The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is speaking out in anger over Nintendo's refusal to include same-sex relationships in 3DS game Tomodachi Life. The move to exclude gay and lesbian couples from the mix has sparked the ire of the community, who is calling on Nintendo to change its closed ways and incorporate more of society into their games.
Los Angeles-based LGBT organization GLAAD lashed out at the Japanese gaming maker in the game, saying it shuns all public perceptions and progress that has been made in recent years for LGBT inclusion in video games and other cultural products.
GLAAD's Wilson Cruz said that the company should follow other games and other companies in their goal of supporting all relationships.
"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," Cruz said.
Nintendo defended the move shortly after GLAAD's statement, arguing that Tomodachi was aimed at being "whimsical and quirky" and not a real world game.
Still, that did little to end the controversy and anger from LGBT activists, who continued their campaign and demanded that Nintendo apologize for their not allowing same-sex couples to exist on the game, real world or not.
In response, Nintendo has apologized to its users.
"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," the company says.
The company continued in their apology on the matter to state that they are always striving to "promote a sense of community" in their games and want to bring about "fun and joy" in the gaming world.
The company added that it would be looking into updates for the game and future games from the company in order to ensure that they include LGBT issues and allow for same-sex relationships to exist in their games.
"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," Nintendo adds.
The game is to be Nintendo's first ever game to be first released outside of Japan on June 6.
