I ever thought anything like this would occur, simply because iM@S is so much more than a game series: it has over 100 music albums, a manga series, an anime series, ridiculous amounts of merchandise, radio shows, etc. I always thought Namdai would do it as an all-or-nothing kind of mentality (which means nothing), not some terrible spin-off.
I wonder how much it cost in royalties to release it in America? If they knew it was such a niche market sale that they had to jack the price up that high to make any money on it, that's an awful risky strategy. If that is the case, then I could at least justify the price. God knows I'd probably pay an absurd amount for a localized TitS2 if I had to (YOU HEAR ME XSEED????)
Or maybe they're just trying to rip people off. Who knows?
I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but here's an example:
For Idolm@ster 2 on PS3 (in Japan), they release new songs (yes, just a single song) at approximately $20 USD (2,000 yen).