The big red controversy button has been whole-heartedly punched once again, this time by an innocent-looking online game called Miss Bimbo. It's the silicon-enhanced evolution of the whole Tamagotchi-style genre, wherin players manage the life of their bimbo avatar in an effort to make her 'the hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo ever'. Think of it as a Paris Hilton simulator and you're pretty much there.

Shallowness unashamedly reigns supreme in terms of the lengths the in-game bimbos must go to in order to achieve success. Breast implants and diet pills are their power-ups and level-grinding is replaced by finding a rich boyfriend to sponge off. As is to be expected. press and parents alike are going supernova over the morals and life lessons they percieve the game to be thrusting upon the world's younger female folk, citing it as a potential harbinger of an anorexic future in which make-up bags weigh more than their owners and weak-bodied girls strain to apply lipstick under the weight of their own artificially pendulous mammaries.

The cost issue has also been raised, as while the game is free to play and in-game currency can be won from other players, bimbo dollars (their term, not ours) can also be bought with real-life cash via Paypal or text messages costing £1:50 a pop. A French girl has already run up a £100 phone bill, making us wonder just how separate real-life and videogame personas are in her case.

Of course, the whole thing can just be interpreted as a big slice of satire pie, poking fun at the glossy but vacant Britney Hiltons of the world. The game's creator says that it just reflects real life (true), and that its goals are morally sound (debatable), teaching players how to look after their bimbos by following a healthy lifestyle of fat avoidance. Whether every player will get the joke though is a question still to be answered.

What do you reckon? Ironic snipe at celebrity culture or dangerous online bulimia-monger? Hit the forums and let us know what you think.