We breed them, kill them, cook them. Millions of man-hours have
been spent flinging Angry Birds at them, but has anyone ever
tried playing video games with them? A team of livestock ethics
researchers and game designers in the Netherlands is doing just
that with Pig Chase. The Playing with Pigs project,
collaboration between the Utrecht School of the Arts, Wageningen
University, and Wageningen UR Livestock Research, sprang from a
conversation between philosopher Clemens Driessen and a group of
pig farmers back in 2009. Apparently Europe requires pig farmers
to supply entertainment objects for their pig pens, normally
something simple like a ball attached to a chain. Clemens, a
researcher in animal ethics, was trying to come up with an idea
more appealing to the pigs but not as costly to the farmers as a
constant supply of hay. It was during this conversation that one
of the farmers, likely attempting to be a smart-ass, suggested
the pigs go Wii Wii Wii all the way to the dinner table. When it
became clear we