Japanese People Going on Digital Dates

[tricky lugnuts]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703632304575451414209658940.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

All I'm going to say is ewww.

Guys in Japan are using their "handheld devices"  to go on dates with their digital girlfriends, paying upwards of $500 a night in hotels for a night with their video game girlfriends. No they're not playing video games with their girlfriends, their girlfriends are video games.

I always knew virtual reality was being developed for:

1. War
2. Pornography

But seriously, why can't someone just end the world now or unleash Godzilla. 

[PocketThunder]

Does this mean the price for a real escort will go down? 

[charger_fan_4ever]

creepy

[hemi68charger]

 

[moparstuart]

creepy

   that whole japanese animation thing is creepy 

[tan top]

whats the world coming to 

[Troy]

Ok, soooooo, these aren't Japanese people - they're guys. Virtual pedophiles actually. The game is a way to experience an "adolescent romance". The typical guy is in his 20s or 30s and the virtual girlfriend is school aged.

I guess maybe I should spend more time in the real world and less in front of my computer or I may end up at a beach resort in jeans and a button down shirt sporting my pasty white skin and a fanny pack containing my love interest. 

Troy

[tricky lugnuts]

Real girls!? Like not on my handheld device!? What a hassle!

I've heard of all kinds of weird things going on in Japan: used schoolgirl panty vending machines that sell panties for about $50, all sorts of strange and sexual costume antics, and now this.

Anyways, I got to go interface with my girlfriend. 

[Brock Lee]

The US is not far behind. Ever know anyone into games like Second Life?

[Chad L. Magee]

And some people wander why their population numbers are decreasing....

Could also be the start of the first computer-human virus in the making.....

[RallyeMike]

More real girls for the normal people.  Let 'em go at it.