I now pronounce you husband and what?!

In another sign that the world is about to collapse, multiple blogs are reporting that a fan of the Nintendo DS dating sim Love Plus (you know, the really creepy one) liked his virtual lady so much that he decided to marry her. For real.

Apparently, a Japanese gamer known as 'Sal9000' was officially wed to Nene Anegasaki, one of the game's three virtual girlfriends, in what must have been the weirdest ceremony in the history of ceremonies. We can only assume that Ms. Pac-Man was the maid of honor.

While the two aren't planning a honeymoon -- after all, one of them is a VIDEO GAME -- they did hold a small 'reception' in Japan for friends, family and the media, indicating that this is most likely little more than the looniest video game publicity stunt we've seen in some time. Check out this video recap by Boing Boing, complete with footage of the happy, er, couple:




I didn't see this posted yet, so I figured why the hell not. Seriously, I almost can't believe this is real. If you read the title and thought this must be some kind of joke, I'm sorry to say you are at least partly wrong. While it does seem like a sick, ridiculous joke, it looks to be all too pathetically real. Publicity stunt or not, I don't see how this whole shenanigan ever made it this far, though I guess they probably didn't see the need to add a "video game clause" into marriage legislation before this.... I've heard of socially challenged people before, and as an avid gamer I can understand sympathizing with a virtual character, but marrying one?