Sega has long held a stranglehold on the Vocaloid music game market with their Project Diva series. Now, to challenge Hatsune Miku’s dominance comes IA and her game IA/VT -Colorful-.

Announced on August 31st to celebrate the 8th birthday of Japan’s iconic virtual idol, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X is the latest addition to the Project Diva series. This time, it’s not about high scores, it’s about audience response.

To make a successful virtual idol like Hatsune Miku, you need two things: a good-sounding virtual voice and awesome visuals of your singer to capture people’s imaginations—which is why Vocaloid character designs tend to be so darn cool looking.

For years now, virtual idol Hatsune Miku’s greatest hits have been showcased in the Project Diva music game series. Now however, fellow Vocaloid and rival “IA” has her own game IA/VT -Colorful-. And its music is pretty good in its own right.

First she was a singer, then she went on to be a dancer, a holographic performer, and even the star of her own game series. Now Hatsune Miku is branching out to her new career as... a teacher's assistant?

It's no exaggeration to say that Hatsune Miku is the most popular virtual idol in the world; so it's not surprising that a new iteration of Project Diva was recently released in Japan. And while Project Diva F 2nd isn't vastly different from its predecessors, it is a welcome addition for anyone who enjoys music games.

I hesitate to call it a "military band" because technically Japan doesn't have a military – it has a "Self-Defense Force."

The newest music game filled with the songs of Hatsune Miku and her Vocaloid pals hit shelves in Japan a few weeks back. And as you would expect, Project Diva F 2nd comes with a load of songs—20 of which are new to the games. So let’s give them a listen.

Proving that she is an international sensation, virtual idol Hatsune Miku performed her first live show in Taiwan to sold-out crowds less than a week ago. This was part of a tour celebrating her fifth birthday that also visited Hong Kong for the first time the week before.

As we move toward the end of the year, it can mean only one thing: it's time for a new game with everyone's favorite virtual idol, Hatsune Miku. Project Diva f, this year's iteration in the series, is filled with firsts. There are new game mechanics, new songs, new costumes, and a from-the-ground-up graphical revamp…

There were many things I expected when I picked up Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f: Vocaloid songs, Miku in tons of crazy costumes, the ability to make "Call Me Maybe" into a playable level, new touch screen controls, and a major graphical overhaul—as the series takes the leap from the PSP to Vita.

Hatsune Miku, the virtual idol, is truly a star in Japan. From a lowly beginning as a piece of music composition software, she now does everything from TV commercials to live concerts via hologram—in addition to "singing" thousands of fan-made songs across the internet. Since 2009, Miku—and her many virtual idol…

Hatsune Miku is more than a little big in Japan. She appears on billboards, in TV commercials, and gives sold-out concerts to legions of fans the world over. Of course, being a popular singer in and of itself isn't something that out of the ordinary. However, what makes her unique is the rather large obstacle she had…

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Extend is a music game starring virtual idol Hatsune Miku. It plays similar to most music games. When a shape lines up with its corresponding shape-outline, press the button on the PSP that matches the shape.

It doesn't matter if she holds concerts or appears in crappy commercials, Miku Hatsune is only virtual and certainly not some 12-year-old kid's mother.

The music might sound familiar. That's because it is.

In Japan, cars covered with stickers depicting anime and game characters are called itasha, or literally "painmobile". Bicycles covered in stickers are called itachari ("paincycle"). And jet skis?