PLAYING FOR LOVE
Japan
In Japan, lonely men are falling for virtual girlfriends who are far from perfect. The digital beauties of today come without any artificial intelligence, they can react to their partner only within very strict paths of a pre written storyline. Yet they seem very real to many Japanese men, some of whom have long term relationships with Rinko, Manaka or Nene, one of the characters to choose from in the game 'LovePlus', played on a portable Nintendo console.
The success of the LovePlus game series which has sold around 500'000 copies, shows that machines won't need perfect artificial intelligence to convince us of their human potential .
Many of these users have a very sane idea of the game they are playing and the imaginary quality of the girls they are dating. Others cannot tell fact from fiction anymore and are desperately waiting for the next update of the game which would equal the next step in the relationship. As it is there are no more updates, so these hardcore users keep playing the same storylines again and again. They're stuck in a love loophole.
For women there are a bunch of romance simulations on the market – a scene that contrasts the Science Fiction-world of LovePlus: The otome scene is in a phase of fast growth, but it's still deeply rooted in the traditions of romantic storytelling as in books or mangas.
As for now, romance simulation games are almost uniquely a Japanese phenomenon. These games might involve the player a bit more than a classic book because of the interactive features and the multimedia character of the games, combining text, music and illustrations, but finally they are just doing the same old trick in a new media: trying to tell a story in a emotionally convincing way.
Where Tamagotchi emulated pets, LovePlus emulates a human partner.
And once again Japan proves to be the most advanced societal research lab when it comes to digital technologies.
A 48-year old man and Love Plus player since 5 years, sits in his one room apartment with the console he uses to chat with his virtual girlfriend Manaka
A 48-year old Love Plus player holds a picture of himself and his virtual girlfriend Manaka. taken during a holiday in Atami which was programmed in the game. The weekend included a possibility to beam your virtual girlfriend to life size in order to have a picture taken together thanks to a digital chip on the ground.
Hitomi, mother of two and a frequent player of Voltage romance simulation games, poses for a portrait after work in Tokyo.
Hitomi, mother of two and a frequent player of Voltage romance applications, mainly plays her game while commuting to work in the Tokyo JR train line.
Visitors at the Star Wars exhibition in Mori Art Museum in Tokyo.
Kosaki puts a pair of manmade glasses on the doll he made by himself. He says that he stopped playing Love Plus when the creating company Konami stopped updating the game: ’Just like in real love, the story has to evolve, otherwise the relationship has no future’.
Kosaki with his home made doll.
Kosakis’ home made doll sits on a speaker in his living room. K., who creates robots for the boat industry, quit Love Plus when Konami stopped updating the game. He says that just like in a real relationship, the story has to evolve to be interesting.
Girls dance on the street after the Niconico Chokaiki weekend Anime fair in the outskirts of Tokyo.
The double room in Ohnoya hotel in Atami, one of the destinations for a programmed weekend trip with a virtual girlfriend for the players of Kotamis’ dating simulation game Love Plus.
A UFO-catcher machine and sofas in a backroom of the Adult museum, one of the locations on the list for the Love Plus player who would take his virtual girlfriend to Atami for a weekend.
Jennai, the producer of the new romantic game Waldburgsgedichte, with a story booklet in her lap.
A female Cosplayer takes a selfie with her smartphone before a photo shoot at the Niconico Chokaiki Anime fare in Tokyo.
The audience listens and sings along to a DJ show during Niconico Chokaiki weekend Anime fare in Tokyo.
Professor Yumi Asahi with Utano and Prince-Sana, frequent players of Otome games and a part of her research on the game culture in Japan.
A waitress dressed as a cosplayer tries to hand out a flyer to a passer-by on a street in Akihabara, a district famous for its electronic shops and Otome cafés in Tokyo.
Mr. Masano arranges the desk before the doors open to an event he has arranged for Love Plus users to gather and play, their consoles plugged to a beamer for an almost life-sized girlfriend screened on the wall.
A Love Plus playing married couple show pictures on their smartphones of dolls who ressemble the game’s virtual girlfriends Rinko, Nene and Manaka, during a visit to the Octoberfest in Germany. Beside the phone stands a little figurine of Nene wearing handmade clothes.
Mr. Masano gives a brief introduction to the event he has arranged for Love Plus users during a weekend fare before the doors open to the public.
A man with a briefcase laughs while chatting and with a waitress dressed as a Cosplayer on a main street in Akihabara, a district famous for its electronic shops and Otome cafés in Tokyo.
A player of Love Plus, indicates the itinerary of a programmed weekend in Atami on a map. The players were to take their virtual girlfriends on a trip and to follow the game instructions once there on where to go and what to do.
Jyunichi and Emi, a married couple and since 4 years frequent players of Love Plus, hold up their playing consoles, each one with a picture of their virtual Love Plus girlfriend: Manaka to the left, Rinko the the right.
Players of Konamis’ dating simulation game Love Plus sit around a table with their playing consoles and game gadgets during an Anime fare in Tokyo.
