Nintendo’s recent Nintendo Direct was entirely about Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, showing off its customization options and release date. But gamers pretty much only wanted one thing: same-sex relationships. Luckily, Nintendo has finally given the masses the queer experience of their dreams.
Nintendo fans have long been critical of Tomodachi Life for being behind the times. It arrived in 2009 as a dollhouse simulation where you could only be a cisgender, straight Mii. Queer players even resorted to using mods in 2014 as Nintendo continued to deny the LGBTQIA+ crowd of Tomodachi representation.
Now, mere moments into the latest Nintendo Direct, it was confirmed that Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will allow Miis to be nonbinary and attracted to multiple genders (or none). Was that really so hard, Nintendo!?
It does come as a surprise, to be honest, since Nintendo has been pretty tight-lipped and conservative (so maybe thin-lipped) about queer representation even in recent years.
Nintendo gamers can finally be gay in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
While it does sound almost silly when simplified to this extent, the ability to be queer in Tomodachi Life has actually been an ongoing issue in the Tomodachi community (yes, there is one).
In 2013, Japanese fans of Tomodachi Life on 3DS realized they could have same-sex relationships in the game, albeit only between two men. However, it turns out it was a bug that Nintendo patched out of the game entirely. It was a pretty harsh response from Nintendo in the eyes of Tomodachi players.
Before the 3DS version of Tomodachi Life arrived in the United States, the community began demanding same-sex relationships ahead of its overseas launch. It became known as “miiquality,” led by Tyler Marini.
“Because the game has such a huge focus on relationships, this is a problem for many LGBTQ gamers,” Marini said in an email to Kotaku back in the day. “I believe this is a significant issue that should be resolved or at least acknowledged by Nintendo, so I started a movement in hopes to convince Nintendo to add same-sex relationships to Tomodachi Life via an update, or at least ensure that it is included in a future sequel—the Miiquality movement.”
As the movement grew on social media, Nintendo decided to address the controversy. They were not willing to let such blasphemy into their all-important relationship simulator for the 3DS, but promised changes in the future.
“If we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive and better represents all players,” Nintendo responded.
This apparently came true after all. A big win for the LGBTQIA+ community during such a cursed timeline. Now, is it time for a big Nintendo Switch 2 game release? Or are we all getting married in Tomodachi Life to actually have a use for the console this month?
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