When Japanese video game manufacturer Konami Digital Entertainment created Love Plus, a game that asks players to engage in long-term relationships with digital women, they had no idea how many men would respond to the idea. To date, Konami has sold 430,000 copies of Love Plus, which has become Japan’s most popular dating game. To capitalize on their success, Konami has now teamed with the city of Atami to produce a real life environment where gamers can make their fantasies a reality with 13 romantic locations that can be overlaid with Love Plus’s protagonists.
The city of Atami is an onsen, or hot spring town, that has long been a favorite among honeymooners and tourists. Its popularity has exploded however, as a venue for Rinko and other characters from Love Plus by sporting barcodes that interact with augmented reality (AR) software on iPhones to create characters fans can interact with. The one drawback to Love Plus is that the game doesn’t involve sex, therefore keeping the dating relationships that are established online from reaching another level of reality.
So why no fucking? One reason appears to be that Love Plus was only released on the Japanese market and the manufacturers of the game consider the idea of virtual reality porn immoral. Konami spokesperson Kunio Ishihara is quoted as saying, “The virtual girls can kiss you a a way of communication, but nothing happens when she sleeps next to you at the hotel. We have no intention of trying to sell a product with pornographic elements. I think Love Plus fans would get offended if somebody tried to disrespect his girlfriend like that.”
While having consensual virtual reality sex hardly seems to be a matter of respect, at least Konami are headed in the right direction. With an entire town dedicated to vital reality relationships, it seems like a matter of time before vital reality barcodes are commonplace in Japan. We can only hope a similar, but sexier, version arrives in North America soon.
Tags: Dating, fucking, Porn, Sex, virtual reality