Well Peta Finally Went There...

[Canadamus Prime]

But they ARE right. Pokémon always made me uncomfortable because the concept is very similar to animal blood sports.

That's because you're reading waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much into it. As are thousands of killjoys.

 

[mysecondlife]

But I treat my pokemon with love and care. Professor Oak told me so 15 years ago.

 

[Yopaz]

EDIT:
I do like how the massive irony of Team Plasma went over their heads.
A group claiming to want to help animals/pokemon but in reality could care less and has questionable ulterior motives...

Thank god someone else pointed this out. I have to ask though, do you think Nintendo had some intentional thought over making an animal liberation group preaching and recruiting much like PETA or was it just a weird coincidence? I am thinking coincidence since this is Nintendo..

 

[Sandjube]

Dunno why but this game actually made me really uncomfortable. Like, I had to stop after the first fight. And this is coming from someone they're "trying" to represent (a veggie)

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

I can only hope that Nintendo gun PETA down with their lawyer cannons, mostly because it would be funny.

Can't see why they haven't already. They've attacked Mario and Pokemon, two of their biggest franchises. They aren't even trying to be subtle, they're all out using their IP without permission to slander the IP in question. I'll be fine with Nintendo suing the ass off PeTA. Hell, they can get past fair use because well PeTA are f'ing showing Pokemon getting tortured and hit, something which doesn't happen in the actual games. I'm pretty sure that counts as something.

I'm pretty sure Nintendo haven't done anything because they're treating PETA with the contempt they deserve and are just ignoring them.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

EDIT:
I do like how the massive irony of Team Plasma went over their heads.
A group claiming to want to help animals/pokemon but in reality could care less and has questionable ulterior motives...

Thank god someone else pointed this out. I have to ask though, do you think Nintendo had some intentional thought over making an animal liberation group preaching and recruiting much like PETA or was it just a weird coincidence? I am thinking coincidence since this is Nintendo..

Nintendo doesn't make pokemon, they publish it dude.

If you look up Gamefreak founder and Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri reason for creating Pokemon it's actually quite touching.

Spoiler: from bulbapedia

"As a young boy, he loved to explore the outdoors and was especially fascinated with insects. He loved to collect insects, hunting for them in ponds, fields and forests, constantly looking for new insects and coming up with new ways to catch insects such as beetles. He had such an interest in collecting and studying insects that he earned the nickname "Dr. Bug" among his peers.

In the late 1970s, the fields and ponds that Tajiri loved as a child were paved over by apartment buildings and shopping centers. At this time, Tajiri's passion for insects moved to video games and arcades. "

"In the early 1990s, when Tajiri first saw two children playing together with Game Boys using the link cable, he imagined insects crawling along the cable between the two systems. As he thought about the capabilities of the link cable, his idea for Pokemon grew, as he wanted to give modern children the chance to hunt for creatures as he did as a child.

The full page is here if you're curious.
http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Satoshi_Tajiri

Gamefreak was definitely aware of Peta, the whole message of B/W is that humanity and companion animals can live together without one being exploited.

Something Peta and Team plasma refuse to accept.

 

[Woodsey]

To be fair, it's a fairly apt comparison. I remember some stupid little dog-fighting iOS game a year or so ago, whoever wrote the Escapist news piece on it seemed to get sand in all sorts of crevices over it.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

...I want to hit something now. Yes, Pokemon is sorta like animal fighting... but you have to remember they aren't real! ...Okay, so that's a... rough excuse. I still want Nintendo to sue these losers for everything they have...

 

[Smeatza]

Nobody who has 2 brain cells to put together pays attention to anything PETA do or say.
They are a publicity company, and have almost nothing to do with animal welfare or rights.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/04/27/peta-and-euthanasia.html

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

It took them until now to complain about Pokemon? What did the Baptist finally get tired of bashing it for its black magic and cross-dressing scenes in the cartoon show?

----
Ok lets just take a step back from them being fictional creatures for a moment.
Yeah Yeah they are animals that are stuffed in balls only to really be released to fight each other, it sounds horrible, but they never complain. Clearly pokemon have personalities, attitudes. If they never complain then why say its wrong?

 

[TheIronRuler]

I want to see what my Pokemon fan friends would say about this. I myself didn't give too shits about Pokemon and only watched it as a child for the duration of one season only. It didn't stick where I came from.

 

[TheIronRuler]

...I want to hit something now. Yes, Pokemon is sorta like animal fighting... but you have to remember they aren't real! ...Okay, so that's a... rough excuse. I still want Nintendo to sue these losers for everything they have...

.
There's a motherfucking Chandelier pokemon.
They lost their rights a looooooooooooooong time ago.

 

[Terminate421]

But they ARE right. Pokémon always made me uncomfortable because the concept is very similar to animal blood sports.

But they are WRONG because Pokemon battling has shown to be mutual relationship between humans and their Pokemon, multiple times at that.

 

[MetalMagpie]

I can only hope that Nintendo gun PETA down with their lawyer cannons, mostly because it would be funny.

Can't see why they haven't already. They've attacked Mario and Pokemon, two of their biggest franchises. They aren't even trying to be subtle, they're all out using their IP without permission to slander the IP in question. I'll be fine with Nintendo suing the ass off PeTA. Hell, they can get past fair use because well PeTA are f'ing showing Pokemon getting tortured and hit, something which doesn't happen in the actual games. I'm pretty sure that counts as something.

It's a clear case of parody and PeTA aren't charging for the game. Parody (even parody which gives an inaccurate representation of the original IP) is allowed under "fair use". Copyright law doesn't protect your IP from slander, just from someone else making commercial use of it and/or claiming authorship. Which is a good thing, because otherwise stuff like this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/9485-Mass-Effect-Stock-Exchange] wouldn't be allowed.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

As a nine-year long vegan, I need to make it incredibly clear that I have no association with PETA or their activities. This game shines light on cockfighting as effectively as dumping paint on wearers of fur, which only serves to make you look like the closed-minded crazy person.

They seem content to enlist an army of celebrities and belittle the choices of onmivores, when they could be making real change through open communication or following true liberators like ALF.

There was a voice in my mind upon reading the comments here that I'm setting myself up to be eaten alive by simply stating that I'm vegan, but go for it. I've suffered trauma from my choice far worse than internet flaming over it. I find it unfortunate that perhaps mistreatment by a veg may have led some of you to look upon us with such hostility, and I wish that weren't so. But please, just as we strive not to look upon races, religions, creeds, and other groups as monolithic hiveminds that behave the same way, vegetarians/vegans do not also plug our minds into the motherbrain of "piss off the omnivores".

 

[rbstewart7263]

I always thought peta hated people who keep pets and yet I saw a peta2 commercial with a tattoed chick talking about her pet and being a vegetarian because animals are her friends?

 

[Patrick Buck]

I can only say this is freakin' hilarious. PETA are so insane. IT'S A GAME.
And I've heard some other pretty bad things about PETA in the past, this just seems like a stupid move.