The town of Atami, Japan, is a beautiful seaside honeymoon resort, with warm summers, sandy beaches and the obligatory dormant volcano that all Japanese towns must have to give an undertone of terror to the whole experience. Boasting top class restaurants, cozy bars, quality hotels and a rather crass sex museum, it is the perfect place to take your loved one for that romantic break. Well, it was. It has gone downhill since it's prime as the honeymoon destination for Tokyo couples.
Until now.
Couples flock there by the thousands. And take single rooms. Just a young man, alone with his Nintendo DS. And his virtual girlfriend, Manaka, Rinko or Nene. Or all three, who are we to judge a man and his game system.
The game, Love Plus is pretty standard fare. Guy has a relationship with a schoolgirl (remember, this is Japan) and has to spend time with her, pay attention to her, and complete in-game tasks to gain brownie points. Earn enough brownie points and you get to go on holiday with your virtual girlfriend. In a virtual version of Atami.
The real Atami decided to leap on this money making opportunity like a sushi chef on a dolphin. Gamers are checked into hotels as couples, with some even paying a double room rate to feel like they are not alone. There are screens and augmented reality in various game locations, to let you show off your girlfriend to other guys with exactly the same girlfriend. You can eat special Love Plus menus in restaurants, just you and a slightly squeaky, robotic voiced box with a big eyed cartoon girl on screen, for the low price of $60. No word if you have to pay for her meal too, but a true gentleman should.
And the gamers take their virtualpets girlfriends deadly seriously. One guy even married his DS girl, and his proud, happy, pixelated bride's best friend made a speech at the reception. That is either incredibly inventive coding on Konami's part, or the absolute worst speech in the history of bad wedding speeches.
We know, this is all terribly sad. It could be spun as a commentary on today's society, if we really cared. But, hey, look on the bright side. It removes yet more losers from the gene pool.
Until now.
Couples flock there by the thousands. And take single rooms. Just a young man, alone with his Nintendo DS. And his virtual girlfriend, Manaka, Rinko or Nene. Or all three, who are we to judge a man and his game system.
The game, Love Plus is pretty standard fare. Guy has a relationship with a schoolgirl (remember, this is Japan) and has to spend time with her, pay attention to her, and complete in-game tasks to gain brownie points. Earn enough brownie points and you get to go on holiday with your virtual girlfriend. In a virtual version of Atami.
The real Atami decided to leap on this money making opportunity like a sushi chef on a dolphin. Gamers are checked into hotels as couples, with some even paying a double room rate to feel like they are not alone. There are screens and augmented reality in various game locations, to let you show off your girlfriend to other guys with exactly the same girlfriend. You can eat special Love Plus menus in restaurants, just you and a slightly squeaky, robotic voiced box with a big eyed cartoon girl on screen, for the low price of $60. No word if you have to pay for her meal too, but a true gentleman should.
And the gamers take their virtual
We know, this is all terribly sad. It could be spun as a commentary on today's society, if we really cared. But, hey, look on the bright side. It removes yet more losers from the gene pool.
Action figures are definitely next...
http://www.guyspeak.com/blog/newsworthy/man-marries-video-game-character-action-figures-likely-next/index.php
Yeah that's not creepy at all.
I think Bill Shatner said it best: Get a life, people. Seriously.
Where do these guys put their schmeckles? In a power outlet?
These are guys obsessed with a cartoon. I don't think that is going to be a problem.
Now, if it was Jessica Rabbit ...