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http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/40599/fire-emblem-fates-will-feature-same-sex-marriages
Fire Emblem Fates will feature the option for same-sex marriages.
Following the discovery of an "A+" social rank in the game's Japanese release, Nintendo issued a statement to Polygon confirming the option: "We can confirm that Fire Emblem Fates for Nintendo 3DS, which launches in Japan on June 25, 2015, and is coming to the U.S. and Europe in 2016, includes the possibility for a same-sex marriage to take place between the main character created by the gamer and another character in the game."
The Birthright version of the game, which follows the Hoshino storyline, will allow a female main character to marry a female character, while the Conquest version's Nohr storyline will allow a male avatar to marry a male character. The third, downloadable version of the game will feature both of the characters that can achieve the A+ relationship.
Doesn't this game cover multiple generations? If you go same-sex does that not happen then? Adoption perhaps?
I thought the Tomodachi Life controversy was a little overblown. A lot of games don't offer same-sex relationships so why was Nintendo singled out? Also same-sex marriage is still illegal in many States. You expect Nintendo to encourage breaking the law in one of their games? If they put it in they would be making a statement about current laws. That's controversial stuff. That would be like having a character in a Nintendo game lighting a joint, something legal in some States but not all. So I get why they figured that not having it was the more neutral position. Had they put it in there would have still been an uproar, just from different people.
I only hope that this isn't handled as it was in Mass Effect 3 where suddenly a male friend of my character, that showed no signs of being bisexual in the previous games, awkwardly hit on me. I understand the intention to accommodate all players but it can be done a little more seamlessly, no?
Doesn't this game cover multiple generations? If you go same-sex does that not happen then? Adoption perhaps?
I thought the Tomodachi Life controversy was a little overblown. A lot of games don't offer same-sex relationships so why was Nintendo singled out? Also same-sex marriage is still illegal in many States. You expect Nintendo to encourage breaking the law in one of their games? If they put it in they would be making a statement about current laws. That's controversial stuff. That would be like having a character in a Nintendo game lighting a joint, something legal in some States but not all. So I get why they figured that not having it was the more neutral position. Had they put it in there would have still been an uproar, just from different people.
I only hope that this isn't handled as it was in Mass Effect 3 where suddenly a male friend of my character, that showed no signs of being bisexual in the previous games, awkwardly hit on me. I understand the intention to accommodate all players but it can be done a little more seamlessly, no?
And, again, why was NINTENDO singled out when a gazillion games don't offer this. Can you have same-sex marriage in Harvest Moon?Because it triggered someone and they complained. And the media latched onto it like a fly to ****.
Something isn't sanctioned by the government in all States. Putting it in the game gives the idea that you disagree with the laws as is. That is a political statement. You can't comprehend how a major company would want to outright avoid something like that for fear of controversy? It blew up in their face anyway but I can understand why they thought that was the right decision.Wut? You can murder prostitutes in GTA and I'm fairly certain that's not a political statement or a disagreement with the law, it's just a video game.
And, again, why was NINTENDO singled out when a gazillion games don't offer this. Can you have same-sex marriage in Harvest Moon?
Something isn't sanctioned by the government in all States. Putting it in the game gives the idea that you disagree with the laws as is. That is a political statement. You can't comprehend how a major company would want to outright avoid something like that for fear of controversy? It blew up in their face anyway but I can understand why they thought that was the right decision.Wut? You can murder prostitutes in GTA and I'm fairly certain that's not a political statement or a disagreement with the law, it's just a video game.
And, again, why was NINTENDO singled out when a gazillion games don't offer this. Can you have same-sex marriage in Harvest Moon?
And, again, why was NINTENDO singled out when a gazillion games don't offer this.
Something isn't sanctioned by the government in all States. Putting it in the game gives the idea that you disagree with the laws as is. That is a political statement. You can't comprehend how a major company would want to outright avoid something like that for fear of controversy? It blew up in their face anyway but I can understand why they thought that was the right decision.Wut? You can murder prostitutes in GTA and I'm fairly certain that's not a political statement or a disagreement with the law, it's just a video game.
And, again, why was NINTENDO singled out when a gazillion games don't offer this. Can you have same-sex marriage in Harvest Moon?
Well I wouldn't see it as such but some of the moral watchdog groups sure see violence in videogames as an endorsement of it. I guess that's really a political statement since there isn't any movement I know of arguing that murdering prostitutes should be legal, but it can be taken as a statement in general.
Same-sex marriage is a hot political issue right now. Nintendo didn't get want to get involved and I can totally understand why a company would want to remain as politically neutral as possible. I think they thought that by not offering it they weren't taking a side but it ended up being seen as taking the side against same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage is a hot political issue right now. Nintendo didn't get want to get involved and I can totally understand why a company would want to remain as politically neutral as possible. I think they thought that by not offering it they weren't taking a side but it ended up being seen as taking the side against same-sex marriage.
And, again, why was NINTENDO singled out when a gazillion games don't offer this. Can you have same-sex marriage in Harvest Moon?
Because it triggered someone and they complained. And the media latched onto it like a fly to ****.
Because Nintendo is seen as a conservative company and that automatically makes them a target to the media.
Nintendo can make whatever design decisions they want. But releasing a game in 2014 focused primarily about relationships and marriage and not including options for same-sex marriages is social commentary.
There is no "social commentary" until someone makes it one.
Nintendo never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of Tomodachi Life. 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.
Actually, this crap reminds me of the bullshit with how Team Fortress 2 is supposedly "misogynistic and close-minded" because women aren't playable.
And, again, why was NINTENDO singled out when a gazillion games don't offer this.
Because Nintendo is seen as a conservative company and that automatically makes them a target to the media.
What is this, a #gamergate discussion on twitter?And, again, why was NINTENDO singled out when a gazillion games don't offer this. Can you have same-sex marriage in Harvest Moon?Because it triggered someone and they complained. And the media latched onto it like a fly to ****.
Actually, this crap reminds me of the bullshit with how Team Fortress 2 is supposedly "misogynistic and close-minded" because women aren't playable.
And in this case, Nintendo made it social commentary when they released their statement after the Miiquality petition. They could have strictly said it was a programming issue and it was too late to change the current game but they were taking all comments into consideration for future games, and it probably wouldn't have been an issue. Instead we got this:Where in that quote are they referring to social issues or commenting on them? Nintendo tiptoed around the issue entirely. Social media continued to freak out (shocker) and blew this over proportion (double shocker).QuoteNintendo never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of Tomodachi Life. 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.
Misogyny is one of those words thrown around the internet waaay too liberally. That said, there's what, 9 choosable classes in the game? I think "Why aren't there any female characters?" is a fair enough question. I mean, Left 4 dead has them, why not TF2?Because TF2 takes place in a time where men were expected to work and fight and that is the universe it is in (the 1900s, not sure when off the top of my head). L4D takes place in the 2000s and isn't about hired mercenaries, but instead survivors against the apocalypse. And because TF2 is a PC game, there are plenty of female character mods (over-sexualized and not) that anyone who doesn't enjoy playing as a male can easily fix themselves and even make themselves.
Where in that quote are they referring to social issues or commenting on them? Nintendo tiptoed around the issue entirely. Social media continued to freak out (shocker) and blew this over proportion (double shocker).
Could they have worded it differently? Sure. But there is nothing wrong with this statement to provoke the shitstorm it did.
You mean other than mention social commentary twice in a single paragraph, while insisting they weren't making any type of social commentary? I fear you're just looking at the social media backlash over feminist and queer issues and unilaterally applying it here. Like I've already mentioned, there was plenty of legit criticism over how Nintendo handled the #Miiquality petition. You cannot expect a game based heavily on relationships and marriage to only offer heteronormative options and have that not be a form of social commentary, specially after news of the sorta-maybe-not-really gay marriage bug on the Japanese version of the game.Yes, Nintendo could have handled it better. I haven't denied that. Like they could have ignored it completely like most companies ignore social media petitions. And yes you can expect games with relationship and marriage options to feature only hetero options. Ffs, there are hundreds of games with no gay marriage options. The Fire Emblem series as a whole is a blazing good example aside from this game. The game was singled out because of the bug and that is it. They didn't put a bug back in the game and everyone thought that = Nintendo hates gays. If that line of thought is what is going on here, I'm done.
Team Fortress is well known for how seriously it takes its plot and setting...Oh God. You are one of THOSE people. Just because you don't care about the plot or the universe doesn't mean that everything should go your way. Hold, I have a quote somewhere on this......
Yes! The sequel where everyone got amnesia and it's not as good as the original...
Misogyny is one of those words thrown around the internet waaay too liberally. That said, there's what, 9 choosable classes in the game? I think "Why aren't there any female characters?" is a fair enough question. I mean, Left 4 dead has them, why not TF2?Because TF2 takes place in a time where men were expected to work and fight and that is the universe it is in (the 1900s, not sure when off the top of my head). L4D takes place in the 2000s and isn't about hired mercenaries, but instead survivors against the apocalypse. And because TF2 is a PC game, there are plenty of female character mods (over-sexualized and not) that anyone who doesn't enjoy playing as a male can easily fix themselves and even make themselves.
But that requires a brain and it is easier to go complain to Valve about a 7 year old game that they have only 3 people updating. To add females at this point would require hitbox restructuring and fixing cosmetics to work with the new models. Both are incredibly unlikely and are pointless when a game that typically peaked at at 1,000,000 players now can peak 100,000 occasionally.
As a man I couldn't write a female character from personal experience for obvious reasons. I also don't know what it's like to be a minority or to be gay. When creating such a character I would have to talk to people that do know what that's like... or with a deadline looming I can go with stereotypes or recycle depictions I've seen in other works or just not bother and make the main character someone like me. I suppose laziness and obliviousness aren't good things either but they're still better than outright malice.
Because TF2 takes place in a time where men were expected to work and fight and that is the universe it is in (the 1900s, not sure when off the top of my head). L4D takes place in the 2000s and isn't about hired mercenaries, but instead survivors against the apocalypse. And because TF2 is a PC game, there are plenty of female character mods (over-sexualized and not) that anyone who doesn't enjoy playing as a male can easily fix themselves and even make themselves.
But that requires a brain and it is easier to go complain to Valve about a 7 year old game that they have only 3 people updating. To add females at this point would require hitbox restructuring and fixing cosmetics to work with the new models. Both are incredibly unlikely and are pointless when a game that typically peaked at at 1,000,000 players now can peak 100,000 occasionally.
There are times where there have been reports where corporate execs have mandated unequal representation in a game for what they perceive as sales reasons. I have heard stories about this, particularly with female protagonists. "Make sure it's a white male lead because that's what sells!"
But I think sometimes it's just the developers not thinking beyond their own personal lives. You might see a game and say "how come all the characters are white?" and then you see the dev team and it's all white guys from white neighbourhoods with white friends. They're not intentionally trying to be exclusive, they're just oblivious. A good suggestion for writing is to write what you know. So when you're making your fictional world you're going to take inspiration from your personal life. I think a big reason why male protagonists are so common is that most of the game development industry is male and they're making characters they relate to. As a man I couldn't write a female character from personal experience for obvious reasons. I also don't know what it's like to be a minority or to be gay. When creating such a character I would have to talk to people that do know what that's like... or with a deadline looming I can go with stereotypes or recycle depictions I've seen in other works or just not bother and make the main character someone like me. I suppose laziness and obliviousness aren't good things either but they're still better than outright malice.
Because hitboxes need to be fixed and so do a couple hundred cosmetics. With a mod, if it conflicts then you just deal with it. For many people, the mods are their cosmetics so they don't care.Because TF2 takes place in a time where men were expected to work and fight and that is the universe it is in (the 1900s, not sure when off the top of my head). L4D takes place in the 2000s and isn't about hired mercenaries, but instead survivors against the apocalypse. And because TF2 is a PC game, there are plenty of female character mods (over-sexualized and not) that anyone who doesn't enjoy playing as a male can easily fix themselves and even make themselves.
But that requires a brain and it is easier to go complain to Valve about a 7 year old game that they have only 3 people updating. To add females at this point would require hitbox restructuring and fixing cosmetics to work with the new models. Both are incredibly unlikely and are pointless when a game that typically peaked at at 1,000,000 players now can peak 100,000 occasionally.
I'm confused as to why it's so easy for a player to add female characters, but so hard for the developer.
Is this the sequel talkback thread to this one? http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/37361/nintendo-comments-on-lack-of-same-sex-relationships-in-tomodachi-life-localization#talkbackPost edited by moderator because it broke several NWR Forum Rules.
Because hitboxes need to be fixed and so do a couple hundred cosmetics. With a mod, if it conflicts then you just deal with it. For many people, the mods are their cosmetics so they don't care.Because TF2 takes place in a time where men were expected to work and fight and that is the universe it is in (the 1900s, not sure when off the top of my head). L4D takes place in the 2000s and isn't about hired mercenaries, but instead survivors against the apocalypse. And because TF2 is a PC game, there are plenty of female character mods (over-sexualized and not) that anyone who doesn't enjoy playing as a male can easily fix themselves and even make themselves.
But that requires a brain and it is easier to go complain to Valve about a 7 year old game that they have only 3 people updating. To add females at this point would require hitbox restructuring and fixing cosmetics to work with the new models. Both are incredibly unlikely and are pointless when a game that typically peaked at at 1,000,000 players now can peak 100,000 occasionally.
I'm confused as to why it's so easy for a player to add female characters, but so hard for the developer.
Earlier in the TF2 lifetime Valve said they considered it, but now they it's so late, they just won't do it (at least that is what I've heard from the TF2 forums).
