Good news for gamers out there who have long eyeballed Namco Bandai's Idolmaster (or Idolm@ster as it is officially spelled) and wondered if the series would ever make it out to America. For those who are unfamiliar, Idolmaster is a sim in which you are thrust into the role of a music producer who must guide an all girl J-Pop group, better known as idols in Japan.
You either oversee or are directly involved in every facet of the girls' careers. From choosing the songs they sing, to helping them actually perform, and even choosing their attire. Plus there's plenty of chitchatting said girls, and while there's no real dating elements per say, it is your job to keep the girls happy.
Anyhow, and as noted already, many in the West have been dying to give the game a spin (there's been countless versions for the home consoles and arcades, not to mention numerous spin offs as well). Localized versions are finally available, in the form of three iOS titles.
But here's the bad news: they $54.99 each. Which is quite the hefty price tag, to put it mildly.
In the past, Square Enix has gotten a certain degree of flack for their iOS ports of old and popular SNES, PSone, and PSP titles, which often have an asking price of almost $20. One popular point of contention is that these are older titles, so why should the publisher demand such a premium price, when compared to all the other offerings?
Meanwhile, this marks the Idolmaster's first appearance in America, something many have been dying for, plus localization is never cheap and easy. So perhaps it's a fair market price after all? Is this the time for fans to either put up or shut up?
One can actually find reviews for the games already. Here's one for Idolm@ster Shiny Feista: Rhythmic Record; as Siliconera points out, each of the three are fundamentally the same title, just with different songs:
Excellent game been wanting more anime related games on App Store! Excellent game. Please add more IDOLM@STER games? Or other anime game!
That's one happy customer at least. Still, it's hard pill to swallow when most iOS offering top out at the $5 price, and a huge barrier of entry for the series to find new fans.
Still, the question remains: is $55 too much for in iOS game? Are such titles not as "worthwhile" as something on a 3DS or Vita?
