May 08, 2014 Nintendo says it will not allow gamers to play as gay characters in its life-simulation game Tomodachi Life. In 2014 Nintendo, and their life simulator videogame, Tomodachi Life, which allows for the creation of avatars called Mii's to interact with one another came under fire for only allowing opposite sex Mii's to flirt with one another or become married leading to disappointment amongst LGBTQI fans of the company. Nintendo responded by stating that.
Nintendo has been getting a lot of flak lately in regards to the situation involving the inability for same-sex couples to be able to marry in Tomodachi Life, a life simulator game where you can take your Mii characters and interact with the world around them. It’s been a huge hit so far in Japan, where it’s been out for a year already.
The funny thing is, during that one year, not a single person brought up the issue of the lack of same-sex relationships.
The actual issue was originally raised by a Nintendo fan living in Arizona, who created a petition for Nintendo to allow same-sex couples to wed in the North American release of Tomodachi Life so that he could marry his real life same-sex fiance in game instead of having to make a female avatar. The petition would get a lot of coverage from the gaming community, eventually drawing a response from the Big N.
That response seemed at first fairly simple and unoffensive, with Nintendo saying that the version coming to NA would be essentially the same version that Japan received, and that coding the actual change would be too difficult for them, even with a patch. They also said that they never had any intention of promoting any social commentary within the game itself, good or bad, and only intended for the game to be a “playful alternate world.”
Despite their best intentions, those words instead managed to spark an flood of responses from the gaming populace, some being understanding of the company’s intentions, while others were flabbergasted by the response. LBGT equality advocacy group GLAAD brought Nintendo under fire for not taking the same-sex community into account when they were originally making the game. Meanwhile, Kotaku, in their usual method of taking a gigantic crap on journalistic ethics, wrote an article that, whether unintentionally or otherwise, tried to make the company look homophobic.
While Nintendo has since openly apologized for the missing feature and the commotion it’s caused, the issue is likely to still persist through this year’s E3, and maybe even beyond.
Now I may be drawing my own share of ire by saying this, but the Tomodachi Life situation as a whole has been so blown out of proportion it’s almost ridiculous. Yes, Nintendo dropped the ball by not including an option of same-sex couples to get married in the game, but their original goal was to create a something that’s simple, fun, and can be played by all audiences, not unlike their already established life sim series Animal Crossing.
It can be argued that Nintendo is behind the times with the issue itself. After all, The Sims games have been including same-sex relationships for over a decade, and despite the T rating that they normally get from the ESRB, they’re generally enjoyed by most everyone. Other games like Mass Effect have also been allowing for same-sex couples for just as long, if not longer.
However, those were examples of western games, where the issue is much more publicized. In Japan, the issue of same-sex marriage is largely kept mum in political circles, with politicians neither speaking for nor against it for the most part. Despite this, LGBT citizens in Japan do have some rights, including the right to serve openly in the military, and there are no actual laws against homosexuality, however, same-sex marriage itself in the country is currently limited to partnerships with individuals from foreign countries where it is allowed. Although anti-discrimination laws for them still haven’t been put into effect, the Japanese constitution prohibits discrimination of all kinds, and displays of LGBT pride are encouraged, in comparison to countries like Russia, a country that has become increasingly under fire for the horrible treatment of its LGBT citizens.
The point is, in Japan at least, same-sex relationships aren’t has much of a hot button issue as it is in North America, though some will argue that it should be. It’s not the fact that companies like Nintendo are being ignorant or intolerant of LGBT citizens; it’s possible that it’s just not something they think about regularly.
On the other hand, when the company had plans to make the game an international release, it’s definitely something that should have at least crossed someone’s mind at the development offices. Nintendo has stated that they will be sure to include a feature for same-sex couples to be a thing if they ever do a sequel, but even if the public response to the lack of it has been overblown, it’s still kind of surprising that they neglected to add it in the first place.
One has to keep in mind, however, that Nintendo is a company that normally strays as far away from social themes as possible in their goal to create family friendly games. However, they have indirectly challenged those themes in the past; Samus Aran is known for fighting traditional gender roles by being a female ass-kicking bounty hunter, while the character Birdo has drawn worldwide attention for being a transgender dinosaur. Given this history, I feel we can forgive them for one little slip-up.
Regardless, Nintendo has indeed learned a valuable lesson in regards to how to approach the issue itself. Tomodachi Life has proven to be a valuable success so far, so if the sequel is indeed an inevitability, then one can be certain that same-sex couples will get the equality they deserve then.
Tomodachi Life Wiki
| Michael Revis |
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| Tomodachi Life | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Nintendo SPD |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Noriyuki Sato Ryutaro Takahashi Eisaku Nakae |
| Producer(s) | Yoshio Sakamoto |
| Composer(s) | Daisuke Matsuoka Asuka Ito |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 3DS |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Life simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Tomodachi Life[a] is a life simulationvideo game developed by Nintendo SPD and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. The game, which is a direct sequel to the Japan-exclusive Nintendo DS title Tomodachi Collection, was released in Japan in April 2013, June 2014 worldwide and July 2014 in South Korea. The game received positive reviews and good sales records. Many reviewers praised the gameplay but criticised the minigames. Its name means Friend Life.
Gameplay[edit]
The game begins with the player naming their island and creating or importing their personal Mii, who is referred to as the player's 'look-alike' and lives in an apartment building. The building holds up to 100 Miis. (or more depending on the date of the release of your copy)
The player can import Miis from the system's Mii Maker, other devices or QR codes or create them from scratch using the 3DS's camera or the in-game Mii Maker. The Miis are voiced by a text-to-speech software and have unique personalities. Miis can then perform various actions, such as eating, trying on different outfits, falling in love with each other, and engaging in many leisure activities. As more Miis are added to the island, many strange and curious interactions can occur between them, such as friendship, romance, rivalry, romantic relationships and families. As the game goes by, the player unlocks more stores, clothes, food, and places for the Miis to play. They can even unlock a port, where they can give and 'trade' goods with other islands.
Development[edit]
In May 2014, a playable demo of the game was distributed to Platinum members of Club Nintendo in North America, the data of which could be transferred to the final version to unlock a bonus in-game item.[1] The game is bundled with two Nintendo eShop download codes for a 'Welcome version' demo, which can be given to friends.[2] A slightly different demo version was later publicly released for download via the Nintendo eShop. This version does not unlock any features in the full game.
Following the announcement of a worldwide release, controversy arose concerning the impossibility of same-sex relationships. Nintendo stated, 'The ability for same-sex relationships to occur in the game was not part of the original game that launched in Japan, and that game is made up of the same code that was used to localise it for other regions outside Japan.' [3] In May 2013, it was widely reported that a bug in the original Japanese version of the game, which enabled same-sex relationships, was patched by Nintendo.[4] This was refuted by Nintendo in a statement made April 2014, explaining that same-sex relationships were never possible, and that the patch in fact fixed a different issue.[5] Despite various campaigns from users, Nintendo stated that it would not be possible to add same-sex relationships to the game, as they 'never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of the game',[6] and because it would require significant development alterations which would not be able to be released as a post-game patch. The company later apologised and stated that if they were to create a third game in the series they would 'strive to design a gameplay experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players.'[7]
Tomodachi Life Lgbt Quotes
Reception[edit]
Tomodachi Life has received positive reviews. It holds an average of 72% and 71/100 on review aggregate sites GameRankings and Metacritic, respectively.[8][9][10]IGN gave the game a score of 8.4, calling it 'a surprisingly funny and rewarding experience.'[11]Polygon gave Tomodachi Life a 7.5 out of 10, praising its likeability despite certain aspects being repetitive.[12]GamesRadar gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, praising its weird humor and relaxing gameplay, whilst criticising the minigames for being too simple.[13]GameTrailers gave the game a score of 6.0, stating 'the pervasive sense of quirkiness in Tomodachi Life works, but can’t sustain the entire game.'[14] The game has received criticism for not enabling relationships between Mii characters of the same sex; Nintendo of America later apologized for failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life, stating that it wasn't possible for NoA to change the game's design, or for Nintendo to change this aspect in a post-ship patch. It also noted that 'if we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players.'[15][16]
Tomodachi Life was the best seller in the Japanese video game market during the week of its release, selling about 404,858 units.[17] By September 2014, its global sales reached 3.12 million units.[18] As of December 31, 2019, Nintendo has sold 6.55 million units of the game worldwide,[19] making it one of the top 10 best selling games on the 3DS.
Legacy[edit]
A stage based on Tomodachi Life appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.[20]Miitomo, a social networkingmobile app for iOS and Android devices, was released in March 2016. The app was created by the same core team who developed Tomodachi Life, and features very similar ideas. In 2016, a similar game involving Miis, Miitopia, was released in Japan.[21] It was released worldwide the following year.
Notes[edit]
- ^Known in Japan as Tomodachi Collection: New Life (Japanese: トモダチコレクション 新生活, Hepburn: Tomodachi Korekushon: Shin Seikatsu)
References[edit]
- ^'Club Nintendo Distributing Tomodachi Life Demo Codes to Select Platinum Members - 3DS News @ Nintendo Life'. Nintendolife.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
- ^MacDonald, Keza (May 21, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life Comes With 2 Free Demos to Give to Friends'. Kotaku UK. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
- ^'Nintendo resists #Miiquality campaign to let Tomodachi Life gamers play gayk=Guardian News'. Associated Press. May 7, 2014.
- ^Ashcraft, Brian (May 8, 2013). 'Rumor: Bug Makes Gay Marriage Possible in Nintendo Game [Update]'. Kotaku.com. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
- ^Parfitt, Ben (April 10, 2014). 'VIDEO: Nintendo to give Tomodachi Life a shot in the West | Games industry news | MCV'. MCV. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
- ^lang, Derrik (May 7, 2014). 'Nintendo Says No to Virtual Equality in Life Game'. Associated Press. Abcnews.go.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
- ^'We are committed to fun and entertainment for everyone - Nintendo Official Site'. Nintendo.com. May 9, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^'Tomodachi Life for 3DS'. GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
- ^'Tomodachi Life for 3DS Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^'Nintendo Apologizes For Not Putting Gay Marriage In Tomodachi Life'. Kotaku. Kotaku. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^Otero, Jose (June 6, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life Review'. IGN. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^McElroy, Griffin (June 6, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life review: semi charmed'. Polygon. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
- ^Gilbert, Herbert (June 6, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life review'. GamesRadar. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^Moore, ben (June 6, 2014). 'Tomodachi Life - Review'. GameTrailers. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^'Nintendo Apologizes For Omitting Gay Marriage From 'Tomodachi Life''. NBC News.
- ^Jason Schreier. 'Nintendo Apologizes For Not Putting Gay Marriage In Tomodachi Life'. Kotaku. Gawker Media.
- ^'This Week in Sales: Tomodachi Collection Sees Big Launch Sales'. Siliconera. April 24, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ^'Supplementary Information about Earnings Release'(PDF). Nintendo. October 30, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^'Top Selling Title Sales Units - Nintendo 3DS Software'. Nintendo. December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- ^'Tomodachi Collection: New Life stage'. IGN. March 14, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
- ^Otero, Jose. '5 Things We Learned About Miitomo and Nintendo's Digital Future'. IGN. Retrieved 1 April 2016.