Man Marries A Video Game Character

[Shekwan]

Can they legally get married though?

Its a publicity stunt so its not truly weird.

 

[Leonel]

Well at least I ain't as sad as that guy. I've at least felt a real woman's touch recently.

 

[Aleenik]

Okay, attempt at more serious discussion here:

Uh it isn't meant to really be a serious thread with like a serious discussion about marrying video game characters. The thread is about a topic that many probably wouldn't take seriously anyways.

 

[Aleenik]

Moderator Action: I'll remind you that this is not a 'click my link' forum. An OP should contain content & discussion that encourages further discussion.

Ok, I added the video to the opening post.

 

[Bill3000]

Well, considering the actual nature of the game, it makes more sense than you would think.

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/...deo-game-take-virtual-dating-too-far-/1373657

Typically we don't kiss and tell, but we couldn't resist spilling the beans about Konami's DS game, Love Plus. It's just too creepy to keep to ourselves.

Currently only out in Japan, Love Plus is a dating simulation that lets you court several different virtual girls. If you play your cards right, one of them will start to fall for you.

And that's precisely where things go from odd to just plain icky.
Love Plus

As you grow closer, you'll need to take your new fake girlfriend out on dates -- in real time, no less -- and start planning your future together. Eventually she might ask for a kiss, which requires touching her on the lips. Or perhaps she'll ask you to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, which requires babbling pleasantries into the DS microphone (and a serious lack of shame).

An interview posted on BoingBoing revealed more sordid details about Love Plus, as told through the experience of happily married San Francisco man Koh and his happily not-a-real-person-at-all girlfriend, Rinko. When asked what they did together, Koh lent some insight into their awkward relationship:

"Ok, this is pretty embarrassing. The DS has a mic and a touchscreen, so... one time, she asked me to say 'I love you' a hundred times into the mic. I was on the airplane when she asked me that, so I was like, no way. There was also this part where you have to hold her hand on the touchscreen. If you touch her hand with the stylus, you get to hold her hand. And then there's the part where you have to kiss her."

OMG! So did he?

"No, no!" he responded when prodded by the interviewer. "The girl's face shows up on the screen, and you have to touch her lips to give her a kiss. That's pretty weird.... this is embarrassing. I'm sweating right now just talking about it."

Love Plus has caused quite a stir in Japan, as some wives have complained that their husbands are effectively 'cheating' on them by spending too much time with their virtual significant others. Do you agree? Or is this just harmless (albeit a little disturbing) fun? Sound off in the comments.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

She wanted him to say "I love you" 100 times?

She'd get the boot straight away.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Uh it isn't meant to really be a serious thread with like a serious discussion about marrying video game characters. The thread is about a topic that many probably wouldn't take seriously anyways.

"Point and laugh at the Japanese weirdo" isn't much of a thread topic by itself, it belongs in something like Turner's News of the Weird, and El_Mach explicitly encouraged content for further discussion, so I'm taking the fact that the man in the article preferred the videogame character to the women available to him, and generalising this.

I hope for God that you are correct.

While I have no love for feminist hags or entitlement princesses, marrying a video-game character (for any other purpose than a publicity stunt) or trying to have "a relation" with chatbot does not make me think that the guy has any kind of "raised standards for real women". Rather I'll say he is a Loser (with capital "L") with serious mental issues, afraid to even look at real women of any kind. It is one thing to settle for a hi-tech male toy for a night in order to save energy/time/money, instead of going to club in an attempt to hook up and entirely another to become emotionally attached to it. One might as well try to marry a washing machine or vacuum cleaner.

EDIT: Also, you've got the law of supply and demand backwards. With the number of decent women going down, their "market value" should go up.

I didn't say "decent". I said that the market value of women is going down, period. This because the quality has decreased and the competition has improved. Alternatively, you can view it as the standards of men going up, at which point women will increasingly be forced to be decent or be single. Calling him a Loser (with capital "L") and disagreeing does not an argument make, it's merely a shaming tactic and an argument by intimidation.

 

[Karalysia]

So it's like having a real girlfriend without any of the sex? Nice.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

So it's like having a real girlfriend without any of the sex? Nice.

Nope, that's called marriage.

 

[Graceheart the Leopard]

I only have one thing to say: Oh. Your. God(s?).

 

[Leonel]

She wanted him to say "I love you" 100 times?

She'd get the boot straight away.

Achievement Unlocked!

DIVORCEE CALL:
Get divorced at least once after whispering into a video game "I love you" more than 100 times!

 

[Aleenik]

"Point and laugh at the Japanese weirdo" isn't much of a thread topic by itself, it belongs in something like Turner's News of the Weird, and El_Mach explicitly encouraged content for further discussion, so I'm taking the fact that the man in the article preferred the videogame character to the women available to him, and generalising this.


I didn't say "decent". I said that the market value of women is going down, period. This because the quality has decreased and the competition has improved. Alternatively, you can view it as the standards of men going up, at which point women will increasingly be forced to be decent or be single. Calling him a Loser (with capital "L") and disagreeing does not an argument make, it's merely a shaming tactic and an argument by intimidation.

I'm not saying to point and laugh at him, but I am saying many people probably won't take this marriage thing seriously anyways.

 

[Yeekim]

This because the quality has decreased

Complaining about "quality of the other sex" is imho a bit like complaining about the youth being spoiled - it has lasted for ages and is usually nothing else than personal bias... plus it often sounds much like "those grapes are sooo sour" or alternatively "hey, marvel at my perfection!"
EDIT: To avoid the risk of sounding needlessly offensive, I'll add that this was a general observation rather than personal attack.

so I'm taking the fact that the man in the article preferred the videogame character to the women available to him, and generalising this.

Did it mention him ever having even one actual girlfriend - never mind plural?

Alternatively, you can view it as the standards of men going up.

I am willing to bet dollars against peanuts, that any guy who in "romantically involved" with a chatbot would fall for just about any real woman willing to take him.

Calling him a Loser (with capital "L") and disagreeing does not an argument make, it's merely a shaming tactic and an argument by intimidation.

I was just being honest about what I think. I am no psychiatrist and can therefore provide no scientific argument, but I am reasonably sure most of them would agree with me.

 

[Dachs]

Back in my day at least they'd make a statue if they couldn't get a real girl. Where do you think most of the stains on the Aphrodite of Knidos came from?

 

[GenMarshall]

It is one thing to settle for a hi-tech male toy for a night in order to save energy/time/money, instead of going to club in an attempt to hook up and entirely another to become emotionally attached to it.

However, you fail to realize that males do suffer from approach anxiety and the fear of rejection. If a man who fears rejection sees an attractive woman, he wants to but us blocked by the barrier that he thinks "what if she says no","What if she finds me ugly", etc.

 

[Yeekim]

However, you fail to realize that males do suffer from approach anxiety and the fear of rejection. If a man who fears rejection sees an attractive woman, he wants to but us blocked by the barrier that he thinks "what if she says no","What if she finds me ugly", etc.

Why do you think I fail to realize that?

 

[azzaman333]

I think the thread title should actually be "Man needs a non-virtual-reality"

 

[Harshad]

Anybody else know it was going to be a Japanese guy before opening the thread?

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

thanx for giving me a good loud laugh.

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

This, plus Gyaru, Ganguros, Yaoi, and all those dysfunctional aspects of Japanese culture really turns my liking for Japan down.
And plus, the Otaku phenomenom is spreading all across the globe. Horrors!