Here on this blog we've had multiple occasions to see the launch week figures for many Taiko no Tatsujin games that have been released during this humble blog's existence; however, have you ever wondered how most of these releases have fared on the later years in the sales spectrum?
In this feature, we're taking a look at the current situation of the software sales figures for the Taiko no Tatsujin series as a whole, by dividing the game releases to the many console families and listing both the 1st-week sales and the Life-to-Date (or LTD) figures for each boxed release.
Among the many sources that have been browsed for the data you're about to see, give our shoutouts to Media Create, VGChartz and NeoGAF user Chris1964 for the Media Create/Famitsu historical database, available at this link.
This list refers to the data that has been officially updated up until the latest Taiko no Tatsujin game's release, which -at this entry's original posting date- is Dokodon! Mystery Adventure for Nintendo 3DS. Said title will have its sales figures updated to the end of its 8th week of release, which ended on August 6th, 2016.
For the time being, due to not-fully-documented instances we're only sticking with the physical sales figures for each title, consisting of the actual titles being sold regardless of the purchasable versions the games have been in (ie. featured in a Taiko Tatacon bundle, Platinum/Nintendo Best Choice,...)
PlayStation 2 Games
Taiko no Tatsujin Tatacon de Dodon ga Don
First Week sales - 64.002
LTD sales - 743.334
Taiko no Tatsujin Doki! Shinkyoku Darake no Haru Matsuri
First Week sales - 102.940
LTD sales - 407.181
Taiko no Tatsujin Appare! Sandaime
First Week sales - 53.995
LTD sales - 578.993
Taiko no Tatsujin Waku Waku Anime Matsuri
First Week sales - 50.023
LTD sales - 205.130
Taiko no Tatsujin Atsumare! Matsuri da!! Yondaime
First Week sales - 30.716
LTD sales - 156.164
Taiko no Tatsujin Go! Go! Godaime
First Week sales - 29.381
LTD sales - 194.840
Taiko Drum Master
First Week sales (NA) - Unknown
First Week sales (JP) - 3.203
First Week sales (Global) - Unknown
LTD sales (NA) - ~4.000
LTD sales (JP) - 16.054
LTD sales (Global) - ~20.000
Taiko no Tatsujin Tobikkiri! Anime Special
First Week sales - 10.130
LTD sales - 49.554
Taiko no Tatsujin Wai Wai Happy! Rokudaime
First Week sales - 14.553
LTD sales - 98.106
Taiko no Tatsujin Doka! to Oomori Nanadaime
First Week sales - 11.502
LTD sales - 66.761
The many Taiko titles's overall selling trend on PlayStation 2 isn't very dissimilar to many other videogame series, past and current, which relied on yearly releases (even multiple ones!) on the very same console for a long time, with the first games scoring some of the series' highest peaks of all time in the series' life-time figures, sporting what currently is the most sold Taiko game in physical version with the very first release. Appare! Sandaime is the 2nd highest peak overall, while the PS2 title in-between can bolster the biggest launch week sales for the series on its first home console venture.
The least-performing title in both aspects -as well as the reason of why aren't getting any other official Taiko games in the West to date- is Taiko Drum Master, whose sales figures have been incredibly low in Japan as well as in the original North American release. The closer contender for PS2 grounds is instead Tobikkiri! Anime Special, whose combined sales can barely match 1/4 of the ones scored by the first Taiko Anime game compilation.
PlayStation Portable Games
Taiko no Tatsujin Portable
First Week sales - 14.593
LTD sales - 100.884
Taiko no Tatsujin Portable 2
First Week sales - 14.638
LTD sales - 233.267
Taiko no Tatsujin Portable DX
First Week sales - 110.242
LTD sales - 344.347
We have quite the inverted trend when it comes to Sony portable gaming, as each of the progressively-released games in the Portable trilogy has fared better than its predecessor, with Portable 2 observing the highest selling rate from the launch week compared to its debut window and Portable DX's FWS easily trumping the former games by almost 7 times each!
Nintendo DS Games
Taiko no Tatsujin DS Touch de Dodokon
First Week sales - 89.158
LTD sales - 641.229
Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS Nanatsu no Shima no Daibouken
First Week sales - 60.250
LTD sales - 693.164
Taiko no Tatsujin DS Dororon! Youkai Dai Kessen!!
First Week sales - 65.214
LTD sales - 418.229
The Taiko franchise on their Nintendo handheld debut has had its highs and lows as a whole, with the 2nd title boasting the 2nd overall biggest physical sales for the series and the third title almost counting a loss of 300.000 copies from the former DS game. At the very least, the many launch week figures have been consistent in popularity for this trilogy of games!
Nintendo Wii Games
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii
First Week sales - 114.160
LTD sales - 658.783
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Dodon~! to Nidaime!
First Week sales - 29.349
LTD sales - 430.096
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Minna de Party Sandaime
First Week sales - 26.855
LTD sales - 270.672
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Kettei-Ban
First Week sales - 25.343
LTD sales - 338.281
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Chogouka-Ban
First Week sales - 102.437
LTD sales - 654.842
Sales figures for the five Wii games has been a lob-sided journey on the release order spectrum, with the first and fifth game being sold the most and the games that were launched in-between getting meddling launch/overall sales. The first Wii game, in particular, is the current holder of the best-selling Taiko game at launch week in the franchise, on top of being the 3rd best seller overall.
Nintendo 3DS Games
Taiko no Tatsujin Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb
First Week sales - 63.388
LTD sales - 548.998
Taiko no Tatsujin Don to Katsu no Jikuu Daibouken
First Week sales - 62.247
LTD sales - 274.510
Taiko no Tatsujin Dokodon! Mystery Adventure
First Week sales - 35.465
LTD sales - 77.501
From this point onward, we ask you to take the data for this and the following console entries to be a snapshot of the current situation, as these (and the next!) games are still in production and purchasable for home/portable consoles which are still currently supported by new software entries. We also have to mention that all of the sales figures have been grouped under one value; for this reason, we don't know the exact figures for the localized versions of some of the most modern games, such as Korean Taiko 3DS 2 and V Version's Chinese 'General Asia' edition.
Keeping that in mind, the new Nintendo portable adventures of the Taiko siblings still have their following of customers, although if not matching with the former DS titles' trail. After Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb's popularity, the sequel barely moved more than half of the former title's sales numbers and the most-recently released game has had a launch week start drastically reduced from the former games in they physical side of gaming releases.
Nintendo Wii U Games
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii U Version!
First Week sales - 17.518
LTD sales - 187.958
Taiko no Tatsujin Tokumori!
First Week sales - 11.769
LTD sales - 112.281
Taiko no Tatsujin Atsumete★Tomodachi Daisakusen!
First Week sales - 11.989
LTD sales - 59.714
For the next Nintendo home console Taiko releases, it appears that the newcomer system itself's lower user-base is well reflected into the Taiko Wii U game sales, with each subsequent title selling a little less than the former one in the same system (given the same time span from release).
PlayStation Vita Games
Taiko no Tatsujin V Version
First Week sales - 46.101
LTD sales - 102.758
The iDOLM@STER Must Songs Red Album / Blue Album
First Week sales - 23.349
LTD sales - 36.761
Closing this feature is the report for the games that have been released on another less-performing console on the market, this time for the portable front. So far, 2015's three PS Vita Taiko titles have barely managed to break the 130k combined sales milestone, while still being modern fan-favorites.
