Recently I reported on how animal rights activists PETA had launched a campaign claiming that the recent Super Mario Land 3D promoted the wearing of fur through its portrayal of the Tanooki suit.
Well Nintendo, ever calm and stoic in these matters, have released a statement in answer to these accusations. A spokesperson speaking to Eurogamer today said “Mario often takes the appearance of certain animals and objects in his games.”
“These have included a frog, a penguin, a balloon and even a metallic version of himself. These lighthearted and whimsical transformations give Mario different abilities and make his games fun to play. The different forms that Mario takes make no statement beyond the games themselves.”
Sounds pretty straight forward. Of course these words are unlikely to appease PETA, who don’t exactly seem to be operating from a position of common sense anyway. While Nintendo have been calm and collected in there response it’s worth pointing out PETA’s Super Tofu Boy campaign which criticised indie hit Super Meat Boy for its obvious meaty aesthetic. Instead of responding in Nintendo’s level way Team Meat actually added Super Tofu Boy into the game – a character so slow and inefficient he could barely finish the first level.
Source: Eurogamer
It’s ‘their response’ not ‘there response’