Today's ???????-iest video: The Idolmaster

by Kevin Kelly { Feb 8th 2007 at 1:26AM }

Today's video featuring in-game footage from The Idolmaster is completely wacky and strange ... even somewhat bizarre. That is, unless you speak Japanese or have a universal translator handy. We've talked about this game for the Xbox 360 before, and this footage seems to confirm just how strange this thing really is.

In fact, if you're anything like us, you might feel a bit brainwashed after seeing this video. It's enough to put you into a trance, while your brain says WTF over and over. Hopefully someone can translate this for us before we decide to worship these strange Japanese girls and form a cult.

Tags: 360, Bandai, Idolmaster, import, Japan, Japanese, music, Namco, Namco Bandai, rhythm, The Idolmaster, Xbox 360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Aex @ Feb 8th 2007 1:45AM

I feel so guilty saying this, but man I love the character animation and rendering in this.

Jonah Falcon @ Feb 8th 2007 1:54AM

Say what you want, but it looks like a real television anime circa 1985. You could never tell it was a console game if you removed that HUD.

Savok @ Feb 8th 2007 1:54AM

You shouldn't feel guilty Aex, it's the best 3D videogame translation of anime I've ever seen, art wise.

And lets be honest, it's also a damn good translation of anime in general.

Kevin @ Feb 8th 2007 1:56AM

I didn't make this clear enough in the post, but I agree ... the animation looks pretty fantastic.

G @ Feb 8th 2007 1:57AM

If you peep the wikipedia entry for Japanese idol, you'll get a better understanding of the game(maybe).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_idol

Chris @ Feb 8th 2007 2:14AM

Japanese people are weird... and the music sounds like it's from Mario Party.

Gavin @ Feb 8th 2007 2:30AM

Looks like a cell-shaded dating sim to me. It seems like the logical tech-leap in CGI generated anime. It was only a matter of time before this level of smoothly animated characters were available. I hate to sound jaded, but I'm surpised it took this long. Still, seems as if the action manga games will really be the ones that take this to the next level.

MoonfirePewPEwPEw @ Feb 8th 2007 2:32AM

It's sad that it is on the 360, where it will sell like 100,000 copies in its lifetime, while it could break 500,000 on its opening week if it were on a Japanese console.

CubeGuy @ Feb 8th 2007 2:55AM

This makes the embedded video look... lame in comparison. =O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puegpaAgmnE

Einhanderkiller @ Feb 8th 2007 3:13AM

I've never seen a girl move so strangely.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 8th 2007 3:39AM

Doesn't look so odd to me. Looks like a bone-stock Japanese dating sim. The graphics style is nice though.

I don't read Japanese, but I'm sure that the menus are just options as to how to ask her if she would like to engage in some tentacle sex. She pretends she doesn't but because it's a Japanese game, she actually secretly wants to.

animejoe @ Feb 8th 2007 3:41AM

Xboxyde.com has had some coverage of this over the past few months. In fact, they have a few HD in-game videos over there. Beats the shit out of this YouTube stuff.

http://xboxyde.com/game_1111_en.html

Gotta say, I probably wouldn't play this game if it saw the light of day in the U.S., but the cel shading looks frikkin' sweet! Someone needs to apply this technique to a Bubblegum Crisis game for 360. Yeah, that'll happen.

Slim @ Feb 8th 2007 3:58AM

I'm not sure what's going on, but I think the girl drowned in the pool at the end, and that red box at the end alerts you that you lost or something...

Game does look nice though...

Purple Haze @ Feb 8th 2007 4:00AM

That didn't make any sense to me what at all. I agree though, good animation.

Wes @ Feb 8th 2007 4:09AM

Hey, Einhanderkiller, would you believe there really are girls in Japan that move like that? It's all about being "cute." Cuteness is prized about 10x more than it is here in the West.

As far as translation...

There's a fair amount I couldn't catch and I'm not going to go through it 20 times to catch it all, but it seems you're trying to communicate various things to her but she doesn't really understand much of it at first until you explain it. If you say the wrong things she'll get a little upset. The text at the very end says, "Bad Communication" (baddo komyunikeeshon, it's actually English written in katakana).　　

You mention "porori" (which I guess means to let your breast slip out from your swimsuit) when she asks what she ought to do to become a popular idol. This was the worst of the three choices.

In another part she mentions she's good at sports such as volleyball, basketball, swimming, and running. Since there's some competition that day related to watersports you mention she could try waterpolo. She's never heard of it but she thinks she could win because, well, she's just that good.

I actually found the dialog kind of funny - it made me laugh :P

I wonder, since the author of the article couldn't understand the dialog though, what did he find so bizarre about it? Oh well :)

By the way, these games are terribly addicting :( ... ;)

Nz @ Feb 8th 2007 5:15AM

Well, her name is Miki, and the protagonist begings by asking her if she's good at sports. She says yes, she's good at all kinds of sports, but doesn't like getting sweaty so doesn't do them very often.

That's about the first 15 seconds O_o

Slaziman @ Feb 8th 2007 5:45AM

Holy shit, I'd hit it

nerv789 @ Feb 8th 2007 5:46AM

I'm rather suprised that many peeps here knows so much about these Hentai or dating sim games really well. From regular japanese POV, those are ranked quite high in the list of weird stuff.
From the footages I saw of this game, if this was to be released in US, this one'll probably get T or M (or may be AO even)rating due to some of sexual contents (nothing graphical though). There are "skinship" mode where you can touch these girls...

You might wanna check out Rouge Galaxy if you are looking for good cell shaded 3D in games. Does quite a nice job for PS2 and this was out in Japan some time ago.

Nudgenudge @ Feb 8th 2007 6:01AM

OK, this is beautiful.
Now... I think of another jap game coming round our parts, with a lot of dialog, fun characters, and a spiky-haired lawyer.

That's right. A Phoenix Wright on next-gen, with this animation. That would rule everything.

JPRacer @ Feb 8th 2007 6:28AM

Why take a 4 years old kid to do the girl's voice? I wish it's not all the girls in Japan that talk with such a high-pitched voice. Very annoying.

Graphics are clean but I don't see where the big buzz is....

Author X @ Feb 8th 2007 6:41AM

@13: What, you don't want those poor nihonjin to feel guilty about enjoying watching a girl getting raped? Good heavens, no, that would just be sick. If she starts to enjoy it, though, well then it's all good, and everyone's happy.

Alright, so it's not, and not everyone's happy because for some of us there's not enough bleach in the world for our eyes, but at least the people that do get off on it don't have to feel like bad people.

As for the video... yes, I agree the graphics and animation are really smooth. I attribute that partly to the fact that the machine doesn't have to spend any extra cycles on, say, handling complex input, rendering anything besides the girl, or anything remotely complicated. That's not to say that's a bad thing, that's pretty much the only reason anyone plays bishoujo games ("pretty girl" games, including things that aren't really datings sims like Idolmaster is from what I've heard) is for the visuals (ie girls) and the writing. I'm going to assume that was some good characterization of her personality, or something, but whatever the case someone playing this wouldn't really care about innovative controls or dynamic environments anyway.

(fun fact: most, if not all bishoujo games' 'controls' require only one hand >.>)

benjamin @ Feb 8th 2007 7:29AM

Man, this game looks great. I really wish they'd localize it.

Of course, I realize that they'd sell poorly and lose money on the proposition, so I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with Youtube videos and Princess Maker 2. ^_^

Jeff @ Feb 8th 2007 7:46AM

"Doesn't look so odd to me. Looks like a bone-stock Japanese dating sim. The graphics style is nice though."

Agreed. The only reasons I can think that anyone would think this game is even special enough to report on are a) it's a Japanese dating sim *on the Xbox 360*, and b) the graphics.

It appears to be a pretty standard question/response type of game, with a few mini-games thrown in to keep it interesting and probably some interstitial CGI movies as fanservice. The graphics and animations are nice but they don't really do much other than serve as transitions between her various poses.

You know, I actually would kind of like to try a game where you have to "raise" a Japanese pop star, but this doesn't really seem like it's trying to do anything more than other games in the dating genre. And it's not like such a game would ever travel well outside of Japan.

Tenguman @ Feb 8th 2007 8:45AM

Watching this makes me wanna punch this girl in the face

Mike @ Feb 8th 2007 8:49AM

If I close my eyes, all I hear is Monkey Ball.

Avinash_Tyagi @ Feb 8th 2007 9:21AM

@13:

Ironically, Japan has proportionately much lower rates of violent crime, including rape, than the US and many European countries.

Jason @ Feb 8th 2007 9:35AM

Call me the minority, but, I'd kinda like to see this brought over to the states. Why should the Japanese get to hog all the weird games with great graphics like that?

RUSKULL @ Feb 8th 2007 9:41AM

"Ok, now take off your top..." :)

Mopwielder @ Feb 8th 2007 9:46AM

If you think the cell-shading looks good on this one check out Eternal Sonata.
http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/6238
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1IrTdLIQHk&eurl=

Jonah Falcon @ Feb 8th 2007 10:07AM

""Ok, now take off your top..." :)"

And the gamer asks that of her 3 times. She looks pouty, annoyed and distraught each time, but then she perks right up!

Then commits suicide.

Oy.

Pete C @ Feb 8th 2007 11:53AM

Um, is it just me or was there decidedly nothing really "WTF" about that video at all? Big deal. I was expecting something truly strange and Japanese and it never happened. BORING is what I would call that video...some anime chick standing there responding to prompts. What is so odd about it? If this is the weirdest Japanese thing you've ever seen you "ain't seen nothing"!

animejoe @ Feb 8th 2007 12:25PM

I could be wrong, but this isn't a dating sim. It's a sim about assembling and managing a group of pop singers. I don't think the objective here is to hook up with the girls, but make them successful pop idols.

zig @ Feb 8th 2007 12:26PM

The animation/rendering is top-notch... I'd like to see a game done with this type of graphics... but on a full interactive scale. THAT WOULD BE COOL!

NoBullet @ Feb 8th 2007 1:14PM

This will be a big hit with the weeaboos.

NoBullet @ Feb 8th 2007 1:17PM

"Ironically, Japan has proportionately much lower rates of violent crime, including rape, than the US and many European countries."

And Japan has a conviction rate of 99.9%. Gee, I wonder why there's so little crime there. Lets think about it for a sec...

steve @ Feb 8th 2007 1:43PM

@30 - the difference is that this video is part of game play. You actually get to design dance steps which get rendered in the same quality that you saw above. Totally different from prerendered cutscenes that were in the video you linked to

why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 8th 2007 3:31PM

"I could be wrong, but this isn't a dating sim. It's a sim about assembling and managing a group of pop singers. I don't think the objective here is to hook up with the girls, but make them successful pop idols." - animejoe

Yeah, and DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball is about assembling a volleyball team.

There is often a twist to the dating sims, because there's a zillion of them and they're all very similar. So they have to try to differentiate somehow.

But they're all still really the same. Meet girls, try to convince them of something, usually go out on a casual date or more.

To those who wonder, the reason for the high voices is almost certainly because for many Japanese men, the ideal for a woman is a 13 year old schoolgirl. The high voice and acting overly cute all rolls into this.

benderillo @ Feb 8th 2007 3:36PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF4JTd61xco

Zamzoph @ Feb 8th 2007 5:45PM

Man... it gets really annoying once you notice that every time the girl changes poses, she has to revert to the default "left fist on hip," first.

Blanko4 @ Feb 8th 2007 7:33PM

Every time I see this game, it reminds of Zoids Genesis...

Maybe what we're looking at is the evolution of the visual novel. Now if only the backgrounds weren't static...

mikemil828 @ Feb 8th 2007 7:52PM

>>Yeah, and DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball is about assembling a volleyball team.>>

Um, who said that DOAX IS all about assembling a volleyball team?

>>There is often a twist to the dating sims, because there's a zillion of them and they're all very similar. So they have to try to differentiate somehow.>>

The mere fact that the characters are both fully animated and in 3d and to pull it off better than done previously would be more than enough to differentiate idolmaster from is 2d puppet show competitors. Why would the need to go out and do all this stuff like the minigames, dance mocap, and creating a soundtrack that can be mixed many variations of singers, if it was simply 'just to be different'?

>>To those who wonder, the reason for the high voices is almost certainly because for many Japanese men, the ideal for a woman is a 13 year old schoolgirl. The high voice and acting overly cute all rolls into this.>>

If that it the case, then why is this girl (Miki) one of the youngest idols in the entire game? With her being 14 only 2 are younger, and 6 are older, the oldest being 20. The reason why you see her so much is because she is a new character for the x360 version.

Questworld @ Feb 8th 2007 10:19PM

"I could be wrong, but this isn't a dating sim. It's a sim about assembling and managing a group of pop singers. I don't think the objective here is to hook up with the girls, but make them successful pop idols."

Yeah, that's what I think it is. And yes, the anime presentation is top notch.

"And Japan has a conviction rate of 99.9%. Gee, I wonder why there's so little crime there. Lets think about it for a sec..."

So what does that say about the other parts of the world? I mean does it mean that we're more concerned about keeping the police and lawyers in line and by the book, punishing them for technicalities or errors in the process and letting go of (alleged) criminals because of that?

Sorry, I've been watching that Sally Field movie (Eye for an Eye). I hope that's not a common thing. Just saying.

animejoe @ Feb 8th 2007 11:22PM

"Yeah, and DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball is about assembling a volleyball team." - why not the LS2/LS7?

Wow, now that you mention it, they're practically the same fucking game! Thank you so much for opening my eyes!

Funny, in all of the videos I've seen of the game the focus has been on musical training, dance choreography, showmanship, not flirting with girls to get them to fall in love with you. Perhaps you think American Idol is a dating sim.

Wes @ Feb 9th 2007 2:59AM

@NoBullet:
99.9%... are you sure about that? When I lived in Japan I heard about so many stories where the police just let people go, unless they were racist cops who ran into Chinese or SE Asian immigrants. I witnessed one time where this lady was like, in broken Japanese, "I didn't steal this bicycle! Go talk to my company, they'll tell you the truth" but the cops just stood and yelled at her for half an hour before booking her. Well, I believed her anyways...

@benderillo:
You do realize that video is Chinese, not Japanese, right? :)

@why not the LS2/LS7?
Yeah man, for a lot of Japanese guys the ideal girl is around 12/13, when they're just entering puberty. Don't ask me why, but for centuries, even in their classical literature, it's been OK to "appreciate" young beauty... even in a sexual way. Based on the number of guys in Japan like that it makes you wonder how many guys there are in the West that think the same way but never dare say a word.