Japan's Version of "Computer Dating"

I love Japan, but it is a strange culture. So I was not too surprised to see that Japanese men are starting to spend real-world weekend get-aways with virtual computer girlfriends:

In the first month of the city's promotional campaign launched July 10, more than 1,500 male fans of the Japanese dating-simulation game LovePlus+ have flocked to Atami for a romantic date with their videogame character girlfriends.

The men are real. The girls are cartoon characters on a screen. The trips are actual, can be expensive and aim to re-create the virtual weekend outing featured in the game, a product of Konami Corp. played on Nintendo Co.'s DS videogame system.

The link has pictures of the three girlfriends to choose from, so you can decide for yourself which one you would want to take a weekend trip with.  I am a "girl-next-door" type myself and would go for Manaka-chan.