PETA targets Mario? Seriously?

This is one for the ‘you’ve got to be freaking kidding me’ department. PETA has lashed out at another game and this time Mario is getting the short end of the stick. Battlefield 3 we can almost understand since that was one realist-looking rat but getting PO-ed at Mario for the Tanooki Suit? Really? PETA have said that Mario is sending the message that it is okay to wear fur… [insert Picard facepalm here]

PETA have released a game around their new campaign that… we’ll let them explain it for you.

In the game, which is the center of PETA’s new “Mario Kills Tanooki” campaign, players direct a bloody, skinned raccoon dog as he chases a  tanuki fur–suited Mario through a surreal fur farm where raccoon dogs are routinely skinned alive for their fur. Quick reflexes and jumping skills will allow Tanooki to capture Mario and reclaim his skin.

Tanooki may be just a “suit” in Mario games, but by wearing the skin of an animal, Mario is sending the message that it’s OK to wear fur. We created our game to help inform people that in real life, Mario would be wearing the skin of an animal who was beaten, strangled or electrocuted, and it wouldn’t give him any special powers other than the power of self-deception.”

We’ve played the game and while it resembles Super Mario Bros. 3 in passing it doesn’t have the coherent level design that Nintendo’s offering brings to the table. And the music is annoying. Assuming Nintendo don’t give them a thumping for using Mario in the manner that they have we’re almost certain that gamers everywhere will do it for them.

Sources :

PETA
via Gamepolitics: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2011/11/14/peta-targets-mario-latest-campaign