Have you ever been reluctant to introduce your significant other to friends – fearing that she may ditch you for a better looking buddy?
Well, one Japanese video game developer, Konami, is taking gaming monogamy to the next level by using facial recognition software to ensure that your virtual honey plays only with you and no one else.
Sigh. If only real life had such guarantees.
So, how does it work?
Well, Project LovePlus is coded for the Nintendo 3DS, a handheld console that features both inner and outer facing cameras.
The outer facing camera points towards the gamer, so your GF can determine whether she is indeed playing with you, her main squeeze.
Kind of like the virtual promise ring of the gaming community, the so-called “Boyfriend Lock,” disallows your girlfriend from playing with any of your friends that may drop by and turn on the game.
If they try, your sweetie will politely rejecting them by asking them “who are you?”
The idea is to bring gamers closer to their virtual girlfriends within the dating-sim genre.
And so far, the concept of virtual girfriends has been surprisingly successful – with 83% market growth in 2009 recorded for the original LovePlus title, which allows a playah’ to chase multiple women until one accepts his or her advances.
Of course, there is no news on when Nintendo will develop a real life “Boyfriend Lock.”
Hopefully, just in time for Valentine’s Day 2011! Until then, boyfriends and girlfriends around the world will be waiting with bated breath…
(Via Kotaku and SiliconEra)
