I’m not making this up! In what might appear to be a effort to one up the Japanese in the all important dating sim market, Hong Kong based Artificial Life, Inc. will soon release a virtual girlfriend game for 3G cell phones. I first heard about this on Slashdot and here’s the link to the BBC News story.
This is all very interesting because it sounds like a tamagotchi pet for men, an expensive one at that. According to the BBC story, the player will have to keep his girlfriend’s affections by buying her gifts and flowers. On top of the subscription fee, these additional gifts incur additional fees. At some point, one has to wonder if the cyber girlfriend is more expensive than a real one would be! And the cynical might further wonder just who is being played! Despite these questions, I suspect that the game will be a big hit which will only spawn numerous imitators. It might even make it to the U.S. considering that Artificial Life, whose global HQ is in Hong Kong, is also incorporated in the United States.
I’m also rather interested in the technology behind the game. Is there real AI technology in play here? In any case, the heavy processing would be done on remote servers. The real trick in the handset will be handling the graphics, essential for a game like this. The clips on the Artificial Life web site also have a very Final Fantasy-esque look to them. Those are cut scenes I would guess, but they probably do define the game’s overall esthetic and may again indicate the market being pursued. The game play described in the company’s press release is also very reminiscent of Shenmue in that the virtual girlfriend has her own virtual daily routine so she’s doing different things in different places throughout the day.
And since the virtual girlfriend looks the same for every player, if the game proves a success, a new star will be born with product endorsements to follow!:) The ladies need not feel left out, as virtual boyfriend is scheduled for a February 2005 release.