Resort Attracts Men With Virtual Girlfriends 226
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the all-you-need-is-love dept.
from the all-you-need-is-love dept.
disco_tracy writes "Long a favorite of lovers and honeymooners, a Japanese beach town with fading sparkle has found a new tourism niche in the wired age. A resort based on a game called 'Love Plus,' encourages players to develop long-term relationships with virtual women. From the article: 'Local souvenir shops in the resort town have caught on and capitalized on the love-struck new clientele, selling Love Plus-themed souvenirs, from good-luck charms to steamed buns and fish sausages. The local Ohnoya hotel even offers traditional rooms to the unusual couples, which feature two sets of futon beds and another barcode panel that allows the men to visualize their girlfriends in a flattering summer kimono.'"
Virtual babies? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why live? (Score:1, Insightful)
If you have so utterly given up on the hope of ever actually forming a relationship with a female, yet are emotionally dependent on such a relationship to the point where you are willing to entertain the concept of voluntary insanity by trying to convince your mind into thinking that a "virtual girlfriend" is real, then you should just kill yourself.
Creepy much? (Score:3, Insightful)
Cause that's not creepy at all...
No. /. poster
Though I would expect it to appeal to the average
Re:Eh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Ironic then that the name means something to the effect of "pointing to your heart's desire". Having eaten a fair amount of Dim Sum, I somehow think that it got that name for a reason.
Feel free to leave all of the worthwhile food in the world to people with taste buds, though. We'll leave you all the Whoppers you can eat.
Re:Oh, Japanese beach town. (Score:1, Insightful)
And this my geeky friend, is why you need to put the slashdot down and meet some real live woman. My wife is an open minded geek, and would still never let this fly.
Re:Oh, Japanese beach town. (Score:2, Insightful)
Sounds perfect, doesn't it? "The last invention of man was the Holodeck."
Problem is, perfect gets boring. The inconvenient truth about all those little relationship annoyances is that they challenge you to grow in ways you'd never think to explore otherwise.
Re:I may have to try this. (Score:4, Insightful)
Your resignation makes me sad, because courtship ultimately boils down to a game many nerds are more suited to than they realize.
Granted, it's a grind, but the loot... or dare I say booty beats anything virtual.
The hardest part is getting over yourself. "But who could possibly want me?" is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think that might actually be the whole nerd social issue... we get too "meta" with social interaction over shit that just doesn't occur to most people.
Hmm. I'm gonna go write an entirely unsubstantiated self-help book.
Re:Oh, Japanese beach town. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Oh, Japanese beach town. (Score:3, Insightful)
In theory, the modern idea behind gaining a life partner (wife/husband/de facto/same-sex partner) is to find someone you enjoy spending time with, sharing the better and worse, growing old with and on a mutually agreeable schedule bumping uglies.
Contrary to popular misconception - it is normal for women to have a sex drive and actually want to have sex with their partner. While it is possible that the frequency may not match exactly (it's not unheard of for females to want more sex than their male partner), provided it's close enough both partners will be happy.
If a VR partner enabled you to manage the desire gap effectively you'd probably be fine, but if your partner is left hanging because your giving it to a robot instead of them when they actually want it, you'll probably be ducking frypans and alimony settlements shortly.
Re:"Best women in the world" (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm a feminist and most of my friends are guys. I'm also married and am the primary breadwinner in our household.
I don't want my husband to be m doormat anymore than I believe that I should be his. It's a partnership.
The impression I get from your posting is that you don't believe men and women can have a relationship on an equal footing. I am sad for you and your narrow world view.