Comedian John Oliver takes on Nintendo’s controversial same-sex apology

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May 19, 2014

Last night's episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO featured a brief segment focused on Nintendo's recent apology for not allowing same-sex relationships in the recently released 3DS game, Tomodachi Life. In the segment, Mario receives a phone call with the news that Nintendo wants to create more inclusive experiences in the future, and immediately after this, Link enters the scene and the two lovingly lock lips.

The clip also shows Zelda and Princess Peach in a romantic bedroom encounter, Yoshi and Toad tying the knot, and Bowser weeping for his dead partner Donkey Kong. In this fictional world, Bowser and Donkey Kong were married, so Bowser gets to collect death benefits.

Last month, a fan launched a social media campaign calling out the fact that Tomodachi Life did not support same-sex relationships. This campaign, #Miiquality, quickly picked up steam, and Nintendo initially told The Associated Press that it was not trying to make a statement about marriage equality with Tomodachi Life.

LGBT advocacy group GLAAD criticized Nintendo's comments, and Nintendo would later issue a new statement saying it is "committed to fun and entertainment for everyone." Nintendo says it can't simply patch in same-sex relationships for Tomodachi Life, but promised that if it makes a new Tomodachi Life game, it will "design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players."

Tomodachi Life is one of the most popular 3DS games of all time, selling 1.85 million units, and it's not even released in the United States yet. For more on Tomodachi Life, be sure to read GameSpot's interview with Nintendo's Bill Trinen.