Well that seems to be the case when it comes to a website called WebKare (Japanese for boyfriend). What is it all about? It is basically a Japanese social networking website with a twist, users sign up and log in to use the usual functions of socialising and meeting others however there is an added extra element - To get a virtual boyfriend.
You see, on the site there are four young males called Kaoru, Shun, Tukasa and Ryuuji and your objective is to use your flirting skills to woo them over and date one of them, much like a dating simulator! Due to the anime style and the dating sim element the website has been a huge hit in Japan for the female audience. As an example of how popular it has been, in just 5 days the site attracted over 10,000 members after its release on September 10 2008, racking up 3.5 million page views in the same time frame, No word as of yet for any localisation in other languages, but I can see this being quite a hit if they manage to translate everything over.
Dating simulators have long been popular in Japan but never quite made the transition in the West however something like this could help break the mould without being too in depth. From reports the interaction it seems is rather basic with you just clicking on your boyfriend to be to initiate scripts with you choosing the various options available. Animations will play back and there is even some voice acting going on to set the tone and any previous conversations can be saved as a ‘memory’ to be replayed after.
One thing that is slighty different as well compared to other social networks is that Webkare encourages discussion and ‘talking’ to the four main male characters and other people on the network. You actually have to approach others in the network and befriend them, much how you would in real life. However I do not know that in doing so would give you additional rewards as of yet.
I can see it expanding further, for example you can create your own avatar in the game but as a reward for doing well you could earn special gifts or accessories to be displayed on your profile or for trade. Or perhaps add social holiday events appear as well like Christmas and possibly specially scripted scenes for when your birthday appears.
It certainly is a good idea though to have such an element as it distinguishes itself from other networks and adds a bit of fun into the mix too. Question remains though… When will there be a males version for virtual girlfiends? Could you see yourself trying something like this? I for example could see a skilled programmer create such an application for FaceBook and gain a very large slice of an already big pie… We shall see!
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