In the past, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Nintendo have had a complex relationship, to say the least. PETA has both honored the company and attacked it; they have named one of Nintendo's games the Best Animal-Friendly Video Game and have created games that parody how Nintendo portrays animals (see Mario Kills Tanooki and the Pokemon parody).
With the unexpected death of Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata, PETA's senior director of marketing innovation Joel Bartlett has released a statement on behalf of PETA in regards to Iwata's passing.
We at PETA are deeply saddened by the death of Nintendo's Satoru Iwata.
Many of us grew up with Nintendo—we've celebrated games such as Nintendogs, which PETA Europe named Best Animal-Friendly Video Game, and our love for these games powered the parodies we've made, such as the Super Mario Bros.–spoofing Super Chick Sisters, in which players try to save Princess Pamela Anderson from the evil Colonel Sanders, and Pokémon Black & Blue: Gotta Free 'Em All, in which players battle to free Pokémon from human enslavement.
Our thoughts are with Mr. Iwata's family and everyone at Nintendo today.
Nintendo will continue holding Iwata's standards and remain committed to the development policy that he set in place.
