In a spoof on the classic Super Mario Bros series, PETA has made Pamela Anderson the princess in distress; kidnapped by the evil Ronald McDonald who plans on making her a part of his “unhappy meals”. The flash game is all part of the animal rights organization’s campaign to urge McDonald’s to use a less cruel slaughter method for its chickens. From their site,

“In 2000, following the launch of PETA’s (original) McCruelty campaign, McDonald’s made some basic animal welfare improvements. Since that time, the company has refused to eliminate the worst abuses that its chickens suffer, including abuses during slaughter. This cruelty could be illegal if dogs or cats—or even pigs or cows—were the victims.”

Check out the Super Chick Sisters game below!

The Postal series of videogames is one that aims to offend. It’s bouquet of “dark humor” is so graphic, that the most recent incarnation in the series, Postal II, wasn’t even stocked on shelves by major retailers across the U.S.

Nevertheless, it has a cult following of sorts and a third episode is about to debut with some new characters many of us will probably find somewhat familiar. In a recent interview, the creators acknowledged that environmentalists are included in a new list of targets to kill. “As for douchebags, there are many!,” they said. “For example, the Ecotologists debut in Postal III. They are a zesty blend of PETA and Scientology led by a guy suspiciously reminiscent of Al Gore.”

I wouldn’t call it a bright side, but one “power-up” includes rescuing monkeys from cosmetic labs and using them to assist you in your rampage. Then again, cats are used as silencers — so forget I mentioned anything.

If this isn’t the strangest thing I’ve ever seen then I don’t know what is.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently created Neighborhood Explorers — a video game encouraging kids to stop playing video games and take an interest in the environment. Wait, what?

The game is targeted to outdoor-deprived children aged 8-11 and encourages them to explore all the neat things there is to do outside.

But really? A video game about environmentalism? According to the NRDC, video games in the US consume 16 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a year, a number equal to the annual energy consumption of San Diego, California.

What do you think about this anti video game video game? Chime in and add some clarity…cause this blogger’s confused!

via: treehugger.com

While the latest incarnation of The Sims video game series might be trying to appeal to its animal-loving players with a vegetarian option, the makers of Overlord II are definitely weeding them out in the very beginning.

The game has players embrace the role of a resurrected warrior known simply as “The Overlord” who has control over hordes of gremlin-like creatures known as “minions”. It’s very much a cartoonish tongue-in-cheek take on trying to make your guy the baddest in the land. And yes, there’s plenty of senseless, stupid cartoon violence.

Anyways, I downloaded the demo last night, and lo and behold the first mission I had was to wipe out a colony of baby seals. WTF? While space aliens are fair game in my book, clubbing baby seals over the head in over to gain their “lifeforce” for my character was just an odd touch. It got stranger when a ship of Elvish treehugger-people arrived to defend the colony to, as they cried out over and over, “Help save the little, defenseless furry ones!” Think someone who designed the game has a thing against animal rights organizations? I then had to slaughter them too.

For some of you, that may be reason enough to buy the game — but for me, it was definitely an interesting observation on art imitating life. Before the demo was released, there was also a promotional Whack-a-Seal game being hosted on IGN. At that time, PETA released a statement saying that such games were a great way to draw attention to “Canada’s annual seal slaughter, during which sealers beat and skin hundreds of thousands of baby seals every year for products that are now banned in the U.S. and in Europe.”

Seems to me that the designers had the last laugh. I wonder how PETA would react to their digital counterparts being destroyed in the game?

I know lots of people who are big fans of the life-simulation video game called The Sims. This probably comes as no surprise as the franchise is the best-selling in videogame history. Apprently, this “digital dollhouse” is a blast to play — something I haven’t managed to try yet b/c of my fascination with explosions and fighting aliens. However, we thought it was cool to hear that the latest version of the Sims now has a “vegetarian” option for avatars.

One of Ecorazzi’s Twitter rockstars, Tracie Boyle, recently picked up a copy of the game and gushed to us when she found the new VEG feature. “Under the ‘lifestyles’ choices, you just have to pick ‘vegetarian’,” she writes. “Then when you select your favorite food, they give you a ton of veggie friendly choices – including veggie burgers and tofu dogs. When you read the description of a vegetarian and what types of food they eat, it even says that if your Sim eats meat, it will get sick.”

We think that’s rad. At this rate, we’re hoping “vegans”, “raw foodies”, and “third-order vegans” (eating nothing that casts a shadow) get their day in the digital realm in the next version. Check out some screenshots below — and Happy gaming!

What do you get when you team up LeBron James, Cameron Diaz and Nickelodeon on an environmentally-friendly project? The Big Green Help Global Challenge!!! DUH!!

The Global Challenge is the first online multiplayer 3D global game designed for youth with the goal of inspiring them to take action for a greener world. Organizations like NRDC, NWF, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and the LeBron James Family Federation have all pledged their support, hoping it might inspire kids to get more involved in Mother Earth!

While playing the game, kids can learn that just one aluminum can could power their television for an hour, or that a leaky household faucet can waste up to 2,000 gallons of water a year. It even asks kids to pledge virtual volunteer hours that can be translated into real-word good deeds! Holla!!

What do you think about all this Nickelodeon greenness? Will it help kids get more involved? Chime in and share your thoughts!!

via: treehugger.com

For some reason, I never suspected that the galactic empire would employ wind turbine technology. In a time when lightsabers are possible, I’d think they would have come up with some other really high-tech way to harness energy — like from hyper-active mitochlorians or something.

Nevertheless, I guess simple sometimes really is better. These shots are straight from a trailer for the new Star Wars game The Force Unleashed. You can check out the virtual renewable energy in action here. Vader and Co. appear to have picked up the turbines from Costco for about $570 — since they look very similar to the Air-X 400-watt variety.

Perhaps what we need is our own Sith Lord to help push through green legislation, choke a few insolent politicans, and demand that renewable energy tax credits be extended. As one person has already proven, a Death Star over San Francisco would add a nice touch to the skyline.

In Rockstar’s fourth incarnation of the series, Grand Theft Auto IV, players have the option to take control (after either stealing or purchasing for a wallet-breaking $39,999) a look-alike Prius called the “Dilettante Hybrid”. As the trailer states “stopping global warming finally gotten cool,” and “bad plus good equals better for everyone”.

While it’s great to see hybrids making an appearance, I’m not so sure running over your neighbors with them is the right message. Ok, scratch that, unless your neighbor is Carrot Top, do not run them over. As an episode from Weeds showed, however, they are great for “sneaking up on Motherf#@kers.” To each their own — but if I’m playing a videogame, I think I’ll just steal the Hummer. I’d get greater satisfaction seeing it fall off a bridge and explode in the middle of virtual clean coal rally.

via autobloggreen

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