But anyway, with so much awesome behind us, let's review what we've all been through these past 365 days of Taiko!
January 2011
January was a month of maintenance for everyone, and without any groundbreaking announcements, it was really kind of quiet. We were rushing out to finish the song unlocking guides for the console Taiko games, and on Namco's end, business as usual with Taiko 14 and Portable 2. Well, unless you count the download pack for Portable 2 being the very final one to release. Taiko Wii 3 and DS: Dororon! Youkai Daisakusen were in the top ten software sellers for their respective consoles as well. As for the 10th Anniversary? The rumblings have just begun, and are getting louder every passing day.
We published the 1STPAI article this month too :3
February 2011
Namco starts their 10th Anniversary campaign beginning this month! (the first arcade was released on February 2001). Nothing announced at this point yet, their celebrations in the shortest month of the year is taken up by a survey to ask fans which Namco Original song they'd like to see a sequel for (you know what this is already~). No one would expect the truckload of special gifts they would have in store very soon....
We also finished almost the rest of the PS2 song unlock guides this month, with Nanadaime done in March, and added some art assets.
March 2011
Shit happens. Who would have ever expected it? The giant tsunami that swamped Japan this month delayed literally everything, IRL and cyberspace alike. Many games were delayed or outright cancelled and celebrations were put off for a later date, which included the 10th Anniversary throwdown Namco had planned, to show respect for the victims of the disaster. However, that didn't stop the final two codes for Taiko 14 to be released, the latter being so close to April 1 you'd swear it was a prank. Except it wasn't; Shimedore 2000 is 100% legit stuff. Work on the blog continued as normal, albeit slower than usual. Maybe we could have worked a little bit more during the slow period but whatever.
Oh yeah, the results of that Namco Original poll last month? Angel Dream, of course, unless you already forgot Pastel Dream existed.
April 2011
And with the wrath of the oceans behind us, let the carnage begin! The announcement of Taiko Portable DX is the first in a long line of 10 big reveals Namco has planned for their 10th anniversary.....and the first in a long line to be leaked before Namco has anything to say about it. Guess they'll need better spoiler control if they decide to do something like this in the future huh? Lurking behind the obvious announcement of the month is the new song pack for Taiko iPhone which includes lots of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Also, another fan survey, this time asking for your most memorable songs. And what are they going to do with this info? Namco planned further ahead than we thought, because Portable DX isn't the only Taiko game to be released this year.
May 2011
Another quiet month, with the main attractions being teasers into Portable DX's substantial fanservice, which includes spasm-inducing announcements like White Rose Insanity, monthly download packs and other promotional stuff, like the Ponta&Lawson collaboration (more than underwhelming when it was revealed as the 2nd big news....really Namco, you could have done a lot better than this. I guess advertising money has to come from somewhere.)
June 2011
Lots of stuff happening, and it only gets crazier from here. And thus begin my sleepless nights just getting excited over Taiko...lol. Why? Because the freaking motherload of Namco Originals to be on Portable DX were all leaked, and what's more, the arcade scene which has quieted down since March is starting to show signs of activity again, with five songs showing up for Taiko 14 and are to be used in an upcoming Taiko arcade tournament (from July to September), and only this blurry image showing the five songs. I didn't believe it really said Mata Saitama 2000 in the orange text at first, it seemed so simple but....yeah, it was indeed what it said there.
July 2011
World Hobby Fair excitement aside, this was the month for the release of the 10th Anniversary's flagship console Taiko game, Taiko Portable DX. And it was good. So good that
Oh yeah the high-definition, new age Taiko 0 was also leaked here to much confusion; why the hell did they have to call it 'Taiko no Tatsujin' all over again? You know how long all the fansites stuck to temporary names for the thing?
August 2011
Slight break in epic news from Namco, which was great timing because this month our blog takes the spotlight! Heheh...August is our anniversary month, and the awesome new table format for the songlists you see here were created as the renewal for the first year. Not to mention the little quiz we put together too...that was fun right? We should do it again next year! Or something. Maybe a different activity. I'm not worrying over that yet; we still have 8 months to brainstorm for ideas after all.
September 2011
And once again, epileptic fits return to Taiko. Just two months after PSP DX was released Namco goes and announces ANOTHER console Taiko game, this time for Wii! It's not every year we get two console Taikos in one year (the last time was in 2007 with Taiko DS2 in April and Taiko Wii 1 in December), but it seems appropriate given this is the 10th anniversary and all. Oh, and remember that memorable song thing Namco had back in April? It's being put to good use, songs from that poll will be making their way to both Wii4 and the new arcade. Which was also revealed this month to less fanfare because everyone already knew the details two months ago.
Tokyo Game Show was also this month with both Wii4 and Taiko 0 taking the spotlight, ending with a great YMCK dance. As for our site, well, the forums were open for business starting this month.
October 2011
Again another quiet(er) month with lots of delicious news about Taiko 0 that we've heard before but should have been super exciting (gah, why did they ever show us that stupid brochure?). Again, most of the posts here are maintenance updates and the month ended with a giant uproar over a rumor sheet of Taiko 0's unlockable songs, which turned out to be pure bovine excrement from the songs involved to the method of unlock. Proof that not all Taiko rumors are trustworthy.
November 2011
Best month in Taiko history, no seriously, this is way too much Taiko to be taking in one month. The release dates of Taiko 0 and Taiko Wii 4 are just one week apart, making for some really epic late-night shuffling between blogs and forums and Youtube looking for updates on secret songs and footage. To add to the mess, the Donderful soundtrack was announced for December, the second UStream session was organized (the first was in August, forgot to mention that lol), a music composing contest by CreoFUGA was announced, Taiko's collaboration with AKB48 was announced (okay maybe that's not so significant but it involves free swag for every copy of Taiko Wii 4 so yeah).....you can't ever get a break in a jam-packed month like this!
December 2011
And finally, the year ends with nothing left of note to announce from Namco's end, allowing all the stuffing from November some time to sink in, and us to keep scavenging for the remaining Taiko 0 videos that haven't been recorded (and we're still missing a few even now). The soundtrack was released, with the other one remaining completely unknown, but that's a story for next year eh?
And next year it is then. Happy 2012 to all readers and let's all remain fans of Taiko!
