One of the cutest upcoming PSP games has just been announced by Sega: Hatsune Miku: Project Diva. The upcoming music game will be released 2009 and star the Vocaloid star Miku Hatsune. Since Vocaloids are primarily popular in Japan and the Miku Hatsune program is a Japanese singing synthesizer, the game will most likely will not be released outside Japan.
Miku is becoming quite the cultural icon for Japan and the Vocaloid 2 Character series is incredibly popular. With Miku and the other Vocaloids appearing in manga, anime and video games, it might be worth finding out what they’re all about.
What’s a “Vocaloid?”
In Japan, there is a program called Vocaloid (and the followup, Vocaloid2) developed by Yamaha which is basically a virtual singer. Miku Hatsune is from the Character Vocal series of games and was the first Vocaloid2 character. Her cute appearance and the program’s popularity has caused her to become a bit of a digital idol. She’s most often identified as a leek waving girl singing the “Ievan Polkka.” She’s also become a manga star (Maker Hikoushiki Hatsune Mix) and had anime (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, an amazing series I heartily recommend) and video game (13-sai no Hello Work , an entertaining mini-game collection) cameos.
To get a taste, here’s a fan-video depicting Vocaloid characters Meiko, Rin Kagamine, Miku Hatsune, Len Kagamine and Kaito (and later fan characters Neru and Haku) dancing to “Kurutto Odotte, Hatsune Miku” and “Caramelldansen”:
As far as Vocaloids are concerned, there are four official Character Vocal Series “idols.” The first was Miku, voiced by Saku Fujita. The second were the twins Rin and Len Kagamine, voiced by Asami Shimoda. (Note: The twins appear in the same Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei episode as Miku.)
The latest Vocaloid is Kamui Gakupo, voiced by Gackt. While Vocaloid1 characters Meiko and Kaito are not official members of the Character Vocal series, they are often depicted as members of the crew.
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva will take players through the game, trying to make Miku a star. She’ll sing popular Japanese rock and pop songs (all edited through the Vocaloid program so it sounds like Miku is singing them) and original songs in an attempt to become the best. Shooting stars soar across the screen during song periods, and when they reach a PSP button shape, you have to press it. Do it well, and Miku’s dreams will come true. (She’ll also get better living quarters.)
Here’s the official Hatsune Miku: Project Diva trailer:
While the official trailer is pretty revealing, there are still some things we don’t know about the game. While we have a general idea of how to play, and can see that doing well allows for room upgrades, we don’t know if the other Vocaloid2 characters will be making appearances.
Since the title specifically named Miku, we probably won’t get the opportunity to help Rin or Len sing to stardom. Perhaps if Project Diva does well, the twins or Camui Gakupo will receive games as well.
COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Portables reviews Princess Crown. If you don’t miss a single installment of Important Importables, or want to know right away when the next column is up, then sign up for the Gamertell Newsletter and RSS feed.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables talked about a very special episode of Ouran High School Host Club.
Read [Famitsu] Via [PSP Hyper] Also Read [Siliconera] Site [Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (Japanese)] Site [Vocaloid]
No comments:
Post a Comment