128: Super Chick Sisters

[Chris LaVigne]

Super Chick Sisters

"Super Chick Sisters is an homage to the Super Mario Bros. games, looking and playing a lot like Super Mario World. Players control either Nugget or Chickette, two plumber's-cap-wearing chicks that embark on a quest to save a missing Pamela Anderson, a vocal PETA supporter in real life. If you finish the game, Anderson becomes a playable character, in a full Princess Toadstool costume no less."

Chris LaVigne chronicles the adventures of PETA's Super Chick Sisters, on a mission to save Pamela Anderson and expose the cruel treatment of KFC's soon-to-be-fried chickens.


Permalink

 

[Satosuke]

This "game" is no homage. It's a blatant ripoff of a gaming franchise for political gain. I hope Nintendo intends to enact some sort of Cease-and-desist on this. That, and PETA itself is an evil, two-faced organization that funds domestic terrorism.

 

[Dectilon]

"And while Bogost's critique may have merit, it's hard to picture anybody wanting to play a chicken-slaughtering simulator."

You can't seriously mean that. AT LEAST all the people who like Postal would play it, and at least half of the fps fanbase would at least want to try it. Oh, and every fan of the Mortal Kombat series.

"This "game" is no homage. It's a blatant ripoff of a gaming franchise for political gain. I hope Nintendo intends to enact some sort of Cease-and-desist on this. That, and PETA itself is an evil, two-faced organization that funds domestic terrorism."

What are you saying exactly? That if the end is to maximize profits all means are justified? Using the word "evil" to describe something real is ignorant. It's simply a religious absolute and has no bearing on the real world.

 

[ShadowKirby]

You know, even if it was the best game ever I still wouldn't play it since it came from PETA.
They are involved in illegal activities and they come to Canada and tell our seal hunters that they should stop hunting. Sure, they will stop doing their job and let their family starve because they can't get a job.

I hate PETA.
People Eat Tasty Animals.

 

[Joe]

Hey guys, guess what we're not gonna do in this thread? We're not gonna turn it into an argument about a special interest group's merits or flaws.

This thread has a running yellow.

 

[p1ne]

gonna do in this thread? We're not gonna turn it into an argument about a special interest group's merits or flaws.

This thread has a running yellow.

awwwwww. lol

Is this reasonably on-topic?

I'm disturbed by the entrance of this kind of propaganda into games (no, I did not and will not play America's Army). I personally would never play a game whose purpose was to make me agree with a political organization, especially one as godawful as PETA. For me it debases the whole gaming experience. A game, if it purports to make you think or have a message at all, should ideally raise interesting questions and encourage you to reach your own conclusions about them. I think Knights of the Old Republic is a good example of this.

 

[Joe]

awwwwww. lol

Is this reasonably on-topic?

I'm disturbed by the entrance of this kind of propaganda into games (no, I did not and will not play America's Army). I personally would never play a game whose purpose was to make me agree with a political organization, especially one as godawful as PETA. For me it debases the whole gaming experience. A game, if it purports to make you think or have a message at all, should ideally raise interesting questions and encourage you to reach your own conclusions about them. I think Knights of the Old Republic is a good example of this.

Really, I think it's an indictment of the advergaming movement in general. Marketing types have figured out games affect people, and you're a captive audience when you're playing a game. I really don't have a problem with something like Super Chick Sisters, because it's not really presented as anything it isn't. It's PETA-made, on a PETA site. You pretty much know what you're gonna get.

Where I get stabby is more in stuff like ilovebees, which, while brilliant (and something I'd love to do, mostly because I'm evil), had the lamest reveal in the world. That and product placement in movies. But David Lynch handles that better than I ever could [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4wh_mc8hRE].

 

[p1ne]

Yeah, the whole "reality" advertising where people are paid to pretend they're normal internet community members and promote something to the online community is like the worst thing ever. Exploiting real-world interpersonal trust is pretty evil. But that's not really what I was talking about.

I guess what I really don't like is the very nature of propaganda, be it for economic or political reasons. It always seeks to present its message in a way that discourages the listener from doing any actual thinking. After all, people have diverse opinions and the more they think about the implications of whatever you're saying, the more likely they are to disagree with you.

To me, ignorance is the greatest evil in this world, and it's something that can unquestionably be encouraged or discouraged based on the way in which people are taught. When they are told exactly what they should think in a way that precludes questioning, it fosters ignorance. When they are presented with a range of ideas and real-world scenarios and given freedom to evaluate the situation for themselves, it promotes knowledge. PETA and this game piss me off because they pretend like they're educating you, but their sensationalist tactics betray a deeper desire to get you to agree with them no matter what the cost. It hits especially close to home in a game, because a game can be such a fantastic tool to promote real learning in a sandbox environment, and this is just a corruption of that potential disguised as being "educational".

 

[hickwarrior]

Well, i don;t like the game, but i played it for about 10 or 15 seconds at most. When i came along those messages. That just totally ruins it for me, to know if there are cruel practices being done. And even so, Those should be done for our meat, which is kind of ironic. But enough of that.

If they call this game 'fun', then they can get lost. for the sole reason that the game looks kiddy and all, but supposedly got very 'serious' messages. so, i would agree with p1ne here. I don't see much in a way of evidence and is kind of hypocritical in a way.

Anyway, I know now PETA is something that got to do with ethical rights of animals or something, but can anyone PM me whatever they have done wrong? They only did propaganda or something? Just PM me for it, if you truly know that;s what they have done?

Another note, is this the right thing to type? Or not?

 

[KaynSlamdyke]

I'd love to work for PETA's less-militant propaganda/marketting department. Assuming I'd get paid of course.

I mean, it must be second to Rockstar Games in what it can get away with, and almost beats it in terms of fun ideas. Putting humans in giant celophane packets? Sure! Dress Bollywood actresses up as catgirls and put them in cages? Awesome! Making games based on Mario where you fight Colonel Sanders? Why not!

I don't mind being brainwashed by this kind of junk. Mainly because despite having watched Super Size Me and a thousand television shows that tells me Fast Food is bad for me, I simply don't care sometimes. The only thing I actually feel a bit unnerved about is transfat, and I eat at KFC because it took up a nice pledge to remove transfat from thier food.

As a consumer of fast food, I didn't mind this in the slightest. I kinda already knew about the scalding de-feathering and debeaking and nugget machines. But I also know millions of people around the world eat this stuff and don't keel over and die because of it. And while I don't mind PETA spreading this kind of game around the net (indeed, it's one of the only actions of thiers I've approved of in a while), I don't think it'll cause any damage. To me this sounds like a harmless message that a protest group's trying to get heard. Good for them - maybe they'll do more things like this and less of the criminal stuff.

We'll see how it is when I go to get my Crispy Strips on Friday.

As a gamer, I found the game slow, although the graphical quality was superb. Waiting for the text to appear in both the cutscenes and the in game prompts made me feel it was counterproductive to the style of game they selected to market this game with - especially since the protestors ended up being fairly close to enemies I wanted to bounce on the heads of. And as a Flash programmer, I can respect the level of detail that went into this game, but know I can do much better.

 

[werepossum]

"A robot spider with the head of Colonel Sanders has kidnapped Pamela Anderson, and only two chickens can save her."

Quick, someone fry those two chickens!

Let's face it, unless you're one of the thirty-seven men who will actually be married to Pamela Anderson (or make your living in part attempting to treat their acquired diseases), everything anyone needs from Pamela can be obtained from Baywatch re-runs. (I'm assuming there are Baywatch re-runs.) And Baywatch re-runs can't hold a candle to a bucket of KFC.

I have nothing against giant plastic boobs in general, but considering Hollywood's tendency to mistake them for actual talent I think two innocent chickens are a small price to pay.

People Eating Tasty Animals - Tennessee Chapter

 

[Anarien]

I liked the piece. It's sure to stir the pot, as we've already seen in the first handful of comments. PETA can target youth and even have a chance at their nostalgic older siblings or parents with the Mario inspiration. Whether you agree with the organization or not, on a purely marketing basis, this is not really anything too new. It's just an example of how an organization can market itself and its message interactively. Expect this sort of thing to grow, at least for a while.

 

[Copter400]

I think PETA's ideals are okay, but they need to purge their organisation of the psychotics who do harmless little pranks like car-bomb Loreal CEO's and think that's the right thing because a handful of bunnies died.

Also, I have met people who quite enjoy the sort of games where you gut helpless animals. They are about my age, but that's not the point.

More on topic, the whole game idea is cool. But if KFC made a game based on Metroid where you shot down mutant PETA activists to get delicious chicken and chips (I truly love KFC) to people, it would probably cause a civil war, and I don't think that's fair.

 

[KaynSlamdyke]

More on topic, the whole game idea is cool. But if KFC made a game based on Metroid where you shot down mutant PETA activists to get delicious chicken and chips (I truly love KFC) to people, it would probably cause a civil war, and I don't think that's fair.

Yeah, but if KFC made a game where you had to manage a restaurant selling nutritious chicken goods that have cut thier transfatty acids (a leading cause of heart disease) and done countless other "better than our competator" acts and had to serve the tasty finger lickin' good food to people dodging misinformed protestors... well... that'd be fine.

 

[Alan Au]

Where's the line between parody and libel?

- Alan

 

[Namisar]

I agree 100% with p1ne's 2nd comment. This isn't "educational". It is propaganda.

The game has good graphics and it does play well (as in there are no blatant glitches not that it is fun) but the game is rather easy and since it is a copy of the most established video game franchise ever I don't really give it any points for being original. So it's not original, it isn't fun, and its over before you know it. The game even tries to be humorous but all the humor did for me was make it harder to get to the end because every time I read one of their stupid poorly written jokes I had take my glasses off and rub my eyes until I saw stars.

So the only redeeming feature that I can give this game is that it has good sounds and good sights... but that's about it.

Also the game's purpose is to dissuade the player from buying KFC but I've played through the entire game and my opinion of KFC has remained unchanged. I would think that using very cute polished graphics is the exact opposite of what one would aim for if they wanted to portray KFC as evil because honestly Super Chick Sisters makes Colonel Sanders look like Dr. Robotnik from the Sonic series.... and I love Dr. Robotnik

I'll be honest... the only thing this game dissuaded me from doing was to make a mental note not to play any future "games" by PETA.

And now I'm hungry....

 

[RevolutionMan]

This is sorta what PETA wants. If they make a game, it gets reviewed, and they get free media coverage. This is propaganda. Also, just for the record PETA kills nearly every animal it comes into contact with. It's only "special interest" is telling children that their parents are evil for killing Bambi. PETA has earned my hatred for all eternity and this "game" is just one more pound of cement in my choice.

Also, why aren't the games of other websites reviewed if we're going to do this one?

 

[Seaforce]

I hereby discard my values and accept that there are situations in which free speech isn't valid. Congratulations, PETA. You've disgusted me enough to make me discard my core beliefs. This is vile. This is gross. What KFC does to chickens, PETA has just done to my childhood.

Where do I start? For one, they're painting an old mand who's been dead for more than 25 years as a mechanized, bespectacled mad-man. I guess nothing is sacred anymore.

Secondly, they took the Mario series, painted the characters as good-for-nothing jerks, and shamelessly ripped off the gameplay entirely.

Thirdly, this is propaganda in it's ugliest form. I'm not saying I disagree with the message, I'm saying that they targeted it the game towards the most impressionable group available and fed them shock-value information designed to terrify them so they'd switch their opinions without a rational thought, and nobody with an ounce of respect would ever do that, no matter what the message was.

THEN, to that same group, they had the gall to glorify Pamela Anderson. A sex object. A celebrity. Somebody who's been in porn. Regularly. Glorifying that. To children. Do you see my point yet or do I have to spell it out more?

This is disgusting bile. And my biggest problem with it? It's not helping animals. Not at all. It's just sitting there, spreading propaganda to people who will spread more propaganda, and if any of those people happen to actually do something beneficial to reduce the necessity of animal testing or general 'cruelty' then I can state with 100% certainty that it will be a complete coincidence, because productivity is not, has never been, and never will be what PETA is about. They are propagandists, they are terrorists, and they are scum.

Also the level design sucks a big fat monkey.

 

[Arbre]

I think it would have been way better to play as a chick which managed to get free, and has to find its way out as a pure platform game by avoiding totally gruesome 3D gory stuff, a bit like in Quake 4.

Trouble with games... it tends to downplay the serious message.