Nintendo’s response to criticism of Tomodachi Life’s heteronormativity show the platform holder is out of touch, advocate group GLAAD has said.
A misconception about a patch issued to the Japanese game made press and fans believe Nintendo had patched gay and lesbian relationships out of Tomodachi Life. Nintendo has since corrected this idea, but in a PR misstep, went on to say the lack of same-sex relationships is because Tomodachi Collection doesn’t engage in “social commentary”.
LGBT advocacy group GLAAD has responded accordingly.
“In purposefully limiting players’ relationship options, Nintendo is not only sending a hurtful message to many of its fans and consumers by excluding them, but also setting itself way behind the times,” GLAAD national spokesperson Wilson Cruz told VentureBeat.
“It’s been over a decade since The Sims — the original ‘whimsical and quirky’ life simulator — allowed its users to marry any character they wanted, and many other mainstream and massively popular video games have followed their lead since. Nintendo should do the same.”