Homosexuality and Games

[Mal]

Seems like Nintendo will put it in same sex couples and all those features with the next installment. That is good but no, it is not good enough for some. It got to be here NOW. They have no idea how it would change so many things like the interactions. It's a change that would make it another game.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Can I just say that all this stuff with Tomodachi Life is really stupid and also a textbook case of Social Justice Warriors failing to pick their battles?

 

Because it really is.

You privileged fucks make me sick. You shouldn't have to pick your battles for equality.

[Alex Heat]

You shouldn't, no, but you also shouldn't immediately start howling and calling a company homophobic bigots because the patch to a game breaking bug that was being linked to the fact that people were making male Miis and assigning their gender as female (which is still possible).

 

The point is that no one did the research before internet armchair activists went in guns blazing about intolerance and inequality and so on and so forth.

 

I'm all for equality, I just think that the radical element is screwing things up for everyone else.

 

Edit: That aside, there's also the general cultural issues with gay marriage in Japan.  They're not exactly super progressive when it comes to that and Nintendo really isn't in the position to be the one who leads the charge in challenging the authority on the matter.

 

Also threw in a link to the details.  It's IGN, but whatevs.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Alex Heat

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I think you're taking the extreme views of some people far too seriously. There's extremist idiots for everything but unfortunately people like you only focus on them because it gives you a reason to oppose the group as a whole.

[deanb]

Bearing in mind the "we'll look into it for a sequel" stuff came only after days of really badly given messages from NoA about how it's meant to be a "whimsical alternate world" and such. Given Nintendo sell to a global audience you'd think they'd take into account the heavy drive over the past few years for same-sex marriages. I'd hope NoA would have raised a flag on the whole bit of the game only allowing same-sex marriages, but given it's their PR we're getting on the topic I've a feeling that it never even registered.

 

On the patching front, if the issue can be patched out as a bug, it can more than likely be patched back in. It's backwards to be saying in their final message there's no way to patch the game, when the thing that triggered everything off was them patching the game.

 

I think it's a bit stupid to insist that all games come to represent all walks of life, it's nigh impossibility (especially given there's always going to be some group not included) and when making a game it's likely one of the last things on your mind alongside pretty much all other elements of story and character development. In fact the less you have the better. However Nintendo have really stumbled in their messaging over the whole thing, showing once again they're pretty far behind the times. Though this is the same NoA that heavily edited Japanese games in the NES/SNES era to make everything "playful and whimsy", so it's pretty par for the course I guess.

 

@FDS: Maybe try not to prove Alex's point and reinforcing any perceptions he may have by being substantially less confrontational assholeish about it? Blasting out a "You make me sick, check your privilege" straight of off the bat is being exactly like the extremist types you're talking about.

[Alex Heat]

Oh snap, I forgot all about this thread!  Sorry about that, Dean.

 

Even though I think it's fair to want same-sex marriage/romance represented in a life/dating sim, I'm with you on the dev doing what they will and making what they want to make.  It'd be a different story if their angle were 'we're excluding the gays because we hate them and they might give us cooties'.  Like you said, the notion probably never crossed their minds.

 

Still, good on them for considering it for a future Tomodachi game (unless this bit of controversy made it an unappealing thought).

[deanb]

The notion crossing their minds wasn't presented as an excuse, but a criticism. Same sex relationships in sim games and games where you get to play as a character of choosing isn't exactly a new concept. NoA should have seen it coming.

 

Also if this "controversy" does turn them off making a future Tomodachi Life (and not sales numbers) then all the more shame on Nintendo.

[Mister Jack]

Nintendo is already ridiculously behind the times on just about everything else, so I can actually believe that the idea of same-sex relationships in a life sim never even occurred to them.  No less embarrassing, though.  Just one more thing to throw onto their pile of shame.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I can't believe anyone making any sort of life sim didn't at least look at The Sims and see what sort of things you can do in that, so to say it didn't cross a single employee's mind is rather giving them the benefit of the doubt they probably don't deserve.

 

Saying it's a fun and whimsical isn't an excuse either as it's implying same sex relationships would somehow sully that light mood which is hardly better.

 

Since it was obviously a glitch to begin with that allowed gay male relationships and pregnancy ( and not lesbian relationships) they could have fixed it by adding in same sex female relationships not taking out the male ones. and if they didn't want to over complicate things and keep with the fanciful take on real life they could have kept the pregnancy for both same sex relationships. It would be that far from real life it couldn't be seen as making political statements and the whimsical take on real life excuse would actually make sense in that case.