What's a man to do when he meets the woman of his dreams -- and she just happens to be make-believe? Why, he proposes to her anyway. Last weekend, a man who goes by the screenname Sal9000 married Nene Anegasaki, his virtual girlfriend in a real-life ceremony presided over by a priest and broadcast live online. (I can only imagine how the priest concluded the ceremony: I now pronounce you husband and video game -- you may kiss the bride's pixels?) The happy couple met in the Nintendo DS game Love Plus, an interactive courting challenge that I previously wrote about because Japanese girlfriends and wives were reportedly complaining about the grip these made-up girlfriends had on their men. Now, the game has inspired what Lisa Katayama of Boing Boing calls "the first public wedding ceremony to ever take place between man and video game." Technically, the union isn't legally binding (although rumors do abound on gamer Web sites that the couple actually eloped to Guam, where marriage laws are apparently much, much more relaxed).
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I present you with video proof that there are people out there even more peculiar than your own kooky relatives. I for one am thankful that there won't be a place setting for a video game character at my family feast.
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