GC: Dating Day set for DS encounter

First dates tend to be awkward, potentially embarrassing affairs – certainly if you're still not out of your teens.

But imagine being able to practice the whole procedure beforehand, so you can acclimatise yourself to any eventuality. Sounds like a good idea, right?

Well, Daedalic obviously thinks so because it's developing Dating Day, a title that revolves around the concept of the first date. Promising an engaging storyline, the game sees players trying to woo the boy of their dreams by mastering a host of mini-games.

Mini-games, eh? Hmm, perhaps this isn't as applicable to everyday life as we first imagined.

Hang on, though: you can also customise the design of your avatar, showering it in accessories and the like. That sounds a bit more encouraging with regards to its real-world relevance.

The publisher says the game is aimed at girls aged eight to 14, which surprises us. Not because it's targeting girls, obviously, but rather due to the fact that when we were eight we were too busy playing video games to consider wasting time on dating girls. Then again, everything seems to happen sooner these days.

Yet when we eventually did start thinking about girls, we've little doubt a dating sim would have proved particularly useful in terms of looking at things from a feminine perspective and planning our strategies accordingly. We guess it would all depend on the nature of those mini-games, though – you could, theoretically, come out of it more confused than you went in.

Dating Day is currently set for a late 2008 release.