DCG posted: " WFTV: Nintendo isn't allowing gamers to play as gay in an
upcoming life simulator game. The publisher of such gaming franchises as
"The Legend of Zelda" and "Mario Bros." said Tuesday it wouldn't bow to
pressure to allow players to engage in roma" Respond to this post by
replying above this line
New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/> Nintendo says no to
virtual equality in life
game<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/05/09/nintendo-says-no-to-virtual-equality-in-life-game/>
by
DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>
[image:
nintendo]<http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/nintendo.jpg>
WFTV<http://www.wftv.com/ap/ap/top-news/nintendo-says-no-to-virtual-equality-in-life-game/nfqtZ/?icmp=cmgcontent_internallink_relatedcontent_2014_partners3>:
*Nintendo isn't allowing gamers to play as gay in an upcoming life
simulator game.*
The publisher of such gaming franchises as "The Legend of Zelda" and "Mario
Bros." said Tuesday *it wouldn't bow to pressure to allow players to engage
in romantic activities with characters of the same sex* in English editions
of "Tomodachi Life." This follows a social media campaign launched by fans
last month *seeking virtual equality for the game's characters, which are
modeled after real people*.
*"Nintendo never intended to make any form of social commentary with the
launch of 'Tomodachi Life,'"* Nintendo of America Inc. said in a statement.
"The relationship options in the game represent a playful alternate
world *rather
than a real-life simulation*. We hope that all of our fans will see that
'Tomodachi Life' *was intended to be a whimsical and quirky game, and that
we were absolutely not trying to provide social commentary*."
Tye Marini, a gay 23-year-old Nintendo fan from Mesa, Arizona, launched the
campaign last month, urging Osaka, Japan-based Nintendo Co. and its
subsidiary Nintendo of America Inc. *to add same-sex relationship options
to English versions of the hand-held Nintendo 3DS game*.
The game was originally released in Japan last year and features a cast of
Mii characters — Nintendo's personalized avatars of real players — living
on a virtual island. Gamers can do things like shop, visit an amusement
park, play games, go on dates and encounter celebrities like Christina
Aguilera and Shaquille O'Neal.
*"I want to be able to marry my real-life fiancé's Mii, but I can't do
that,"* Marini said in a video posted online that attracted the attention
of gaming blogs and online forums this week. "My only options are to marry
some female Mii, to change the gender of either my Mii or my fiancé's Mii
or *to completely avoid marriage altogether and miss out on the exclusive
content that comes with it*."
"Tomodachi Life" has been a hit in a Japan, where Nintendo said last
December it had sold 1.83 million copies of the game.
The English-language packaging for "Tomodachi Life" — "tomodachi" means
"friend" in Japanese — proclaims: "Your friends. Your drama. Your life." A
trailer for the game boasts that players can "give Mii characters items,
voices and personalities, then watch as they rap, rock, eat doughnuts and
fall in love." However, *only characters of the opposite sex are actually
able to flirt, date and marry in the game*, which is set for release June 6
in North America and Europe.
*"It's more of an issue for this game because the characters are supposed
to be a representation of your real life,"* Marini said Tuesday in a
telephone interview. "*You import your personalized characters into the
game.* You name them. You give them a personality. You give them a voice.*
They just can't fall in love if they're gay.*"
The issue marks not only a cultural divide between Japan, *where gay
marriage is not legal*, and North America and Europe, where gay marriage
has become legal in some places, but also in the interactive world, where
games are often painstakingly "localized" for other regions, meaning
characters' voices and likenesses are changed to suit different locales and
customs.
"*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 localize it for other regions outside of
Japan," Nintendo noted in an emailed statement.
While many English-language games don't feature gay characters, several
role-playing series produced by English-speaking developers, such as "The
Sims," ''Fable" and "The Elder Scrolls," have allowed players to create
characters that can woo characters of the same sex, as well as marry and
have children. Other more narrative-driven games, like *"Grand Theft Auto
IV," ''The Last of Us" and "Gone Home," have included specific gay, lesbian
and bisexual characters*.
"We have heard and thoughtfully considered all the responses," Nintendo
said of the #Miiquality campaign. "We will continue to listen and think
about the feedback. We're using this as an opportunity to better understand
our consumers and their expectations of us at all levels of the
organization."
Marini isn't calling for a boycott of "Tomodachi Life" but instead wants
supporters to post on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #Miiquality, as
well as write to Nintendo and ask the company to include same-sex
relationships in an update to "Tomodachi Life" or in a future installment.
He noted Wednesday in response to Nintendo's statement that *excluding
same-sex relationships in the game is a form of "social commentary*."
"I would hope that they recognize the issue with the exclusion of same-sex
relationships in the game and make an effort to resolve it," Marini said.
"Until then, Miiquality will continue to raise awareness of the issue."
[image:
liberal]<http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/liberal1.jpg>
DCG
*DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>* | May 9, 2014 at
3:45 am | Tags: Nintendo <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=nintendo> |
Categories: Culture War <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=20812>,
Gays<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=212736045>| URL:
http://wp.me/pKuKY-qqn
Comment<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/05/09/nintendo-says-no-to-virtual-equality-in-life-game/#respond>
See all
comments<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/05/09/nintendo-says-no-to-virtual-equality-in-life-game/#comments>
Unsubscribe<https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=7f89380f46003915c34c2cdd2b126a38&email=bovinescatologists%40gmail.com&b=Ld-%7CKe%2B%7Czd%2CJY0LTIvi4oYv5Oekz8bZVTHsHuo%2C%7CyEi%5D%2BTUXsVv>to
no longer receive posts from Fellowship of the Minds.
Change your email settings at Manage
Subscriptions<https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=7f89380f46003915c34c2cdd2b126a38&email=bovinescatologists%40gmail.com>.
*Trouble clicking?* Copy and paste this URL into your browser:
http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/05/09/nintendo-says-no-to-virtual-equality-in-life-game/
Thanks for flying with WordPress.com <http://wordpress.com>
--
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"PoliticalForum" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
