Tomodachi Life: Marriage & Babies Guide - Your Questions Answered...

* SPOILER ALERT* 

Warning, this post does contain spoilers!

Marriage and child-rearing are just two of the many events that occur in Nintendo's wacky and ever-popular 3DS game, Tomodachi Life. Throughout these events, players are expected to perform a set of mini-games, which are fun, but which can also prove quite tricky and frustrating at times. Thus, we here at Mini Gamers HQ have compiled this list of handy hints and frequently asked questions that may help you through your Miis' first experiences of marriage and parenthood.


1) How do Miis get married in the game?

Any adult Mii who is in a relationship with another adult Mii in the game may express thoughts of marriage quite soon after the two of them have become sweethearts. They will come to you and say something like: "I want to propose to ... Do you think I should?" 

If you encourage your Mii to go ahead and propose to their beloved sweetheart, you will then be asked to select from a variety of different options, including how your Mii should propose, where the proposal should take place, and whether they should change their clothes before proposing or not. Once these things have been decided, your Mii will request your help to propose at the right time. This is essentially what the Proposal mini-game centres around.

You join your Mii and his or her possible future spouse on their date. During the date, your Mii will be given three separate chances to propose to their intended sweetheart. These chances are represented as three floating love-hearts above your Mii's head.

During the date, your Mii will try to lead up to asking the all important question. Whilst your Mii is planning what to say, your Miis intended spouse will have a variety of thoughts going through their mind. These thoughts are displayed as images in little thought bubbles. When this thought bubble shows the face of the Mii who is trying to propose, you must tap the 'Now' heart icon on the bottom screen, to tell your Mii that it is the right time to propose.

The images in the thought bubbles can change very rapidly and it is easy to get the timing wrong. This will lead to an unsuccessful proposal if it happens too many times. Thus, you must try and tap the 'Now' heart icon as quickly as possible when you see your Mii's  face appear in their sweetheart's thoughts.

If you successfully identify your Mii's face, you will get a thumbs up and your Mii will start his or her proposal. If you can successfully identify your Mii's face and tap the 'Now' icon in time three times, then you will have conquered the proposal mini-game and your Miis will get married and will go on honeymoon together before moving into one of the special 'Mii Homes' for married couples.

2) What happens if I get it wrong during the proposal mini-game, does this mean my Miis will break up?

No, if you are unsuccessful at the proposal mini-game your Miis will remain as sweethearts for now. Provided that they remain happy together, your Mii will get another chance to propose to his or her sweetheart at a later date.

3) My Miis got married! How soon can they start a family?

This can take between 3-7 days after the marriage has taken place, depending on your Miis. Once your Miis are ready to start a family they will come to you and say something like: "I have been thinking of having a child with ... What do you think?"

If you are happy for your Miis to have a child together, then choose the positive option. If you wish to delay their parenthood, then choose the negative option. Once encouragement has been given, it will take about another 2-3 days for your Miis to actually have their baby. You will receive a phone call and will go to your Miis' home, where they will present their newborn baby to you.

4) I don't like the way the newborn baby looks, can I customise it?

Yes, the game comes with several customisation options for babies. Your Miis will ask you several different questions regarding the baby's gender, personality, name and looks, all of which you will be able to customise if you choose to do so.

5) How quickly do babies grow up?

Babies grow up very quickly in the game. It will take between 3-7 days for a baby to grow up into an independent Mii who is capable of moving into their own apartment on the Island. Whilst the baby is growing up, you can visit the baby at its parents house and you will even get requests from your adult Miis to help babysit the baby at least once per day whilst it is growing up.

6) Help! I can't get the baby to stop crying! What am I doing wrong?

Babies in Tomodachi Life come with three separate mini-games that represent each stage of the baby's development from newborn, to six month old baby, to toddler, after which they will grow into an independent Mii.

In the newborn baby 'rocking' mini-game: You must rock the crying baby to sleep in your arms. This is done by gently moving the 3DS system around to simulate a rocking motion. The baby should then calm down and eventually go off to sleep.

  Mini Gamers found this game particularly frustrating at first, as any movement we made seemed to unsettle the baby more. In the end, we found that holding the 3DS like a book and gently tapping the side of the 3DS rhythmically to make the on-screen arms rock gently seemed to work very well, although do bear in mind that some babies prefer to be rocked more gently than others.

The 'Peekaboo' mini-game represents the baby's second stage of development. You must tickle or pat the baby gently to make it stop crying or play a game of 'Peekaboo' with it. As with the newborn baby mini game, this game has many variables, so it may be worth trying a different combination of tickling, patting and 'Peekaboo' to see which one the baby responds to best.

Some babies prefer to play 'Peekaboo' but don't want to be patted or tickled, some will prefer to be tickled instead of patted or vice versa, and some babies will only calm down if a combination of 'Peekaboo' and either tickling or patting is used, it depends upon the baby's individual personality.

The third and final 'Swing around' mini-game occurs when your new baby Mii has reached the toddler stage. It is by far the easiest of the three baby mini-games to complete. Simply swing the toddler around by moving the stylus around in a circle on the bottom screen. Do this until the toddler laughs and becomes cheerful again.

You will receive an award for helping your Miis to babysit the baby. Please note, you will be given this reward regardless of whether you are successful in getting the baby to stop crying.

7) How many children can my Miis have?

This is unknown at present. Original Japanese reports of the game suggested that households were limited to only three children each, but there have since been reports of Mii couples who have had five or more children born to each household, so it seems that the actual number can vary depending on the size of your existing Island population. Each Tomodachi Life island can only hold a maximum of one hundred Miis, which includes all children born in the game.

8) My Mii has grown up, what happens now?

Once the baby has become an independent Mii, you will be given a choice: Allow them to remain on the island as a permanent resident, or send them away on an adventure via the 3DS' StreetPass function.

If you choose to let your Mii remain on the Island, they will move into their own apartment separate from their parent's house. Please note, all children born in Tomodachi Life are not given a birth year when they grow up. This means that you can choose their age when they move into their own apartment, so you may wish to make them into an adult who is capable of getting married and having a child of their own, or prefer to keep them as a young child Mii instead. It is entirely up to you!

If you choose to send the Mii on an adventure, they will visit other Tomodachi Islands via StreetPass, but will still write letters to their parents and may even return home to visit them once in a while. Sending kids on adventures is a great way of communicating with other Tomodachi Life users whilst also keeping your Island population low.

Remember to check out the new 'Kid Info' section in the town hall, which becomes unlocked once your child Mii has grown up. Every kid gets a special book which is worth looking at every now and again!

So that concludes our Tomodachi Life Marriages and Babies guide. We hope you found it useful. If you have any other questions about the game that are not covered in this guide, then please do not hesitate to contact us via our comments link at the bottom of this post, and we will do our best to try and help answer them for you.

Love Is In The Air...Or Is It? How to make Miis Into Sweethearts Or Get Married In Tomodachi Life.

Mini Gamers has noticed that a few of you have been inquiring about how to get your Miis to fall in love and become sweethearts in Tomodachi Life.  Well, as in real life, the game contains an element of chance, so there is no sure-fire way to be certain that the two Miis you wish to match up will actually fall for each other, as it all depends on their compatibility and personality traits, but there are certain elements that will make it easier for your chosen Miis to get together:

• Friends first, Sweethearts later:

Having your two chosen Miis become friends and start hanging around together a lot, eventually leading to them becoming 'best friends,' will no doubt increase the relationship scores of your two chosen Miis, and may make one of them think about asking the other one out. 

When the relationship reaches a certain level, one of your chosen Miis will say something like: "I think [Mii name] likes me. What do you think?"  You can then encourage your Mii to pursue the desired relationship.

• Compatibility Rating: 

It might be worth checking your Miis compatibility rating before deciding to let them become a couple. The compatibility rating is based on things such as your Miis likes and dislikes and their individual personalities. 

Nevertheless, the compatibility rating is merely a guide, and it is possible to have Miis with low compatibility form relationships with each other over time, just as it is equally possible to have Miis with a high compatibility rating suddenly wish to break-up after being in a relationship for only a short time. It is part of the quirky nature that is Tomodachi Life, and there does not seem to be a specific rhyme or reason to it.

• Mii Matchmakers:

Other Miis on the island may also have a suggestion about who would make a good couple and may prompt you by saying something like: "I think [Person A] and [Person B] should get together, what should I do?"  

You should encourage the matchmaking Mii to get their suggested couple on some dates and see what happens. If the two Miis have compatible personalities, then cupid's arrow just might hit its intended target once they have both agreed to a date.

•  It's All Hearts And Orange Balloons:

A good way of telling whether a potential romance is about to blossom is to watch the various thought balloons that surround your Tomodachi Islanders. Hearts often mean that romance is close at hand, while orange thought balloons with the face of another Mii in it can mean that the Mii who thought it has romantic feelings for the person whose face is being displayed.

Failure To Prepare Is To Prepare To Fail etc.: 

Once your Mii has decided to ask another Mii out, you can choose to help them by selecting the manner in which the Mii asks out his/her chosen date (e.g. sing a song, give a present, etc), as well as the setting where the Miis should meet, and what clothing the Mii should wear in order to make a good impression on their intended sweetheart.

Again, there is no way of knowing whether the combination of all these elements will actually result in a successful romantic coupling, as this will all depend on whether the object of your Mii's affections has a compatible personality, and his or her individual likes or dislikes and general mood.

If the object of your Mii's affections also happens to have a high compatibility with another potential suitor on the island, then that rival Mii may well show up on your Mii's date and also declare their affections for your Mii's intended sweetheart. 

It will then be up to the Mii who is the object of those desires to make a choice between his or her available suitors, so even after planning the perfect date, your Mii may still find themselves being spurned by the one they love. Thus, (Tomodachi) life can sure seem unfair at times, can't it?

Proposing Marriage: 

Once your chosen Miis have become sweethearts, they may wish to marry. Oddly, the process of getting your Mii to propose to his or her sweetheart depends on a quirky little mini-game in which a series of Tomodachi Mii faces will appear to flash through your Mii's mind. Only one of these Miis will be your Mii's intended fiance(e). 

The object of the mini-game is to tap on the heart symbol every time your Mii's sweetheart is displayed, but you will have to be quick, as it will only be on screen for about one second before another face appears. 

If you correctly select your Mii's sweetheart three times in quick succession, then the proposal will be accepted and your Miis will be free to enjoy married bliss and unlock new portions of the game that can only be accessed by married characters. 

Don't worry if you fail the mini-game, there will always be another chance for your Mii to propose again, but it may not happen straightaway, so you will have to be patient.

In conclusion, the nature of Tomodachi Life means that the game is subject to a lot of random (and sometimes unwanted) gameplay. The player's role is much more voyeuristic than in other games of this type and thus although the player can guide their Miis in certain directions during the game, they ultimately are unable to force their Miis to do things that the Miis themselves do not want to do.

Thus in the case of romance within Tomodachi Life, it is a lot of luck, some compatibility and some player-led decisions that will make the chosen Miis fall in love, but hopefully the above steps will help you to know where to start when it comes to leading your chosen Mii down the rocky path to romance and all the chaos and drama that unfolds along with it. Good luck!

Nintendo Appologizes For Tomodachi Life Same-Sex Exclusion - Is It Too Little Too Late?

Nintendo have today issued a further apology to ts fans following the mass outcry about the lack of same-sex couples in their upcoming life simulation game, Tomodachi Life, which is scheduled to be released in America and Europe on the 6th of June 2014.

Nintendo had previously defended its position about the lack of same-sex marriage within the game by claiming that the game was "Not a social commentary" on gay marriage. Today however, Nintendo sought to clarify their position via a message posted on the Nintendo website. The full message can be read below:

We are committed to fun and entertainment for everyone
2014-05-09

We apologize for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to change this game’s design, and such a significant development change can’t be accomplished with a post-ship patch. At Nintendo, dedication has always meant going beyond the games to promote a sense of community, and to share a spirit of fun and joy. We are committed to advancing our longtime company values of fun and entertainment for everyone. We pledge that if we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players.

Sourced from:  http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/c4FWbi-Uave2T9R1h7SFzX0aoa-d4pgx

Tomodachi Life's exclusion of same-sex couples (however unwitting that exclusion might be) has angered many fans and attracted the attention of Gay and Lesbian Rights groups such as GLAAD. A Spokesperson for GLAAD recently criticised Nintendo:  "In purposefully limiting players' relationship options, Nintendo is not only sending a hurtful message to many of its fans and consumers by excluding them, but also setting itself way behind the times," [Sourced from: http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/08/glaad-to-nintendo-lack-of-gay-characters-in-new-life-sim-is-hurtful-and-behind-the-times/]

It is yet unclear whether the lack of same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life will definitely have an adverse effect on sales when it is released in Europe next month, but it is a shame that Nintendo did not consider this issue before choosing to release the game to a Western audience. Let's all hope video games producers can learn a lesson from Nintendo's mistake and make games without such inequality in the future.

Nintendo stands firm over 'No Gay Couples' Tomodachi Life Policy...

Nintendo of America has announced that its  Tomodachi Life 3DS game will NOT be altered to allow same-sex couples to fall in love or get married when the game is released in America and Europe in June. The announcement comes after it was revealed in a Kotaku article last month that the Japanese game had originally contained a 'glitch' that allowed same-sex couples to exist within the game. This was part of a software bug which, as well as allowing same-sex relationships, also allowed Tomodachi Mii characters to be assigned to various already-married Mii households within the game.

Nintendo quickly created a patch code to correct the glitch, which then made it impossible to assign new Mii characters to married households, and furthermore, made it impossible for same-sex characters fall in love, get married or have children. Same-sex couples were never part of the original game as gay marriage is still illegal in Japan.

As the Western release of the game is based on the original Japanese codes, players in America and Europe will also be denied the chance to create same-sex couples, which has angered Nintendo fans who argue that as the game is supposed to be a realistic representation of their own social group of friends and family, they should have the right to choose to have same-sex couples within the game.

Tye Marini,a gay 23-year old Nintendo fan from Arizona, had launched a campaign urging Nintendo to allow same-sex relationships. The Social Media "Miiquality" campaign had been fighting to get Nintendo to change their mind about the marriage equality in Tomodachi Life, as he argued that fans who chose to create same-sex couples within the game would never be able to experience much of the exclusive content that becomes unlocked after characters have fallen in love.

Nintendo has responded to its angry fans by claiming that:  "Nintendo never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of 'Tomodachi Life', the relationship options in the game represent a playful alternate world rather than a real-life simulation. We hope that all of our fans will see that 'Tomodachi Life' was intended to be a whimsical and quirky game, and that we were absolutely not trying to provide social commentary." [sourced from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/07/nintendo-miiquality-campaign-gay-tomodachi-life]

Nevertheless, whether the game was intended to provide a social commentary or not, as a game which has marketed itself on allowing players to recreate Mii avatars of their own family and friends and have them interact together in a realistic way, it seems rather remiss of Nintendo not to allow western same-sex couples the chance to interact together in the game when they normally would fall in love and get married etc., in real life.

However, it can also be argued that other Life Simulation games have also suffered from these kinds of prejudices in the past, including the ever-popular The Sims  franchise, who (although choosing to feature same-sex couples and marriage,) did not feature any physically-disabled Sims , which upset some players who argued that they could not create a realistic avatar of themselves within the game.

In this enlightened age when equal rights is considered to be a very important issue, it is disappointing to  see Nintendo not taking the feelings and wishes of its fans into account. If we are going to have games which feature real-life simulations, then don't the producers owe it to the fans who play the games to make them as prejudice-free and true to real life as possible?

HAVE YOUR SAY...

Is it right for the needs and wishes of different social groups to be omitted from the video games which claim to represent real-life demographics? 

What are the difficulties in trying to change or modify games to feature various marginalised sections of the community?  

Should same-sex couples be given equal rights in Tomodachi Life?

If you have something to say about this issue and wish to share it with other readers, then why not leave Mini Gamers a comment and let us know? We love to hear from you.

Tomodachi Life: Your Questions Answered....

Following the surprise announcement from Nintendo Direct, that another Japanese import, Tomodachi Life would receive its European release on the 6th of June 2014, we have been wondering exactly what this quirky game would entail. This is what Mini Gamers has managed to find out so far:

• Like Animal Crossing, this game is played in real-time, making it very realistic in some ways.

• Unlike other life simulation games to date, you do not directly interact with the in-game world as a playable character. You can put your own Mii into the game, but this Mii will function separately from you as the player. Instead, a players role is more like an external figure. It is your job to watch over the island residents, help them make some pretty life-changing decisions like how to tell their sweetheart that they want to marry them, etc., Take care of basic needs such as getting residents to take a bath or have some food, change their clothes etc, and much, much more!

• Miis will sometimes ask you directly to play a selection of mini-games with them.

• It is possible to create Miis of real-life celebrity figures by taking a photo of their face (from a poster, the TV or a magazine) and converting it with the 3DS Mii-Maker.

• Miis can get married. Married Miis are eligible to move into some exclusive apartments on Chin Island. Married Miis can also have a number of children each. The Japanese reports of the game have listed this number as limited to only three children per couple, but this has yet to be confimed. There have even been some rumours of some baby-related mini-games, 

• The Island can hold up to a maximum of 100 Mii residents. This includes all children born to married Miis on the Island.

• Children born in the game are given the choice of moving into their own apartments once they are fully grown, or they can be sent on a special trip via the 3DS' Streetpass function, where they can visit Tomodachi Islands on other 3DS systems. Any children sent on a trip will send postcards to their parents and will periodically return to visit them at various times.

• Players can alter the words that the Miis in Tamodachi Life speak to each other, suggest ways of responding to situations and even rewrite the words to the song lyrics that each Mii sings. 

• Players can enter the dreams of any Mii on Chin Island - there truly are some weird ones too!

• The screenshots and the Nintendo Direct trailer also showed cats and dogs, so it would seem as though pets will also be available in the game, but this has yet to be confirmed.

• The game will not feature a multiplayer online mode. Tomodachi Life plays very much like a single player game. Nevertheless, the game will come with social media integration possibilities, so you can take pictures of your Mii and upload it to Facebook to share with friends etc.

It would seem as though there is a lot to do and discover in this game. The subtitled Japanese trailer does seem to show the various marriage and child-rearing elements of the game in much more detail:

(Having trouble viewing this trailer? CLICK HERE)

Tomodachi Life seems a little hard to define at the moment, but it contains so many varied elements that its humour and quirky style is bound to make it very popular amongst the gaming community. The 6th of June 2014 cannot come soon enough!

One To Watch: Tomodachi Life [3DS]

Nintendo has today revealed an exciting new  Life Simulation game, Tomadachi Life (Tomodachi is the Japanese word for 'friend'), which will be released for the Nintendo 3DS on the 6th June 2014. The game allows players to create Miis of almost anyone they can think of and bring them to life in their own virtual world.

The game takes place on Chin island,  a special place inhabited by various Miis, which the player can import from their 3DS Mii Maker or via the 3DS QR code reader. Miis can also be created by using the 3DS camera or the in-game creation tools.

 Once created, these little avatars can be given their own voice and then players can set about creating a unique personality based on some slider inputs. The game is open-ended and almost anything can happen as new Miis interact together to form their own virtual communities.

Miis can perform various actions, such as eating, trying on different outfits and doing many leisurely activities such as going to the beach or dining at a restaurant, etc. As more Miis are introduced into the game, different interactions will become available and new events will occur. Miis can develop new skills and experience social developments such as friendship, romance, and rivalry, as well as take part in some bizarre musical numbers.

If you are curious about how all these elements work together, then the latest Nintendo Direct broadcast seeks to answer your questions:

  (Having trouble viewing this video? CLICK HERE)

Tomodachi Life  cleverly blends together many core elements from other Life Simulation games. If you have enjoyed games such as The Sims 3, Enchanted Folk or Animal Crossing, then this may be the perfect addition to your collection. Mini Gamers looks forward to bringing you further news about the game as it develops.