Virtual girlfriend game for mobile phones

Virtual girlfriend in your cell phone.

The Hong Kong company Artificial Life, which developed the new game, says the girl will appear as an animated figure on the video screen of a mobile phone.

Artificial Life is hoping to launch the new game later this year, on the latest 3-G mobile phones.

All virtual girls will look the same - but each girl will behave differently - depending on how much money is spent on her.

On top of a general subscription, men will be charged a fee to buy flowers and gifts for the virtual girlfriend.

In return, she will introduce them to different aspects of her life, like letting them meet her female friends - also electronic images. [...]

The company has plans to introduce a virtual boyfriend for women, although it remains to be seen how it will persuade them to spend extra money on the game.

A Tamagotchi-like "virtual girlfriend" game could be entertaining in a goofy-ironic way. But do guys really want a manipulative, high-maintenance virtual girlfriend who won't sleep with them? The Virtua Girl strikes me as a more promising business model.

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