After a poorly worded explanation of why same-sex relationships had been left out of the upcoming life simulation game Tomodachi Life, Nintendo has issued an apology on their American site. The original statement — “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” — implied that the exclusion was deliberate. The follow-up is more reasonable: the oversight can’t be patched at this point, but they’ll do better next time.
We apologize for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life. 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.
If we lived in a parallel universe in which this statement had been the first thing Nintendo said, I think it would’ve been a quieter week on the internet. I obviously can’t speak for everyone, but if I were to ask a developer why people like me and my partner weren’t included in a game we were looking forward to, and the answer was, “Oh, wow, we’re sorry. We can’t fix it now, but we’ll make it happen with the next one” — I’d be cool with that. Would it still be disappointing? Yes. But in my book, knowing that there will be future progress is almost as good as having the benefits of said progress in the present.
Now, whether there will actually be another Tomodachi game is unknown at this point, but hopefully this is something Nintendo will keep in mind for future titles as well. If nothing else, I think publicly recognizing that they have fans for whom this really matters is a good step.
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