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The Idolm@ster Shiny Festa Games/Anime Debut in English on iOS

Namco Bandai Games released The iDOLM@STER Shiny Festa games in English for iOS devices on Monday. The three rhythm games — Melodic Disc, Harmonic Score, and Rhythmic Record (Groovy Tune, Honey Sound, and Funky Note in Japan) — are the first Idolm@ster games released in North America in English. Each one costs US$54.99 (4,800 yen in Japan) for a grand total of US$164.97.

Each one also comes with a 23-minute original anime. Director Atsushi Nishigori and his team at A-1 Pictures returned from The IDOLM@STER television series (2011) for the new anime episodes "Music of Love," "Music in the World," and "Music is a Friend."

Unlike most of the previous Idolm@ster titles in which players manage the careers of aspiring idols characters, these three games are in the "idol rhythm" genre. The idols perform live concerts during a music festival at a tropical resort with new animated footage, new songs, and familiar tracks from previous games.

The games originally shipped for the PSP in Japan last October. Namco Bandai had filed for trademark registration on The IDOLM@STER and Shiny Festa in both the United States and Europe last year.

Sentai Filmworks released Sunrise's 2007 loose IDOLM@STER: XENOGLOSSIA television anime adaptation of the franchise in North America. Crunchyroll streamed A-1 Pictures' more direct television adaptation as it aired in Japan in 2011. The cast and staff then revealed The IDOLM@STER Movie in February.

[Via Siliconera]

Images © Toshiyuki Kubooka © 2012 Namco Bandai Games Inc. © NBGI/Project IM@S