Written by Yoshi Yukino (13 Feb 2001)

The meal you've so painstakingly prepared the whole evening is laid out on the table; the champange sits ready in a pail of ice on one side. You've dimmed the lights to let the flickering candles throw your room into some surreal hideaway for lovers. As if that isn't enough, you pop the most romantic music CD you have in your collection into the hi-fi and up the volume.

It's the eve on 14th February--Valentine's Day. You're alone in your room. You clear your throat, and depending on which half of the Pacific you're on, do your best Pierce Brosman or Takeshi Kaneshiro impersonation. You're in the right mood for a little romance. Time to turn on your video console and toast to that doe-eyed girl smiling sweetly at you from the other side of your television.

PC gamers in need of a life (or wife, if you want something that rhymes) on Valentine's Day may spend the whole evening venting their frustration on Counterstrike. Deprived console gamers have something that suits the occasion better in the virtual love-simulation--the most famous among them being Konami's Tokimeki Memorial (TokiMemo).

Lest gamers like myself get accused of being the unromantic sort, I'll dedicate the occasion to the one game that literally re-invented cyber-dating on video consoles, as well as some notable others that has since carried on the tradition.