It wasn’t too long ago that Nintendo was hesitant about adding same sex marriage into Tomodachi Life. No matter how much fervor the Big N received online, nothing came to fruition. Whether their cause for this was reasonable or not, they missed an opportunity to take a more progressive approach in their games. It appears that they are now rectifying their previous choice. Nintendo announced that their upcoming strategy RPG, Fire Emblem Fates will allow players to indulge in same-sex marriage–a feature which was not allowed in previous iterations.

Here is what the Big N had to say about how marriage will work:

“Fire Emblem Fates comes in two different versions, called the Conquest and Birthright editions. In the U.S., Conquest and Birthright will both be sold separately, as is already the case in Japan. For those who have purchased either the Conquest or Birthright edition, a third edition will be made available as downloadable content at a later stage. Details on how the three storylines will be made available in other regions will be announced at a later date.

In the Conquest edition of the game, there is a male character that the game’s player may have his/her male main character marry after they bond in battle. Similarly, the Birthright edition features a female character that a female main character may marry after bonding in battle. Both of the aforementioned characters can be encountered in the third edition of the game.”

The statement continues as follows:

“We believe that our gameplay experiences should reflect the diversity of the communities in which we operate and, at the same time, we will always design the game specifications of each title by considering a variety of factors, such as the game’s scenario and the nature of the game play. In the end of course, the game should be fun to play. We feel that Fire Emblem Fates is indeed enjoyable to play and we hope fans like the game.”

Whatever their reasons for taking a 180 on the situation, it should be applauded. As progressive as the industry believes it is, there is still plenty of work to be done. This here is a nice step forward. The community needs to remember that it’s not about being politically correct, it’s about being diverse and not being intolerant. Make sure to let us know how you feel about same sex marriage finally being included in a Nintendo title.