Feb 2018 v01 online

interaction and intimacy.
A further step down the track of where VR
technology is taking the world of dating and
romance can be seen in the concept of dating
simulators. These relationship role playing
games, in which a real player will develop a
romantic relationship in-game with one or
more fictional characters, have existed for over
30 years. Gaining huge popularity in Japan in
the 1990s, these sims have become so
commonplace that the word “Otaku” has
sprung up, often describing adult men who
have forgone the possibility of romantic
relationships in the real world and form
intense, apparently loving bonds exclusively
with virtual partners. One game, Niitzuma
LovelyxCationx, made headlines last year for
allowing their VR users to enter a real church
and marry their character of choice in a real-life
ceremony, with a real human audience, with
the groom attending in a VR headset.
It seems they are appealing to a rather
substantial niche; Japanese government
research has reported that 37.6 percent of those
surveyed had no interest in romantic
partnerships, with “bothersome” being cited as
the biggest reason for this. Despite this attitude
toward non-virtual intimacy, game developer
Konami has been known to team up with hotels
to create promotions for dating sim players and
their consoles to rent rooms for themselves.
Japan’s modern attitude towards
relationships and sex has had some troubling
consequences. The perception that developing
human relationships are a difficult waste of
time has meant that the population is in steep
decline. In 2016, the number of births dropped
below 1 million for the first time, well below the
replacement rate of deaths in Japan.