Love at First Byte

Dozen long-stemmed roses? Check. Fancy box of Belgian chocolates? Check. Super Mario Galaxy? Uh, you might want to check with your loved one first.

Traditionally, video games and Valentine's Day go together like oil and water; just turning on a console when your significant other is trying to snuggle can turn a fine holiday into a nightmarish fight. But as it turns out, video games are home to plenty of offbeat relationships, so put away those gross candy hearts and join us in a salute to seven awesome gaming couples.

Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man

It's a classic tale of boy meets girl, boy chases girl, girl chases boy, ghosts chase couple, and stork delivers baby. At least, that's what we learned during the famous intermission sequences in 1982's Ms. Pac-Man.

But far be it from us to doubt the love shared between these two legendary yellow blobs. The medium's first significant couple (provided you don't count the two paddles from Pong, which we don't) brought the concept of digital romance to the masses with two hit games. Not only did the Pacs form a civil union, but they even procreated; just like ma and pa, Baby Pac-Man eventually got his very own coin-op, a weird pinball/video game hybrid.

One nagging question lingers, though: why is it "Ms." Pac-Man? She clearly took his name, but are they not married? Was the baby born out of wedlock? Inquiring minds want to know!

Mario and Peach

The power couple that makes the Mushroom Kingdom go round, Mario and Peach have been together forever.

Although technically speaking, Peach wasn't Mario's first love. That distinction goes to Donkey Kong damsel Pauline, who had the dual misfortune of being perpetually captured by a giant gorilla - remember, coin-op games back then didn't really 'end' - and watching Nintendo craft a better, stronger, and faster version in the form of a noble Princess.

And frankly, we haven't looked back. Mario has been saving Peach since 1985's classic Super Mario Bros., forging a unique bond that has functioned as the basis for about a half-dozen amazing games. While the mustachioed mascot has dabbled with other royal damsels (he saved Princess Daisy from disaster in the Game Boy smash Super Mario Land, for instance), Peach has been the main squeeze through most of his - and our - adventures.

Master Chief and Cortana

John Lennon instructed us to hide our love our away, but we get the feeling he didn't mean, like, literally hide your love in a microchip implanted in your helmet. But for the better part of three legendary first-person shooters, that's exactly where Master Chief carries his diminutive digital guide, Cortana.

Okay, so maybe calling their relationship "love" is a bit of a stretch: he's a seven-foot tall Spartan supersoldier, she's an artificial construct created from the cloned brain of a brilliant scientist. Salsa dancing is probably out of the question.

Still, over the course of the Halo trilogy, it's impossible to deny the profound sense of fondness these two most unlikely of partners develop for one another. By the end of Halo 3, it's clear that Cortana and Chief share a genuine (if a bit creepy) affection, one strengthened through hordes of dismembered Flood corpses. Given, it helps that Cortana's chosen form is that of a trim supermodel, but who are we to judge true love?