Man to marry his video game girlfriend this Sunday

Last month, I wrote about a Japanese husband who confessed to his wife that he had a virtual girlfriend, a character from an addictive Nintendo DS game called Love Plus. Now, another man is planning to hold a wedding ceremony with his Love Plus girlfriend this coming Sunday. The man, who calls himself SAL9000, was so in love with Nene Anegasaki that he decided to marry her and take her on a honeymoon to Guam. Of course, this means that he literally just took his Nintendo DS to Guam... while there, he took photos, livecast their adventures on popular video-sharing site Nico Nico Douga, and documented their adventures using the augmented reality iPhone app Sekai Camera. In any case, the guy plans on having a public reception in Tokyo this Sunday. It will be livecast on Nico Nico Douga, but in case you miss it, we'll be bringing you an update early next week. Stay tuned! via IT Media News (Japanese)

Previously:

I'm a contributing editor here at Boing Boing. I also have a blog (TokyoMango), a book (Urawaza), and I freelance for Wired, Make, the NY Times Magazine, PRI's Studio360, etc. I'm @tokyomango on Twitter.

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Big Daddy

I think this is an excellent time to make sweeping generalizations about software and game developers, and tar the entire industry with the “misogyny” label.

Because this is not an isolated case of a socially inept nerd incapable of separating fantasy from reality.

This is serious, and we should be concerned. Outraged!
- Bucket
  
  Don’t date robots!
  
  http://www.hulu.com/watch/4510/futurama-anti-robot-propaganda
  
  This post brought to you by: The Space Pope.
  - Anonymous
    
    My God! He never took middle school hygiene. He never saw the propaganda film.
Barnabas

I just recently re-read a William Gibson book called Idoru wherein a big part of the plot is that an aging rock-star marries an “artificial celebrity creation of information software agents”. Maybe that idea was much weirder when he originally wrote it. In 2009 I’m sure there are plenty of otaku who read about this guy and nod knowingly. SciFi sometimes prepares us for the weird future, just barely in time.
- Michael Smith
  
  All it takes is a bit of nanotech, and the mass of a lucky dragon.
octopod

omg. konami discovers the power of social marketing.
agentofchange

For my money, the only ‘fake’ I want is- tan – to attract a REAL man! hee hee – seriously, I lOvE rEaL!

That ‘Look’ in someone’s eyes, which says ‘You are the one for me!’ I’m a 3D kinda girl.

Flesh is Best… when HOT! Mmmnnnnn
tagarth

Nice to see some folks still believe in the magic of marriage. Unfortunately, 60% of video game marriages end in a cracked screen :(
Anonymous

A waifu is much better then a 3D girl can ever be.
There is no drama or arguments.
They’ll never get pregnant or fat.
They don’t have times of the month.
They wont play mind games with you.
They wonâ€™t forget about your birthday.
There is no possibility of catching std’s.
They’ll never change or pressure you to change.
They don’t demand expensive gifts over and over.
They wonâ€™t get mad at you if you look at another girl.
Theyâ€™ll never divorce you and take half of everything you own.
They wonâ€™t get board of you or think of you as being annoying.
They donâ€™t care what type of personality you have if any at all.
They won’t cheat on you with your friends or anyone for that matter.
You don’t have to put up with annoying friends or impress the parents.
and they don’t get mad at you for random reasons that you know nothing about.

Doesn’t this sound so much better then dealing with a real female?
- Anonymous
  
  well, in hinds sight, it is very ideal, but where is the passion? where will be the times when they will encounter hardships that will strengthen the relationships? the game is merely an illusion that takes the player away from the harsh truth of reality; however, there will come a time when the guy will part from the game because of “wanting more”. the video game girlfriend is very limited, only doing what is programmed; however, a realy woman’s potential is endless. she can do more than what is programmed. so yeah, the virtual grilfriend is ideal, but it can never replace a true woman
- agentofchange
  
  Hey! The REAL deal is much better! The words ‘I love you’ just can’t be… faked.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Anonymous,
  
  Maybe human interaction just isn’t the right lifestyle choice for you.
  - Shay Guy
    
    It’s copypasta. The author may be considered to be the collective will of the relevant subculture.
- Anonymous
  
  also, they can’t touch your penis. Hmm… I’m gonna have to go with the flesh here.
- Anonymous
  
  Funny, the ‘girls’ in Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball expect you to buy them stuff and treat them nice and take them out or else they do not play to the best of their internal programming. They expect flowers, chocolates, new clothing and jewellery. That’s what I’ve been told, anyways. These ‘waifus’ are obviously just not programmed to be representative of the range of emotion attributed to “3D” (read: real) people. Seriously, play better quality games.
  
  Perhaps if you played other Japanese love games you would become as disgusted with virtual females as you seem to be when it comes to real live females who can like, love you because they want to, not because they were programmed to say such things. Perhaps you’d prefer one particular game in which one is a guest at a hot spring hotel, and not only must you have intercourse with every female there, you must do it in such a way that you do not lose face in front of the manager’s daughter, to whom you must become betrothed. “Love in 2D” is a very, very watered down version of games already in existence which mimic much more closely activities IRL – games where females become pregnant (don’t have to go to Japan for that, you can sire a litter in Fable 2), experience ‘moon times’ and demand gifts….
  
  As a ’3D bio-fem’ I gotta say that aside from monthly weirdness I have never demanded gifts, purposely created ‘drama’ or slept with my mate’s friends. Change is a part of life. STDs happen when you and/or your partner aren’t careful. Divorce is sad, but not every female is as filthy and vindictive as you seem to believe. I would remember my mate’s birthday if he told me when it was. Sir, you need to meet a better class of female.
Myatu

What happens if the battery runs out? Oh snap!
delilah

lucky bastard..

though i wonder if it bothers him that he’s not the only one in love with this wife.. i mean, she’s cute and a part of a game, he can’t be the only one. and how did the ds agree to this proposal?
- delilah
  
  sad, but i ask this only because in the back of my mind i wonder if i could marry the anime character of my dreams. i totally would, but i’m state side and i have a feeling bandai would have something to say about it. or would they?
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    I’ll settle for a threesome with Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.
Anonymous

Dont let the religious nutbags hear about this or they’ll start pressing for an amendmant to ban cyber-marriages!
Felton

When she files for divorce, does Konami get the settlement?
- mdh
  
  check the EULA!
jtegnell

And the best thing about this girl, like all Japanese manga/anime women, is that she has absolutely no nostrils.

In fact, this girl’s nose is remarkably prominent. Her peers often, if they have a nose at all, simply have a teeny tiny off-center triangle of a shadow of a hint of a suggestion of something that might be a nose if your imagination is strong.
Francesco Fondi

This time its clearly not a fake story but a viral marketing stunt by Konami and NicoNico (let’s not forget that few months ago Konami sent young girls around Tokyo handing out fake love letters to random people to promote this DS game)!

I live in Tokyo and, after several months from the LOVE IN 2D Story I’m still trying to meet just ONE of the 2D lovers who are part of a “thriving subculture of men and women in Japan who indulge in real relationships with imaginary characters” while “they go on dates with [2D characters] during off hours”.

http://boingboing.net/2009/07/23/love-in-2d.html

A couple of weeks a go I even meet a American TV show searching for 2D lovers couples dating around Tokyo without much luck…

probably the reason is that there are no Japanese people dating a “lumpy pillow with a drawing of a prepubescent anime character on it is his girlfriend” as there will be no other person who will take his Konami “videogirl” on honeymoon to GUAM…
- Xeni Jardin
  
  This time its clearly not a fake story but a viral marketing stunt by Konami and NicoNico
  
  Citation needed.
  - Francesco Fondi
    
    @Xeni Jardin please check my second comment. Basically its a viral stunt that uses Konami and NicoNico organized by a Japanese media/technology student (apparently not officially supported by these companies) so I feel this is something that should be “handled” as a “viral stunt” not as a “real news”…
Purly

BEST EVER! I want to attend.
stephiely

I guess there must always be a one in a billion person that stands out from the crowd – hey at least he can always just shut her up when they argue.
Lisa Katayama

@Francesco Fondi What makes you think that we are trying to handle this as “real news”?
RevEng

I worry about this young man.

Does he not understand that his girlfriend isn’t real? What’s the point of having a marriage, a ceremony, even a honeymoon if your friend isn’t real?

Either he’s doing this for show, or he’s truly delusional.

Perhaps we should be fortunate he’s playing a dating game. If it were a first person shooter, he (and many others) might already be a statistic.

This man needs help.
- Anonymous
  
  “I worry about this young man.
  
  Does he not understand that his girlfriend isn’t real?”
  I worry about you. Dont you understand that is not real? Do you think he’ll try to have children and build a life with his virtual wife?
  My brother has created a facebook account for his car. He gave it a name… do you want to worry about him too? Do you think someone should tell my brother that his car is not a real person, but just a car?
  Do you think he needs pills?
Anonymous

As a real female, I can’t imagine why we become “board” with “real” males.

Wow. Misogyny lives on in cyberspace. I listened to Craig Silverstein yesterday tell a room full of people that one thing that many gifted software developers and engineers need to learn is other disciplines so their work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Or a closet. So they understand the world they work in and can connect that world to their cyber world. Just sayin’.
Anonymous

Ya know, just for tax purposes, it might not be a bad idea. Wonder if you can also have legal virtual children as well… Might be an issue getting SSN’s for each though. (I’m kidding…)
Anonymous

Something should really be done to uphold the value of “traditional” marriage between a 3D man and a 3D woman.
Umbriel

>There is no drama or arguments.
…
>They don’t demand expensive gifts over and over.
…
>They wonâ€™t get board of you or think of you as being annoying.
…
>and they don’t get mad at you for random reasons that you know nothing about.

I don’t know that those problems are entirely unknown among virtual girlfriends, though I suppose it depends how they’re written.
pinehead

“Who cares?” is my reflexive thought.
He’s doing it for attention. Who knows or cares why, but the fact that he’s intentionally making it as public as possible makes it obvious that he likes the attention.
Dean Putney

Suddenly Human-Computer Interaction reaches a whole new level of importance.
a_user

anyone remember interwebs the virginity auction?

Konami obviously does.

Who did the translation from Japanese BTW?
cymk

I felt a great disturbance in the geekdom, as if thousands of voices suddenly cried out “my waifu!” and were suddenly silenced. I fear something facepalm.jpg has happened.

In all seriousness, if Japan wants to marry people legally to fictional characters more power to them.
Raltosk

I wonder if this guy is one of the people from the Final Fantasy 7 house.
Anonymous

I wonder how he feels about other love plus players who “date” the same character?
Sparrow

Just remember all the headaches that come with upgrading Girlfriend 1.0 to Wife 1.0. http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article09-132
Francesco Fondi

Yestreday I went to Tokyo MAKE 04 and it seems that SAL9000 is a MAKER too…

http://jp.makezine.com/blog/2009/11/mtm04_setuei.html

He even rented a wedding dress for his 2D wife! ^_^
octopod

coverage of the last campaign:

http://www.japanator.com/konami-is-sending-lonely-people-love-letters-that-read-pls-buy-love-plus-kthnx–11137.phtml

fake news stories, viral videos etc etc. props to their creatives, nice effort.
Anonymous

But is this individual a *happy* mutant?
Anonymous

I really hope this guy doesn’t have a hot wife. That would just make this so much more wrong.
Teller

Note to SAL9000: She’s doing about ten million other guys.
smellymelly

It is probably events like this that prompted the makers of Wii to ask its users to go outside and get some fresh air after too many hours of gaming.
I do believe that people should do what makes them happy. Still, I can’t help but see a serious problem here.
I understand this is taking place in Japan. Japan, to date, does not allow 2 of its citizens to be wed if they are gay. However, it is okay to marry a video game character? There is something seriously wrong with that.
Whether or not a virtual wife is better than a real one is not for me to decide. It just makes me wonder why people are okay with this, but against gay marriage.
In defense of this virtual marriage, people may say that you can’t help who you fall in love with and I totally agree. To each his own.
But why is this accepted and gay mariage is not? Neither union is hurting anyone.
I think this situation just proves the point that peoples’ personal lives are none of our business.
This is unconventional, sure, but that doesn’t mean its up to us to decide whether it is wrong or right.