Some people think that engaging in online dating is quite weird, some think of it as pathetic, but most people have already accepted it as a new form of dating.
Now, if you are one of the people who think that online dating is weird, Konami developed a game for Nintendo DS called, “Love Plus.” Love Plus is a dating simulation game. There are 3 virtual girlfriends to choose from. And just to make things weirder, one of the virtual girlfriends, Nene Anegasaki, recently got married to a real Japanese guy known as Sal9000!
So what makes this game different from other dating simulation games? Of course, like other dating sims, the object of the game is to make three virtual girls fall in love to you. Some dating sim games end on that note. For Love Plus, on the other hand, making the girl fall for you is just the start. And that’s just the first half of the game.
The second half is that you already got the girl. You will now do things together. You can study together. You can talk with each other via the DS mic; you can email her; you can even touch her cheeks, forehead, and arms using your touch pad; you can set how you want your virtual girlfriend to address you; and she, over time, will modify to match your likes and dislikes. Even the way she speaks will slowly change over the course of the game.
So what is the purpose of this game? Is it to enhance your courting and communication skills, or to further become an anti-social? Hearing about the guy who married his virtual girlfriend makes me think of the latter. My online dating advice to you is to stick with human beings. It’s okay to play the game, just don’t get too attached to it – a flesh-and-blood date pwns a virtual one all the time. Which brings me to this question: Now that Anegasaki Nene is now married to a human, will Konami fire her? She can’t be married and be a virtual girlfriend of another human other than her husband, right? This is your Online Date Man wishing you a great holiday and a lot of happy datings to come.
