Top 10 Best Video Game Girlfriends

In the realm of Top Ten lists and articles there are certain subjects that, on their face, appear to be very subjective - particularly those that call for judgment on the part of the writer - and this is just such a case.

Before we get to the Top 10 Video Game Girlfriends properly we need to discuss what this list is NOT about... It is not about girlfriend simulator video games (oh yes, they do indeed exist!).

The Video Game Girlfriend Simulator

The genre of girlfriend simulator video games is not a new one - they have been around almost as long as the PC games industry has existed, because of course when you put a code geek in a room and talk about computers, girlfriends, and simulators, they will naturally make that leap.

That type of game is incredibly popular in Japan - in fact it is so popular that for a pretty significant portion of the under-30 geek population it is actually growing into the preferred choice for relationships thanks to a combination of factors that include tending to emotional needs while avoiding the messy parts of the typical relationship between boy-girl / girl-girl / boy-boy / boy and girl and furry animal... You get the idea.

To put that in perspective for you, consider this: In 2009 a 27-year-old Japanese gamer who goes by the 'nym SAL9000 legally married a very attractive young Japanese girl named Nene Anegasaki in a civil ceremony that took place both at a public venue in Guam and online.

Their wedding was broadcast on a YouTube-like video site in Japan, and took place in Guam because that was the only place in the world where the civil authorities would issue the couple a wedding license, and permit their union.

Following the ceremony and reception - both of which were attended by hundreds of people IRL as well as thousands online, the happy couple flew off to an undisclosed location for their honeymoon.

So what was the catch? Nene Anegasaki is a digital girlfriend in the Nintendo DS game 'Love Plus' - which is a very complex girlfriend simulator.

Sal's decision to marry Nene is more of a comment on the higher level of sophistication and effectiveness that relationship simulators have reached in this day and age than it is any sort of alternate lifestyle issue.

It is also worth noting that it appears to be typical of an entire social movement that is taking place in Japan today - a change in the norm based upon men (and women) desiring to have and experience positive emotional relations without having to deal with the often messy side you find when two humans build a relationship.

While that is interesting it is also not what this feature piece is about!

No, this is about the characters that are found in video games today that are worthy of selection as your companion, or even potentially a mate for life.

The most desirable characters in other words, and not simply because they are attractive or potentially offer the sort of relationship experience you can only find in fantasies. No, there are a lot of other good reasons for their making this list.

Sure it is subjective, but then considering the facts that these characters are, by-and-large, created from the whole cloth to present a specific personality and image to the player; an experience if you will that is meant to provoke a very specific set of emotional responses, it sort of goes without saying.

The success by which these images offer the player an interesting character who can be fun, caring, loyal, and... well... often more human than some of the girls we dated in university says a lot!

We don't expect that you will agree with all of the choices that we have made in this one - or the position that they end up occupying in the list.

In fact we pretty much anticipate that we will have missed characters you feel a lot stronger about both emotionally and, heh, physically.

That being the case, as is usually our position with Top 10 Feature Pieces, we sincerely invite you to share your preferred choices - and opinion - by making use of the Comments System that can be found at the bottom of every page.

But if you do choose to take us up on that offer, please take a few minutes to fill in the aspects about your choices that move you - what makes them more significant and compelling choices - and share your opinion with some detail and some heart?

After all, what this is really about is finding in a virtual video game character the best (and the worst) aspects you are actually seeking in a real-world companion, right? And if you are going to take the time to respond with your opinion on the subject, we would really like and enjoy hearing that in some detail.

So with those qualifications having been made, why don't you grab your beverage of choice, a comfortable seat, and your willingness to suspend disbelief while we take you down the road of figuring out the Top 10 Best Video Game Girlfriends.

10. Princess Peach (Super Mario & Etc.)

According to the 2007 Forbes Fictional 15 (a regular feature listing the 15 wealthiest fictional characters), this 23-year-old natural blonde is now-divorced (having inherited quite the pile of gold coins from ex-husband Mario), and now is the sole ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Her net worth is estimated at around $1.3B (her net worth rises and falls with the price of gold).

A graduate of Toad's Finishing School for Girls, she is very into short older men with accents - pink dresses - and lives for go-cart racing and tennis.

Bearing in mind that Peach is slightly damaged goods - her ex-husband Mario claims that the combination of nightmares and paranoia caused by a series of traumatic abductions by King Bowser (ruler of the Koopa) leaves her in what that Italian manufacturer of quality bathroom accessories describes as 'a perpetual state of arousal!'

Physically the Princess is quite attractive - she is a tall woman whose pleasing hourglass-like figure is complimented by long blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and a healthy rosy complexion with clear glowing skin that is often described as being, well, peachy.

Pink is her color in terms of sartorial preference - every type of fashion and accessory, from gowns to suits to more intimate apparel - even the leathers that she wears while riding her motorcycle are pink!

Pink is all around her, including her shoes - though that does not appear to include accessories which tend to lean towards gold - lots of gold - and precious gems like her treasured rubies and her sets of sapphire-encrusted jewelry.

Thankfully that sharp focus and preference is not an overpowering influence in her life or her personality.

Princess Peach is not a clothes horse, or an airhead. Just the opposite!

She is an intelligent, well-mannered and polite person socially, while her true self is an introspective and caring companion who is loyal and who feels emotions intensely. Almost the perfect girlfriend...

Of course there has to be a fly somewhere in the ointment, and in the case of Princess Peach, that fly takes the form of a tendency towards acting the brat - especially when she does not grasp the reason for events that she dislikes. Sigh.