Nintendo Patches Out Same-Sex Marriage in Tomodachi Collection

[Andy Chalk]

Nintendo Patches Out Same-Sex Marriage in Tomodachi Collection

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/kunhurin/status/331744738405384193]​

The days of marriage equality in Tomodachi Collection: New Life have apparently drawn to a close.

I won't pretend to have even heard of Tomodachi Collection: New Life is prior to last Wednesday, when it came to light that a glitch in the Sims-like game had suddenly enabled same-sex marriage [http://kotaku.com/rumor-bug-makes-gay-marriage-possible-in-nintendo-game-495814333] between male characters, something that was previously impossible. It was definitely a bug - female characters couldn't marry other females, and male characters could actually become pregnant - but even so, it was warmly welcomed by many players, some of whom posted images of their newly-married men online.

Sadly, it appears that the fun is over. Nintendo released a patch today which it said would correct a handful of technical issues including, according to Kotaku's translation, "human relations that become strange." That is perhaps not the most precise description of same-sex marriage ever and there's been no confirmation yet that it has actually been eliminated, but it seems clear enough that this isn't a torch Nintendo is interested in carrying.

Assuming that's what this is all about, the good news is that Tomodachi Collection players who want to continue with support for gay couples may do so by simply not installing the update. Unfortunately, that will leave them vulnerable to problems they find less agreeable, including an inability to boot the game, inability to save and unspecific error messages - a tough choice that may make letting go of your loving couple unavoidable.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/rumor-nintendo-ending-gay-marriage-bug-in-popular-game-504266729]


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[itsthesheppy]

What's the status of the gay marriage movement in Japan? I'd be curious to know.

 

[l3o2828]

What's the status of the gay marriage movement in Japan? I'd be curious to know.

Same here.
As for this...well...it's a bug, fix it, and then implement it back again but properly.

 

[Legion]

You know, I originally read the title as meaning that a patch was out that allowed same-sex marriage and was thinking they were finally being progressive.

I guess not.

Although I did find the fact that the males could get pregnant kind of funny.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

The shit-storm, it's a-brewing.

What's the status of the gay marriage movement in Japan? I'd be curious to know.

There are currently no laws against homosexuality, but there is no legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Japanese culture and the major religions in Japan do not have a history of hostility towards LGBT individuals. (http://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/focus/section2/2008/06/japan-and-sexual-minorities.html)

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

What's the status of the gay marriage movement in Japan? I'd be curious to know.

Same here.
As for this...well...it's a bug, fix it, and then implement it back again but properly.

Worth noting that, among the things patched, marriage equality was a "bug"
Accidental as it's origin may be, it's removal was deliberate.

 

[lacktheknack]

Maybe when they say "human relations that become strange", they meant that whole "male pregnancy" thing.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

 

[rasputin0009]

Nintendo has always been anti-gay. I'm surprised they even let Link be as feminine as he is and Zelda to cross-dress as Shiek. But I guess Link always saves a dress wearing Zelda in the end so it's okay.

 

[l3o2828]

What's the status of the gay marriage movement in Japan? I'd be curious to know.

Same here.
As for this...well...it's a bug, fix it, and then implement it back again but properly.

Worth noting that, among the things patched, marriage equality was a "bug"
Accidental as it's origin may be, it's removal was deliberate.

I am aware...I really didn't feel like being angry at the moment so i tried to be possitive and suggesting that they might just re-implement it...but you're right...

 

[Entitled]

What's the status of the gay marriage movement in Japan? I'd be curious to know.

Japan is very reserved about all public expressions of sexuality. They don't really have an equivalent to our fundamentalist homophobes, but neither do they have many respected gay rights activist. So it's going to take a long time, because no one wants to talk about it for the first time.

They are hostile against many of the acts and self-identifications that westerners regard as basic freedoms, but even that has more to do with a general "The stake that sticks out gets hammered down" attitude, than particularly picking on gays.

 

[Mr. Omega]

*Sees headline* Aww, I was hoping Nintendo would take a bold, progressive step in one of their ga-

*Sees mpreg image* Yeah they made the right choice...

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

Well, it was a bug so I suppose they were in the right to remove it. I doubt they were trying to make any statement against gay marriage in doing so although calling it "strange relationships" in the patch notes is a bit concerning.

However, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and would be interested to see if the original Japanese word which was translated into "strange" actually means what we think when we say it. It could be a nuance of Japanese language that is not understood by non-native speakers.

 

[Something Amyss]

What's the status of the gay marriage movement in Japan? I'd be curious to know.

According to Wikipedia (so it must be true):

Article 24 of the Japanese constitution states that "Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis."

Maybe when they say "human relations that become strange", they meant that whole "male pregnancy" thing.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

Nah. Men carry ALL the babies in Japan. >.>

 

[1337mokro]

Nintendo's new moto;

Accidental tolerance? NOT ON OUR WATCH!

I joke of course, this bug probably stretched farther than just married and just didn't differentiate on sex at all. Like your male character could get knocked up. Or men could suddenly cook without wearing chefs hats (that's where all the cooking powers are located).

 

[J Tyran]

They should have fixed the bugs but patched in same sex marriages at the same time.

 

[VanQ]

You know, I originally read the title as meaning that a patch was out that allowed same-sex marriage and was thinking they were finally being progressive.

I guess not.

Although I did find the fact that the males could get pregnant kind of funny.

After accidentally catching that one movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Costanza had a kid, I will never be able to find two men having a child anything but disturbing.

Not two men adopting or raising a child, mind you. The actual act of Costanza inseminating and impregnating Arny just makes me want to curl up and go to a happy place.

In case anyone was wondering, the translation of the tweet in the screenshot is "Tomo Collection is Homo Collection." and the in game text on the screen shot is "The truth is, we had a baby."

 

[JoJo]

Nintendo has always been anti-gay. I'm surprised they even let Link be as feminine as he is and Zelda to cross-dress as Shiek. But I guess Link always saves a dress wearing Zelda in the end so it's okay.

Have they? I've never seen anything from Nintendo particularly anti-gay, I mean Nintendo games tend to barely even touch on romance and relationships really further than the fairy tale style "hero saves princess" angle a lot of their games seem to have. I suppose they could be criticized for lacking openly gay characters in most of their games but sadly that's currently a given for most media aimed at children.

 

[Darken12]

This is why I am not a Nintendo fan. Anything with a "family-friendly" marketing strategy is bound to make this exact kind of asshole move.

 

[JazzJack2]

This is why I am not a Nintendo fan. Anything with a "family-friendly" marketing strategy is bound to make this exact kind of asshole move.

But they removed it because the men where getting pregnant, I think that has less to do with 'family-friendly' and has more to do with the realms of sanity or logic.