Recently on the Japanese Playstation Network, Namco released a trial/demo of the upcoming Playstation 3 port of The iDOLM@STER 2 game. Are you “Ready!!”?
The demo gives a preview of some of the things that will be present in the full game. You’ll be able to select three girls, select and customize their outfits, and create a one day schedule with them. The options include performance lessons, promotional events, communication, and performances. The song “Ready!!” is available for the performances, and is the opening for the currently airing anime series.
The basic premise is that you are a producer at a firm that manages girls aspiring to become idols. In past versions of the game, the player is usually given the choice of a girl to manage, guiding them in performance lessons, promotional events and developing a working relationship with them, all in hopes of capturing the hearts of the fans when they perform on stage. The performances and lessons are usually based on mini-games involving rhythm, like in traditional rhythm games, like Project Diva or DJ Max.
"Smoky Thrill" - One of the new songs in iM@S2
The iDOLM@STER 2, or iM@S2, expands on that idea and as presented in the demo, you can manage a group of girls, creating a “unit” in which follows the same basic idea of development and allows you to produce a dynamic amongst the girls.
iM@S2 Xbox 360 Art
Previously, iM@S2 was only available on the XBOX360 in Japan, much to the dismay of fans, since it is necessary to have a Japanese 360 in order to play imports. A US PS3, on the other hand, can play Japanese games due to the Blu-rays having less strict region coding than DVD-based games, and that Japan and the US have the same region code . That being said, the first iM@S game is credited with singlehandedly raising the number of Xbox Live sign-ups and purchase of Microsoft points after the day it was released. The PS3 port is said to contain all the extras that were available to 360 users, much to THEIR dismay, and will get additional DLC, such as the ever prolific virtual idol herself, Hatsune Miku. It is worth to note that the Project Diva 2nd game had iM@S DLC available for it as well, so this is not too surprising to see.
I took some time to play the demo a few times and made the following video.
It was recorded using a video capture device that only accepts composite, so the video doesn’t do the game justice in how the visuals look for the characters and other details.
On a personal note, I am looking forward to this game due to the improvements from the first version and due to my recent exposure to the anime series. The characters all have their own charms that make all of them likable to some extent. Expect a review of the full game along with an unboxing post since I will be getting the Special Box version of the game when it comes out October 27th, which is next week!
“I’m Ready!!”