Despite the only item of the entire Idolm@ster series receiving a release in English being Idolm@ster Xenoglossia (Anime Series) by Sentai Filmworks this year, the idol management / music series has earned itself quite a fanbase in the international market. However despite the efforts of some we have never heard anything about seeing an English localizations of one of the games… but gaming website Siliconera have uncovered this may all change in the future.
In late-November, the site found that Namco Bandai Games had applied for the trademarks The Idol Master and Shiny Festa in Europe and more recently applied for the trademarks Shiny Festa and Idolm@ster in the United States.
While the company has not acknowledged any plans to release the games in the franchise, it is curious why they would be interested in the trademarks now if not to do a release in the series. The trademarks hint more towards the recent Playstation Portable releases in ‘The Idolm@ster: Shiny Festa” line of games than the older XBox360 and Playstation 3 releases The Idolm@ster / The Idolm@ster 2 or other installments in the series.
The Idolm@ster: Shiny Festa is a set of three games each featuring different idols and unlike other installments in the series which focus on idol training is more along the lines of a rhythm game. But either way, this is some good news for those who have been hoping for a potential international release.
I wrote up a review of The Idolm@ster 2 on the Playstation 3 last year which can be read HERE. For all my articles on The Idolm@ster 2 click HERE, for all my articles on The Idolm@ster 2: Shiny Festa click HERE.
