A Nintendo videogame released in Japan on Wednesday and drops in the U.S. in 2016 will break new ground by including the option for same-sex marriage for the first time.
The characters in the popular role-playing game series Fire Emblem will be able to marry people of the same sex. Nintendo issued this statement to announce the decision:
“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.”
The gaming company had previously received criticism for not offering same-sex relationship options in its games. The new game will be called Fire Emblem Fates in North America and is playable on Nintendo’s handheld 3DS console.
Dennis Koble, Sprint 2 (1976)
Koble is one of the few Atari engineers who went on to make money in the game business. Now he's working on a new game called Super Sitting Ducks.Gregg Segal for TIMERich Adam, Missile Command (1980)
Adam is currently taking aim at Sonic the Hedgehog with a new game called Echidna.Gregg Segal for TIMEEd Logg, Asteroids (1979)
Atari’s master of design — he made Centipede (1980) too — battle-tests the group’s new games.Gregg Segal for TIMELyle Rains, Tank (1974)
His multi-joystick game rolled out several sequels. His new target: Angry Birds.Gregg Segal for TIMEBruce Merritt, Black Widow (1982)
His multidirectional shooter scored a hit in the early '80s. His next game is a perspective twister.Gregg Segal for TIMETim Skelly, Rip-Off (1980)
More of a philosopher than a programmer, Skelly’s black-and-white vector-graphics game for Atari rival Cinematronics has a cult following among the arcade cognoscenti. Now he has joined forces with his old competitors as Innovative Leisure's in-house game guru.Gregg Segal for TIMEOwen Rubin, Major Havoc (1983)
The prolific Rubin is best known as the guy who made the volcano erupt in Battlezone. He also earned the nickname “The Black Thumb” at Atari because he had a knack for making games crash. His curse makes him invaluable as a game tester at the newly formed company.Gregg Segal for TIMEEd Rotberg, Battlezone (1980)
He brought virtual reality to gaming and is working on a new way to play.Gregg Segal for TIMEBob Smith and Rob Zdybel, Atari 2600 (1977)
They made games for Atari’s home console. Now they’re reinventing the trackball for the iPad era.Gregg Segal for TIME
