Just when we thought Japanese technology couldn’t get any freakier (Love Pillows, anyone?) — now comes a new wacky perversion. Atami, a resort town located just outside of Tokyo, now caters to men with virtual girlfriends — guys who play a Sims-like virtual relationship game called LovePlus. The game features a teenage boy who works to court and maintain a relationship with a girl, and followers of the game often become completely obsessed with their virtual conquests. The town has set up a smattering of spots where LovePlus fans can scan barcodes from the game and call up their virtual ladies. One hotel even put the scannable barcodes in its rooms, so that patrons can have special private times with their fake girlfriends. Town reps say that they’ve seen a huge bump in tourism. We’ve seen a huge bump in the creeps. [Mashable]
