"What is up with everyone being so touchy these days?" That's the question I keep finding myself asking, especially in the realm of gaming. People seem to be more than willing to get worked up over just about anything recently. The Social Justice Warriors and Professionally offended seem to be taking to the streets over the most asinine things. To a degree it's always been kind of like this, and gaming seems to have a lot of hot-button issues for some reason. The last couple of weeks, Nintendo found themselves at the wrong end of the internet for their choices in "Tomodachi Life," and as usual with things like these, it's for really stupid reasons.
Nintendo's "Tomodachi Life." Seemed to have really got people worked up. To a degree I can kind of see where they are coming from. There was a bug in the game that allowed for same sex companionship, the problem was that this bug was a bug. It was not ever intended to be included in the game to begin with. From what I have read this bug was also game breaking; which if you're not up to snuff on the terminology, basically means that it corrupts the save, or otherwise stops the player from continuing "correctly." In this case, the player's save file was corrupted and could not be recovered.
I've also seen unconfirmed statements in forums on the web that this was not the case, only that it was mistranslated and that the bug was fixed quite a long time ago. Now, I've not see any of that information from an official source, so I am going to stick with the facts that I understand to be true for now.
Tomodachi Life had a bug that caused the save to be corrupted. It needed to be fixed, period. That is something that cannot even be argued at this point and anyone saying otherwise is just a fool who either wants thing done their way, or just wants something to be upset about.
Was it short-sighted that Nintendo didn't include this into the game? Yeah, probably. Nintendo also was not expecting this backlash from the American public either, which is clear from the statement they made about the game. They weren't expecting a silly, Mii-based game to generate the controversy that it did, over here in the states. Nintendo was absolutely not making a statement about same-sex partnerships. Omitting something is not the same thing as making a condemning it, which some sites like Kotaku and Polygon seemed to think. Simply because you refuse to comment on something does not mean that you're inadvertently making a statement about anything. In this case, Nintendo leaving out same-sex couples is not the same is Nintendo coming out and saying they are against same-sex couples. Anyone who said or thinks this should probably be pretty damned ashamed of themselves. Simply thinking that is ludicrous, but actually coming out and saying it is a special kind of dumb that seems to collect in droves on the internet.
This game is targeted towards children, or at least it seems to be based on what I've seen about it. There is going to be a time when a kid asks questions like "Why does Uncle Steve always bring his roommate, Greg to Thanksgiving?" That's fine, that's a part of life, it's a part of growing up and it's definitely part of being a good parent. What people shouldn't expect is a video game to expose this to people! Why folks think that it is, is totally beyond me and frankly, any rationally thinking human being. There is a time and place for those conversations. They should be discussed by from parent to child, around real-world people with real-world connections and emotions. They shouldn't be getting some half-assed, character representative from a video game as the starting point.
Nintendo did try to address this like rational adults, who did actually apologize. Some company representatives even made statements in agreement with those who were upset, yet the Internet Hate Train had already left the station and was barreling down the tracks at breakneck speeds. Nintendo's public statements to quell people's anger only seemed to make it worse and for what? Because one Mii couldn't marry another? Folks, seriously get a grip on yourselves. We've got real problems in the world, with people's rights and lives being ruined by others and THIS is what you're getting worked up about?
It's not about people liking or even hating homosexuals. This issue is much more simple than that. Stop trying to inject your own social views and goals into other's lives. It's not okay to be pushy, it's not okay to piss and moan because you didn't get what you want, (from a game that was incredibly close to being finished at that,) and it's not okay to completely turn on of the greatest, fan driven companies in our modern society because you didn't get what you wanted. It's childish and it's counter-productive. Nintendo has never been known for making social or political statements either in their games or to the press. They've done all they can to avoid that kind of shit. There is a really good reason for it too, that kind of social and political commentary simply does not fit Nintendo as a company, it never has and it most likely never will. If you don't like what they've done with Tomodachi Life, then please don't buy the game. That is an infinitely more powerful statement that bitching on some websites. Do what any other rational thinking human being would do and don't support something you find to be tasteless or lacking in depth; it really is that simple! No one is going to force you to buy Tomodachi Life.
This next point is very important, so please pay attention. It may actually be the most important point of all! When someone concedes and has admitted that they had a lapse in judgement, that something should have been done differently, or that they are simply wrong; STOP! You've made your point and in this case, moving forward Nintendo seems to agree with you. Once you continue to argue and knit-pick, all you're doing is hurting the cause you are supposedly championing.
Stop the madness. No person or company is perfect. They never have or will be. Every company, Nintendo included is bound to make a misstep here and there. Demanding that they go back and fix every little mistake with a seemingly unending well of intolerance turns you into the exact same thing that you're supposedly fighting against. Have some patients, some understanding and for fuck sake, calm down. In the end its only a Video Game, that is something a lot of people seem to forget. As it stands, 17 out of 50 States in the U.S. have legalized same sex marriage. So ask yourself, what's more important? Getting pissed at a Japanese company who has no control over the taboos or laws that exist in America, or actually doing something about it within your own country. If you think for a second that having the ability to marry to same-sex Mii's is a world-stopping problem, then my friends, you've got some serious re-prioritization to do.
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