マイクロソフトは友達が少ない

Idolmaster 2 is getting a Playstation 3 release.

This is not a joke. Here it is one more time just to let it sink in.

Idolmaster 2 is getting a Playstation 3 release.

http://www.famitsu.com/news/201107/21047052.html
http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/cs/list/idolmaster/im2/ps3/

27 October is the planned release date, and there will be two versions. First is the regular edition, and I don't even have to go into that. So let's talk about the limited edition.

The limited edition of the game comes with: the Idolmaster 2 game, Idolmaster Gravure4You! Vol. 1, Vol. 1 of the Anime in Blu-Ray (Limited Ver.), a box for all the anime Blu-Rays, an Idolmaster 2 soundtrack, and a magazine called "Monthly Ai-gura!!" Gravure4You! seems to be a fan game in the same vein as Live4You!, except, just as you could probably guess, you take gravure shots of the idols instead. There's three volumes planned right now, the first of which is the beach scene volume featuring Haruka on the cover, and the rest featuring a single idol on the cover with a different photo shoot scenario.

So, that's what's in the article. Other rumors not mentioned in the web article include: READY!! (the anime opening theme) as a playable song, more or less everything from catalogs 1 - 3 for free on-disc, adjusted game balance, Hyper mode difficulty for seasoned Im@s vets, and a pre-order bonus of an anime cel.

http://blog.livedoor.jp/touhoupuyo/archives/3919118.html
http://ameblo.jp/sinobi/

This is definitely shaping up to be a Game Trader run.

On the flip side, though... one thing I've thought was odd about this is the timing of the release. I was under the impression that exclusivity contracts last for about a year at least, but Im@s2 was released back in February. Keep in mind the fact that a release that would take advantage of the holiday rush would, I imagine, take place at the end of November... something smells funny to me.

As it turns out, there's been some talk around the grapevine that Namco didn't really like the way things were being handled with the 360 version (whether it was Microsoft causing the problem, Namco having extraordinary problems, or even something else, I'm not sure), and apparently they just got fed up with it, I guess. As far as the release date goes... if you choose to believe the Magic 8-Ball, it is the absolute earliest the PS3 game can come out without breaking any previously standing contracts BNGI has with Microsoft.

Second question: when did these problems occur, and when was it decided to make a PS3 version? Because thinking about it... how many months does it take to port a game from 360 to the PS3? I mean, I'm no insider, but off hand I want to say eight months at least to be comfortable. Surprisingly enough... there's eight months between February and October. Maybe BNGI got hit with problems after they started developing for the 360, and after a certain point, it may have always been the plan to do this as soon as humanly possible.

I think the 360's days are numbered in Japan, unless it can really ride on Kinect games. They don't plan on releasing another console for another couple of years (through 2015?), and to boot, I'm thinking that after Nintendo, Sony will make the next next-gen move. I dunno, maybe things've gotten better for the system while I wasn't looking, but I doubt it.

Microsoft doesn't look like it has many friends in Japan. Is this the beginning of a transition away from Microsoft consoles for Im@s?