Tomodachi Collection is Nintendo's take on The Sims. But unlike The Sims, same-sex marriages have apparently not been allowed. Until now.
In the recently released Tomodachi Collection: New Life, players are reporting a "bug" that allows male Mii characters to marry each other. It does not appear to allow female characters to do the same. Besides marriage, the bug also allows male couples to have and raise children.
This option differs from the previous Tomodachi Collection, which apparently did not allow same-sex marriages.
In Japan, some Tomodachi Collection: New Life owners seem thrilled by the bug, posting photos of their gay couples online. In the images, male Mii characters ask each other to go steady, propose marriage, go on Honeymoons, bathe together, and raise children.
And on Twitter, the hash tag #ホモコレ (#homokore or "homo collection") surfaced—a wordplay on "Tomokore", which is short for Tomodachi Collection. Yes, in Japan, of course, the word "homo" is also a slur; recently online, however, it's spawned a somewhat cute, but totally offensive meme, which also might explain why it's now being so freely tossed about.
One Twitter user claims to have contacted Nintendo's customer support, which supposedly said this is a bug and that the game needs to be patched. Online in Japan, however, there were many internet users who said they planned on getting this game only after learning of this bug—er, feature.
Nintendo has yet to officially confirm whether or not this is indeed a bug per se. Kotaku is following up and will update this article should the company comment.
3DSトモコレに男同士で子供が生まれるバグ [2ch]
Update: In a comment released to MCVUK, Nintendo stated that there wasn't a bug that allowed same sex marriage. Rather, some fans had dressed female characters to look like male ones. However, around the time this rumor was originally reported, Nintendo released a patch with phrasing that suggested in the game "human relations became strange." Nintendo told MCVUK it meant that "human relations become altered." However, the patch's word confused native Japanese speakers as well, with websites and commenters (here, here, and here, for example) appearing to think the patch notes referred to gay relationships.
Photos: @koenuco, @kunhurin, @muramuramurata, @marvco1, @mio3chio, @nisicooooo245、ぱの逃亡
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