PETA chooses Fable 2 as its GOTY

by Justin McElroy { Jan 6th 2009 at 1:25PM }

When Joystiq chose Fable 2 as its Game of the Year, were you aware that we were displaying not only our great taste in electronic entertainment but also our abiding love for all the planet's creatures? No? Neither were we until we saw that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had chosen Molyneux's baby as this year's Most Animal-Friendly Video Game.

We think the more obvious choice was Doritos Dash of Destruction, as (1) its protagonist is the king of animals (a dinosaur!) and (2) it serves as an invitation to meditate on the very real effects of extinction. Just think of it: You could be watching dinosaurs racing every day, if we hadn't hunted them out of existence for their delicious skins.

Tags: fable-2, peta, Peter-Molyneux

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Shmil @ Jan 6th 2009 1:29PM

Well color me confused. I thought PETA saw having a pet as some form of slavery, well some of the PETA members at least.

copa @ Jan 6th 2009 1:33PM

True, but I'm sure PETA gave Fable 2 credit because its the game that is most likely to let you marry your dog.

Strategy_Panda (The Sandwich Poisoning Crew) @ Jan 6th 2009 1:38PM

That's what I thought too.

From what I remember hearing the game advocated the slavery of animals (your dog) the killing of said dog, and the possible reincarnation of the dog so he can be your slave again.

The game also endorses the eating of baby chickens

Anticrawl @ Jan 6th 2009 2:19PM

Baby or fetal chickens are a delicacy, one eats them whole bone and all. They say the head is the best part.

Deeznuts420 @ Jan 6th 2009 2:30PM

i wonder how they would feel about my character...the chicken kicker!

damien @ Jan 6th 2009 4:13PM

Shmil,

They do see having a pet as the same thing as slavery. I just think their desperate to get people to take them seriously.

damien @ Jan 6th 2009 4:14PM

Shmil,

They do see having a pet as the same thing as slavery. I just think their desperate to get people to take them seriously.

Dirty @ Jan 6th 2009 1:30PM

Guess PETA doesn't give a shit about beetles then.

Phi Nguyen @ Jan 6th 2009 1:30PM

Wait, no Cooking Mama?

Huey2k2 @ Jan 6th 2009 1:30PM

I'd put money down right now on the fact that nobody in PETA has even played Fable 2.

A game where you get an achievement for kicking chickens is the most animal friendly game of the year?

Not that I care, I love Fable 2 and could care less if it is animal friendly. I just think PETA is absolutely ridiculous.

Shmil @ Jan 6th 2009 1:34PM

Don't forget the achievement for shooting a rabbits.

Chris @ Jan 6th 2009 1:35PM

Don't forget shooting a fluffy bunny.

Chris @ Jan 6th 2009 1:35PM

Dammit too slow.

Shmil @ Jan 6th 2009 1:38PM

Yeah, but yours didn't have any careless typos. "a rabbits"? I need coffee

danny. @ Jan 6th 2009 1:45PM

well, you do become more evil for shooting the rabbit as opposed to funnier for chicken kicking...

as for the PETA and pets thing, I'd never heard they couldn't have them. the only member I ever new had so many stray dogs and cats that her place stunk worse than the pound...

Haggard @ Jan 6th 2009 2:24PM

The British royal family shoot rabbits all the time, and they're not evil..

*eyes narrow*

offday @ Jan 6th 2009 3:47PM

I agree. I get more confused every time PETA says something else.

Ellianth @ Jan 6th 2009 5:28PM

How could they play the game when it freezes every 5 minutes? budda-bum-*pish*!

Jason @ Jan 6th 2009 1:30PM

What about the chicken kicking???

zygote55 @ Jan 6th 2009 1:31PM

It's official! PETA now supports the kicking of chickens! I'm taking off work early and heading to the Lee's Feed to see what kind of live poultry they have available.

Erluti @ Jan 6th 2009 1:38PM

Dangit! I want Dinosaur Racing!

Although, does this mean I'm robbing future generations of cow racing? Am I doing them a favor?

yojimb0 @ Jan 6th 2009 1:38PM

Actually, I think Molyneux is a vegan... isn't there some achievement in the game for never eating meat?

Joe @ Jan 6th 2009 6:43PM

"Featuring a strong pro-vegetarian theme, eating a plant-based diet helps you rack up "purity" points, whereas eating meat makes your character fat and evil."

You're right. PETA just loves that meat = evil.

thebig33tuna @ Jan 6th 2009 1:39PM

haven't we been over this? no one cares what PETA thinks.

In A World (XBL) @ Jan 6th 2009 3:32PM

RAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

**dumps fake blood on thebig33tuna**

NoHitHair @ Jan 7th 2009 6:06AM

I've given up on trying to understand Joystiq's obsession with PETA. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming it's a purposeful attempt to keep them in the foreground so as to not let anyone forget such an idiotic organization.

Shagittarius @ Jan 6th 2009 1:39PM

Gonna have to disagree with Joystiq, Xplay, and Peta. This game is certainly in my top 10 (not top 5) but its core combat mechanics didn't seem improved at all from the previous game. If the actual gameplay isn't great, no matter how polished the presentation was I can't understand why it got GOTY.

I quickly determined the path of least resistance in combat was cast raise dead, then hit everything in the back by rapidly pressing the A button. Instant Win. The fact that you didn't need to understand combat any better than that undermined the whole combat system for me.

I also felt like I was playing a very unpopular MMORPG, the game felt just like an MMORPG with no one else in it but me. Maybe I've played a few too many MMOs, so I didnt have an interest in exploring the world beyond the gameplay required to win the game. All the little things like MArying having children, buying property, etc...meant nothing to me its was almost completely devoid of any meaning to the actual gameplay, none of them were required to complete the game.

I found it a decently enjoyable experience, but as a whole I found it to be a disjointed, confused, can't decide what its trying to be, morality play.

Erluti @ Jan 6th 2009 2:27PM

*Puts on his troll-feeding gloves*

First of all, you make no argument against PETA's "Most Animal-Friendly Video Game" award, so your post has nothing to do with disagree with PETA's assessment.

"All the little things like Marrying having children, buying property, etc....its was almost completely devoid of any meaning to the actual gameplay"
See, I feel like the people that don't like this game generally share this sentiment. But I feel like that's approaching the game backwards. Marrying, having kids, owning property, etc is the actual gameplay and the questing provides a means to affect your interaction with the townsfolk and adventuring is a means to providing you with money and stuff to decorate your houses and give to your family. I enjoy the game because it is a ROLE-PLAYING game. That term just goes over the head of the general video-game and MMOing crowd. All the gameplay concepts circle about this concept of this character you are pretending to play. The fun is in telling your own story about this dude you control completely. That's why the character has no dialog, that's why you can tatoo and dye your character, that's why clothes aren't "armor"- so you can play the role you imagine.
If you want to hack and slash, or you want to be spoon-fed a story, or you want complex puzzles to solve, you've gone to the wrong place.

Erluti @ Jan 6th 2009 2:31PM

My last sentence came out wrong, it was meant to say that there are other games that do those things better, not that Fable sucks at them.

I dunno, maybe it did come out that way?

Shagittarius @ Jan 6th 2009 2:38PM

You didn't say anything that I didn't say in my post, only you like those things and I think it makes it a confused mess of a game.

By the way the title of the post was "PETA chooses Fable 2 as its GOTY", so I don't think its fair to nit-pick my chosen opening statement.

There are also many games that do the things you said you liked about FABLE way better than fable does.

nips @ Jan 6th 2009 3:33PM

Come on, keep it short. I can't be arsed to read an essay in a comments section!

Erluti @ Jan 6th 2009 4:51PM

Touche', I didn't read the title of the post.

dabamf @ Jan 6th 2009 1:39PM

I thought Okami would win, three years in a row, no? I mean, how can you become more PETA friendly than saying that an animal is actually God?!

Douche Bigalow @ Jan 6th 2009 1:42PM

Why does Joystiq report on PETA?

Just because an organization does something game-related doesn't mean you should give them publicity, particularly when you're a completely dishonest group of domestic terrorist hypocrites like PETA.

What next, a list of the best games chosen by Holocaust-deniers?

Tom @ Jan 6th 2009 1:56PM

^^ What he said.

I'm an animal lover, but fuck PETA.

Haggard @ Jan 6th 2009 4:48PM

+1, purely because I would love to see the Holocaust Denier Society's top 10 games and their justifications

"Company of Heroes gets top marks in our book, because you can play as Nazis and on the whole they don't seem like awful chaps"

phinn @ Jan 6th 2009 1:42PM

PETA? Lol come on everyone knows Metal Gear Solid 4 and LittleBigPlanet are GOTY. This is an "rpg" that, while very good, has a challenge level for an 8 year old and is completely over in about 8 hours. Rental material only.

ryan @ Jan 6th 2009 1:54PM

"has a challenge level for an 8 year old and is completely over in about 8 hours. Rental material only."

I could very well say the same about LittleBigPlanet. Of course I wouldn't dare, that would be sarcasm.

Duke @ Jan 6th 2009 2:06PM

You went right past the fact that PETA doesn't judge the game based on any merits other than how it treats animals. Oddly, they then choose a game involving killing a dog and rabbits as well as kicking chickens.

phinn @ Jan 6th 2009 2:06PM

Well yea you definitely could, but LBP is certainly longer than 8 hours and with the extremely powerful editor and tons of user made content most people would play it far longer than that. I was just disapointed when I think of RPGs they should be faaaaar longer and more challenging than this.

Adolph @ Jan 6th 2009 1:44PM

I wonder what PETA will think of DEADLY CREATURES for Wii.

You play as a spider or scorpion, you need to eat smaller weaker insects to survive.

Animals killing other animals to eat, i wonder if PETA has a problem that fact of nature.

Professor Lario @ Jan 6th 2009 1:46PM

If we ignore these people will they just GO AWAY.

Wiinterfang @ Jan 6th 2009 1:49PM

PETA's crazy.

ducttapeBigSexy @ Jan 6th 2009 1:53PM

Since apparently Joystiq runs articles on the opinions of people who no one really cares to hear, here's your next article: My game of the year is Mirror's Edge.

Shmil @ Jan 6th 2009 2:00PM

Shmil chose Far Cry 2 for his GOTY

arkweld @ Jan 6th 2009 6:15PM

why is it your game of the year?

Do you make mirrors or are a member of the Association of Skyscraper Window Washers? Society of Pretentiously Running Around and Jumping Over Stuff? Sorry, I mean ... Parkour.

You have to be a member of some organization loosely affiliated with an element of a game that you probably never played to get a Joystiq opinion entry of your own.