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Saturday, March 29, 2014

Song of the Week! 29 March 2014


After the genre relocation of the Vocaloid songs, the Variety genre came to a lull again. That was, until another element of Japanese pop culture began to fill the void; songs from the hugely popular Touhou Project slowly, but surely, are coming into Taiko.

That's why today we're having a double feature for one of the most fan-driven Internet phenomena in recent history!

Taiko Plus: Awesome Spring Pack


The 'awesome' series of downloadable song packs for Taiko Plus continues with the spring-themed one! And they're not cutting back on song quality either; this one contains five Namco Originals, all of which are high-profile songs!
  • Sotsu Omeshiki (そつおめしき)
  • Yozakura Shanikusai (夜桜謝肉祭)
  • Haryu (春竜~Haryu~)
  • Tanhou ~Blooming~ ( 綻放~Blooming~)
  • GERMINATION
Yozakura, Haryu and Tanhou all come packed with their Ura Oni charts, while this is Sotsu Omeshiki's first time on a consumer version of Taiko! GERMINATION is an instrumental that hasn't been heard of since its debut on Taiko PSP DX as a downloadable song. Here's hoping it gets noticed more now!

The pack was released yesterday, so get downloading!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Taiko Momoiro spreads further out!


Yesterday was a busy news day from the official Taiko blog, so this had to be put off. However, according to our friends in Taiwan and tetsu/crystal from Hong Kong, Taiko Momoiro is taking another step forward out of Japan!

The above picture comes from the Facebook Jubeat Taiwan fanpage, (thanks to tetsu informing us of it), it shows 7 new songs being released for the Taiwan Momoiro on March 27th 2014, 5 of which are licensed and 2 Namco Originals which were left out because of the lack of DonChare overseas.
  • Amachan Opening Theme
  • Haru Uta (from Detective Conan)
  • Jinsei Reset Button
  • Eccentric w
  • Yi-Er Fan Club
  • Houou Tenbu Mugen Kuzure
  • Amanda
Another thing is the news that Taiko Momoiro is also now in Hong Kong! According to crystal, there are two on the island, and they have been turned on and are fully operational! Waiting for pictures of the news!

Where will Taiko HD go next?

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Namco Taiko Blog 2 (27 March 2014) - April's pollen-based Donchare


A little bit later than expected, we finally find out next month's Don Challenge rewards which, being once again themed on the spring season, are about flowers and bees.

Namco Taiko Blog (27 March 2014) - Taiko no Tatsujin x Mario Kart Arcade GP DX collaboration!

マリオカート アーケードグランプリ デラックス

A promotional event about two of Bandai Namco's latest arcade games started yesterday, being the main topic of today's first Taiko Team blog entry. But even if this event is labeled as a mutual collaboration, only the Nintendo-based racing game is going to earn new content...

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Twitter Snippets (26 March 2014) - Taiko Momoiro update for Taiwanese players


While we are waiting for tomorrow's Taiko Team blog update (most probably with April's Don Challenge content), arcade Taiko players outside Japan are getting a new load of songs from the land of the Rising Sun's arcade builds. In fact, Game Version 0.04 will be replaced tomorrow, featuring an unspecified number of new songs and a fertile terrain for future firmware updates.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

pikaby asks: Communication between Taiko games


Taiko has, from the beginning, been a very social game. On the arcade (in the older models at least), players are encouraged to play together; if one player fails, the other more skilled player can save his round and both can continue. Then there are co-op notes like Yam, Kusudama and the Double note. On the console, multiplayer is encouraged too, with minigames in several versions, 4 player versus supported by a single copy of Taiko DS or 3DS, and Miiverse integration on the Wii U.

What do you think could be done more to innovate on connecting Taiko games together?

The first thing that probably comes to everyone's mind is score-sharing. Local scoreboards are present on Taiko Wii, PSP and Wii U, but what about sharing scores online with friends? Assuming you're not in contact with perfect godlike players all the time, attacking each other's scores could be a great motivation to play Taiko.

Costume-sharing is done on Wii U through Miiverse, but what if you could visit other player's games with your Don-chan character and help them do certain things, like clones in PSPDX's story mode or, on a larger scale, a sidequest/collect-a-thon like in 3DS' Streetpass Mii Plaza?

Speaking of which, Streetpass would be a great idea to implement new communication ideas between Taiko, and a lot of cool new modes could come out of it. I can already think of the possibilities!

Any ideas from you guys?

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Song of the Week! 22 March 2014


A really eventful week for Taiko, isn't it? Let's chill out with a Ura feature for this week.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Taiko no Tatsujin: Kigaete Asonde Moyougae


Strange name, eh? This spinoff, recently announced for auSmartPass owners (just like Tori Houdai), means "Change Clothes, Play, and Remodel", which directly refers to the three activities you can do in the game, most of which are things you can do on other console games.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Namco Taiko Blog 2 (20 March 2014) - Taiko collabs and the Taiko Team's first streaming of the year!



Between the Niconico Super Conference 3 and the Game Music Triangle cross-over project, it looks like the Taiko Team couldn't increase the hype for next April. That is, until today's second blog entry...

Namco Taiko Blog (20 March 2014) - Taiko Plus's Ura mode galore!


Since the last Namco Original-based song pack, Ura modes have been introduced to Apple devices's Taiko no Tatsujin game of choice. But the famous extra layer of difficulty won't be an exclusive of the Awesome Chart pack, according to today's blog entry...

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

First video of Kagerou Days


As of today, Game Version 14.07 is live for Taiko Momoiro in Japan, and so is its new tune for the Vocaloid genre as well! Kagerou Days Comes in with a pretty standard 7-star Oni mode mostly filled with mono-colored clusters. Its really-high BPM already plays a role on this song's difficulty!


Predictably enough, Kagerou Days comes with an Ura Oni mode as well, featuring another cluster-based challenge which still can be considered as the little brother of other Vocaloid Oni modes on Taiko, such as Matryoshka's Ura Oni mode. It's still quite a challenge, don't get me wrong!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

First videos of Taiko Wii U's March DLC songs

It's already March 19th in the Rising Sun land, which means that March's new DLC content for Taiko Wii U is up as well! Here are the Oni notechart videos for the four songs, all of which are connected to Nintendo's eShop retro-related franchise Famicom/NES Remix.

Balloon Hunter (Balloon Trip) (3/5/5/8)

Dr. Mario (Fever) (4/5/6/8)


The Legend of Zelda (3/4/6/7)


Famicom Remix (4/6/6/8)

Monday, March 17, 2014

NicoNico Super Conference 3 livestream: an abridged version


The actual stream is a few hours long but luckily for us, the section on the Game Music Triangle collaboration is the very first item on the agenda, so we can skip the rest of the fluff and focus on it! Comments from Nicovideo are deliberately turned on to set the mood; apologies if the view is slightly obstructed.

Taiko no Tatsujin x maimai GreeN PLUS x Groove Coaster collaboration!

ゲーム ミュージック トライアングル

Anyone can probably guess something is up when three different rhythm game franchises by three different companies lined up for the next NicoNico Super Conference, but today we have a crystal-clearidea of what is going on: a huge collaboration!

As you can see, the event is simply called Game Music Triangle, featuring the latest arcade versions of Taiko no Tatsujin, maimai and Groove Coaster. Nothing much else is known at the moment, but a Nicovideo broadcast is already planned for today, to talk about the NicoNico Super Conference 3's Super Game Area booths will feature. The stream airs tonight at 9pm (Japan Time), and the rhythm game talk is one of the first to be discussed.

Expect a short cover-up of today's broadcast soon!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Song of the Week! 15 March 2014


One big chunk of the J-Pop and Anime songlist will be leaving the arcade next month. All of them have been there since the Taiko franchise turned HD, and with licensed songs being swapped out regularly, it should come as no surprise. Nineteen of the twenty songs to get the axe are still playable on consoles. The remaining one is a regrettable case, and is our feature for today.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Taiko no Tatsujin Plus - Introducing the Popular Song Pack 15


The Popular Song Pack brand turns 15 today, featuring another lot of recent, licensed songs. Wanna know about its content?

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Namco Taiko Blog (13 March 2014) - Taiko Wii U's March DLC content


Another month of DLC songs coming for Taiko Wii U as the winter months draw to a close. Nintendo fans will really, REALLY appreciate this one!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Made By You: Pursuit ~Cornered~ and more



Though I've somewhat slowed down on the features due to real-life commitments, keep sending in those charts! We love seeing fanmade charts for their favorite songs!

Monday, March 10, 2014

Namco Taiko Blog (10 March 2014) - Taiko Momoiro Game Version 14.07


It doesn't happen very often to have surprise blog updates on Monday, but there are usual big reasons behind their making before the usual Thursday appointment. One of these is yet another software upgrade for Taiko Momoiro arcades!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Feature: Overview of Japanese rhythm game terms


Depending on how you look at it, Japanese can be the easiest language ever to learn, or it will be an impenetrable barrier. Regardless of whether you know the language or not, the rhythm game community uses a certain set of words in describing the games and the difficulty involved, and to outsiders it may not be immediately apparent what their meaning is. So below is a guide to some of the more common phrases you'll see among the community.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Song of the Week! 8 March 2014


International Women's Day is today, so we've decided to feature a song that has female vocals. There's too many to choose from, so I'm just spinning my wheel of randomness and....alright, this song it is!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Namco Taiko Blog (6 March 2014) - Taiko Momoiro at the NicoVideo Super Conference 3


...well, today's blog entry is about Taiko being in the NicoNico Super Conference 3, with nothing new revealed. The only thing that was not said before was the date of the conference: April 26th-27th, 2014. Talk about a slow news day!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Twitter Snippets (4 March 2014) - Taiko Momoiro at the NicoVideo Super Conference 3



After being featured in last weekend's 1st PLACE event, Taiko Momoiro arcades are going to join the next NicoVideo Super Conference as well! Some tweets like this one have been spread since the announcement, with further updates coming from the Taiko Team soon.

So far, we know only that the third Super Conference will see the latest Taiko arcade model in the event's Gaming section, together with two other popular arcade rhythm games: Sega's maimai GreeN Plus and Taito's Groove Coaster. Last year, Taiko got a truckload of new Vocaloid songs and the first tunes from the Touhou games, so who knows what the Taiko Team is hiding up its sleeves this time!

Sunday, March 2, 2014

First video of Mahou no Kissaten



After our brief Kaori Aihara feature in yesterday's Song of the Week, now it's time to actually listen to her new song on Taiko! Mahou no Kissaten (3/4/5/8) is this March's unlockable Don Challenge song, featuring a tricky mix of note clusters and average speed on its Oni mode.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Song of the Week! 1 March 2014


Today begins another month, and another round of Don Challenge trials with it. This March's new song is sung by Kaori Aihara, so what better timing to feature one of her songs here?