Idol Manager coming to PS5, PS4 & Switch on August 25

[Suminya]

https://playism.com/en/news/2022/0520/1406/

 

The game will be available both physically and digitally in Japan, while the Western release will be digital-only and will cost $24.99.

 

The Japanese physical edition will include all supported languages - English, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese (Brazil) - and partial Japanese voice acting.

 

Physical pre-orders:

PS5 Pre-order @ Play-Asia

PS4 Pre-order @ Play-Asia

Switch Pre-order @ Play-Asia

 

This is the first console game I personally had some involvment in - I was an Alpha & Beta tester of the original PC release.

 

Please consider buying it if you like manager games and/or japanese idols, it's great fun.

 

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Features:

 

- Idol Training
Provide voice training and dance lessons to the idols you have scouted, training them to become top-notch idols. Do you want a cool group or a cute group? Will the office control what they post on social networking sites? Or how long should their skirts be? You decide.

 

- CD Production
What will be the lyrics, idol arrangement, choreography,who is center stage, and how many members will sing per group? The players themselves will produce the music, produce the CD, and release it. Of course, be careful not to spend too much money and end up in the red.

 

- Advertising Activities
Your Idol’s work is not limited to just concerts. They may appear in magazines, TV, or streamed on the Internet. Take on a wide variety of media outlets to increase your fan base.

 

- Office Management
In addition to releasing single CDs, you can freely operate a cafe, theater, general elections, program production, and many other types of businesses. However, there is a limit to the amount of funds you can raise. Be careful not to fall into a cycle of losing profits.

 

- Complicated human relations
Idol management is fraught with problems, such as scandals, outside media manipulation, and interpersonal relation issues between idol group members. To avoid risks, form good relationships and aim for smooth management of the office.

 

- Fascinating Story
The story is set in the Japanese entertainment industry, and there are many events outside the main storyline. You can even marry your idol, but how this would end is up to you.

 

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Videos:

 

- Western console announcement trailer

 

- Japanese console announcement trailer

 

- Release date announcement trailer of the PC version

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Suminya

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

Seems interesting, I generally like business management sims like this. I'll definitely keep my eye on it, will likely import from PlayAsia since I like hoarding my physical games.

 

Considering the Japanese trailer also has English audio, I assume there's no Japanese audio option? Not a dealbreaker, though I can't say I'm a massive fan of the voice acting.

[Good_Sir_Matt_II]

The irony of me knowing about this game thanks to Hololive 

[AihaLoveleaf]

I am a fan of idols, and this looks incredibly interesting. 

 

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, I'll keep an eye out for details on release.

[Suminya]

1 hour ago, MercilessWaffle said:

Seems interesting, I generally like business management sims like this. I'll definitely keep my eye on it, will likely import from PlayAsia since I like hoarding my physical games.

 

Considering the Japanese trailer also has English audio, I assume there's no Japanese audio option? Not a dealbreaker, though I can't say I'm a massive fan of the voice acting.

 

I'm pretty sure the voice over was solely made for this trailer, since the game itself only features the voices of 3 members of the idol group Kamen Joshi - Moa Tsukino, Yuka Kojima, and Yuri Kinoshita - and some additional voices from a handful of voice actors for certain characters, like rival managers or people working in your agency. All in Japanese, obviously.

 

Here's a list of the voice actors I remember being in the game: Koji Kawakami, Keisuke Tokumori, Mayuko Kazama, Matsuri Mizuguchi, Wataru Katou, Reiko Muratsubaki, Sachi Asahina, and Hayato Kashiwazaki. Some of them also voice more than one character if I remember correctly.

 

Kamen Joshi is also responsible for the two theme songs of the game, "Dreaming Days" and "Masquerade Nights", by the way.

 

 

 

[Legchomper]

will the western release have Japanese voice with English subs option?

[Mipsy]

Oh cool, cool, I am majorly down for this. Both the kawaii and the business-sim facets. It can't be as brutal as the real deal, thank Shiki. And heck that's an affordable pricepoint for digital - typically swing physical, but it's worth consideration on the cheap.

 

- jeez, flashback, reminded outta nowhere of the earliest 'moneymaking' game that I ever played: 'Wall Street Kid', NES. I have no bloody idea why my parents purchased that for us sibs; our family weren't even middle-class. Never won that game, its RNG stock market bamboozled me. x.x;; I'll take fifty-seven idol managements before even a whiff of stock brokerage again.

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

1 hour ago, Suminya said:

 

I'm pretty sure the voice over was solely made for this trailer, since the game itself only features the voices of 3 members of the idol group Kamen Joshi - Moa Tsukino, Yuka Kojima, and Yuri Kinoshita - and some additional voices from a handful of voice actors for certain characters, like rival managers or people working in your agency. All in Japanese, obviously.

 

Here's a list of the voice actors I remember being in the game: Koji Kawakami, Keisuke Tokumori, Mayuko Kazama, Matsuri Mizuguchi, Wataru Katou, Reiko Muratsubaki, Sachi Asahina, and Hayato Kashiwazaki. Some of them also voice more than one character if I remember correctly.

 

Kamen Joshi is also responsible for the two theme songs of the game, "Dreaming Days" and "Masquerade Nights", by the way.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the detailed response. Strange they'd pick English voice overs solely for a trailer. I'm not sure who the English voice actors are, so maybe there's some relevance to it that I'm not picking up on or something.

 

Good to hear that the game does have a Japanese voice acting option though.

[Suminya]

Final confirmation that the Japan-only physical release will be playable in English (lifted from an official e-mail I received earlier this week):

 

Quote

Region information for the physical release

 

Idol Manager is receiving a physical console release in Japan, with physical versions for Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS5. The physical release is Japan-only, but the game card/game disc will include all supported languages (including English), and the physical copy of the game should play in your console regardless of region.

 

In case you're curious, these are the supported languages: English, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Portuguese (Brazil).

Edited June 26, 2022 by Suminya