Virtual Dating Getting "Popular"

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Guys in Japan, who don't have real girlfriends, have opted for virtual girlfriends and are now flocking to famous beaches in Japan on dates and to take photos with those virtual girlfriends at famous landmarks. Now that s bizarre!

Virtual girlfriends? Talk about a cheap date!

Does this guy's virtual girlfriend know he's walking around 

on the beach taking photos with another guy? 

I'm not making this up.

The article states:

If you visited the Japanese hot springs resort of Atami recently and spotted a disproportionate number of men gazing longingly at their smartphones, it probably wasn't because they were playing Angry Birds. This summer, the beach town became a vacation hub for guys who like to treat their girlfriends to sun-and-fun holidays. Girlfriends, that is, who only exist on-screen.

And yes, there are such men, particularly those enthralled with Konami's Love Plus, a popular dating sim for Nintendo DS that also comes as an augmented-reality application for iPhones. Players of the game know that to keep their virtual gals happy, they'd best spend quality time with them, throw them birthday parties, take them on dates, and yes, shell out yen for beach getaways. After all, at $84, a return fare from Tokyo to Atami on the Shinkansen bullet train ain't cheap (fortunately virtual girlfriends travel free).

Can you believe that? Your girlfriend is merely virtual but you still have to keep her happy by taking her places? As Homer Simpson would say, "Oh Marge! Why do we have to go out? We just wind up coming back home anyway!"


I think this virtual girlfriend business is just another place where Second Life and cyber-space is encroaching on the real world. I wrote about how an android named "Hatsune Miku" was revolutionizing the music industry here. That is another wild story.


But, besides the bizarreness, it is a sad state of affairs when guys are so lonely that they take up on virtual girlfriends and "going places" with those girls.


I wonder what those guy's real parents will think when the guy's introduce them to their virtual girlfriend's virtual parent's?

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20015133-1.html#ixzz0yQAQ0s1E


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Keywords: Marketing Japan, virtual, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, virtual dating, Second Life, cyber-space, Hatsune Miku, Mike Rogers