This one’s all over the gaming press, but just in case you haven’t heard, here it is again. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization has pulled together to create a macabre flash-based parody of Cooking Mama called Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals. The game invites players to pluck, gut, stuff, cook, and process a thanksgiving turkey. The whole bloody ordeal is shown through the lens of Cooking Mama, so it’s not exactly disturbing, but it’s all presented as cartoonishly disgusting and gory.

Interestingly, PETA has chosen to provide some of their media as unlockable bonuses for completing the minigames. So, once you’ve finished butchering your bird, you can learn a little about how it’s done on a larger scale. Regardless of whether you love or hate PETA and its particular ethics, this is a win for video games as a medium, because substantial organizations are using them to share thoughts and ideals. Mama Kills Animals is a pretty cut-and-dry example that games are speech.

Our personal political agenda to credit games as speech aside, Mama Kills Animals is surprisingly competent parody. PETA has chosen to ape one of the DS’s breakout hits, and they haven’t ruined the gameplay by porting it to flash. Sawing your Turkey’s head off would still play better on the DS, but the mouse interface doesn’t keep the game from being fun for a playthrough, especially if you’re familiar with the original franchise. The art is spot-on, though the flash-driven animation is a little more South Park than anime.

PETA’s game developers (that was strange to type) aren’t the only ones doing well, their marketing psychologists aren’t phoning it in either. By making PETA’s media an unlockable, cognitive dissonance gives the group’s message some free credibility and appeal it might otherwise lack. All told, for weal or woe, Mama Kills Animals is a gaming landmark. Go check it out.

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