to use or abuse. They exist for their own reasons. We believe that this is the message that should be sent to children."