When Nintendo released its role-playing video game Fire Emblem: Fates in Japan last year, players found out that along with choosing a character's gender or physical appearance, they could also select sexual orientation. But after applauding LGBT inclusion, some gamers in the West were dismayed to see that players can also opt to drug one of the game's lesbian characters and transform her into a straight woman.
Responding to complaints that the game promoted drugging a woman and gay conversion therapy, Nintendo executives announced this week that the company will alter the game for its release in the United States and Europe. The company will continue to sell the original version in Japan.
"In the version of the game that ships in the U.S. an d Europe, there is no expression which might be considered as gay conversion or drugging that occurs between characters," a Nintendo of America representative told Nintendo World Report[1].
The interaction in question occurs between Soleil, a lesbian character who gets nervous around women she meets. If the player chooses a male avatar, he can choose to slip Soleil a magic potion without her knowledge. The potion makes her see men as women. Soleil then falls in love with the man who drugged her and remains attracted to him even after the magic potion wears off—a first for her, as she has only been attracted to women .
Western gaming sites have deemed the interaction homophobic[2]—some users regard the interaction as nonconsensual and a form of gay conversion therapy.
Gay conversion therapy, sometimes known as reparative therapy, is founded on the belief that homosexuality is a choice that can be changed through therapy. It is often employed by religious organizations that attempt to "pray the gay away."
The American Psychiatric Association denounced[3] the practice in the 1990s, noting that these so-called therapies are not only ineffective but can also lead to anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. While President Barack Obama publicly endorsed state efforts to ban conversion therapy last April[4], only a handful of states[5]—California, Illinois, New Jers ey, and Oregon—have criminalized gay conversion therapy for minors.
Some Japanese gamers don't see the scene as a form of gay conversion therapy. Japanese commenters point to inherent cultural differences as the culprit for Western outcries, according to gaming site Kotaku.[6] For Japan, a nation dominated by non–Judeo-Christian religions, the religious programs well known in Western countries are not part of the zeitgeist. There's little information[7] on the prevalence of gay conversion therapy in Japan or what such therapy would entail.
That, in part, is why Nintendo executives will not alter the Japanese version.
"Making changes is not unusual when we localize games," Nintendo executives explained[8]. "When we localize a game we do so in order to make it appropriate for that particular territory. All our choices were made from that point of view."
Related stories on TakePart:
• Gay Men in Homophobic Countries Turn to Controversial U.S. Groups for Help[9]
• How Video Games Reward Misogyny and Abuse[10]
• Government Experts Dis Gay Conversion Therapy [11]
Original article[12] from TakePart
- Society & Culture
- Nintendo
- Japan
- gay conversion therapy
References
- ^ Nintendo World Rep ort (www.nintendoworldreport.com)
- ^ homophobic (www.destructoid.com)
- ^ denounced (psychology.ucdavis.edu)
- ^ ban conversion therapy last April (www.takepart.com)
- ^ handful of states (www.takepart.com)
- ^ Kotaku. (kotaku.com)
- ^ little information (equaldex.com)
- ^ explained (www.siliconera.com)
- ^ Gay Men in Homophobic Countries Turn to Controversial U.S. Groups for Help (www.takepart.com)
- ^ How Video Games Reward Misogyny and Abuse (www.takepart.com)
- ^ Government Experts Dis Gay Conversion Therapy (www.takepart.com)
- ^ Original article (www.takepart.com)
