Japanese man takes video game character as wife

A Japanese man has married a character in a popular video game, taking her - and his handheld game console - on an overseas honeymoon.

The man, who prefers to use his online moniker SAL9000, met character Nene Anegasaki while playing dating simulation game Love Plus.

They got married a few weeks ago, broadcasting their ceremony live on Japan's version of video-sharing website YouTube.

SAL9000, who did not want to reveal his real name for fear of being misunderstood, admits to be an "otaku", a breed of Japanese youth obsessed with video games, computers and fantasy worlds.

"In the Japanese otaku or nerd culture, there's a tradition of calling characters my wife, and I sort of thought of Nene as my wife. Since I was calling her that, I thought we'd just have to get married then," he said.