When the two of us here at Level Up covering TGS got to the front of the long line to try Sony's VR, there were only two options available: a horror game called Kitchen and a dating simulation game called Summer Lesson. Being of the 'I might throw up/run away screaming/faint/all of the above if I see something scary in 3D' type, I chose the dating sim.

Summer Lesson is developed by the Tekken team, of all people, and is a game where you can interact with one of two girls as their teacher. When I heard dating sim I was hoping I might at least get to choose between going on a 'date' with a boy or a girl, but alas I wasn't given such an opportunity. In the demo you could only choose between a private tutoring session with a Japanese schoolgirl, or a Japanese lesson for an American guitar player deciding to play recluse in a rural part of Japan. The schoolgirl spoke Japanese, but the American guitar player only spoke English (with the exception of a really cringe-worthy self-introduction in Japanese), which surprised me, what with us being at Tokyo Game Show and all.

Interactions with the girl were limited to nodding yes or no in response to questions, looking at certain objects when prompted, and moving your head closer to her to help her understand a passage in her book. Honestly I was more interested in looking around at the environment, which was beautifully rendered and believable, with a windchime gently blowing in the wind as the ocean waves slowly rolled into the coast in the distance, than I was in paying attention to her. That being said, when she came and sat next to me to show me her Japanese book, my body actually naturally shifted away at the invasion of my personal space, and when she leaned over me to grab something on my other side, I swear I could almost feel her near, and again shifted. Color me impressed that both the girl and her world were so well rendered that they tricked my body into thinking they were real.

While Summer Lesson left me impressed with the capabilities of Sony's VR tech, even to the point of coming away with the feeling that I'd just witnessed something from the future, I'll be honest that the game didn't do anything for me. However, if dating sims are your cup of tea, using Sony's VR headset to experience them will be absolutely revolutionary. While I was playing Summer Lesson though, I'll admit the thought that passed through my mind most often was 'I wonder how long after launch this will be used for porn'.