The “Digital Content Grand Prix” is a competition hosted by the Digital Content Association of Japan with the support of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. It recognizes people, services or technologies that help the growth of Japan’s digital industry.
At the recent 25th Digital Content Grand Prix, Konami’s virtual girlfriend simulators, LovePlus and its upgraded sibling, LovePlus +, both won an excellence award for linking the real world with the virtual world through their communication between players and ingame characters.
While LovePlus laid the foundation for the series, LovePlus +, amongst other upgrades, also incorporates real life locations from Japan into the ingame experience. This, too, was recognized at the Grand Prix as part of its accomplishments. You can also take your virtual girlfriend on vacations and even get into fights with her, making for a rather detailed simulation attempt.
The award was received by LovePlus creator and General Producer of Konami Digital Entertainment, Akari Uchida (pictured above, to the left), at the Tokyo International Exchange Center, where the award ceremony was held earlier today.
This Excellence Award is the second time LovePlus has been recognized for its feats in 2010. Earlier in the year, it was awarded at Japan’s first ever “Romance Awards” for being the best product in the Romance Creative [entertainment] category.
Konami are presently developing a follow-up to LovePlus, titled “Project LovePlus,” for the Nintendo 3DS. You can view a trailer for it here.
