Will the Idolm@ster be another Xbox 360 hit in Japan?

You saw how Blue Dragon boosted the Xbox 360 and Lost Planet might create another bump in 360 sales. Microsoft isn’t stopping their releases, in January 2007 Gears of War and Viva Pinata come out. However, the real big 360 hit is probably going to be the Idolm@ster. The Idolm@ster is more than some arcade game in Japan, it’s a phenomenon. Namco Bandai’s franchise developed into a sold out live cosplay concert and an anime series produced by Sunrise. Now it’s coming exclusively to the Xbox 360. The Idolm@ster is music game, but it has a simulation component where you manage a pop idols life. You dress your idol, tell her how to be charming on stage and train to sing so she becomes the next big pop star. There are some additions over the arcade game. A new idol that brings the total idol number to ten and a few new songs like “Go my way” from Hitomi might attract fans of the series. Here’s another plus for Microsoft, the Idolm@ster can potentially expand the 360’s market share in Japan. Blue Dragon grabs the core gamer demographic and the Idolm@ster might be able to grab all the people who bought tickets to the Idolm@ster live show.