series (2007–2017) and Aikatsu! (2012–) Konami – Otocadoll (2015–) Those games have only aimed at young girls, however some of those games also hit at some adults which are often mentioned as "Ōkina otomodachi" (lit. Big Friends). In 2016, as for PriPara, Tomy mentioned that "When all users [of the game] are counted as its main target of from 6 to 9 years old [Japanese] girls, we succeed to expand the market scale as many as every one of the main target." in its financial results. Virtual idol rhythm games (2008–present) Virtual idol rhythm games grew in popularity in Japan out of two different media segments. One was The Idolmaster series of games developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment first released as an arcade game in 2005. Initial games had players taking the role of a manager of rising stars (idols) managing their schedules through mini-games, which include performing in auditions similar to a rhythm game approach. The other direction came from the introduction of the virtual idol of Hatsune Miku by Crypton Future Media for its line of Vocaloid sound synthesis software in 2007. Using Vocaloid, software users could have Miku mimic singing and dancing to the music created in Vocaloid, and many of these videos became popular on the Japanese media sharing site Niconico. The popularity of the Miku's videos led to other similar videos based on other popular characters including those out of the Idolmaster series. The next Idolmaster game, The Idolmaster Live For You! in 2008, focused more on the performance mini-games, which led for most remaining games of the series to be virtual idol rhythm games. Similarly, as Crypton continue to expand on Miku and other virtual idols for Vocaloid, they expanded to licensing those idols for video games, collaborating with Sega to create the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA debuting in 2009. These games were initially mostly for consoles, but mobile game versions of these series appeared in 2012 (Miku Flick for the Miku series) and 2013 (The Idolmaster Shiny Festa), and numerous mobile-based virtual idol rhythm games followed, such as Love Live!, BanG Dream!, and Uta no Prince-sama.The Idolm@ster Shiny Festa Games/Anime Debut in English on iOS, Anime News Network, April 22, 2013 Many of these games were freemium games based on existing anime or manga properties, and typically included gacha-type mechanisms to be profitable. Future directions (2010–present) With the introduction of motion controllers for