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is a Japanese life simulation video game developed by Microvision and published by Bandai Namco Games. It was released on September 17, 2009 for the Nintendo DS. The game is a spin-off of ''The Idolmaster'' series and its timeline coincides before the events in ''The Idolmaster 2''. The gameplay in ''Dearly Stars'' is similar to previous games in the series, but with new elements and differences to the minigames. The gameplay was adjusted to allow the player the option to quickly play through the game's story, but head director Toshihiko Kujioka also wanted to add in gameplay elements that would add another layer of challenge. The story is told from the perspective of Ai Hidaka, Eri Mizutani and Ryō Akizuki—three prospective pop idols introduced in ''Dearly Stars'' as they enter the talent agency 876 Production, and deals with their training on their way to stardom. The player has access to the three idols' different scenarios when playing, and each one involves a branching plot line. Development for the game began in 2008 as the first game in the franchise's next stage called "2nd Vision". The development team wanted to introduce a new talent agency separate from 765 Production, the main agency in the series, to better suit the details of the story. When developing the game's three idols, two of them were decided to be girls, but Kujioka suggested that the third idol Ryō be male instead. The game features 10 songs the idols perform, later released on several music albums. Three manga adaptations were also published by Ichijinsha. ''Dearly Stars'' sold 30,786 copies in its first week of release in Japan, and ranked as the tenth best-selling video game in Japan that week. Reviewers have praised the game, and it has been described as suitable for beginners to ''The Idolmaster'' series. ==Gameplay== ''Dearly Stars'' is a life simulation game in the which the player assumes the role of one of three pop idols at a time: Ai Hidaka, Eri Mizutani or Ryō Akizuki. An idol's statistics are divided into three categories: vocal, dance and visual image. As these increase, an idol's overall image level will also increase.〔 The game is largely divided into two modes: a story mode which encompasses normal gameplay, and a separate stage mode for performing songs outside of the story mode.〔〔 At the start of every in-game week on Monday, the player is shown current popularity trends in vocal, dance and visual image ranked first, second and third in popularity. This gives the player a guide on how to gain popularity by augmenting an idol's statistics via the choice of song they will perform and what costumes they wear during an audition.〔 Also on Monday, the player is first given the option to choose which costume and accessories to wear for performances, and to choose one of the available songs. Each costume, accessory and song have either a vocal, dance or visual attribute. The player can also modify the choreography and camera positioning used during performances at this time.〔 The player is given the option to check any available messages at the start of every in-game day. This is followed by deciding on the daily schedule for Monday through Saturday from four choices: taking a lesson, doing promotional work, taking an audition, or taking the day off;〔〔 Sunday is always a day off. The lessons are in the form of three minigames which serve to increase or decrease an idol's statistics in either vocal, dance or visual image. For example, if the vocal lesson is chosen, it will not only increase an idol's vocal statistics, but also decrease an idol's dance and visual statistics. Each lesson is divided into six parts, and the player is given ranked with either a letter grade from A to E or simply a "bad" rank for each part depending on how well the lesson is performed. The lessons become harder overtime the better they are performed. The lesson's overall performance is ranked from bad, to normal, good and finally perfect.〔 The promotional phase of the gameplay mainly deals with the idol conversing with various other characters and doing events, some of which are necessary to progress the game.〔 There are also times when the player is given choices that directly affect the idol. Over the course of a conversation, text progression pauses when the player is given multiple responses to choose from.〔 Depending on which choice is made will effect how well or poorly the communication is received, which results in either bad, normal or good memories.〔 A bad memory will decrease an idol's enthusiasm, which is displayed at certain points throughout gameplay by a horizontal bar in the top-left of the lower screen. An idol's enthusiasm ranges from blue to yellow and finally to red as enthusiasm increases. A normal memory will reward the player with a heart point, used later during auditions. A good memory will reward the player with two heart points and increased enthusiasm. If the player chooses to take the day off, an idol's enthusiasm will automatically increase. Days off also give the idol the chance to either stay at home, or go out into town and meet with other characters.〔 The player can check on days off if there are any presents fans have sent the idols, which contain in-game items. When taking an audition, a judge evaluates the idol over a 30-second period. The judge's interest level continuously decreases in 10% increments, but this can be increased with another minigame. The heart points obtained up to the audition are used in the minigame as the number of times the player is given to successfully appeal to the judge until all the points are exhausted.〔〔 For instance, three heart points indicates the player will have three chances to increase a judge's interest level. At the end of the audition, a judge's interest level determines if the idol passes or not. If an idol passes the audition, he or she is chosen to do a televised performance of the song previously chosen.〔 A performance serves to increase an idol's number of fans, which in turn can increase an idol's rank if enough fans have been obtained for a given rank.〔 For example, an idol starts at rank F with below 10,000 fans, and the next level up is a rank E with between 10,001 and 99,999 fans. The ranks continue from D to C, B, A and finally S. Each of the three scenarios follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and the story's divergence mainly depends on whether an idol passes or fails an audition,〔 though this is not always the case. Some outcomes, such as failing to pass the first audition, can lead the game to end prematurely and offer an alternate ending to the plot.〔 An audition marks the end of a chapter, after which the story will progress onto the next stage.〔〔 In the game's stage mode, the player is able to freely customize a stand-alone performance, including options for the song, costume, accessories, choreography and camera positioning. Up to 16 players can participate via Wi-Fi in the stage mode by offering three types of cheers during one player's performance.〔 If the game is played on a Nintendo DS with a camera, such as a Nintendo DSi or a later model, the camera may be used to scan QR codes found online or in magazines to obtain in-game items.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Idolmaster Dearly Stars」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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