Feature: 2011- This year in hindsight

I won't lie here, 2011 as a whole, was epic. Both for the blog and for the videogame franchise we cover, every Taiko gamer would wish that every year is 2011. Too bad there can only be one 10th Anniversary celebration in forever.... inb42012willbeboring

But anyway, with so much awesome behind us, let's review what we've all been through these past 365 days of Taiko!

"First" audio recording of AWAKE

The quotation marks on the title aren't pointless: indeed, the final 2012 preview song is part of Muscle March's soundtrack. Like the other tunes from that wacky game, AWAKE is sung by Kani Prince, who also made this shortened version for the future Taiko games.

Saitama 2000 lyrics

Artist: LindaAI-CUE
Vocal: Fushigi Yamada (山田ふしぎ) (as Don-chan)

First audio recording of Sweet Sweet Magic

After the appearance of Kimi no Planet with PSP's December songs, we have with the Donderful soundtrack the other Namco Original preview song for 2012, singed by the duo Hatsuki Yura/Tsukiko. What do you think about it?

pikaby asks: How was Christmas for you?

It's Christmas Day! (a little late for me to be posting this but anyway) How was your day today? Did you guys get lots of presents? Go out for a nice meal, celebrating with family, that kind of stuff?

Me? I don't celebrate the holiday, but I do join in if I'm being invited or something...not this year though. Just spent a quiet day with my family....and Taiko-ing in my local arcade! And if you're wondering that plush up there is not mine lol.

Song of the Week! 24 December 2011

Hi there! It's Christmas week, and because of that we're doing a special this year. Since we've run out of good Christmas songs (geez there really should be more of them), we're doing three songs for this week's feature! One by pikaby, one by me, and one by the readers. Have fun!

Mata Saitama 2000 revisited

With the launching of the Donderful soundtrack CD yesterday, we've been busy at work rearranging the unofficial lyrics (and some of them have really bad mistakes, like Cycle of Rebirth and Love Ikusa....those two are going to take a while). One of the lyric sheets to be revised was Mata Saitama 2000. And it's very complete. So complete that the phone codes were thrown in by Namco too! Of course, they wouldn't do this without a clue on deciphering the numbers for the uninitiated, so there was one page on the back dedicated to the phone code.

Both screenshots are provided by the awesome crystalsuicune, who managed to buy the soundtrack right on time!

Namco Taiko Blog (22 December 2011)- Wrapping the year up

Yep, this week is the last official blog update for the year. What a big bang 2010 has been eh? Oh yeah, the news for today.

First audio recording of Shimedore 2000 +

Expecting something big from Shimedore+ in the soundtrack? You're not going to get much out of it... Extracts of Joubutsu and Mata Saitama aren't included as previously speculated (nor was any entirely new 2000), and the only major change is in Kidaruma's part, which basically pulls out the entire radio interview plus the final melody from Taiko 13. Oh well.

Happy de Rippa! lyrics

Vocal: Narahashi Miki (楢橋 美紀)

Bandai x CreoFUGA songlist update

Yesterday was the last day of the Bandai x CreoFUGA musical contest, in which freelance composers publish their musical creations to vie for spots in PSP DX download packs (and earn some money doing it) Now that the contest is closed, we have the full list of the submitted songs!

User World War signups start now!

The biggest inter-forum game of Hurt n' Heal is now on! Taiko Time members versus Nintendo 5 Star members! (another forum which I manage). It's basically like this; everyone who joins get 2 lives, some HP and a whole arsenal of weapons and special abilities to choose from and attack other users with. There's a cash system and terrain system and other cool stuff. All organized by the wonderfully mad CRAZ1ah of Nintendo 5-Star!

Sound fun? We need team players for the Taiko Time army, 10 of them. 5 spots have already been filled and the remaining five are open. If you're a Taiko Time forum member, just sign up at the Event Hall and you're in! If you're not a forum member, just register yourself there, get a username and go to this topic to place your name. Hurry, signups close on December 23rd!

For more information about User World War, you can either contact CRAZ1ah on the forum or read this topic. Have fun!

Oh, me? Depending on the circumstances I could be on either side, but I'm probably going to be on Nintendo 5-Star. Everyone can attack everybody anyway, it's not a strict team battle, lol.

Song of the Week! 17 December 2011

Another week, another song! And just one more week before our Christmas feature....get ready to be surprised then!

Taiko 0 unlock list

The full order in which everything is unlocked cannot be confirmed yet as a full set of notes weren't made and different players seemed to get different results, however these are, so far, all the unlockables to be found in Taiko 0.

All unlockables are limited to Banapassport users only.

Twitter Snippets (15 December 2011) - Other Taiko Team performances

It looks like Taiko Team is gaining interest to show their skills on Twitter these days. From the start of December onvards, they have posted some snaps about their gaming scores.

Namco Taiko Blog (15 December 2011) - November's Namco Original packs

Another exciting Thursday with... well... other old news. Today's blog entry is all about Taiko iPhone's latest songpacks, released last month with all Namco Originals.

Random: How things are unlocked in Taiko 0

Before the game ends (and so before the overall performance is displayed), the Don Point counter is filled up based on how much you fill the Tamashii Gauge in a song, the maximum is 500 per song. You level up after every 3000 points you get (equivalent to clearing 6 songs if you can fill all the Tamashii Gauges to the max), and each time you do so something will be unlocked, and they can be either  a new Taiko sound, a costume or a secret song! You can also wear the costumes the moment you unlock them instead of having to wait for the next play.


What happens after the player has unlocked everything there is to offer then? Yes, there is an upper limit, which is why we haven't seen any other new songs on Taiko 0 after Marble Heart.

Dadakko Monster lyrics

Vocal: Chata (茶太)
Composer: mirawi (みらゐ)

Song of the Week! 10 December 2011

Time to offer something different... Today I'm going to review one of the C-Pop exclusives from the Asian arcades!

Danba Danba Din Dan lyrics

Artist: YMCK
Vocal: Midori Kurihara

Namco Taiko Blog (8 December 2011) - Donderful soundtrack details

We've already covered the details of the soundtrack 2 weeks before this, so today's official blog is just a recap. The source of the songlist is from columbia.jp, which is 2 discs totaling 70 songs...No sign of the other album though, the one called 'Full Combo'. Donderful! includes popular songs like Yuujou Pop, Uchuu Samurai, Pastel Dream and Ao no Senritsu, Wii 4 exclusives dance storm, Lightning Passion and Momoiro Taiko Paradise, the 10th anniversary gift songs Danba Danba Din Dan and Hatsune Miku no Shoushitsu -Gekijouban-, and even some unreleased songs! Watch out for Shimedore 2000+ (plus!)

The first printing of the album, if you get it, will be included together with a small sticker sheet as shown below:

The release date remains the same, December 21. Get ready for it!

Link to original post

Taiko PSP DX's IDs, take 5

Waited by Taiko hackers as much as PSP's monthly songs, December's 6-song pack hides another trio of IDs for the future song packs! For the joy of Miku fans, World is Mine (ID: worldi) will jump on PSP next year, together with Uso (ID: siduso), a J-Pop tune used as one of the Full Metal Alchemist EDs. The third ID, stgo, is completely unknown. We'll update this page as soon as we know more about it!

UPDATE: Errata corrige for the third mysterious ID; it's stg0, and not stgo as wrote above. And so the third song is another well known tune from the past: STAGE 0.ac11, one of the most rare ac. songs up to date!

First video of Kimi no Planet

Anongos, one of our readers, supplied us with an Autoplay video of December's new Namco Original sung by Shimotsuki Haruka (her last song in Taiko was Yumeiro Coaster). 450 notes for its mild, 8-star Oni.

Background glitch returns in Taiko Wii Ketteiban

If anyone remembers this small glitch from Taiko Wii 3, the background change lags slightly when you move from genre to genre, resulting sometimes in the Namco Original genre getting the rainbow-colored BG from the Random Song select pane. That has been fixed in Taiko Wii 4, but with the addition of the + and - buttons to quickly swap between genres, it inadvertently caused the bug to reappear; there are several times where the background lags sufficiently to show a different color on different genres (orange background for Game Music, green background for Anime etc) if you spam the +/- buttons fast enough.

This is shown in the first few seconds of the video until....what. A pink background (Children/Folk genre)? That's not even in the game! Looks like the background is stuck between two different hues and froze in the middle!

All Night de Indenai lyrics

Vocals: Yoshi (ヨッシー)

Game Music Showcase: Katamari Damacy

This series is made up of music from the saga of Katamari Damacy (塊魂 Katamari Damashii, two very similar kanji roughly translated to English as clump soul), one of Namco's flagship game series and full of typical Japanese wackiness. It was first released in 2004 for the Play Station 2 and became one of Namco's mainstay franchises. In this 3rd person puzzle-action hybrid, players roll a magical ball known as a Katamari around, picking up items and people to create material for planets, stars and the moon. Once enough objects have been collected, the goal is beaten and the player is rewarded with the star or planet created by that Katamari.

The Namco Digital Hollywood Game Laboratory came up with this bizarre idea at first for Sony's then-latest home console, developed for less than $1 million. And what a plot it had! Due to some binge drinking, the King of All Cosmos accidentally destroyed the Milky Way's stars and constellations (with the Moon as well). In order to set things back to normal, he sends to Earth his 5-cm-tall son, the Prince, asking him to recreate all the stars by sticking as many things as he can with Katamari balls.

The series is almost universally praised for its unique gameplay and quirky story telling, and received many videogame-related awards in its lifetime. It gained enough popularity to earn a small place on Taiko too, even if each song's tenure is criminally short.

The Tale of Fuuga and Mirai's Taiko Classroom

The story mode in Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Ketteiban resembles what is seen in the first two Wii Taiko games, in that the progression of the story is non-interactive and scenes are unlocked just based on how much time the player spends in regular Play mode. This article is a simple digest of everything that goes on in the scenes of the Play mode.

Spoiler alert, read at your own risk!

Ego Ego Atakushi lyrics

Artist: Koji Nakagawa (中川浩二)
Vocals: Eriko Nakamura #1 (中村繪里子#1)

pikaby asks: Which console next?

Ketteiban, if the name is implying the correct meaning, is the final Wii Taiko game. That means there won't be any more games made for the current SD consoles as Taiko is moving to HD screens. The franchise could potentially go anywhere from here. Namco did not ask which console players want the next Taiko to be on in their Wii4 survey, meaning they are either 1) being forgetful or 2) already have something in mind. Which console do you think it will land on next?

PS3? PSVita? 3DS? Wii U?

Of the four, the first and the third are the more probable ones in the immediate horizon, as both are already released. For the first HD Taiko however, it would have to be the PS3 that is most likely, even though the console has never had a Taiko game before. After the waning popularity and market saturation of Wii, PS3 now has the more dedicated userbase of gamers and with a large audience comes potential buyers. The HD-ready console would be perfect to debut the 3rd graphic interface on a console, and not to mention the potential for downloadable songs too. And the disc itself; there's a huge chunk of storage for songs. How high do you think the number will go?

At the same time the Nintendo 3DS is slowly, but surely, gaining ground in Japan, and what better way to continue the DS legacy by putting a Taiko game here? It won't be HD, but a portable Taiko always sells like gangbusters. Always. Need proof? Portable DX, DS3, even DS2 all outsold the larger song volumes of the Wii Taikos in their first week on sale. Japan loves portables and touchscreens. It's region locked, but that's none of their concern, sadly, the overseas market for Taiko is negligible to them.

Of course, PS Vita also looks like an interesting prospect, and by the looks of it the number of people who will buy into a HD portable console is larger than the ones going for glasses-free 3D. Who knows? Maybe there will be a PSP DX sequel launched here. And as for the Wii U, it's not even close to being released yet, but like I said in the E3 article a few months ago, the potential here is huge, the flexibility in choosing control methods is massive, and it's also HD. It remains to be seen how large the potential userbase will get, but if a HD Taiko were to be released next year it won't be on Wii U, it would be on PS3 because of the late release. I still think Wii U will get a Taiko in some form or other though. Where else would Namco put their Nintendo related songs? (Pokemon OPs, Mario etc)

Now, enough about me, let's hear your opinion!

Song of the Week! 3 December 2011

December's first pick takes us back to the Anime scene once again, due to an old user request. One of the more interesting revived songs in the genre!

Hello! Don-chan lyrics

Composition, Lyrics, Vocal: Yuri Misumi (みすみゆり)

Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Ketteiban first week sales

01./00. [WII] The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword # (Nintendo) {2011.11.23} (¥6.800) - 194.978 / NEW
02./00. [PSP] 7th Dragon 2020 # (Sega) {2011.11.23} (¥6.279) - 122.498 / NEW
03./00. [PS3] Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle # (D3 Publisher) {2011.11.23} (¥7.140) - 66.557 / NEW
04./04. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) {2011.11.03} (¥4.800) - 61.710 / 560.960 (-1%)
05./00. [PS3] Metal Gear Solid HD Edition # (Konami) {2011.11.23} (¥5.480) - 61.192 / NEW
06./00. [PSP] Little Battlers eXperience: Boost (Level 5) {2011.11.23} (¥4.980) - 60.727 / NEW
07./00. [PSP] Weiss Schwarz Portable: Boost Weiss / Boost Schwarz # (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.11.23} (¥6.800) - 47.586 / NEW
08./00. [PSP] Uta no Prince-Sama: Music # (Broccoli) {2011.11.24} (¥3.990) - 38.918 / NEW
09./00. [WII] Taiko Drum Master Wii: Definitive Edition! # (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.11.23} (¥5.040) - 32.098 / NEW
10./01. [PS3] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Subtitled Edition (Square Enix) {2011.11.17} (¥7.980) - 29.726 / 210.098 (-84%)

For stats on sales of Taiko games from PSP DX all the way back to DS2, click here to see a simple analysis.

Wii 4 sells 32k in 5 days so on average it's still around the same level as Wii 3 last year. I guess people have other games in mind for their Wiis this month *looks at Skyward Sword*. It's rare for a Zelda game to sell so well in Japan though.

Famitsu's score for Ketteiban is 8/8/7/8 = 31/40

Namco Taiko Blog (1 December 2011) - Taiko PSP DX December 2011 download songs

The title says it all, so what are you waiting? Click 'Read More'!

Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Ketteiban unboxing video

The best way to get excited for any game? Record yourself unwrapping it, bit by bit!

Mata Saitama 2000 lyrics

Composer: Linda AI-Cue
Lyrics: Linda AI-Cue, Ojima (オジマ)

Song of the Week! 26 November 2011

Last month, a particular song taught us that even the most popular composers move out of their comfort zone for some musical experimentation (like LindaAI-Cue making Doom Noiz). Another singer who was brought to popularity thanks to the 2000 songs followed the same path with this melody, many years ago...

Taiko Team Third UStream: Taiko Wii Ketteiban and other details!

Hi guys, Zekira G. Drake here. Again we'll be covering the recent Taiko Team Ustream. There'll be some details here that are very essential, so I suggest you read up! Alternatively (and I highly suggest more than just reading this), you can rewatch the stream in a link given on the jump. (I seriously recommend it because there are a lot of things that pictures just don't capture)

Taiko no Tatsujin: Donderful! soundtrack list

The list is out! With artist details and everything too....this is one tantalizing package!

Namco Taiko Blog (24 November 2011)- Taiko Wii4 and other stuff

It's not just the launching of Taiko Wii: Ketteiban that's driving everyone crazy. The team have a lot to say.

Mulberry lyrics

Artist: Chata

Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Ketteiban unlock guide

Oni difficulty- Clear 10 songs on Muzukashii (Hard)

Game Modifiers
------------------------
Reverse notes (Abekobe あべこべ)
-Clear 20 songs on Kantan (Easy)
Invisible (Doron ドロン)
-Clear 20 songs on Futsuu (Normal)
Quadruple speed (Yonbai よんばい)
-Clear 20 songs on Muzukashii (Hard)
Sudden Death (Kanpeki かんぺき)
-Clear 20 songs on Oni


Costumes
-----------------------
Each song you clear will yield a new costume, no matter what difficulty you play it on. For pictures of the costumes, click here.

J-Pop

Girl: Kaze wa Fuiteiru
Flower Bouquet: Arigatou
Cake: Everyday, Katyusha
Wedding Dress: Love Letter
Apple: Joyful
Donut: Polyrhythm
Sparkly Jewel: Karon
Headband: Egao ni Kanpai!
Shisa: I Wish For You
Swimming Gear: Natsu Matsuri

Anime

Fortune Cat: Best Wishes!
Headphones: Pokemon Ieru Kana? BW
Mouse: Hamtaro Tottokou Uta
Toaster: Anpanman Taisou
Baby Don: Tonari no Totoro
Princess: La La La Sweet Precure
Ninja: Yuuki 100%
Pirate: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Strawberry: Monologue
Shower Cap: We Are!
Meat Bun: Guts Guts!!
Ambulance: Tougenkyou Alien
Shortcake: Lovers
Grade School Don: Yume o Kanae te Doraemon
Kindergarten Don: Odoru Ponpokorin

Variety

Chibi Don: Maru Maru Mori Mori
Miku: World is Mine
Classic Composer: Shounetsu Tairiku
Puffer fish: MISTER
Syringe: Usavich Medley ~Taiko no Jikan~
Kappa: Oklahoma Mixer
Fried Prawn: Russian Folk Medley
Santa Claus: Jingle Bells 765 Version

Classic

Gentleman: Rhapsody in Blue
Bee: Swan Lake ~still a duckling~
Dice: William Tell Overture
Eagle: Underneath the Double-Headed Eagle
Frog: Stars and Stripes Forever
Fire Truck: Concerto No.3 in F Major
T-Rex: Pomp and Circumstance
Green Tank: Etude Op.10-4
Yam: Jupiter
Skeleton: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Tuna: Turkish March
Cow: Funiculi Funicula

Game Music

Pencil: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Steam Train: Ridge Racer
Heavy Metal: Venomous
Tonosama: KAGEKIYO
Knight: Tales of the Abyss
Felyne: Monster Hunter Medley
King: Mujihi na Ou
Idolm@ster: SMOKY THRILL
Don Coaster: GO MY WAY!!
Yokozuna: Kinniku no You na Bokura

Namco Original

Silver Drum & Golden Drum: Momoiro Taiko Paradise (silver for Normal Clear, gold for FC)
Stag Beetle: Danba Danba Din Dan
Hamburger: Allnight de Indenai
Cat: Wanya World
Castle: Ego Ego Atakushi
Ice Armor: Tsukikage SASURAI
Fire Armor: Fuun! Bachi o Sensei
Hearts: Taiko Love!
Demon Wings: Dadakko Monster
Drill: dance storm
Lightning God: Lightning Passion
6-handed Drum: Blue Rose Ruin
Dog: Scroll Mika
Dragon: Garyoutensei
Kabuki: Kurofune Raikou
Ladybug: Hyakka Ryouran
Red Cow: Hyakki Yakou
Sheep: Hello! Don-chan
Castella (Japanese sponge cake): Go Go Kitchen
Mt. Fuji: My mine
Soda Can: Yuugao no Kimi
Ribbon with Jewel: Mulberry
Angel: Angel Dream
Tiger: Itoshi no Miru-sama
White Tiger: Heisei Taiko Kaidou ~Bachi no Onna~
Black Drum: Nijiiro Yumeiro Taikoiro
Kotatsu: Kikyoku ~Seasons of Asia~
Panda: Kaze no Naka ni Su o Kufu Kotori
Punk: DON'T CUT
Thief: Numujika ac.10
Carnival: The Carnivorous Carnival
Astronaut: Taiko Time
Festival Boss: Densetsu no Matsuri
Silver Wings and Gold Wings: Hikari no Kanata e (silver for Normal Clear, gold for FC)
Prince (Katamari Damacy): Rotter Tarmination
Snake: Ryougen no Mai
Lobster: Senpuu no Mai
Treasure Chest: Tenyou no Mai
Boar: Yozakura Shanikusai
Death Metal: Mekadesu.
Gangster: Saitama 2000
Gang Leader: Haya Saitama 2000 
Gothic Dress: Koibumi 2000
Koi flag: Kita Saitama 2000
Train: EkiBEN 2000
Elephant: Hataraku 2000
Mappy: Mata Saitama 2000
Silver Shachihoko and Gold Shachihoko: Shimedore 2000 (silver for Normal Clear, gold for FC)
Desert Tank: Joubutsu 2000

Clear 100 different songs and you get a congratulations message.

Taiko Sounds
-----------------------
Wada-Don
-Get Taiko hit counter to 7777
Baby Don-chan
-Get Taiko hit counter to 12500
Tales (of the Abyss)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 22500
Heavy Metal Don
-Get Taiko hit counter to 32500
Gangster Don
-Get Taiko hit counter to 42500
Armor Don
-Get Taiko hit counter to 52500
Yokozuna Don
-Get Taiko hit counter to 65000
Princess Don
-Get Taiko hit counter to 75000
T-Rex Don
-Get Taiko hit counter to 80000
-----------------------
Fire Taiko
-Get 100 crowns
Oiroke (sexual love)
-Get 200 crowns
-----------------------
Wind Taiko
-Play one song in each genre
Lightning Taiko
-Play ten songs in each genre
-----------------------
Gorgeous Taiko
-Play J-Pop 10 times
Fuuga
-Play J-Pop 20 times
Footsteps
-Play Anime 10 times
Mirai
-Play Anime 20 times
Super Fart
-Play Variety 10 times
Kodama
-Play Variety 20 times
Shuriken
-Play Classic 10 times
Knife
-Play Classic 20 times
8-bit Taiko
-Play Game Music 10 times
Pac-Man
-Play Game Music 20 times
Cannon
-Play Namco Originals 10 times
Arashi
-Play Namco Originals 20 times

Songs
---------------------------------
Dadakko Monster (駄々っ子モンスター)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 1000
Taiko Love! (太鼓ラブ！)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 1500
Russian Folk Medley (ロシア民謡メドレー)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 2000
Taiko Time (タイコタイム)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 2500
All Night de Indenai (オールナイト de インデナイ)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 3000
Jupiter (木星)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 3500
DON'T CUT
-Get Taiko hit counter to 4000
Stars and Stripes Forever (星条旗よ永遠なれ)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 4500
Go Go Kicchin (ゴーゴー・キッチン)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 5000
Funiculi Funicula (フニクリ・フニクラ)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 6000
Ego Ego Atakushi (エゴエゴアタクシ)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 7000
Underneath the Double-Headed Eagle (双頭の鷲の下に)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 8000
Hikari no Kanata e (ヒカリノカナタヘ)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 9000
dance storm
-Get Taiko hit counter to 10000
Le Tombeau de Couperin (クープランの墓)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 15000
Itoshi no Miru-sama (いとしのミルさま)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 20000
Concerto No.3 in F Major (ヘ調の協奏曲　第3楽章)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 25000
Lightning Passion (らいとにんぐ ぱっしょん)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 30000
Rotter Tarmination
-Get Taiko hit counter to 35000
Mulberry
-Get Taiko hit counter to 40000
Kikyoku ~Seasons of Asia~ (季曲 ～Seasons of Asia～)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 45000
Densetsu no Matsuri (伝説の祭り)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 50000
Kaze no Naka ni Su o Kufu Kotori (風のなかに巣をくふ小鳥)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 55000
Yuugao no Kimi (ユウガオノキミ)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 60000
My mine
-Get Taiko hit counter to 70000
Numujika ac.10 (ヌムジカ ac.10)
Mekadesu. (メカデス。)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 76500
Fuun! Bachi o Sensei (風雲！バチお先生)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 80000
Yozakura Shanikusai (夜桜謝肉祭)
Kita Saitama 2000 (きたさいたま2000)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 87600
Tenyou no Mai (天妖ノ舞)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 90000
Mata Saitama 2000 (またさいたま2000)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 95000
Swan Lake (白鳥の湖)
Etude Op.10-4 (練習曲Op.10-4)
Ridge Racer
KAGEKIYO
Angel Dream (エンジェル　ドリーム)
DON'T CUT
Fuun! Bachi o Sensei (風雲！バチお先生)
dance storm
Lightning Passion (らいとにんぐ ぱっしょん)
Taiko Time (タイコタイム)
Hikari no Kanata e (ヒカリノカナタヘ)
Yozakura Shanikusai (夜桜謝肉祭) 
Rotter Tarmination   
Kikyoku ~Seasons of Asia~ (季曲 ～Seasons of Asia～)
Senpuu no Mai (旋風ノ舞)
Kita Saitama 200 (きたさいたま200)
-Get Taiko hit counter to 99999
-------
Garyoutensei (画竜点睛)
-Play 30 times in Play mode
Kurofune Raikou (黒船来航)
-Play 40 times in Play mode
Hyakki Yakou (百鬼夜行)
-Play 50 times in Play mode
Ryougen no Mai (燎原ノ舞)
-Play 60 times in Play mode
Koibumi 2000 (恋文2000)
-Play 70 times in Play mode
EkiBEN 2000
-Play 80 times in Play mode
Hataraku 2000 (はたラク2000)
-Play 90 times in Play mode
Haya Saitama 2000 (はやさいたま2000)
-Play 100 times in Play mode
Momoiro ♪ Taiko Paradise (ももいろ♪太鼓パラダイス) / Staff Credits
-Play 150 times in Play mode
Joubutsu 2000 (万戈イム一一ノ十)
-Play 200 times in Play mode
Blue Rose Ruin
-Play 250 times in Play mode
Shimedore 2000 (〆ドレー2000)
-Play 300 times in Play mode

Back to Taiko Wii 4 song list

Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Ketteiban update post

Glaroid Room begins the Wii 4 updates two days before release! We'll be covering this all the way past release day where hopefully we can get some good footage of new songs and such. Spoiler alert!

40 updates. Taiko 0's update post is right below and still running in case we get anything more!

Brand new songpacks for Taiko iPhone!

Some of our readers might remember the announcement of new song packs, at the past Tokyo Game Show. Now the voice is a confirmed reality, with the release of 2 new songpacks!

Song of the Week! 19 November 2011

Let's fly away from New Taiko's overwhelming new entries for a while, in order to focus on this Saturday's picks! This week's choices are from the Game Music genre and from the same videogame series.

Namco Taiko Blog (17 November 2011) - Taiko 10th anniversary 9th big news!

Hint: Look two posts down. No seriously, everything Namco wants to say about the 9th big news is already there.

New Taiko difficulty cuts and other stuff

You might (or might not) have noticed the changes to the difficulty stars in the songlist for the new Taiko arcade, but it's happening. And to a lot of significant songs. Here's what's changed so far (some of these are still unconfirmed, but once we hit the 16th and beyond most of the stuff will be changed)

All ratings quoted in Oni difficulty! There might be unnoticed changes in the other three, but these will be covered in the songlist as the arcade comes out and people get to play it.

More Taiko x AKB48

You thought the recent surge of AKB48 songs on J-Pop, the 10th anniversary collab song (Kaze o Fuiteiru) and the TV advert for Taiko Wii 4 were it? Nope, Taiko's love affair with the band hasn't ended yet!

From November 16 onwards, buy any one of the 4 products shown above (Taiko Wii 4, the Wii Tatacon, Taiko PSP DX or Taiko DS 3), and you get two things from Namco: a special autographed poster of AKB48's girls (size B2) and a card with a serial code on it that lets you view the making of the Taiko Wii 4 advert (of all things). Good if you're an AKB48 fan.

No info on how you're supposed to use the serial code to see the video and where, but maybe that's for a later date.

Song of the Week! 12 November 2011

Time for another Namco Original week! This is probably one of our most requested songs that doesn't have a Ura mode so, enjoy!

New Taiko no Tatsujin update post

ARE YOU READY? Release date is now upon us, and this post will contain video links and semi-live updates whenever we get them!

80 updates.

Taiko Team Second UStream: New Taiko Details

Hi guys, Zekira G. Drake here. Gonna cover details from the recent stream.

Namco Taiko Blog (10 November 2011) - Introducing the Donder Hiroba

Link to Banapassport website. (updating data in here will prevent data loss in the case that a player loses his or her Banapassport)
Link to Donder Plaza website.

After yesterday's UStream session, the Taiko Team opened a specialized website for Banapassport users to make full use of the features in the new arcade. The Donder Hiroba (ドンだーひろば, "Donder Plaza" in English) acts like a headquarter for all the unique Banapassport features.

First Red Rose Evangel video

Courtesy of yesterday's UStream. If you haven't watched the UStream yet, we'll be preparing an update post on everything that went on there, but for now, enjoy the 3rd Rose song! And of course, see the new Taiko HD interface in motion!

Red Rose is 9* on Oni with 765 notes (hard to count from the video though)

EDIT: From the video it looks like that new scoring system is in action too. As mentioned before in a few other posts, points are now awarded Shinta Mode-style and are no longer based on long chains. But you still get a bonus of 10,000 points for every 100 combo you achieve.
-Drumrolls are now only worth 100 points per hit instead of 300
-Balloon notes are still 300 points per hit and the 5000 point bonus for breaking it remains

Taiko PSP DX's IDs, take 4

Other secrets are hidden behind the 6-digit IDs of PSP's downloadable songs! This time, it looks like we have the return of a Namco Original hit and the console debut of its counterside: indeed, psplsb and lsbspd are the IDs of Kita Saitama 2000 and his "minor brother" Kita Saitama 200! Will they be featured in time for Christmas?

First video of READY!!

The Idolm@ster girls' jump to the Anime genre comes with the OP of their anime show, and have the same old voices and rhythm one would expect from any IdolM@ster song. 6* on Oni.

First video of Meena no Oyashiki

9 stars for the new Halloween-themed Namco Original! Although not known yet, it sounds a little like that SORA-IV vocalist Kaori Aihara. Meena no Oyashiki features some pesky threats inherited from Hello! Halloween. Get ready to be scared... again!

Taiko Wii 4 TV commercial

Videogame commercial, or made just so 5 out of the bajillion members of AKB48 get to show their faces? You decide.

Song used is Kaze o Fuiteiru.

Song of the Week! 5 November 2011

Back to the Classic genre! Last year, crystalsuicune pointed out this song as the nastiest tune in Taiko... Do you already recognize it?

Waruru-sama no Uta o Kike! lyrics

Artist: Takashi Nagasako (長嶝高士)

Namco Taiko Blog (4 November 2011) - New Taiko songs!

Namco promised an update, and now we're getting it! Feeling lucky today?

Namco Taiko Blog 2 (2 November 2011) - Music contest + announcement

Nope, the CreoFUGA collab competition isn't one of the last two big 10th anniversary surprises after all. Since it's already covered yesterday I'm not going to repeat myself, just read up on this post for all the competition details. You can participate if you're from Japan!

What's more intriguing is the next announcement....Taiko Team's 2nd UStream is going live on November 9th, from 8 to 9pm Japan time! The contents? A special gameplay preview of New Taiko before it's shipped to Japanese arcade nationwide the week after. Nice~

Oh, and today's Wednesday isn't it? Why did they update today instead of their usual Thursday slot? Apparently tomorrow is a public holiday for Japan so everything was pushed forward....except one surprised which was pushed back. There will be a 3rd official blog entry this week, and it will be published on Friday. It will be about the new songs for the new Taiko arcade!

Fingers crossed, we're going to hear of a lot of exciting stuff very soon.

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