Broken video links? Incorrect difficulties? Incorrect genre? Wrong name, or typing mistake? Any suggestions?
Contact me and I'll do my best to correct anything you find, or have our contributors do it. Remember, this is an effort to make the most definitive Taiko no Tatsujin blog/fansite for English-speaking fans, and we need all the support we can get. Thank you!
Contributor list:
Admin: pikaby/aquabluu (More about me)
---
Zekira (More about me)
crystalsuicune (More about me)
Lokamp↓ (More about me) Out of the shadows ...
nigelliusnitrox (More about me)
CoroQuetz (More about me)
Other interviews:
Taiko Time 5th Blog Anniversary Edition
Contributor emails:
pikaby/aquabluu: pikaby@gmail.com (main)
crystalsuicune: crystalsuicune07@yahoo.com.hk
Lokamp: new e-mail address pending
Site questions/FAQ:
What is Taiko Time and why is it here?
The main purpose of Taiko Time is to bring Taiko no Tatsujin to all fans who aren't able to read Japanese! At best, it'd be a great help for people searching for song lists and knowledge of the finer, more advanced game mechanics in this wonderful rhythm series, and find out what the fuss is all about over in Japan.
The name was derived from a Namco Original song of the same name, released in Taiko 14. It's a 10* difficulty song, which is on the top end of the difficulty scale.
How do I read the song list?
They're arranged in tables, by genre first, then the individual song names, difficulty levels and video link (if available). I'll put one here as an example.
| Title |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponytail to Shushu (ポニーテールとシュシュ) AKB48 | x3 | x5 | x6 | x7 (video) |
The name of the song is 'Ponytail to Shushu' with its corresponding Japanese name next to it, and the artist name in smaller words below it (For Anime genre, name of anime the song is from, not the artist name). And then the four difficulty levels, from left to right they are Kantan (Easy), Futsuu (Normal), Muzukashii (Hard) and Oni (Very Hard). The video link usually shows the Oni difficulty, though in rare cases there may be a video link for the other difficulties.
Along the way you may notice a few icons before the song name or difficulty. These are what they actually mean:
- Secret song, has to be unlocked
- Downloadable song, free
- Downloadable song, paid
- Forked paths
- Added to arcade by software update
- Ura Oni, notechart change
- Ura Oni, song change
- Ura Oni, song replacement (arcade only) The video in the link isn't from the game itself! What gives?
Due to the limited number of videos available (especially for J-Pop and anime), I select the highest quality one that's available at the time and link to it. This could mean, for example, you're browsing through the song list of a console Taiko game and the video link is for the same song, but on an arcade. Rest assured, the song and notes will be exactly the same. Remember, you can contact us if you find a better video to represent the song.
How do you guys choose your videos?
Priority is given based on the following conditions:
-High-quality capture recording (though this is only sometimes possible, and only done for the most popular/difficult songs. HIGHLY preferred. If there is no HQ capture of a song, regular on-screen recordings will be used)
-Normal speed, no modifiers (Autoplay excluded)
-Regular Taiko drum sound used
-Oni difficulty (with minor exceptions)
-Full combo, or at least a regular play. 'Arrange play' and videos where not a single note is hit are very low on the priority scale.
-Arcade on-screen, machine not visible, noise level minimum
-Console on-screen, minimum obscurity by TV scanning lines, minimum trembling (for PSP/DS recordings)
If none of these conditions are met, then usually the video will either be a low-quality one (no choice there) or there won't be a video for the song. Note, however, that videos for some songs are simply not found on the Internet. But if you find a video for a song we're missing, send them our way! (email addresses up on top of this page!)
What are 'PS2 7, DS3 and PSP2?'
An easier way for us to refer to the names of the Taiko games without having to spell it out in full. PS2 7 is Doka! to Oomori Nanadaime, DS3 is Youkai Dai Kessen!, and PSP2 is Taiko Portable 2. The arcades will be simply referred to as Taiko 1, Taiko 2...and so on.
Why are the difficulties so muddled up? They're different between versions!
Namco adjusts difficulty levels up and down based on what they think is hard at the time. Most songs these days have stable difficulty levels now, as opposed to the songs of old, which have drastically changed over time. This is also the reason why there may be a lot of errors in the site for difficulty stars (especially for difficulties lower than Oni) - please contact us if you find any!
Why aren't there any mp3s to download on this site? Taiko songs are great to listen to!
Unfortunately this is a move which we don't support at the moment. Not only do we not have any server space to speak of (and file hosting sites are usually crap), but providing and maintaining links to all the Taiko songs that have been made in the past 10 or so years is a gargantuan task, and isn't completely legal. What can be done is, you look for a song on Youtube that isn't played with any sounds of 'don' or 'kat' (due to the nature of Taiko this can easily be captured off the arcade screen, providing flawless music files like this one), then download them using a Youtube downloader program, then converting the resulting file into mp3 format. It's easier than begging for download links once you know the method.
