Love Plus Christmas event gives cake, augments reality

9:00 PM on 12.21.2009   |   Josh Tolentino

The life-ruining awesome dating simulator Love Plus does a fine job of adding to the bleak wasteland that is the 3D world on its own, but it seems Konami has yet more plans in store for otaku and their DS-bound waifus.

This Christmas (or "Plusmas" as they'd like you to call it), three hip cake stores in Tokyo are set to sell a bunch of Love Plus cakes for about 1500 yen apiece. Each cake is themed after one the game's virtual girlfriends, with Chocolate for Rinko Kobayakawa (the short-haired one on the left of the header), Strawberry Shortcake for Manaka Takane (middle), and Strawberry Cheesecake for Nene Anegasaki (right). 

The cakes come with illustrated chocolate plates of each girl and "augmented reality cards," which are printed with a special symbol that can be read when placed in front of a webcam, displaying 3D images, sound etc. (check out this great example).

There's a catch, though. No mere ronery man can just walk in and pick one up to cry over. You've gotta come in with your girlfriend. Your Love Plus girlfriend. They'll check the DS and take a picture of you two together if you like. Man, Konami has the cruelest best marketing department ever.

Although, I don't know what they'd do to you if you came in with an R4-style flashcart. Maybe they'd arrest you for kidnapping?

[Thanks to Ko Ransom for the translation!]