The LGBT community is saddened this week to learn that Nintendo plans to fix a “bug” in their Japan-only Tomodachi Collection: New Life that allows same-sex relationships between male characters.
Tomodachi Collection: New Life is like The Sims. Using Nintendo’s own Miis, the goal of the game is simple: live your life. Woo a potential partner, and later, get married. Most of all, you’re to find happiness. To say that Gay and lesbian gamers were delighted about the functionality is an understatement; Kotaku reported earlier in the week that many Japanese players were excitedly taking to Twitter and Facebook to show off their same-sex Tomodachi couples.
Sadly, Nintendo’s official word on the inclusion of same-sex relationships in New Life is that they’re unintended; simply, a “bug.” Describing the erroneous functionality, Nintendo merely stated, “human relations become strange.” A patch is currently being worked on that will limit relationships, marriages and pregnancies to heterosexual couplings. (Update: Nintendo later suggested the phrase was a little lost in translation, with their intent for it to be, “human relations become altered”.)
If intended, this would have marked the first time a first-party Nintendo game allowed same-sex relationships. To Nintendo’s credit, the functionality is a tad flawed and currently allows two men to become pregnant without the assistance of a female party, so a tweak of some sort is needed; adoption instead, perhaps?
Additionally, homosexuality is still rather taboo in Japan itself; other games that hint at gay themes, like Persona 4 Golden, choose to belittle effeminate male characters like Kanji to the point where they feel the need to essentially man up and find a more pleasing heterosexual relationship.
Those affected by the “bug” can simply choose to avoid Nintendo’s planned patch to continue to have happy homo families. The problem with that mentality is that the patch also fixes real issues that Nintendo has described as follows: “game won’t boot,” “random error messages” and “inability to save.”
What do you think of Nintendo’s decision to patch this functionality?
Update: Nintendo’s Bill Trinen said that the Tomodachi Collection “bug” wasn’t a bug at all, but a manipulation of the game. “Essentially [players] would create a male version of a Mii character and assign their gender as female, and that was how the two males were able to have a baby,” Trinen said. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that Nintendo was quick to pounce upon male-on-male relationships and work to remove them from the game.
Nintendo also issued a larger statement about the lack of same-sex relationships within the game.
“We apologize for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life,” the statement begins. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to change this game’s design, and such a significant development change can’t be accomplished with a post-ship patch. At Nintendo, dedication has always meant going beyond the games to promote a sense of community, and to share a spirit of fun and joy. We are committed to advancing our longtime company values of fun and entertainment for everyone. We pledge 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.
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