Talk:Tomodachi Life/GA3

GA review

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Nominator: TheBrickGraphic (talk · contribs) 23:06, 6 February 2026 (UTC)

Reviewer: Cukie Gherkin (talk · contribs) 18:45, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

Infobox

• Developer unlisted outside of infobox
  • Found a TheGamer article that mentions Nintendo SPD. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• A lot of the team is only in the infobox and uncited; is there truly no information regarding any of the directors, for instance?
  • Incorporated director informaiton into Development, now titled "Development and release". Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• NA release date is only in lead and infobox
  • Added source detailing its North American and European release date. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

Lead

• The lead should be expanded; for example, the same-sex relationship controversy should be explained in the lead, and the third paragraph could be expanded to include a line about the fact that it now allows players to choose their Miis' sexualities
  • Added the following sentences:
    • "The game was initially released as Tomodachi Collection: New Life on April 18, 2013 in Japan. Unlike its predecessor, Nintendo sought to rerelease the game overseas, and undertook major localization efforts to appeal to differing regions. Under the title Tomodachi Life, it released on June 6, 2014..."
    • "An inability for Miis to have same-sex relationships was widely criticized by reviewers and the subject of online controversy."
    • "Among other customization additions, the player now able to manually select their Miis' sexualities, permitting same-sex pairings."
  • Let me know if these read well. TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
    • These read well - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 21:10, 11 February 2026 (UTC)
• The date info should be tweaked. Namely, the second and third instances of 2014 should be removed, like this: "The game was released on April 18, 2013 in Japan. It later released on June 6, 2014 in North America and Europe, June 7 in Australia, and July 17 in South Korea."
•  Done.
• Note that a punctuation should follow release info; i.e. "June 6, 2014, in North America"
•  Done.

Gameplay

• "in a dedicated menu" Unnecessary detail
  • Removed. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• Section should discuss the fact that the game operates on the 3DS' internal clock
  • @Cukie Gherkin: The only semi-reliable sources I could find discussing the clock feature is TheGamer article "Games That Are Set To Real Time" and the GameRevolution review For the former's section pertaining to Tomodachi Life, it doesn't actually mention the clock directly; it kind of seems to skirm around it as if the title of the article is the sole context? ("...the opportunity to live their best lives in real-time") For the latter, all it says is that Tomodachi Life has "less of a dependency on the system clock" than Animal Crossing. I could try to find a first-person Nintendo source that discusses this; would that be appropriate?
    • I can take a look myself in a bit - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 21:10, 11 February 2026 (UTC)
    • Having looked, I didn't find anything to verify this (and I dug pretty deep). @TheBrickGraphic: I think using primary sourcing to verify the clock's function is fine in this case. - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 21:29, 11 February 2026 (UTC)
      • Added the following: "Time on the island passes parallel to that set on the 3DS' internal clock." Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 23:06, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

Development

• Section is too light, especially when there is sourcing on development (which can also verify key people):
  • Expanded the section using the interview you provided. Let me know if aything reads awkwardly or should be cut. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
    • Update: I found a Nintendojo article (considered reliable per WP:VG/S) that discusses Tomodachi Collection's development and mentions the fact that a worldwide localization of the game was considered by Nintendo. However, it was ultimately scrapped because the text-to-speech software employed for the Miis mechanically could not replicate English phonemes, being built solely for Japanese; changing the software itself felt too extreme of an alteration, so the localization plan was scrapped. I find this very interesting and something that should definitely be noted in this article's Development section, but I'm having trouble as to where exactly. Should it go into the first paragraph discussing the early development of Life, since that's where Collection is most referenced? Or the "Localization" section because the source, well, discusses an attempt to localize a former Tomodachi game? It's minor, but I'd like your input on this if possible. TheBrickGraphic (talk) 02:53, 9 February 2026 (UTC)

      I think localization is fine for it, because whether the series would be localized doesn't really influence development Cukie Gherkin (talk) 21:12, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

      • Added. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 23:06, 11 February 2026 (UTC)
• "Hinting directly at an overseas launch for the game" appears to be original research, I'd suggest dropping all of this: "A release for Tomodachi Collection: New Life to other regions was heavily considered during and after the game's release in Japan. On January 29, 2014, Satoru Iwata told The Wall Street Journal that "the company is now working on the right balance of localizing Japan-oriented games just enough so that foreign audiences can enjoy them", hinting directly at an overseas launch for the game."
  •  Done.
• "formally releasing" I'm not sure what formally is meant to imply
  • Removed "formally". Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• While the Computer and Video Games source identifies Sakamoto as the Super Metroid director, I think that's not really sufficient to mention his work on the Metroid series.
  • Removed "...best known for his work on the Metroid series..."
• Should say when it launched with the Sea Green 3DS
  • Added source detailing its North American and European release date. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• WP:HOWEVER
  • Removed. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• Inconsistent use of U.S., United States, and North America
  • Replaced with "North America" in all instances. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• I feel like promotion makes more sense before the release info since it took place chronologically
  • Restructured the entire section to the best of my ability; let me know if anything seems amiss. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

Reception

• Remove Metacritic score and GR score from the prose; additionally, I would suggest removing GameRankings, as consensus has been in favor of only using it in the event that it is either drastically different or the only aggregate available.
  •  Done.
• WP:HOWEVER
  • Removed. Y
• "about 404,858" should just be the number since it's likely the exact sale figure
  •  Done
• It being one of the best-selling 3DS games is unverified
  • Removed the mention altogether in both Reception and the lead. There was a citation to the claim in a past version of the article, but it was a Nintendo primary source that didn't feel necessary to me. Now though, I don't think it being a best-seller is super important to mention anyway. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• "Most critics" is this the case? Looking at the review template, it seems like most of the critics cited in the article aren't being cited for the humor. Suggest "Many critics" instead.
  •  Done.
• The way things are structured makes it a little weird since the article introduces a Nintendo Direct for a third game having same-sex relationships before confirming that a Nintendo Direct confirmed the existence of a third game. I would consider moving this info down into "Sequel".
  • Ah, I see what you mean. Just moved it down. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• Review box is pretty large; guidelines for inclusion says that only 10 reviews should be featured so as to not make it so dominating.
  • Reduced to 13; this was about as much I could do since most of them are incorporated into the prose. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
    • On second thought, I figure not every review in the prose needs to be in the table. Just removed USgamer, Joystiq, and GameTrailers. Y 22:58, 8 February 2026 (UTC)
• Stars should not be used in the review box; swap with their equivalent number rating
  •  Done.
• On the review box, for removing sources, I suggest removing the Official Nintendo Magazine source, Edge source, and GamesTM source, as none of them are used in review prose. Also, remove the Pocket Gamer source and Nintendo World Report source since they are cited outside of the review box, but not for reception.
  •  Done.

Images

• Image looks good, but the infobox squishes the gameplay screenshot down pretty far.
  • Admittedly this was a concern of mine when I first replaced the original gameplay screenshot, but I was also worried about a potential MOS:SANDWICH situation if I changed the picture's position to the left. Do you have any suggestions for how to go about this? After expanding the article in accordance with your comments the picture does seem to look less awkward. TheBrickGraphic (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

    With the lead expansion, this shouldn't be an issue anymore - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 21:09, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

Spotcheck

• "By continuously adding Miis and completing miscellaneous objectives, additional buildings, shops, and attractions throughout the island become unlocked. These include food and clothing vendors, an amusement park, observation tower, café, and other venues that Miis can occasionally visit in their own time." In spotchecking the Destructoid source (and the other sources to verify the content it did not check), none of them mention a cafe
  • Added the Nintendo Life review, which mentions the cafe. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 23:06, 11 February 2026 (UTC)
• Looks good
• Is there a better source to say that it's text-to-speech?
  • Found a VG427 source that outwardly calls it "speech synthesis"... surpised I didn't find this sooner. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 23:06, 11 February 2026 (UTC)
• Looks good, except for the review box, I noticed it's not cited in the reception section. I'd suggest removing it from the review box and adding back in one of the ones you removed that is used in the reception prose or finding a way to work this review's reception into the prose.
  • That's weird, just incorporated it into the prose. Y TheBrickGraphic (talk) 23:06, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

Nominator Comments

• @Cukie Gherkin: All comments have been addressed. TheBrickGraphic (talk) 23:06, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

  Everything looks good. As a recommendation if you ever bring it to FAC, I would look into Japanese RSes, as Yoshi's New Island's FAC faced difficulties for lacking a Japanese perspective on the games. You can use my source searching tool to find some of these RSes. - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 23:22, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

  Oh, thanks! TheBrickGraphic (talk) 23:27, 11 February 2026 (UTC)