Tomodachi Life response shows Nintendo is "behind the times", says GLAAD

Nintendo's response to criticism of Tomodachi Life's heteronormativity shows the platform holder is out of touch, advocate group GLAAD has said.

A misconception about a patch issued to the Japanese game made press and fans believe Nintendo had patched gay and lesbian relationships out of Tomodachi Life. Nintendo has since corrected this idea, but in a wince-worthy PR fumble, went on to say the lack of same-sex relationships is because Tomodachi Collection doesn't engage in "social commentary".

LGBT advocacy group GLAAD has responded accordingly.

“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,” GLAAD national spokesperson Wilson Cruz told VentureBeat.

“It’s been over a decade since The Sims — the original ‘whimsical and quirky’ life simulator — allowed its users to marry any character they wanted, and many other mainstream and massively popular video games have followed their lead since. Nintendo should do the same.”

Tomodachi Life is coming to 3DS in early June. It allows players to populate their games with Miis they create or import, and set them free to live their lives. With little prompting from the player, the Miis go about their business, resulting in weird and amusing friendships, relationships and rivalries.

Thanks, Polygon.