Happy Pride Month! We’ve been writing about abunch of different things to celebrate the occasion here at TheGamerbecause we’re a horde of deplorable fruits, but not everyone carries the same level of enthusiasm for all things LGBTQ+. This is especially true for the massive corporations of our world. While they might change their profile pictures on social media to a colourful version of their logo for the entire month, it can be ever so easy to see through the cynical intentions of rainbow capitalism.Right now, Nintendo is currently holding a promotion on the Switch eShop known simply as ‘Hidden Gems’, which is a title you’d regularly associate with underrated titles, or perhaps an indie or two. What doesn’t spring to mind is queer people, but aside from the name, everything about the sale is fruity. The rainbow aesthetic has landed smack bang in the middle of Pride Month, while all the games included as part of the promotion are either recognised as queer or at least come packed with a number of frequently discussed undertones.Related:Riku Being Gay Is Key To Kingdom Hearts
Here’s the full list of games on offer:
All these games arepretty damn gay,with some focusing entirely on stories about queer identity. A Normal Lost Phone has the player navigating the phone of a trans teenager still coming to terms with who they are, while Gone Home is a similarly emotional ride about a young girl dealing with the unfair prejudice of her parents. Steven Universe, Coffee Talk, Bugsnax, and Chicory are all lined with equal amounts of queerness and don’t beat around the bush when it comes to the pride we attach to our LGBTQ+ identities. It is clearly what the sale focuses on, so I’m baffled by the obscure language that seemingly wants to avoid any direct association with Pride Month. Nintendo isn’t homophobic, but this is still a weird look.
PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam have put their Pride promotions at the forefront this month as they all offer discounts on dozens of games while ensuring those featuring queer voices are promoted far more than usual. Nintendo putting LGBTQ+ games under a different label that goes so far as to claim them as hidden is somewhat hurtful. It implies that queerness is to be hidden away, and only a few gems are deserving of being highlighted. Perhaps there is a fear that going with more official Pride branding would only serve for fans to point out the lack of representation in its own exclusive catalogue. Since, let’s be real, there isn’t any.
I’m old enough to remember when rumours circulated about Nintendo removing same-sex marriage from Tomodachi Life, a 3DS game in which players resorted to dressing up their Mii in specific ways to skirt around gender restrictions. Evenour list of LGTBQ+ characters seen in Nintendo-published gamesis 90 percent Fire Emblem and a ghost from Paper Mario. It’s not exactly a star showing, so maybe this really is a case of covering its own ass while doing all in its power to highlight games with queer representation. But we need to have conversations about its lacking diversity and what steps can be taken in the future to make Nintendo a more inclusive, welcoming developer when it comes to the games we know and love.The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhas taken on apowerful queer identityof its own without any canon representation, so why not lean into it?
