While Japan’s video-game industry no longer dominates the world, there is still one niche of digital entertainment that this country does better than any other: romantic man-machine interaction.
Love with a virtual being is something plucked straight out of science-fiction. But in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, hundreds of dating-simulation games are sold in stores, aimed directly at an audience of otaku (obsessive hobbyists). The most successful of these is the “LovePlus” series, in which players strike up a relationship with an on-screen character and pursue her through daily interactions.
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