Virtual Girlfriends Revive Resort Town

by Chris Bodenner

Tracy Clark-Flory teases a WSJ report:

We've written before about the dating simulator Love Plus and how it brought about the world's first marriage between man and virtual woman, and inspired jealousy among Japanese girlfriends and wives. But Love Plus+, the sequel to the original Nintendo DS game, has brought the insanity to a whole new level. As part of a promotional package deal, more than 2,000 of the game's mostly male devotees have flocked to the resort town of Atami for real-life vacations with their virtual girlfriends. This fits with the whole point of the game, which is to woo one of three teenage girls and then to keep her around by doing all the things a good boyfriend supposedly does -- like, say, planning a romantic weekend getaway.