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Monday, June 8, 2020

[NS1] Donkatsu at Home! Taiko no Tatsujin eSports Online Tournament


With [you know what] still pretty much prevalent out there, some eSports events like Toushinsai 2020 has to be severely postponed and/or cancelled, while others like EVO Championship Series has chosen to change up the format to adapt, moving the proceedings online instead.

For Taiko no Tatsujin, Bandai Namco has decided to hold an online tournament along to the latter path exclusively for Taiko no Tatsujin Nintendo Switch Version/Drum 'n' Fun starting June 22 2020.

Tournament Special Site: https://esp.taiko-ch.net/
Official Twitter handle: @taikoesports

Before all, note that this tournament only accepts entries using the official drum controller (i.e. products licenced by Nintendo) played with the attached plastic sticks. Off-brand drums or other sticks (including the Official MyBachis from 4 years ago) are not allowed. You will also have to use Shin-uchi scoring and Don-chan as performance character for all entries, likely to (try to) maintain fairness.

But outside of those requirements, the tournament is pretty easy to enter. The tournament is divided into six separate departments, according to the age group and the difficulty used.

Age \ Difficulty
3rd Grade
 or under
Kids Futsuu
キッズ部門ふつう
Kids Muzukashii
キッズ部門むずかしい
--
4th Grade to
 6th Grade
--
Upper Elementary Muzukashii
小学校高学年部門むずかしい
Upper Elementary Oni
小学校高学年部門おに
Middle School
 and up
--
General Muzukashii
一般部門むずかしい
General Oni
一般部門おに

The tournament will come in three rounds:
  • First preliminary round: June 22-28
    Contestants only need to play the designated notechart on NS1, take a snapshot of the results screen, and post that snapshot onto Twitter with the event-specific hashtag. Top 20 scorers of each department move on.
  • Second preliminary round: July 3-5
    Shortlisted contestants will have to record a video of their second-round gameplay and send to the organizers for more rigorous judgement. Top 3 scorers of each department move on.
  • Finals: July 19, with July 18 reserved for preparations
    (details to be announced later)

Step-by-step pictorial guide for first-round submissions

Winners of the tournament can win up to 30,600 yen in giftcard form, or a digital subscription of a sports tabloid. Further details, including the song choices to each department and the more-detailed terms and conditions, will be announced on June 22.

To rile up the publicity for the tournament, the official Twitter handle also started a Retweet Campaign where 500 randomly-drawn winners can win a special design towel-handkerchief featuring rat-costumed Don-chan and Kat-chan. To qualify for the drawing, simply follow the Twitter account and retweet the campaign tweet (embedded below) by July 28 23:59, but please note that the gift is only available to those living in Japan.