>> DIGITAL LOVE
of aid: They describe LovePlus as
valuable practice that can help
them attract real girlfriends. The
fantasy high-school romances,
they say, give them confidence
and demystify women — despite
the mood programming and digitally engineered cuteness — while
demonstrating how they can be
good IRL companions.
Although there is a widespread
myth among players that Konami
HUFFINGTON
02.16.14
gling his three virtual girlfriends.
Tkaczevski is also grateful to
Rinko for teaching him valuable
lessons about love, like how to
respect people’s boundaries or
accept their faults, and he looks
forward to applying these when he
finds his first IRL girlfriend.
He imagines such a day as being bittersweet: Tkaczevski considers it cheating to try juggling
a virtual lover and a human one,
“It’s the kind of relationship that is instantly rewarding and is
always giving. You don’t have to give much to the game and it
gives to you every time you turn on the machine.”
created LovePlus to be such a training tool, a company spokeswoman
wrote in an email that LovePlus “is
not a game that will help Japanese
men develop better dating skills.”
(She declined to comment on all
other aspects of the game.)
“I came around to playing it because I was homeschooled, you see,
and I’ve never been in an experience with speaking to girls or having friends or anything,” says Dez
Smith, a single 25-year-old from
South Africa who spends between
four and seven hours a week jug-
so he will dump Rinko — along
with Manaka, who he’s currently
seeing on the side.
Yet he also assumes that the
authenticity of a flesh-and-blood
romance will override whatever
feelings of loss he suffers as he cuts
ties with his digital girlfriends.
“I’m personally of the opinion
that 3-D easily beats 2-D,” Tkaczevski says. “I haven’t given up
on real life.”
But if he ever does, Manaka and
Rinko will be waiting for
him to return, forever.
Bianca Bosker is the executive tech
editor of The Huffington Post.