Im@s in english, there might be hope

[Naryoril]

I just read an interesting article on Siliconera about Namco's recent push in releasing "niche" games in english:
http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/11/bandai-namco-say-theyre-paying-attention-fans/

This is the most interesting bit for us here:

With that kind of opening, I had to ask about two of my favorite, Bandai Namco series. I needed to know what could happen with Idolmaster and Taiko no Tatsujin. While O’Leary didn’t have anything to say on the latter, he definitely recognized the former. “I’ve played all those Idolmaster games. There are always talks if we should do it or not. Nothing has been announced yet for that series. But, a few years ago, if you asked me if Project X Zone was going to come here, I’d have said, ‘No.’ So, you can never say never.”
Read more at http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/11/bandai-namco-say-theyre-paying-attention-fans/#0epYuHpZlDcU98EY.99

Let's hope they make the right choice. And not a troll like the Shiny Festa release.

[Okayu]

Let's hope they make the right choice. And not a troll like the Shiny Festa release.

They did say the shiny festa release was a test because psp rights take longer. I wouldn't be too surprised if the theme of the tenth year is world wide. At least Leon is a world class idol and with the localizing talk now would be a perfect time for a game about that subject in my opinion. It'd certainly be interesting to see a world tour sort of game.

[Naryoril]

They did say the shiny festa release was a test because psp rights take longer. I wouldn't be too surprised if the theme of the tenth year is world wide. At least Leon is a world class idol and with the localizing talk now would be a perfect time for a game about that subject in my opinion. It'd certainly be interesting to see a world tour sort of game.

Yeah, maybe they'll bring the announced PS4 game to the west. I'd also be very happy with an english OFA (text only, leave the voices and especially the songs in japanese).


The issue with Shiny Festa is that the iOS versions cost more than the PSP originals, and about 50 times as much as most other games on the platform. In addition they are only available on iOS. If they were available on Android i'd probably have bought my favorite of the 3 (the one with Yukiho, Makoto, Takane and Miki) just to make a point, although it is basically wasted money.

[Okayu]

Yeah, maybe they'll bring the announced PS4 game to the west. I'd also be very happy with an english OFA (text only, leave the voices and especially the songs in japanese).


The issue with Shiny Festa is that the iOS versions cost more than the PSP originals, and about 50 times as much as most other games on the platform. In addition they are only available on iOS. If they were available on Android i'd probably have bought my favorite of the 3 (the one with Yukiho, Makoto, Takane and Miki) just to make a point, although it is basically wasted money.

I think that's a possibility. More games are coming over with text only translated. At least I'd personally prefer it that way as no dub actress could do the idols justice in my opinion.

As far as I know the English release was roughly the same price as the Japanese iOS version. It must have done okay enough if they're considering releasing more in the future.

[Maka]

This is going to be really rambly because my brain is fried from finals but here goes.

I think a lot of idol/musical things in general aren't dubbing songs... K-On dubbed the speaking, but not the songs, and Love Live didn't even have a dub. Additionally, even if it is dubbed more and more games are including language options. Even handheld games like Fire Emblem Awakening and Dangan Ronpa had the option. I would probably be in the minority where I'd give a dub a try... As long as the option's there to switch, in case the dub is awful (but usually even the worst dubs have a good performance or two).

Tbh, I think we're going to see the anime before we see any main series games. I think the introduction of digital downloads over brick and mortar stores means good things for niche titles like this, however.  If this was brought over 5 years ago, it would probably have an incredibly limited release, if it got floor space in a game store at all.

[Okayu]

Tbh, I think we're going to see the anime before we see any main series games. I think the introduction of digital downloads over brick and mortar stores means good things for niche titles like this, however.  If this was brought over 5 years ago, it would probably have an incredibly limited release, if it got floor space in a game store at all.

I'd say that depends on how it does in that anime awards. Aniplex seems to be pretty picky with what it brings over and when they do it tends to be at the same price as Japanese releases. Also it's likely that idolmaster will be gone from crunchyroll soon as titles like gosick from the same year were already removed. So unless Aniplex suddenly decides to release the series it's likely that a translated main game will come first. It'd be nice to have more people actually play the games.

[MetalPredat0r]

Gonna give my two cents on this.

I honestly really wanna see this happen, given that I'm an iM@S fan that doesn't know how to read a lick of Japanese.

As for what they might bring in? I think the best possible options are the console games or the anime/movie. The games can easily be brought over if the story routes themselves are translated into other languages if they just wanna bring it over. There isn't anything else that can be done since voices and music can be kept the same. They might also have a subtitles feature for the songs ala Project Diva F. If they want to dub the games into English, then I'll be open to an English dub, but I'm not sure if it'll be easy to adapt to given that we've heard these characters speak Japanese for about a decade now.

As for the anime/movie, it could be as simple as sub and release to home video, like what Funimation is doing with Puchim@s, however I do understand that getting the rights is probably VERY expensive, given the songs whereas Puchim@s is a silly little spin-off that probably didn't take much effort to acquire.

As for anything else, the manga MIGHT have a chance since manga releases aren't unheard of, but I don't see that happening. Same for CG/ML/SM. Those probably have the least likely chance of coming out due to how events work. The international version would have to be behind the Japanese version, kinda like how Love Live School Idol Festival is behind the Japanese version in terms of events for its English release.

[Maka]

I'd say that depends on how it does in that anime awards. Aniplex seems to be pretty picky with what it brings over and when they do it tends to be at the same price as Japanese releases. Also it's likely that idolmaster will be gone from crunchyroll soon as titles like gosick from the same year were already removed. So unless Aniplex suddenly decides to release the series it's likely that a translated main game will come first. It'd be nice to have more people actually play the games.

I can't believe the anime is that old... It's kind of shocking.

Has there been any update on that one election?

[zaitcev]

It was a long road, and I progressed where I'm not interested in English adaptations. Shiny Festa for iOS was expensive, honestly. I didn't buy it, although I have the Cool version for PSP. But I'll be very happy for whoever new fans an English release is going to net.

[Naryoril]

It was a long road, and I progressed where I'm not interested in English adaptations.

With long road, do you mean learning japanese?
If so, i can partially agree. In the past 3 years i spent a lot of time with learning japanese and i progressed to a point, where i don't need english adaptations. But i'm still interested in them and i'd buy them. I can understand the story roughly, but it is slow and exhausting, and i'm still missing a lot of the finer points and some of the not so fine points, so an official translation would still be welcome for me.

[Okayu]

With long road, do you mean learning japanese?
If so, i can partially agree. In the past 3 years i spent a lot of time with learning japanese and i progressed to a point, where i don't need english adaptations. But i'm still interested in them and i'd buy them. I can understand the story roughly, but it is slow and exhausting, and i'm still missing a lot of the finer points and some of the not so fine points, so an official translation would still be welcome for me.

That is the case for me. While I definitely prefer playing the original I may pick up future translations to help support and have a copy others can understand. I like being able to read the original instead of someone's translation of it. It's been roughly the same. About three years ago I couldn't even read kana but now I can play through One for All and watch Japanese TV without much problems. I still have quite a bit to go before fluency however.

I can't believe the anime is that old... It's kind of shocking.

Has there been any update on that one election?

Japanese and English voting are still open until the end of this month results are announced on March 12th.

creating an evenly-paced group drama where all of the idols get good screen time.

All of the idols. Unless you're Azusa, Takane, Yukiho, etc.