... I'll be honest and say that I'm actually excited about this. It's a really interesting idea. I actually really want to run a duo unit with these girls. Most likely, somehow involving that tan idol with what appears to be dark green hair in the live showdown screens. (I think it says Miyumi...?) And a non-passion idol to create contrast. (I'd prefer a cool, but we've only seen two original cool idols, not counting that idol at the bottom-right of the announcement image who I'm pretty sure is going to be cool.) (Of course, that unit idea relies on my having access to the game, which... isn't likely.)
However, there are a few things I wonder:
Question 1: Will there be voice-acting of ANY kind? Over 100 voices would be a daunting, and expensive, task... unless they hire previously-unknown seiyuu for very low because of their status or somesuch... BUT STILL, would Namco be willing to do that? I kind of doubt it, though it would be AWESOME. (Even if there were only, like, 20 or so actual voices that repeated for some characters...)
Question 2: Would the image on the card be the only image of said idol? (Barring leveled-up variations, of course...) I realize that with 100+ idols, presumably all with at least one level-up image (sans cannon idols I also presume), that's a lot of art. However, there was that image of different costumes in orange, green, and red, with question marks for (what is presumably) other colors. I ask because Rika's cat costume just seems... odd to me, compared to Rin's more neutral black dress or some of the other options, and it seems like a lot of the cards will clash if that's the costume in use.
Question 3: How will leveling up work? Will it be done only once per idol, moving from their starting rank to the next one up? (So, from Normal to Normal+ to Rare to Rare+?) Or maybe they'll just have a max number of stars, so that Normal cards remain normal while Rare cards remain rare?
Question 4: The idol gacha sounds... intimidating. I've seen games with gacha components, mostly MMO's, and I've NEVER liked them, mostly for the same reason that I dislike booster packs in trading card games. (In short, if you're paying money for one specific item, it REALLY SHOULDN'T be random.) So... are some idols going to be gacha-only? Are rare idols gacha-only?
Question 5: Are the work and live showdown components solo-idol-only? Will a person be able to use the unit in the co-op mode to face-off against other co-op units?
I know these questions can't be answered right now, but they're things to think about and speculate on.
EDIT:
ACTUAL NEWS(From the day before yesterday I think, due to how the international date line works...):
http://ameblo.jp/project-imas/day-20111128.html This somewhat answers my level-up question, considering we see a leveled up Haruka and Yukiho. (Also, Yukiho's Passion-type? I would have SWORN that she'd be Cute, or Cool if I were hedging my bets.) I know it says "S RARE +", but with six stars, it's pretty clear they leveled up the based Haruka and Yukiho cards.
Google translate is annoying me a bit, as it claims the article is titled "Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Released Today" and messes with the article's formatting. Anyone able to give a good idea what it says?