Pokemon
Reason for controversy: Animal pit fighting.
The Pokemon phenomenon (try saying that ten times fast) is no stranger to controversy. Some say it encourage greed and materialism. Others say the Jynx Pokemon is a racist caricature. A few fervent religious groups even claim that the games incorporate demonic and Satanic themes.
Inexplicably, however, none of these critics have taken issue with Pokemon's central premise - cute and fuzzy creatures being forced to beat each other for their owners' profit and amusement. Okay, so the losers of these battles simply "faint" rather than actually dying from gross and horrific injuries, but the gist of the game is still uncomfortably similar to that of illegal pit fighting.
How did the media miss this one? Maybe we're the first to make the connection. Maybe the media doesn't even know what Pokemon really are. Maybe they were too busy focusing on other Pokecontroversies instead. Whatever the reason, with the frenzy currently swirling around football star Michael Vick and his dog fighting crimes, we don't expect this issue to remain buried forever.
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