The Idolmaster Live For You!
A live simulation game for coordinating idol concerts.
The Idolmaster Live For You! is a live simulation video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360, released in Japan on February 28, 2008. It serves as a sequel to The Idolmaster, focusing on coordinating concert events with enhanced customization of songs, stages, and costumes. The game includes a rhythm minigame during performances and allows the player to freely adjust the camera position.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Namco Bandai Games
- Director
- Akihiro Ishihara
- Producer
- Yōzō Sakagami
- Writer
- Tomoyo Takahashi; Ryūta Jufuku
- Series
- The Idolmaster
- Platforms
- Xbox 360
- Released
- February 28, 2008 (JP)
- Genre
- Life simulation, Rhythm
Facts from the source article.
Development and release
Development began in mid-2007 in response to player tendencies observed in the original The Idolmaster arcade game and its Xbox 360 port. Producer Yōzō Sakagami noted that most players only raised one or two idols and used about three songs, partly because starting with a single idol made it time-consuming to produce three at once, and players avoided risking failure in auditions. The Xbox 360 port had limitations that made viewing live performances difficult, as players found auditions hard and idols could make mistakes if undertrained. Sakagami and the team aimed to let players easily view live performances, leading to Live For You!'s development.
Related media
A 224-page guidebook titled The Idolmaster Twins Precious Album was released on June 26, 2009, covering both the Xbox 360 port of The Idolmaster and Live For You!. A 17-minute original video animation episode produced by Actas and directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi was bundled with the limited edition of Live For You! on February 28, 2008. The OVA was later streamed online in three parts on Niconico between August 27–29, 2010. Its screenplay was written by Satoru Nishizono, and the DVD also includes a music video for the song "Danketsu".
Reception
Live For You! sold 44,000 copies in its first week in Japan, ranking as the fifth best-selling game that week. Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40. The game has been described as akin to a fan disc that requires emotional attachment to the idols, with Takeshi Iizuka recommending playing the Xbox 360 port first. The support mode's difficulty varies greatly between easy, medium, and hard modes, with "Go My Way!!" noted as particularly difficult on hard. The rhythm minigame can be distracting when focusing on the idols' performance, and the rotating screen during special appeals is also distracting. The photography mode was criticized for only saving the last five photos and one video at a time, and the communication portion was deemed insufficient.
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