Ntendo's rejectn of gay relatnships giv fans a lot to be angry about | Ntendo | The Guardian

Contents:

• NTENDO'S REJECTN OF GAY RELATNSHIPS GIV FANS A LOT TO BE ANGRY ABOUT
• FIGHTG FOR GAY MARRIAGE IN A NTENDO GAME
• ANY GOOD GAM WH GAY RELATNSHIPS OR CHARACTER TERACTNS THEM?

NTENDO'S REJECTN OF GAY RELATNSHIPS GIV FANS A LOT TO BE ANGRY ABOUT

Leon, of Fire Emblem Gain and s remake, Shadows of Valentia, was actually wrten as a gay man the remake. Byleth might not speak, but they sure n be gay if that is what your heart sir. Don't that kd of brg up gay isn't okay but lbians are mentaly?

Even as the pany ntu to flounr s current state of fancial secury, much of the cricism om fans, tractors and dtry analysts is livered as if om a ncerned iend, rather than a dispassnate changed on Wednday, when Ntendo of Ameri (NOA) rpond to a social media mpaign askg the pany to allow players to enter to gay relatnships s game Tomodachi Life wh a flat nial issued to the Associated pany "never tend to make any form of social mentary wh the lnch of Tomodachi Life", the statement reasoned. 'Your life', but not if you're gay.

But if you make a game that's meant to simulate life – even a "whimsil and quirky versn" of life – and then tell a portn of your players that they're simply not allowed to make an thentic simulatn of their liv, somethg isn't addg the weirst part of Ntendo's jtifitn for effectively banng gay marriage the prec ltle virtual universe of Tomodachi Life is yet to e.

FIGHTG FOR GAY MARRIAGE IN A NTENDO GAME

But part of what they loved about , acrdg to a report by my Kotaku lleague Brian Ashcraft, is that there was ially a bug the software that allowed players to dulge gay relatnships – or at least male on. Japane players were "thrilled by the bug, postg photos of their gay upl onle". And given s tight-lipped reputatn, the clost we may ever get to hearg anyone om Ntendo speak ndidly about LGBT reprentatn is this week's opaque ncln that is g s sudn anti-gay marriage stance as "an opportuny to better unrstand [s] nsumers and their expectatns" and is "lookg to broan [s] approach to velopment whenever possible" Ntendo – the world's largt vio game pany by revenue – really never thk about the sexual inty of s ctomers before 2014?

ANY GOOD GAM WH GAY RELATNSHIPS OR CHARACTER TERACTNS THEM?

Whenever the vio game dtry do ask self why ntu to drag s feet on troducg gay characters, however, the answers aren't enuragg. Earlier this year, Assass's Creed veloper Ubisoft let one of s openly gay wrers expla that even he uld not wre a queer protagonist to his own work "bee of fears that 'll impact sal"'s hard to accept that logic sce 's rarely backed up (at least openly) wh actual data. The same day that Ntendo explaed why didn't feel the need to clu gay marriage s popular sim game, the pany also reported that s earngs for the 2013 fisl year were even lower than the level had pre-emptively lowered them to back January.

And the 3DS, that beloved mobile system on which Tomodachi Life will soon appear for gay and straight gamers alike Ameri, isn't dog so hot eher.

More vol, however, was a wispread social media mpaign om Tye Mari, a gay 23-year-old rint of Ma, Ariz., who -- stead of llg for a Tomodachi Life boytt -- asked that supporters tweet wh the hashtag #Miiqualy and ask Ntendo to update the tle to be more clive to Wtern players. Notably, gay marriage is not legal Japan. "We've reached out to Ntendo to see if they'd nsir addg gay marriage to Tomodachi Life.