11- Man Marries Virtual Girlfriend!

                I have read many things that made me say "weird." And while I was searching for a picture for my previous article "Video game affects to relationships," I found a picture that had me saying "huh?"

                The picture on the right was what I found and it had me doing more research about the news. And yes, I found out that this article was true. A man really did marry his girlfriend from a game called Love Plus! it was a bit shocking but not really repulsive to me. I can't really judge the man since I don't know what he really feels and thinks about in doing the marriage.  and after watching a documentary about dolls being used as replacement girlfriends in every sense of the word, nothing can really surprise me in that department.

                One of the articles entitled "Japanese Man Marries Virtual Girlfriend" written on December 1, 2009 about this news was written by  Amar Toor in the site switched.com. He said that the man, Sal9000, married his girlfriend in the game named Nene Anegasaki.

" The man, known only as Sal9000, tied the knot with Nene Anegasaki during a 'Meet: Japan' event at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. As BoingBoing contributing editor Lisa Katayama reports, the ceremony was held before a live (and virtual) audience, replete with an MC, an actual priest, and, of course, the "girlfriend," who apparently said her own vows. "

Another article from Foxnews.com written on November 22, 2009 said:

" Since the girl doesn't really exist, SAL9000 reportedly took his Nintendo DS to Guam for a legal ceremony and honeymoon, and will livecast the upcoming wedding reception online, MyFoxDFW.com reported."

                I was thinking, "weird…just plain weird…" I mean I know I myself love to play dating sims and all that but I would never go as far as marrying a character in it! Just… weird…

Can this mean that relationships in games be a replacement for real life relationships?

10- Video game effects on Relationships

          

          There are many factors in which can affect a relationship. Other people meddling in it, tasks you have to do, events and other circumstances.  In the Philippines, there is one other thing that not many may agree as to a factor that can affect a relationship. And that is a video game.

          There are many studies that proved that video games have affected relationships. There are many reasons as to why video games affect this. The most famous reason is that of the time spent by the gamer playing the game.

          According to Howard Brown in his article entitled "AreVideo Games Harming your Relationships?" video game addiction is one of the ten most common addictions in our society. And in every addiction you spend so many time in it, causing your time with others to lessen considerably.  Howard also said that symptoms of addiction included:

• Spending several hours each day playing video games
• Becoming defensive about the amount of time spend playing games, if confronted
• Staying home from work to spend more time playing games
• Neglecting friends, family, and significant others to play video games

          As he said, you tend to neglect your significant others and loved ones. Thus, it will affect the relationship and may actually end it.

          This got me thinking, since dating sims are sub categories of video games, won't it still have the same affect for those relationships that the gamer addicted to it have? Furthermore since it is kind of another relationship inside the game itself. Isn't it kind of worst than playing a normal relationship? Is it really a ground to end a relationship already?

9- Courting man style!

          Man says that girls are a mystery that is impossible to solve. Still, some succeed in courting them.

          According to an article at Lovepanky written on January 20, 2013, There are 10 ways into courting a girl of your choice. These are: 

• #1 Spend time with her. 
• #2 Compliments and charm. 
• #3 Remind her of you. 
• #4 Be the dependable guy.
• #5 Open up to her. 
• #6 Avoid becoming a friend. 
• #7 Flirt with her. 
• #8 Let her know you think of her. 
• #9 Slip the word out. 
• #10 Ask her out. 

          These steps can also be applied in playing a dating sim. You have to know the type of character the girl that you have chosen has. Then you have to answer her questions during events correctly or in other words, your answer will have to charm her. You also have to be at the right place where events will happen for her character. You'll have to speak to her, of course and flirt at good times. Then slowly ask her out and viola, you get the Character you want!

          As you can see, it's practically the same. No, let me ask you, since those in reality can be applied in a game, shouldn't those in the game also possible to be applied in reality? I mean you're just reversing the position but the process is the same... like in algebra, the commutative property of addition and multiplication? exchange the positions of the number but have the same process, you get the same answer. Shouldn't it be the same for courting, whether it's in a game or in reality? 

8- The World God Only Knows

          In our generation, there is what you call an Otaku culture. A part of this culture is the love for Anime. In truth, I'm one of those who can be considered as one of this culture. I love Anime so much! And one of the latest anime shows out there that i love so much is the anime "The World God Only Knows." I heard about this anime from my dorm mates and they got me hooked to it too.

          In this show, the main character, Keima Katsuragi, is known as the known on the Internet and in gaming circles as The Capturing God because of his exceptional skills and experience in "capturing" (winning over) virtual girls in dating sims. But in reality, he is one of those who are considered lame and a nerd since he spends so much time playing his games. He even plays it during his classes. Keima is only attracted to virtual girls in the game world. When he is in danger, Keima prioritizes saving his game. 

          One day, Keima receives a challenge mail asking him to conquer a girls heart. Thinking it was that of the usual challenging him to get a 2D girl in a game, he accepts it right away. It turns out to be a contract from Dokoro Skull. Keima meets Elsie, a demon whose job is to capture Loose Souls, also known as Weiss. He must work with her in capturing the spirits, which have hidden themselves in various girls, or he will be beheaded. After he researches his target, he acts out scenarios from his girl games, and puts himself in situations where they are together. When he determines the root cause of her problem, and the solution path he must take, he utters his catchphrase "I can see the ending." 

          Since he doesn't know anything in dating real girls, he uses the strategies he does in his games. Like in one episode he had to capture the heart of a girl pretending to still be rich in school but was really poor. He found out about this and so he enacted an event he played once in a game to get a character with the same traits the girl had. In the end, the girl fell for him and they kissed, enabling Elsie to capture the Weiss residing in the girls heart. 

            There are many reasons why this show is really popular. Not only is this a romantic comedy but it is also has a great art style. According to Aiden Foote in the site T.H.E.M:

"The show looks and sounds good too. Its art is soft and 

pleasing to the eye and the character designs are 

universally pretty, unique and colourful. Its animation 

seems slightly hamstrung by a less than tremendous 

budget but it does better than most, especially in the 

opening sequence. The music too, is top quality. 

The OPs for both seasons are by ELISA and I think

 they are two of the best OPs I’ve ever heard, especially

 the OP for the first season. The actual score for the 

series is cute and pleasant too, adding a cute and bubbly 

atmosphere to the show’s sweet content." 

He actually compared the main characters to Holmes and Watson! Nice right?

He also had some bad comments;

"The actual romance arcs have some problems too. 

Firstly, some of the girls are more interesting than others 

and if you really like a girl then too bad because the next 

one is going to turn up in a few episodes time and replace 

your favourite. That’s a flaw in the concept, it’s not much 

that the show could do about it, but the second thing is what

 really holds this show back. The World God Only Knows

 isn’t very romantic. It really is more like watching a detective 

show than a romance. Sure, it’s interesting and quite often funny 

but it too rarely delivers the emotional hook that would make 

the show great and it’s not funny enough to make up for that."

          But despite all this, he still liked the show and said, "That all said, the show is good and it has only been getting better."

          I have to agree with him. The show is great and I love this romantic comedy but the harem concept kinda adds a turn off point to it. But the pros outweigh the cons! 

          Now my question, since in an anime show, dating sims can help get one to fall for another, can this be proof that it can also be done in reality?