PETA releases statement opposing Pokemon

[Tebryn]

Flintstone's might have that excuse, but Pokemon does not.

Why exactly? What's wrong with a totally fictional universe and games made for fun be any less safe from scrutiny than any other medium merely because it's funny? Have we seen a sudden spike in animal abuse cases world wide since the release of Red and Blue? Because then...then you'd have some grounds to suggest that there -might- be something more sinister at hand. I don't have the data myself, but then again I'm not the one suggesting that Pokemon is somehow raising our children to be abusive monsters who only look at animals as either fodder for our tables or for our amusement. I know I've been playing the games since the very first day they were released to the public in the states to today and I haven't somehow gained the urge to beat animals "BECAUSE DOCTOR OAK SAID SO".

I won't call it moral panic, but I'll certainly not call it sensible to somehow suggest that Pokemon supports animal abuse. Just the same way that Grand Theft Auto doesn't increase the risk someone's going to go murder a ton of hookers, do blow and steal cars. Or that players of Dead or Alive have any tangible taste in video games. If you're going to go after one game for what it may have a message about then...you should be going after other games that actually do promote violence openly within the games themselves.