PETA releases a pokemon game.

[Fuujin]

http://features.peta.org/pokemon-black-and-white-parody/

Do you gurls feel bad for playing this abusive game now?

 

[Frostwraith]

how typical... like I haven't seen this kind of thing before...

it's quite a good game, and by good, I mean DISGUSTING!

huh, like they'll ever change anything in this world. I remember they did something similar with the Cooking Mama series, and others as well.

obviously, they never played an actual Pokémon game, so this is pretty much blind fundamentalism that I despise much.

they could get sued anyway, right?

and by the way, all living things survive by eating other living things, why would it be different for us?

 

[Gates]

Ugh, like I really have time to do all that ****ing grinding in a flash game made by animal rights activists.

Is there some sort of Shoddybattle version of this? I'll just play that instead.

 

[Firus]

Ugh, like I really have time to do all that ****ing grinding in a flash game made by animal rights activists.

Is there some sort of Shoddybattle version of this? I'll just play that instead.

Okay, I literally just played through the entire thing in about ten minutes. It's four different battles with no world exploration or anything. I know breeding for IVs and all is a pain, but are we really at the point where we can't even train Pokémon at all anymore...? (And it's not like you even can in this game.)

Anyway, it's clear they don't know what they're talking about. They have one reference to an actual game with Ghetsis (where they talk about the plot twist with him at the end of BW that you can pretty much see coming anyway, and you can look it up easily), and then the thing they get wrong is...well...

Spoiler

I mean, they have a point, though. Aside from the part where nothing about that is even remotely correct at all. And that's from the extremely popular anime that they should actually be familiar with before making this sort of rubbish.

Anyway, yeah, crazy PETA is crazy. You don't really need to bother playing it unless you really want to though, I got the entire gist of the game just through seeing pictures everywhere yesterday. It's a complete misinterpretation of the entire message of Pokémon, and I'd say the game itself is more sick and disturbing than anything PETA is claiming to stop. (Snivy with a SYRINGE stuck in its head? Really, though?)

I do hope Nintendo sues them, though. Usually when people do this kind of crap, they at least bother to change names ever so slightly, but they're blatantly making an attack on Pokémon that they've made no attempt to hide, and they're painting a terrible (and inaccurate) image of the games and show.

 

[Frostwraith]

Okay, I literally just played through the entire thing in about ten minutes. It's four different battles with no world exploration or anything. I know breeding for IVs and all is a pain, but are we really at the point where we can't even train Pokémon at all anymore...? (And it's not like you even can in this game.)

Anyway, it's clear they don't know what they're talking about. They have one reference to an actual game with Ghetsis (where they talk about the plot twist with him at the end of BW that you can pretty much see coming anyway, and you can look it up easily), and then the thing they get wrong is...well...

Spoiler

I mean, they have a point, though. Aside from the part where nothing about that is even remotely correct at all. And that's from the extremely popular anime that they should actually be familiar with before making this sort of rubbish.

Anyway, yeah, crazy PETA is crazy. You don't really need to bother playing it unless you really want to though, I got the entire gist of the game just through seeing pictures everywhere yesterday. It's a complete misinterpretation of the entire message of Pokémon, and I'd say the game itself is more sick and disturbing than anything PETA is claiming to stop. (Snivy with a SYRINGE stuck in its head? Really, though?)

I do hope Nintendo sues them, though. Usually when people do this kind of crap, they at least bother to change names ever so slightly, but they're blatantly making an attack on Pokémon that they've made no attempt to hide, and they're painting a terrible (and inaccurate) image of the games and show.

ah... blind fundamentalism at its best...

these guys are ridiculous. they are just attention seeking idiots who know nothing on what they're talking about, pure and simple.

in fact, it doesn't just apply for PETA, politicians and religious fanatics are just the same: they merely take a sneak peak at something they don't know, fill in the gaps with whatever nonsense they can fit in and are deluded enough to think they understand better than those who've played the games, just to fulfill whatever they want.

some countries take a step further: you know, censorship. this is a complete shame, seriously.

 

[Gates]

It's four different battles with no world exploration or anything.

Really? That actually sounds awesome. Nintendo should take notes from these guys, they clearly know how to make pokemon more fun and less tedious.

 

[Firus]

Considering that it also didn't allow for any healing between battles at all and the PP was all ridiculously low, it was actually pretty poorly designed. (Come to think of it, I wonder what happens if you get knocked out? Edit: Nothing interesting, apparently. Looks like you just restart at the same battle with full health again.)

In any case, less grinding is always better, but I personally enjoy the world exploration to an extent.

 

[Vkrm]

Don't pokemon love to fight?

 

[theeboredone]

So, I know what Pokemon is (who in the internet doesn't?), but let's assume I was a parent, and someone had earlier told me that Pokemon sends a bad message in regards to using "pets" as a means of fighting, hurting, and other negative words, and getting your chance at glory. How would you counter that claim?

Honestly, most of you guys have only said "wow, lulz, these PETA people are so crazy" when you have yet to state a defense of your own.

 

[zyth]

In every Pokemon game series, after you beat the champion you are given a speech about how you have grown together with your pokemon and how they have grown to love you and the trials you have faced together to reach a mutual goal. this in no way shape or form sounds like anything PETA is trying to put out. Theres some defense, and i just remembered that off the top of my head

 

[Firus]

It's in the Pokémon section of the forum, not the Debate Hall. I think everybody here knows that PETA is pretty radical, and we've been playing Pokémon for long enough that we know that PETA's portrayal is absolutely ludicrous. This thread isn't here to explain to people how this is inaccurate; everyone here is just laughing at how silly it is and maybe playing the game to see for ourselves how crazy it is.

If you play the Pokémon games at all (from the way you worded the first part of your response, maybe you haven't?), you know how crazy this is. The games make a huge deal about how Pokémon are friends and companions that you're supposed to treat well and not use as tools. That's basically the entire plot with the rival in the first two generations. It's not true, obviously, but they make it out as if the reason your rival always loses is because he doesn't have compassion and just drives as hard as he can in order to win. (I think that was said in first gen, anyway. It was definitely the big thing in second gen.) They constantly talk about how Pokémon are supposed to be friends and should be treated well.

Also, that entire picture with Ash talking to Pikachu is entirely bogus. Pikachu never goes into a Poké Ball in the entire series. And Ash tried to leave Pikachu to stay in the woods with other Pikachu once. Pikachu chased after him because he wanted to stay with Ash.

Plus, there's a large number of Pokémon that can only evolve if you treat them well enough. Yeah they fight, but not to the death; they faint, and can always be brought back to life. It's a sodding RPG and the Pokémon just happen to be animal-like creatures and are used in the gameplay.

Good enough for you, or...?

 

[theeboredone]

I honestly was not looking to debate, I was just wondering if your justification for laughing at PETA was merited, or were you simply defending Pokemon, because it is something you grew up with and never gave it much thought outside of that.

I have played Pokemons Red through Silver along with watching the show for quite a while. So that's not much, and when I did play them, I was at a much younger age. I get the whole companionship between you and your Pokemon (though I do not remember it being emphasized all that much. I don't think story was much of a strong point in the first games). However, it's hard to sort of justify it, despite it being a cartoon/video game. At least Digimon had the premise that your digimonster helped you save the world by battling evil Digimon. Pokemon unfortunately has that setting where you not only capture and tame wild Pokemon, but then use them back to "hurt" other Pokemon.

PETA or anyone who sees Pokemon as bad are being too practical. They see Pikachu thundershock a Pidgy, or having Ash yell "Come on! Get up!" as "disrespectful" to animals. In a sense, I can kinda agree. In an ideal world, why even have Pokemon fighting each other? It's just a form of entertainment at the end of the day when you got Gyms and Coliseums filling up to see how trainers use their Pokemon in battle.

But if you're gonna be that practical, you might as well say "Hey! Stop shooting people in Call of Duty!" or "Come on! Ezio didn't HAVE TO assassinate that guy!"

 

[Firus]

Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but yeah, I'm laughing at PETA because I legitimately don't think they have a clue what they're talking about with Pokémon. That entire piece with Ash just proves that they don't know Pokémon that well, and whether or not they have a point (which I don't believe they do), it's hard to take their criticism seriously unless they actually know the thing they're criticizing. If they're just taking something on face value and saying "That looks bad," then they can't really know for sure that they are correct in thinking it's bad.

Anyway, I couldn't say how much it was emphasized in the first two games, but I definitely know that was a major plot point with the rival (named Silver). Here's an excerpt from Bulbapedia mentioning it:

Spoiler

Silver shows a strong dislike of Team Rocket. He considers them to be weak, and vows to take them, as well as any other weak Trainer, down. He steals a Sneasel from a Trainer in Cianwood City and while Ethan/Kris/Lyra attempts to take down Team Rocket in Mahogany Town and Goldenrod City, he interferes to prove himself. It is in the Mahogany hideout that he meets with Lance, Champion of the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau. Silver challenges Lance and is easily defeated by the dragon Trainer, who then proceeds to berate Silver for his callous ways towards training Pokémon. Though Silver is outraged for losing to someone with such an attitude, the loss and Lance's words ultimately set him on the path to becoming a better person. When Team Rocket takes over the Goldenrod Radio Tower, Silver first blows the player's Team Rocket disguise, unaware of the player's plan to sneak in by pretending to be a member of Team Rocket. He later follows the player to the Goldenrod underground and they battle Team Rocket, hoping that Lance will reappear and he can request a rematch.

By the time the player reaches Indigo Plateau, Silver battles against the player not out of malice, but to prove that he is a good Trainer. He is defeated and departs to continue training. The player battles Silver on Mt. Moon, and though he loses he claims he can feel his Pokémon getting stronger, and resolves to train at Dragon's Den. When battled the seventh time at Indigo Plateau, Silver seems to have finally learned to care for his Pokémon properly, as his Golbat has evolved to Crobat, which only occurs when Golbat is very friendly. This is further expressed in Generation IV when his starter Pokémon starts to follow him around, much like the player's Pokémon; Professor Elm even expressly states that Silver's Pokémon have come to trust him when Silver returns to the lab, presumably to return the starter he stole.

It's definitely been a huge point in the later games though. I know some of the emphasizing of "Pokémon are companions! They're friends! You have to treat them nicely!" etc. felt overdone and cheesy, even, at some points in the games, at least to me. The show definitely made it an excessively recurring moral, like the episode where Ash gets Charmander, and its trainer abandons him in the rain to toughen Charmander up, almost killing him. Ash and friends take Charmander to the Poké Center to save it, they worry about it, it gets restored to full health, and in the end Charmander abandons its old trainer and joins Ash, who treats his Pokémon with care.

Let's not forget the spin-offs Colosseum and XD, either. In those, the evil organization steals Pokémon and closes the door to their heart so they can attack trainers and do evil things, and your job is to take them away from the evil organization and care for them, allowing you to purify them and unlock the door to their heart. Cheesy yes, but it's not really abuse. (Those also happen to be some of the best games in the series, but I digress.)

Also, what do you mean "at least Digimon..."? Pokémon has the same thing. The games start out with just the trainer going on an adventure, but by the end the trainer is always defending something. In the first two generations, you're stopping a criminal organization; in every generation henceforth, it's an actual saving-the-world kind of situation. The world is going to be flooded, or dried out, or an evil organization is going to use control of time or space to destroy the present world, or...whatever it is exactly they were doing in Black and White, I don't quite recall.

You're not using Pokémon to "hurt" other Pokémon. Technically, yes, I suppose fighting a Pokémon and fainting it is hurting it, but that's not the idea behind it. The organizations you fight are generally abusive and ruthless in their use of Pokémon, and they make a deal out of that being bad. The gym challenge / elite four aspect is just fighting, yes, but I see it more like boxing or wrestling and less like dogfighting or something. Pokémon, despite similarities, are not the same as animals, and they don't die by fighting.

I can definitely understand where they're getting from it, but they are ultimately being too practical. Yeah, in an ideal world Pokémon wouldn't be battling each other, but gee, that would be a fun game, wouldn't it? I honestly don't think anybody -- aside from somebody who's already got some issues -- would actually participate in any sort of animal cruelty inspired by Pokémon. I always ended up growing attached to my Pokémon in the games, despite the fact that they're pixels on a screen. You get upset if your favorite Pokémon faints, or if any of your team does, honestly.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

I think they have more evidence against pokemon then they did against Mario. Now THAT was ridiculous

 

[theeboredone]

Also, what do you mean "at least Digimon..."? Pokémon has the same thing. The games start out with just the trainer going on an adventure, but by the end the trainer is always defending something. In the first two generations, you're stopping a criminal organization; in every generation henceforth, it's an actual saving-the-world kind of situation. The world is going to be flooded, or dried out, or an evil organization is going to use control of time or space to destroy the present world, or...whatever it is exactly they were doing in Black and White, I don't quite recall.

Well, I was thinking more about the show Digimon than the games (were they even any good?) In the show, you get your Digimon, and the only time your Digimon fights is when an enemy is in the way. And usually, those enemies are attacking you, because they are trying to prevent a goal from being achieved. Mainly the whole save the world/greater good. So that's why I said, Digimon can be defended more, because they are not fighting for the sake of "training" or trying to get badges and what not.

And I know the idea behind Pokemon is not to hurt other Pokemon, while you technically are. That's where PETA comes in, mixing reality with fiction. They don't see that. Even if the premise of the show/game is to emphasize companionship and saving the world (to some degree), you are still taking these Pokemon, taming them by beating them up, capturing them, and using them to advance your own goals (Pokemon Mastah) while you just happen to save the world. That's what they see.

 

[Schoo]

Do you gurls feel bad for playing this abusive game now?

Nope. Pokemon are my friends.