DS and Love Plus Featured on BBC Japanese Documentary

A BBC documentary on the sex lives of Japanese couples highlighted the dating sim market and DS game, Love Plus.

The report uses the Nintendo DS as a potential reason for the declining population in Japan with men and women opting to use virtual partners instead or dating real life human folk. In the documentary, two Love Plus players had been dating their virtual partners for several years, believing that they're real life girlfriends; companions for life.

Dating simulations are nothing new in the world of gaming, but it's one of the first times the genre's been focused so prominently on major tele.

What are your thoughts on dating sims - can they really be substitutes for real life partners?