PETA vs. Mario . . . Mario Wins

Not long ago I wrote about how The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was after Battlefield 3 for allowing players to kill rats with a knife during the campaign. I felt that if PETA was going to do that, they might as well start attacking just about every game in the industry for something. This week, they attacked the beloved Super Mario, then backed off.

The new Super Mario 3D Land was released recently and one of Mario's many power-ups is the Tanooki Suit. This suit grants Mario the ability to glide through the air after he jumps and it has been a core power-up in many Super Mario games since the 1990's. It has always been clear that the suit is somewhat of a jump suit or costume, not actual fur, but PETA thought otherwise.

PETA released their own game, titled "Mario Kills Tanooki." In the game, you play as a skinned tanooki running and jumping after Mario, trying to get your skin back from him as he flies across the screen. The game portrays Mario and Marioland as being blood thirsty and gory.

PETA points out that tanooki are real life racoon dogs that are often times skinned alive for their furs. I am not endorsing that and neither is Mario. I personally did not even know that tanooki were a real animal and neither did anyone that I talked to about this. We all just assumed it was something made up for the series. I'm pretty sure than when I was playing my Super Nintendo (SNES) as a kid, I was not thinking about skinning are killing animals.

This is not the first time that PETA has released a game parodying another game. The title, Super Meat Boy, is a downloadable game that has grown quite popular. PETA created Super Tofu Boy to combat it. However, no one plays PETA's games. They get some media attention because they frustrate a lot of gamers, but they are boring, poorly constructed games. PETA is not really helping their causes attacking the industry.

Within days of releasing Mario Kills Tanooki, PETA backed off, saying that their game was meant to be "tongue in cheek." They told Mario fans to "relax" and explained that their spinoff game was meant to be a fun way to address a serious issue. There is one problem with that; there is nothing fun about playing a game as a bloody, skinned animal chasing an iconic video game hero across a nightmarish version of that same character's home turf. Nothing at all is fun or funny about that.

PETA had their sights set on Mario and missed badly. They bit off more than they could chew. It will be interesting to see how they address the video game industry going forward.

Here are links to an article about PETA's game and an article about PETA backing off of their Mario claims.

Just Take Your Time And Make a Better Game

Over the past several years, it has become commonplace for major gaming titles to have annual release, but I wish it would end. If it is not a sports game, I don't want a new one to come out every single year, so stop it. Please, game developers, take your time and build a deeper, better, more polished game. Game publishers, don't push game developers to speed up the process. Meals that take all day to make are much more enjoyable than 90-second meals and games are the same way.

The Call of Duty series has been cranking out a new game every year since it has grown in popularity. Multiple game developers create the games, taking turns with each new addition to the series, so they do have a little more time, but it still isn't a lot of time. It is difficult to make a ground-breaking came in a year and a half. Little has changed over the past four games.

Many are saying that Modern Warfare 3 (which debuted yesterday) feels old. It runs on the same graphics engine that Modern Warfare 2 ran on when it came out two years ago. To survive in any business, you have to innovate. Despite this, Modern Warfare 3 is little different than 2 or even 1 and it is still thriving.

The Assassin's Creed series is another franchise that has grown greatly as new games have been released. There is even an Assassin's Creed movie going into production. Assassin's Creed is now following in Call of Duty's footsteps. Assassin's Creed: Revelations will come out later this month. Last year, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was released. Assassin's Creed 3 has already been announced and will be coming out in time for the 2012 holiday season. Will the series get watered down?

There were two years between the release of Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. There were five years between Battlefield 3 and its prequel, Battlefield 2. Before BF3 was released, its developer, DICE, said that the Battlefield series wouldn't receive annual releases. I breathed a sigh of relief when I first heard the news and was thankful for a breath of fresh air; that might have been pre-mature.

This week, the president of Electronic Arts (EA; the publisher that released BF3), Frank Gibeau, announced that we should expect a BF4. BF3 has only been out for three weeks, so I hope this announcement doesn't mean BF4 will come out next year. Will this ever end?  

As gamers, we owe it to ourselves to push those who make the games we buy to create something worth owning. We should push developers to push themselves to work harder. So, why don't we?

Please PETA, Leave My Video Games Alone

The German branch of PETA has made the video game, Battlefield 3, its latest target. They are upset because during the campaign of the game, players are allowed to kill rats with their combat knife and toss them away. As much as I don't like what's going on, I can understand it coming from PETA. But, if you are going to say that video games condone animal cruelty, then you have to call out all video games.

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, players can shoot chickens and watch feathers fly around. In Fable 1, 2, and 3, gamers fight off wolves. Every year, Cabella comes out with a new hunting game. If PETA is going to get mad at Battlefield 3, why stop there? Just be anti-gaming. PETA could argue that virtul violence involving imaginary animals is wrong, too.

If fantasy violence is out of the question, role-playing games would die, fantasy and adventure games would diminish, and maybe even The Sims series would end because players could kill off their own pets. The problem with PETA attacking Battlefield 3 is that there is no place to "draw the line," allowing the possibility of things getting completely carried away. And of course if you call out games, then you have to address movies, television, books, comics, etc. etc. etc. It would never end. So, PETA, please stay away from my video games and do some work to actually protect animals.

Here is a link to the article that brought this to my attention.

I’m Excited, But Should I Be?: Part 3 Yes . . . and no

Alright, so I’ve had Battlefield 3 in my possession for a full week and when I was in Iowa City over the weekend, I played it quite a bit. It is everything that I thought it would be. Multiplayer is where it is at and it is great. BF3 is possibly the most intense and most exhilarating first-person shooter I’ve ever played. The maps are ginormous, the vehicles deadly, the weapons varied, and the battles epic. Despite all of this, BF3 simply isn’t as fun as a Call of Duty game . . . which is why I’m excited for Modern Warfare 3.

By no means will I trade in BF3 anytime soon and I’m not going to spring for MW3 as soon as it comes out (patience my friend), but BF3 simply isn’t as fun as Call of Duty. It is a phenomenal experience, but it isn’t the kind of game that I can casually play with friends. The game is so intense with craziness going on somewhere at all times. It is great to have something fresh added to the current FPS scene, but I still crave more.

Once again, the over-hyping continues and nothing is ever enough. We’ll have to see if MW3 can cure the itch. 

I'm Excited, But Should I Be? Part 2

As I mentioned in a recent post, I am psyched for Battlefield 3. This epic shooter of colossal graphical proportions will be released tomorrow and many of the reviews came in today.

No one believes the game is perfect, but everyone says it provides a stellar online multiplayer experience both on consoles and PCs. Of course, I don’t love every game that gets rave reviews and I have spent countless, mindless hours enjoying games I was told to stay away from.

Originally, I had pre-ordered Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but I allowed my enthusiasm for the planes, tanks, and destructible environments in Battlefield 3 to dictate where my money went. I cancelled that pre-order and immediately pre-ordered Battlefield 3 instead (the only other time I have done that is when I cancelled my pre-order for racing simulator, Forza 4, for Modern Warfare 3; ironic.). 

Sometime tomorrow between an early lunch and my afternoon classes, I’ll be heading over to Gamestop. Minutes later, I’ll be staring at my TV screen, watching the Battlefield logo appear. Soon I will find out whether my excitement will be dwindled or my expectations matched.

I'm Excited, But Should I Be?

On seemingly a daily basis, I am excited about something. It may be an upcoming cd, movie, or video game, but whatever it is doesn’t matter. I will constantly over-hype things to myself, setting myself up for future disappointment. This is a constant, never-ending cycle that I tell myself I will break, but I only ever make it stronger.

As soon as I’ve traded in or returned that game that was supposed to be the game, I immediately look for the next great thing. Recently I have hyped up Battlefield 3 as being God’s gift to first-person shooters. I spent a few too many hours playing the open-beta (where the public gets to play-test a small snip-it of the game), I watched every trailer and interview I could find, I’ve read preview upon preview, and sadly, I have even wasted time watching in-game footage, with no commentary; just some lucky gamer running around shooting things.

Should this DICE developed game fail to meet my exceedingly high expectations, my attention will move onto Modern Warfare 3 or Mass Effect 3 or Pillow Pets (just kidding, but that’s actually a game). If the new KoRn album disappoints, my ears will be waiting for more music by Papa Roach or Atreyu. If The Avengers movie stinks, I will stalk movie theaters until the inevitable Avengers 2 premiers, hoping it will somehow be better. Eventually, I will be forced to ask myself the question, “when will this end?!”