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Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Twitter Snippets (19-30 July 2018) - Nintendo Players' Alternative Method to Play Taiko Switch


Despite the disheartening news of no Taiko peripherals coming to US and Europe with the localized Taiko games' coming, the players of the Nintendo Switch game might have another way to play the game with a certain peripheral from the past... provided that all the right material is gathered.

By connecting the Nintendo GameCube's Conga peripheral from the Donkey Konga games to a Nintendo Switch system through a Nintendo GameCube controller adapter (the one released during the launch of Super Smash Bros.'s Wii U version), it's actually possible to play Drum 'n' Fun with the decades-hold piece of hardware! The left bongo hits Kat notes and the right one hits Don notes, as the video from this embeded tweet shows. Clapping won't do anything, though...


For those who are curious if regular Taiko controllers can also be used to play with the bongos for multiplayer matches, the answer is (surprisingly) yes! The reveal came out yesterday from a tweet by the same user.

Monday, July 30, 2018

Amazon Leak Double Whammy: Taiko no Tatsujin Original Soundtrack Baby Castella and Katanuki

Thanks to some timely notices from Taiko Discord user Deadwantsha, we now know that the product listings for the last two mini-albums in the City Connection/CLARICE Taiko soundtrack project are finally out on Amazon! Unlike last time's advance scouting efforts, however, we only know two things about the last couple of albums as of now: their title and respective release date;
  • Baby Castella (ベビーカステラ, lit. sponge cake), coming out on August 29th;
  • Katanuki (かたぬき, lit. diecutting), slated to a September 12th release day.

[RUMOR] Twitter Snippets (July 28-30 2018): AC0 Blue ver.'s Purportedly August Update

We have today this tweet above leaking a purported version update to Taiko no Tatsujin Blue ver. coming August 8 2018. The contents of the update are, reportedly:
  • 13 new songs, 8 available immediately and 5 unlockable/to be released later
  • Full Combo titles for some of the above songs
  • Fixes and additions to Performance Battle Mode
  • Actual Ranking Dojo courses for Blue ver., finally (but should be only until 10-dan as previously hinted
When confronted by others for supporting evidence on an earlier leak, the person claims (in text only, without media) that it is from a notification email from BNEI to arcade operators. While understandable on confidentiality grounds, we'll have to stick this into the [RUMOR] bin until a Namco Taiko Blog or press releases come around... if BNEI ever decided to do so.

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Taiko Goofs: Don-chan in Dummy Land, July 27 2018 Edition


Oh no, this format is getting too regular for my liking. Nabix and Deadwantsha from the Discord has found another example of a AC0 cabinet running on Dummy Version (as seen from the random Game Music songs wedged within the purported "Anime" folder), and showing us a never-before-seen J-POP song.

With the "dummy version leaks" popping up here and there, so from here on we'll be keeping track of all the unrealized leaks in a list in our latest Taiko Goofs posts:

Outstanding Dummy Version Leaks
Lemon (Kenshi Yonezu) NEW?
太陽系デスコ Taiyoukei Death-co (NayutalieN)
GERMINATION Arcade debut?
ヒカリノカナタヘ Hikari no Kanata e

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Twitter Snippets (28 July 2018) - No Taiko Peripheral Fun for the West


It appears that Western players will have to struggle quite a bit in order to have their own Taiko-authentic home gameplay experience, at least according to this shared bit of information from general rhythm gaming website Bemanistyle's Twitter profile.

Upon contacting the representatives of the Bandai Namco USA branch's Twitter account, said website's curators have shared what they've been told in return circa the TaTaCon/Taiko drum controller peripheral situation for the Western Taiko releases: as of now, there are no plans to bring the respective Taiko drum peripherals to both the Taiko games. Both the American and European releases will be affected by this situation.

It's highly likely for the localized games to have most (if not all) of the features from the Japanese/General Asia versions of the game, so that those who are willing to use the related Taiko peripherals will have to import them from the Eastern retailers.

Taiko Nintendo Switch First Week Sales

Media Create figures for the week ending July 22nd, 2018.

Please remember that these sales figures only refer to the physical copies of the games.

01./00. [NSW] Taiko no Tatsujin: Nintendo Switch Version!  (Bandai Namco Games) {2018.07.19} (¥6.100) - 69.984 / NEW 
02./01. [NSW] Octopath Traveler (Square Enix) {2018.07.13} (¥6.800) - 22.438 / 132.550
03./04. [NSW] Splatoon 2 # (Nintendo) {2017.07.21} (¥5.980) - 21.913 / 2.469.695
04./02. [NSW] Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Nintendo) {2018.07.13} (¥3.980) - 20.547 / 62.399
05./03. [NSW] Mario Tennis Aces (Nintendo) {2018.06.22} (¥5.980) - 19.709 / 247.161
06./05. [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft Game Studios) {2018.06.21} (¥3.600) - 16.265 / 138.051
07./07. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo) {2017.04.28} (¥5.980) - 13.435 / 1.641.109
08./09. [3DS] Pokemon Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon (Pokemon Co.) {2017.11.17} (¥4.980) - 7.554 / 1.676.067
09./06. [3DS] Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Nintendo) {2018.07.13} (¥3.980) - 7.188 / 21.746
10./10. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild # (Nintendo) {2017.03.03} (¥6.980) - 7.173 / 1.050.891
11./11. [NSW] Kirby Star Allies (Nintendo) {2018.03.16} (¥5.980) - 6.407 / 566.171
12./13. [NSW] Super Mario Odyssey # (Nintendo) {2017.10.27} (¥5.980) - 5.695 / 1.772.133
13./19. [PS4] Detroit: Become Human # (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2018.05.25} (¥6.900) - 4.613 / 94.973
14./33. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo # (Nintendo) {2016.11.23} (¥2.700) - 4.354 / 425.839
15./21. [NSW] Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit (Nintendo) {2018.04.20} (¥6.980) - 3.842 / 205.809
16./17. [NSW] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo) {2018.05.03} (¥5.980) - 3.378 / 193.708
17./08. [PS4] Mary Skelter: Nightmares 2 # (Compile Heart) {2018.07.12} (¥7.200) - 2.986 / 13.356
18./14. [PS4] The Crew 2 (Ubisoft) {2018.06.29} (¥8.400) - 2.728 / 35.004
19./12. [PS4] New Gundam Breaker # (Bandai Namco Games) {2018.06.21} (¥7.600) - 2.639 / 84.716
20./00. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 # (Nintendo) {2011.12.01} (¥4.571) - 2.614 / 2.903.441

While yes, the latest home console Taiko games coming to the West is the one Taiko-related news that is on everyone's mouth, we still have to see how has the Switch game fared in its homelands for its launch period! Luckilly for us, we have Media Create figures once again to aid us for drawing the bigger picture.

With almost 70.000 physical units moved within the first 4 days from its release, not only the Nintendo Switch debut Taiko title has been crowned as this week's biggest seller in Japan, but it can also bolster the highest launch-week sales records for the series in years! For comparison, it's higher than any of the single games' launch week sales for the Wii U games and the other titles on currently-active hardware (3DS, Ps Vita and PS4). Compared to Session de Dodon ga Don, it has moved more than double the units in the debut period!

Source (Media Creates, mirrored by 4Gamer)

Song of the Week! 28 July 2018


In light of the really galvanizing news from yesterday, here's a double theme song feature for you!

Friday, July 27, 2018

[PS4/West] - Taiko PS4's Playstation Blog Introduction(s)



Just as we first learned about this game last year, when it was under the Session de Dodon ga Don name for the Japanese audience, today's Western localization reveal was followed by a an official announcement for both the American and European versions of the Playstation Blog, giving some slight feature confirmations with a side of... not exactly rosy announcements.

Twitter Snippets (27 July 2018) - Western Taiko Game Releases: Now It's Official!


The title says it all: the most recent Taiko console game releases are actually going to be officially released for the Western market! This claim comes from social feeds sent by different Bandai Namco branches (pictured above is a reveal tweet coming from the BN Europe branch; other branches such as UK and USA have also posted the very same notice).

Both the debut Taiko titles for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch are going to be released with the English names we already knew about from other General Asia releases or former data leaks: Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session! (PS4) and Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun! (NSwitch). There's not that much to talk about how the games will be distributed as of now (or how much will they differ from the original JP versions), but the promo video embeded above showcasing the Anime song We Are! makes us believe that some of the Japanese licenses might be salvaged for the international versions (possibly the ones that are related to Bandai Namco-shared IPs for media handling, to the very least).

According to the tweet, both games are scheduled to be released on November 2nd, this year. Mark your calendars!

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Tenkaichi Otogesai 5 Dated (...I guess participating games announced too)


The Tenkaichi Otogesai 5 main site is officially open with actual information! Seeing we have already kinda already leaked the participating games, we'll proceed to the dates and contest details.

The Shop Preliminary will hold across the week of November 3-11 2018 in various participating arcade centers across Japan, and respective winners go to the Block Finals on December 15 and 16. The winners of those will enter the hosted on the floors of JAEPO 2019 on January 26 2019. The preliminaries will open for registration starting from October 13 on a first-come-first-served basis at up to 12 per shop, but any absence can be filled on the spot entry. The first songs for the tournament is expected to hit in mid-October to participating JAIA shops.

A special note for Donders is that the Official MyBachis (remember those?) are still not allowed to be used in all Tenkaichi Otogesai 5 proceedings in the Taiko no Tatsujin sector, or pretty much any form of MyBachis at all.

The last major change for this year is the participation reward. In previous years AOU gave out fully-printed CDs containing the tournament's selected songs to participants and lucky audience members, but this year they are saving on CDs by just giving out the Otogesai Music Card (音ゲ祭音楽カード) with the SONOCA service. Each shop is allocated 15 cards per game they host a preliminary on, and those who win one can download the SONOCA Player app to access the music. The card comes in five varieties, four of which contains each of Namco, Konami, Sega and Taito's song choices, and a special fifth that contains all the song choices from all four makers.

Note: We did not separately report this back in April 2018 when it happened, but AOU has since merged with Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing Association (JAMMA) to form Japan Amusement Industry Association (JAIA). From this onwards, we're gonna slowly transition in terms of those names when talking about Tenkaichi Otogesai.

First Video: PS4-1 Donder Pack Vol. 10



PS4-1 Donder Pack Vol. 10: July 26 2018

Title
Freeway3234 NEW!
★4★6★7★8
(465)

Taiko-zamurai NEW! (Ura)
太鼓侍
★5★7★8★8★8
(641)

Happy Birthday to Yuuji Masubuchi! Apparently today's PS4-1 DLC pack is dedicated to him on this occasion too: he charted for Kill Me no Baby, remixed for Surfside Satie and composed Taiko-zamurai and Ignis Danse. Maybe that also apply to the newcomer Freeway3234 as well?

On a similar tone of harder rhythmic structure as Masubuchi's works in the .ac Series (11 and 12.5), Freeway3234 landed lower on the ★8 spectrum with a purely 16th challenge. Do note that a significant half of the notechart is not on the line with the prominent melody, but to the quite-different percussion.



Meanwhile we also turn to the returning classic Taiko-zamurai (which the English language version tells us that it should be read with the rendaku phenomenon). Not only did it gain rating stars in Futsuu and Oni since its DS2 appearance, but it also got a more-modern interpretation in the brand new (high) ★8 Ura Oni notechart. More notes overall to fit more with the percussion and even the introduction of 24th clusters, while still keeping the offbeat-heavy bridge. The slowing tail is fully charted to the end as well.

...remember when the current Muzukashii notechart used to be ★10 Oni/Donderful in AC3 and PS2-1?

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Across Japan: Catching Up with the JP Blue Tide

Today there's quite the pleasant notice for the non-Japanese Taiko arcade players, as the overseas Blue Version arcades are about to get an update that should put the cabinets in par with the ongoing Japanese position! ... at least, for what concerns the non-licensed song side.

Aside from that isle, in fact, General Asia's Blue Version updates will get everything available until now from the mainline side, including:
  • The trademark Performance Battle mode;
  • The transition to the Summer Blue Version Rewards Shop;
  • The latest Dojo Ranking Gaiden courses (aka the hardest courses from former AC firmwares);
  • All the new rewards and titles that are tied in with the latest song additions;
  • The possibility to select Oni and Ura Oni separately for 2-player matches;
  • July's two new Namco Originals (Ai Want U and Dangan Notes);
  • The five Namco Originals that were ported to the Issho ni Waiwai Ensou multiplayer mode (Break Line, Antonio, Boku wa Synth, Hello! Halloween and Nightmare Survivor).
While there's no tentative release date for this generous shipment, the sourced post notices that the last two points will be delivered on July 31st, so it's safe to assume that this enormous update will take place within such date.

Source (Taiko no Tatsujin Asia official Facebook page)

Monday, July 23, 2018

Happy & Peace Lyrics



Composition: Kakumi Nishigomi (西込加久見)
Lyrics: YURA
Vocals: Takayoshi Tanimoto (谷本貴義)

Sunday, July 22, 2018

[NSwitch] - Launch-Day Version Curiosities from Data Leaks


As already mentioned in our launch-window update post for the incoming Nintendo Switch Taiko game (link), the game got leaked online in its entirety; as the writers of a Taiko-oriented news blog, we're not spreading this piece of information as a means to spread piracy-oriented practices, but rather as another way for us to get to know more about the latest game's launch contents!

Some of the game's files, in fact, have been extracted with the use of hex-editor applications and had their respective text-format codes shared online for everyone to see. After the jump are listed the main discoveries that can be discerned through the analysis of three selected files, together with an extra bonus...

Shoutout to Taiko no Tatsujin Discord user Bui for the test versions of the spotlighted files!

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Game Music Showcase: Critical Velocity

Released as a Japan-only title on October 13th, 2005, Critical Velocity is a Playstation 2 racing game which was made only by employees of the Namco Japan division, in the attempt to make a new story-driven series that could coexist with Ridge Racer and offer a slightly different kind of gameplay. This title comes from the spoils of a work-in-progress open world game called Rune Chaser, which was announced (and canned off) the year prior.

The game is mainly set in Priyo City, an uprising urbanized town of the fictional United States of FALCONIA where the steady growth of its population goes hand-to-hand with the rise of the street crime rate. Due to the lack of cops in the city's police department, the institution is hiring professional drivers who hunt down criminals for a living, known in-game as "Stormers". Critical Velocity's story puts the players in the shoes of Sole, a freshly-hired Stormer who fights the street crime of Priyo City with his partner Gordon, up to clear commissioned jobs that may or may not lead to a bigger conspiracy that tangles the whole continent.

Unlike the Ridge Racer titles, Critical Velocity is a mission-based game where the player has to explore Priyo City in order to progress the main story line and to join the game's missions, ranging from simple street/time races to alternative kinds of objectives like bumping into the criminals' cars to violently end their ride. That being said, the game doesn't shy away from referencing the longer-running Namco racing series in a number of ways, between familiar locations to race in and some cars directly coming from the Ridge Racer world. Despite Critical Velocity not ending up to be a success, its jazz-inspired soundtrack stands up to the test of time, being released on May 29th, 2012 as an iTunes digital album. It's also possible to hear bits of the game's music as background music for the episodic Audio Deka, the Taiko Team-produced comic audio drama series that started with the former official livestream broadcasts.

Despite some of these songs' arcade forays, the Critical Velocity legacy in Taiko is mainly a home console-oriented one, as all the tracks thus far have made their debut in such titles.

Song of the Week! 21 July 2018


With the latest console Taiko game finally out in the (Japanese) stores, let's take a look at what I believe to be the most interesting pick among the Nintendo Switch game's newcomers...

void setup Lyrics



Composition: Yuuji Masubuchi (増渕裕二)
Programming/Lyrics: GIW (祇羽)
Vocals: Kaori Aihara (愛原圭織)

First Video: Dangan Notes



Blue ver. Song Addition: July 21 2018

Title
Dangan Notes cosMo@BousouP NEW!
ダンガンノーツ/cosMo@暴走P
★5★7★8★10
(923)
★10
(1167)

And we are finally back with top-rated additions on the 3rd generation arcade after the rush on Nintendo Switch Version and its scarcity of ★10s. cosMo@BousouP's latest Taiko-exclusive pick has notes of SDVX's Kyokuken (to his partial credit) in the composition, and that similarity is also reflected on the notecharts too.

Dangan Notes' Oni notechart also a high-speed demon on a hefty 16th base with weaving in 12th streams and peppered 24th clusters, but the patterns are comparatively tame and regular. Two of those 12th streams are even mixing large and normal notes, making the correct separation harder to spot on bare sightreading as Hyakki Yakou Normal Route did. The gimmick game is also strong with the (still patent-pending) trippy barlines soon after the intro to phase you into the main attraction, and even more even-more-trippy barlines with continuous barrage of speeding yellow drumrolls.


But Dangan Notes doesn't want to stay in the legacy of Kyokuken apparently, so it is equipped with a day-one Ura Oni notechart too. It worked for its purposes too because as of the writing of this (~17:30 JPT) there is still zero DFCs achieved.

The step up begins with more off-beat even clusters in more varied coloring in the initial rush, and then making 32nd clusters actually commonplace and hidden within streams that is already mixing 16th and 24th. There is apparently no place for barline gimmicks now though.

For the title hunters out there (not greater Asian, that is; but we don't get the song anyway), here are the Full Combo Titles for this time:
  • Dangan Donder (ダンガンドンだー) for Oni
  • Super High-speed Bullet Handling (超高速の弾丸捌き) for Ura Oni

Friday, July 20, 2018

Taiko no Tatsujin Nintendo Switch Version Unlock List


[AC0 Blue/Asia] - The Eel-fated Eel Day Announcement

Today in Japan falls the so-called... you know what, we've done this three times already, we'll get the padding over with quick. The main point of the tweet is, if you would remember the grilled eel for the fourth year in a row, Unagi no Tamashii Rock available on AC0 for Doyo no Ushi no Hi (土用の丑の日) from today (July 20) until August 1.

The kicker is when the AC0 Asian ver. official Facebook page posts about the same thing after almost four months of silence, the Asian Donder crowd goes wild. The eel sure will beat the heat in this eternal winter (Yellow ver. Winter Rewards Shop) all across greater Asia!

Blue ver. Limited Song: July 20~August 1 2018

Title
Unagi no Tamashii Rock
うなぎのたましいロック
★4★5★4★5--

Thank you for five out of five that voted on my personal poll wanting me to do this passive-aggressively.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

[RANDOM] - Bandai Namco Europe's Taiko-Themed Trademarking Session


Now that the Taiko Switch launch coverage is starting to wind down, here's a little something that can be seen as the continuation of the (tentative?) locatization efforts of the most recent home console Taiko games since that Australian classification body found a few weeks back (link).

Over the past few weeks, the European branch of Bandai Namco has filled some trademark claims for the name portions that are related to the latest Taiko console releases, published online at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s European trademark section. The terms being claimed are currently 'under examination', reported below with the latest revision date (as of this post's original publishing date):
These are the official-translation names for several Taiko titles that have been released in the past, including the PS2-era Taiko game name (which became the series' overall name overseas) and the latest console outings for the latest-gen PS4 and Nintendo Switch consoles. Is the Taiko series truly going to have an official return to the West?

[NSwitch] - Studio Ghibli Pack DLC Announced

While normal gaming press probably ditches all Taiko no Tatsujin game coverage after release, we will always be with you through blood (from the blisters) and sweat (actually tears about how sh*tty AC0 Asia has been).

Anyways, the first actual DLC pack for Nintendo Switch Version is announced today and will be available starting August 9 (same day as the English patch).

Studio Ghibli Pack: August 9 2018 (500 yen +tax)

Title
Kimi o Nosete Castle in the Sky
君をのせて/「天空の城ラピュタ」より
★2★3★4★6
Tonari no Totoro
となりのトトロ
★2★3★1★5
Rouge no Dengon Kiki's Delivery Service Console debut
ルージュの伝言/「魔女の宅急便」より
★3*★3*★4*★7*
Umi no Mieru Machi Kiki's Delivery Service
海の見える街/「魔女の宅急便」より
★1★2★4★6
Gake no Ue no Ponyo
崖の上のポニョ
★1★2★1★2
Difficulty ratings with * are from past Generation 1 or 2 games so may subject to change

Source (Taiko NSwitch website's DLC section)

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

[NSwitch] - Early Purchase Bonus Missing from Preloaded Purchases

Formally announced today (July 18) is that some of the earliest preloads of Taiko no Tatsujin Nintendo Switch Version did not come with the Early Purchase Bonus that is the Gold Don-chan (ゴールドどんちゃん) Performance Character. The issue has been fixed for Nintendo eShop purchases after 18:00 on July 12 2018 and download code preloads after 14:30 on July 13 2018.

For those who purchased and preloaded the game before that will have to manually download the character with a separate download code from the Nintendo eShop. The codes should have been sent via email today (July 18) to the email address associated to the Nintendo account. Here's a sample of the sender and subject for such emails:

 
Thanks Bui from the Discord for letting us use this screenshot

Inside the email should be two codes: The 16-digit Download Code (ダウンロード番号) is the actual one for you to get your bonus content, but do keep the Reference Code (For Inquiries) (管理番号(お問い合わせ用)) in case you need assistance with the exercise. The download code will expire after July 18 2019.

If you never receive the email where you should have, you should contact BNEI Support with the contacts in the notice, quoting your 21-digit Support Number (サポート用の番号), accessed from your Switch by My Page > User Settings.

Notice on NS1 main site

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Twitter Snippets (July 17 2018): Dangan Notes confirmed for release

Something something already leaked yadda yadda Dangan Notes something something July 21 and that's it; we have done this for Ai want U and I should not have to repeat myself too much (also also what greater Asia)

Blue ver. Song Addition: July 21 2018

Title
Dangan Notes cosMo@BousouP NEW!
ダンガンノーツ/cosMo@暴走P
★?★?★?★?--

Monday, July 16, 2018

RAGE v. self Lyrics



Composition: Joe Kiyoshi, remix of RAGE RACER by Hiroshi Okubo (大久保博)
Arrangement, Lyrics, Vocal: Joe Kiyoshi

Addendum (2018/07/16): Fixed with OST Yaki-toumokoroshi lyrics

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Taiko Nintendo Switch Version - Launch Window Update Post


The Taiko Switch game's release is upon us, and with that is also our latest launch-window blog coverage! After the jump we're listing any other song list/unlockable updates we're getting as the release date draws closer.

NS1 Song List
Last update: 19/07/2018
Oni/Ura Oni video footage: 16/16
No. of Updates: 20 (FINAL)

Song of the Week! 14 July 2018


Less than a week is left from the next big console Taiko game's release! With that in mind, here's one song for today that is coming from the previous title.

Friday, July 13, 2018

Merch Search: Taiko no Tatsujin Doughnuts by Krispy Kreme Taiwan


Thanks to Deadwantsha from the Discord for the sweet find!

In celebration with the imminent release of Nintendo Switch Version, BNEI of Taiwan has teamed up with doughnut maker Krispy Kreme's Taiwan branches to bring you a three-design set of Taiko no Tatsujin doughnuts:
  • Don-chan (strawberry jam filling)
  • Kat-chan (custard filling)
  • Cat (red-bean milk filling)
The exclusive doughnuts are available at NT$50 each or as part of valued set deals, including the discounted set of all three at NT$130. Offer runs through July 16~31.

The doughnut chain is also running a lucky draw for any NT$150+ purchases containing one Taiko doughnut, giving you chance to win the Nintendo Switch Version game and other Taiko no Tatsujin merch. One Krispy Kreme Taiwan branch would even offer Nintendo Switch Version trial play experience on select weekends.

Krispy Kreme Taiwan main site announcement