User:Cloud668/sandbox/The Idolmaster Million Live!

The Idolmaster Million Live! (アイドルマスター ミリオンライブ！) is a discontinued Japanese free-to-play simulation video game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the GREE social network platform for mobile phones. It was first released on February 27, 2013 for iOS and Android smartphones and feature phones with compatibility later extended to PC web browsers on February 2, 2016. The game is part of the The Idolmaster franchise, and follows a cast of new idol characters designed and illustrated for the game by A-1 Pictures as well as characters from the franchise's main talent agency, 765 Production. The game received its final in-game event and update in December 2017, and its service was discontinued on March 19, 2018. A rhythm game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment titled The Idolmaster Million Live! Theater Days (アイドルマスター ミリオンライブ！シアターデイズ) was released for iOS and Android on June 29, 2017 in Japan.

The story in Million Live! follows the career of a producer at 765 Production, who is tasked with operating the 765 Live Theater and leading its pop idols to stardom. Its gameplay follows a collectible card game format in which each idol is represented as a card, which the player may use to form a unit of idols to train in lessons, take to jobs, and compete against opponents. Million Live! has made transitions to other media. It has been adapted into six manga series and a manga anthology series, and its characters were featured in The Idolmaster Movie: Beyond the Brilliant Future! as the 765 Production idols' understudies and in an original net animation produced to commemorate the game's fourth anniversary. An Internet radio talk show featuring the series' voice actresses, seven series of image song singles and albums, and live concerts have also been produced.

Gameplay
Million Live! is a free-to-play, simulation social network game based on The Idolmaster franchise. Like its forerunners The Idolmaster and The Idolmaster 2, the player assumes the role of a talent producer working for the talent agency 765 Production (765 Pro). The player is tasked with operating the company's 765 Live Theater and training 50 pop idols, composed of the 13 idols from The Idolmaster 2 and 37 original characters, on their way to stardom. Idols are represented in the game as collectible cards divided into three categories: vocal, dance, and visual. Each card has several statistics points that influence gameplay: attack points (AP), defense points (DP), and cost; each card is also designated one of five rarities: N, HN, R, HR, and SR. In addition, each idol also has her own idol level and affection rate, which are consistent across her cards. To play the game, the player must first form an idol unit consisting of three idols and a deck consisting of up to nine cards.

Development and release
Million Live! was developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the GREE social network platform for mobile phones with illustrations by A-1 Pictures, who also produced The Idolmaster anime adaptation in 2011. According to an interview with the development team, it was decided from the project's inception that the game would use an anime-based art design created alongside A-1 Pictures. The game was initially planned to feature only a small number of new idols in addition to the original 13 idols, but this eventually was raised to 37 to bring the total number of idols to 50. The decision to increase the number of idols was made as a result of the team's consultation with GREE as well as considerations for the franchise's future. To create the new idols, Kiyotaka Tamiya of Bandai Namco, who previously designed the characters introduced in The Idolmaster Dearly Stars, first created the characters' rough designs based on their specifications, which were then adapted by animator Futoshi Suzuki in order to produce the anime-based visuals. Suzuki was chosen after the team had seen his work on the 2011 anime adaptation, and although he thought there were others who were better suited for the task, he lightheartedly accepted the offer before fully realizing the project's scale. Suzuki took care to not stylistically stray too far from Atsushi Nishigori's designs for the 765 Production idols for the 2011 anime, and noted that he in particular had trouble with eye shapes that were not depicted in the anime adaptation.

Million Live! was first revealed to the public on February 4, 2013 with pre-registration for the game beginning on the same day. It was released on February 27, 2013 for feature phones and smartphone web browsers, followed by native applications for Android and iOS on October 22 and December 22, 2014 respectively. The game was made playable on PC web browsers on February 2, 2016 alongside the end of support for feature phones. Bandai Namco announced on October 30, 2017 that support for Million Live! would cease after the game's final in-game event and feature update in November and December 2017; the game's service was discontinued on March 19, 2018.

A rhythm game, titled ''The Idolmaster Million Live! Theater Days'', was announced at the "The Idolmaster Million Live! 4th Live Thank You for Smile!!" concert on March 12, 2017 alongside the release of its first trailer and the opening of pre-registrations. The game was then released in Japan for Android and iOS on June 29, 2017. Theater Days introduced two new idols, Kaori Sakuramori and Tsumugi Shiraishi, and a new assistant character, Misaki Aoba, but did not include the idol Kotoha Tanaka from Million Live! at launch as voice actress Risa Taneda had been on hiatus to receive medical treatment. Kotoha was introduced to the game on February 8, 2018 after Taneda's return to voice acting.

Anime
The characters of Million Live! made their first appearances in an anime in the 2014 film The Idolmaster Movie: Beyond the Brilliant Future!, in which the characters Kana Yabuki, Minako Satake, Nao Yokoyama, Yuriko Nanao, Shiho Kitazawa, Anna Mochizuki, and Nao Yokoyama are featured as the 765 Production idols' understudies. Mirai Kasuga was then featured in a minute-long anime video released on February 27, 2014 to commemorate the game's first anniversary.

A preview of the anime music video of "Dreaming", performed by Mirai Kasuga, Shizuka Mogami, and Tsubasa Ibuki and animated by A-1 Pictures, premiered at the "The Idolmaster Masters of Idol World!! 2015" concert on its second day. The full 90-second video was then released as a Blu-ray Disc on September 30, 2015 alongside the limited edition release of the song's single, "The Idolmaster Live Theater Dreamers 01 Dreaming!" This was followed by a 10-minute long anime promotional video produced to commemorate the game's fourth anniversary. The anime video was directed by Toshifumi Akai and animated by A-1 Pictures, and it was first streamed within the game on March 12, 2017.