[andyjdavis]

Personally I have no problem with stuff being corporate branded and/or juvenile but I am surprised that the cock-fighting element isn't mentioned more often in relation to Pokemon. Maybe it is because I have seen a little real life cock-fighting (and its horrifying) but I find that aspect quite repellent.

[NamTaf]

So is gunning down other people. Fortunately, many people can separate games from reality and this lets all types of games, from Counter-Strike to Pokemon to the Total War series, to succeed.

I'm utterly convinced the average 13 year old can separate the concepts of fake monsters that disappear back inside their little round homes from the reality of two animals trapped in a small area fighting to the death.

[alexmaras]

Possibly because they actually cover this topic as one of the main quest lines in at least one of the games. They're pretty self-aware about it these days and the shows are big on morality and battling only when the Pokémon want to.

People definitely bring it up, but what are they meant to do? Collapse a media franchise worth many millions of dollars?

[jonnathanson]

Fair. But if I thought too hard about a list of every video game element with some vaguely unsettling real-world proxy, I wouldn't be able to play a single video game. When viewed from this lens, even something as innocuous as Super Mario Bros. is subversive. ("Solve problems by eating psychedelic mushrooms and stomping people's heads.")

Fortunately, most people are able to separate the fantasy/gameplay elements from their (real or perceived) violent equivalents IRL. This is the first time I've encountered the Pokemon/cockfighting analogy. While I find it novel, and while it made me stop and think for a second, a second is all I needed.

[jfoutz]

As far as i can tell, you're not required to fight. you can just run around and collect everything. I haven't played ingress in a while, but the only way i remember it was possible to advance was by blowing stuff up.