There’s no denying it, Pokémon Sword and Shield are shaping up to be the most controversial and divisive instalments in Game Freak’s series to date.
With copies of the Switch exclusives now out in the wild, data miners have wasted no time in pulling apart both games’ files to suss out how they work, with one particular discovery resulting in a storm of negativity. Despite comments provided by the developer earlier this year stating otherwise, players have discovered damning evidence appearing to prove that models used for the various Pokémon found in-game are asset reuses rather than bespoke models.
The time-consuming nature of remodelling hundreds of characters was one of the primary reasons given for Sword and Shield‘s reduced Pokédex, which, having now been seemingly debunked, has prompted accusations from fans to accuse Game Freak of misconception at best; outright lying at worst.
Usually, social media is a large enough platform to voice such misgivings, but not so for this irate individual. Someone known only as “C.R.” has taken their campaign to the next level by petitioning the White House directly to have Sword and Shield banned from sale in the US. No, we’re not yanking your chain.
See below for the full statement:
We, the people of the United States of America strive for quality goods and entertainment. We, the People of the United States want what is best for our children. We, the people of the United States want what is best in our stores.
President Trump and Congress, the newest Pokemon games by Game Freak and Nintendo are negatively impacting the market with questionable decisions. We believe if the sales of the games were to stop, it will wake up Game Freak and we’ll get quality back. This will set a bad standard in the markets if these were to get sold. We, as both Pokemon fans but more importantly, American Citizens believe this is violating our Market rights and need something done about this.
While there’s no way of knowing either way, one can only hope that C.R. has taken it upon themselves to submit the above petition as an attempt at satire rather than with the hope that Trump will actually bring the topic to debate. With that said, if you’re looking for some free entertainment, signatures supporting that outcome can be submitted by any US resident. Only 32 people have done so as of writing, however, so don’t hold out hope.
As for Pokémon Sword and Shield, the Switch exclusives are out later this week, November 15th.