Nintendo has issued an apology for not including same-sex relationships in the English version of its game Tomodachi Life. The move comes days after the company had tried to downplay criticism of the game by fans seeking virtual equality for the game's characters, which are modelled after real people.
"We apologise for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life," the statement said. However, Nintendo of America Inc. said it cannot add the feature at such a late stage by issuing a post-launch patch.
"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 added.
Tye Marini, a gay 23-year-old Nintendo fan from Mesa, Arizona, launched a social-media campaign last month, urging Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo Co. and its subsidiary Nintendo of America Inc. to add same-sex relationship options to English versions of the handheld Nintendo 3DS game Tomodachi Life. The game was originally released in Japan last year and features a cast of Mii characters - Nintendo's personalised avatars of real players - living on a virtual island. Gamers can do things like shop, visit an amusement park, play games, go on dates and encounter celebrities like Christina Aguilera and Shaquille O'Neal.
Tomodachi Life has been a hit in a Japan, where Nintendo said last December it had sold 1.83 million copies of the game.
The company had been more guarded in its initial response to the campaign.
"Nintendo never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of Tomodachi Life," Nintendo had said in an earlier statement. "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."
News Source:www.gadgets.ndtv.com
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