Namco Taiko Blog (31 May 2012)- 2nd Taiko 0 online contest

Ready for the 2nd Taiko no Tatsujin 0 score attack contest? If you live in Japan, you'd better be, because this time the song used for the contest is a lot tougher than last time!

Taiko 3DS: new rumor avalanche!

A fresh new rumor for Taiko 3DS' songlist has appeared on Wikihouse last week, out of nowhere, right after the story mode update by Namco themselves. So sudden, that in fact we've been putting this off for so long because we were questioning its authenticity! We've been through this last year with Taiko 0, so take the rumored songs with a pinch of salt.

Hatsune Miku no Shoushitsu -Gekijouban- lyrics

Artist: cosMo (Bousou-P) feat. Hatsune Miku

Kaiya1022's Taikojiro Channel

I don't know if I'm going to make this a weekly feature or not, but it depends on how many people want to feature their works, so here's one more! You may not have heard this name before, but you may have heard his other names, most notably as Packer Woo, one of the most prominent Taiko players in Malaysia. He reads the blog, though you won't see him in many comments around here.

His focus is on the ever popular Bemani x Taiko collab. He has quite a few other works, and provides download links for whoever wants them!







You can check out his Youtube channel here.

Song of the Week! 26 May 2012

Since this blog has reached the 765th post this week, it's time to celebrate it with a Nam-combo song! Once again, it's a niche song exclusive to console games. And also another song not related to it.

Nanairo Harmony lyrics

Composer: Oogami Masako (大上昌子)
Vocals: Asami Imai (今井麻美)

Namco Taiko Blog (24 May 2012)- Taiko no Tatsujin 3DS story mode

Before we get started on today's updaThis is our 765th blog entry posted! Thank you all for the support!!...ahem.Today's entry on the Taiko Team blog is about the story mode in Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb, which we've seen bits and pieces of in the past month.

Taiko no Tatsujin 3DS first official trailer

Finally, some good footage! This is the first trailer for Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb, showcasing all the things we've already seen in the past month, from the songlist to some story mode details, and introduction to the guest characters, and all the while the yet-unnamed Taiko 3DS theme songplays in the background. It's quite a powerful song, and unlike all four Wii Taiko themes, this one is definitely not Narahashi Miki's doing (Don-chan's voice actor), so it's rather refreshing to listen to, akin to PSP DX's theme.

The 'seven orbs' theme is again as basic as it gets, with each one representing some different element and the world which your adventure takes place also has the same old themes, forest, ocean, beach, you know, that kind of stuff. More emphasis is being placed on the styluses that are being given out, and also for the first time 3D effects are being mentioned. Well, as the obligatory warning message at the beginning of every 3DS trailer, but still. Wonder what 3D looks like in the actual game?

Along the course of the story mode, it's not just songs/costumes you're collecting, there are other treasures you are able to collect, like the silver bachi shown below. No idea what they're for yet.

Also in the story mode component we get to see one new world, the one after the forest world in all the early screenshots. I'm not going to show everything though, it's best to watch the trailer for yourself!

Of course, the most important information we need from any trailer like this is mention of new songs, and there are three of them in here (Namco's being quite leaky with Taiko 3DS songs. Usually they're very good at covering this info up)

Shown below is O Sole Mio, a recurring Classic genre song last seen on Taiko Wii 1. It's partially covered up, but it's pretty obvious what the hidden letters are.

And then the clown dude's theme song, Maou no Showtime (Maou is his name by the way). Again partially covered up, but if you can read romaji, once more it's easy to put two and two together. That and based on his personality of wanting to be glamorous (seen in dialogue in early shots). Most likely to be an unlockable Namco Original.

The third song is so inconspicuous you'd swear they put it there by accident (click to fullview the shot, the song name is on the bottom right of the top screen). It's on the part where they advertise 3DS download play, 1 cartridge for 4 systems at once (whether this feature is region-locked is not known yet. Hey, Street Pass is region free, why can't this?). The song is 'Wonder Land', another anime song, this time from Gintama.

Everything runs smoothly and authentic to Taiko 0's interface, with the only thing not animated fluidly being Don-chan's sprite. Wonder why though? They could have easily done this as well as on the arcade given 3DS' increased power.

Anyway, enjoy the trailer! Songlists will be updated as soon as possible with the new info.

Yusri Khairi's Taikojiro Channel

Remember that discussion we had about crossovers? Yusri Khairi, one of our readers, has done quite a few of them on his Youtube channel. Most of his custom charts are modified versions of existing songs on Taiko, like Blue Bird, Sousei no Aquarion and Kagyukiyo, but he also has a few from other places. One song from Touhou and two from Nintendo games, both of which I mentioned last week too, coincidentally.

If any of you have other Taikojiro videos to share, drop us a message or post on our Facebook group and we might just put it up here!







You can see Yusri's channel here.

Song of the Week! 19 May 2012

It's time for another Ura! Today is another old Namco original revived in the 3rd Taiko PSP game.

Taiko PSP DX's IDs, take 10

 
 

Sorry for being late this time! May's PSP downloadable songs hide the names of two future tracks, and one of these has an Ura mode! It's Fuun! Bachi o Sensei (ID: nao/exnao), being the first long-version song to reach a Sony videogame. The latter is Tsubomi (ID: 2bomi), an old J-Pop coming from Taiko 11.

Namco Taiko Blog (17 May 2012)- Crane City

Today's blog entry discusses the production of the fourth Mika series song, Crane City, in conjunction with its release as a downloadable song in Taiko PSP DX this month. And very very late it is; the previous blog on any Mika song was all the way back in 2009, and that was about Diet Padarise. So the Mika songs after Crane City have yet to be written about even now (Menkui Miracle, Canadea).

Mika Sato herself was absent in the interview, this time only the sound composer Masubuchi Yuuji and lyricist Sankaku were present.

Tired of using drums and bass guitar for songs, which according to Masubuchi-san would make for a very simple chart in the game, he decided to add some new instruments to it, apparently some of his favorite ones used in the 70s which make jingly, crackly noises (like the glockenspiel, which looks like a metal xylophone) and created beat signature changes throughout the song. The codename for Crane City in production was 'Neko Kujira 2', though the final product never used a swing rhythm.

As for the lyrics, Sankaku mentioned it being about the UFO crane games in Japan, where you control a claw to try and snatch a toy from inside (usually a plush doll). It's much easier than it looks; the UFO crane games have been known to be extremely difficult to win, so much so that many people who actually caught something uploaded videos of their feat to Youtube, like the Don-chan plush one we saw some time ago. Though, how he came up with the idea remains a mystery.

Back to lyrics list

pikaby asks: Your Taiko dream collaboration?

Videogame publishers, celebrities, TV shows, anime series...Taiko no Tatsujin has no shortage of crossovers with other popular things in Japan, and with the most recent one being just last month when Music GunGun! songs were included in Taiko's songlist, the number of collabs is just set to grow even larger.

Though it probably isn't going to happen, I've always wanted to see Nintendo theme songs being playable in Taiko, complete with guest characters on the bottom of the screen and everything. Yeah I know we got the Mario songs, but there's just so much potential with Nintendo's rich history of game series and all their respective theme songs. Imagine a Kirby song medley, or the Champion battle theme from Pokemon, or the Smash Bros. theme song, being playable. Or rather probably I just want to see Kirby songs.

What about you? What's your dream collaboration? It doesn't have to be limited to videogame makers, it can be anything. Also obviously I know several of you want a Namco-Konami collaboration (and this has been almost blatantly hinted at for the past few years) so name something else, perhaps?

Random: Mario and Luigi playing Taiko

Two Japanese players dressed up as Mario and Luigi and playing Taiko no Tatsujin. Now if only New Super Mario Bros Wii was on Taiko 0's songlist!

Found by Yusri Khairi on chat.

Marble Heart lyrics

Vocals, lyricist, composer: Sariya-jin (JBG Music Academy)
Composer: K-Masera (JBG Sound)

Song of the Week! 12 May 2012

Last week we showcased a J-Pop song which got very few chances at being in a Taiko game. This week's song is also a rare one, but this time it's a Namco Original.

Aruite Ikou and Kurukuru Kurokkuru first videos

Yeah I know, a bit late with these because of the huge news surge yesterday. If you haven't already seen them, these two are the newcomer songs in Taiko PSP DX's download pack for this month. First off, the new J-Pop, Aruite Ikou.



...the world of the low-tier Oni is a vastly different place now. This is rated as a 3*, but it features clusters you would not normally see in anything below 5*. And just look at the score! 900,000 for a song with only 277 notes?!

And then, HD of Kurukuru Kurokkuru, the new Namco Original. As mentioned in the earlier post, it's at 8* Oni.



The song is mechanical-sounding with very faint robotic vocals behind it, and although it may seem familiar (sounds like either the vocalist from mint tears or Sweet Lay), nothing is known about the artist yet. 615 notes, with one of the most annoying and confusing rhythm changes ever seen in a chart of this difficulty, shifting between 1/3 and 1/4 at will.

Taiko no Tatsujin 3DS second round of screens and songs

Found on this month's Famitsu, this set fleshes out the story mode and the events that take place in it, plus the guest star songs that will be in the game! Let's take a look.

Oh right, here are the styluses that will be packed-in with every copy. They look awfully similar to the current DS styluses, only with plastic Don and Kat on top instead of stickers (click to enlarge)







Something is calling out for help in the bathroom and Don/Kat are sucked into a portal into another world. Deja vu? It's every other handheld Taiko story mode all over again!




The dragon's name is Raruko, a guardian of the princess of whatever world this is. The clown dude appears to be the main villain, and has stolen the princess' voice for himself. And you're supposed to go save her. Basic story is basic then.




We've seen the world map before, and unlike DS3 it doesn't seem to be the type of layout for random enemy encounters. Instead there are (announced so far) two types of games you play in story mode aside from the boss battles; regular enemy battles and song challenges, which are exactly what DS2 has done before, only in a slightly different format.

Guts Guts!! from Toriko is confirmed in the second shot and Kimi ni, Romantic in the fourth shot. For the uninitiated, this song is a very old Namco Original from the second PS2 Taiko game.




Along the story you get the titular mysterious orbs, which are round, colored balls of energy that transform Raruko and give him special powers. But I'm sure a lot of you will be able to beat story mode without his assistance anyway, unless the game decides to really step it up.

And now, the guest character songs!

Kyun! Vampire Girl is the new IdolM@ster song.

Monster Hunter Medley again, for the fourth console Taiko in a row! This is a completely different medley though; it's from the 3DS version Monster Hunter Tri G. The guest characters are also different, complete with a raging Bracchidios.

Hatsune Miku no Shoushitsu -Gekijouban- comes in too, to the horror of touchscreens everywhere and to the joy of players who don't have access to Taiko PSP DX or its downloadable songs.

Miku doesn't stop there though, she has a brand new song in 3DS, Tell Your World, another well-known Vocaloid song used in the Japanese ad for Google Chrome.

And recycling Yume o Kanaete Doraemon for the billionth time is pretty much obligatory at this point.

Alright, the songlists will be updated soon and all, so enjoy!

Namco Taiko Blog (10 May 2012)- Taiko PSP DX May download pack

Well, it really can't be elaborated further than the post we made yesterday, except for if you want to listen to the sample of Kurukuru Kurokkuru on the site. Wikihouse puts it at 3/4/6/8 difficulty from Kantan to Oni. Also, Tomare!, the anime song has been downed from 9* to 8* on Oni.

Remember, the download pack is out today!

Link to original post

Taiko PSP DX May 2012 download pack

Found from the official site by crystalsuicune. Hang on, wasn't Namco supposed to tell us this tomorrow on the blog?

Six songs as usual, two J-Pop, two Anime, and two Namco Original. We all know the classic TRAIN-TRAIN, and Aruite Ikou is another new Ikimono Gakari song. Oshiri Kajiri Mushi is from the TV show Minna no Uta and this is its first console appearance since DS2 (really easy song), while Tomare! should excite the more hardcore anime fans. It's not Hare Hare Yukai, but it's still good.

And on the Namco Original side, Crane City is being given for free (we last saw this song being hinted at on the .EDAT files from last month's downloadables) and a new song, Kurukuru Kurokkuru, whatever that is. Lot of weird and wonderful new names they're coming up with.

Available for download starting tomorrow, on the 10th of May.

Total Eclipse 2035 lyrics

Composer: Mitsuhiro Kaneda (金田充弘)
Lyrics: M.Sekiya
Vocals: Kaori Aihara (愛原圭織)

Tanhou ~Blooming~ Ura fanmade chart

It's been a while since we've featured a fanmade chart on the blog huh? And half of me wants to make the title correction for this song reach as many people as possible, so here's a fanmade Tanhou Ura chart! Yep, 'tanhou', not 'tanpou'. Though both pronunciations are still acceptable, Wikihouse went with the first one which I just found out today.

This 9* custom chart puts the high BPM of Tanhou to good use by filling it up with clusters and stuff, and apparently there are forked paths in this though all we're seeing here is the Master route.

Song of the Week! 5 May 2012

You wanted to see it, so we deliver! The uplifting J-Pop song loved by many, and played by many over a wide array of rhythm game series.

A soundtrack CD for Ayane

Coming out this year on June 20th, the singer Ayane (彩音) will release a CD soundtrack with some of her most recent collaborations, called 'cry out'. But why an annoucement like this in a Taiko website?

pikaby asks: Taiko 10th anniversary

So. Taiko 10th. All done and done, right? It's been a long and exciting journey, let's recap everything and talk about it!

MEKADON ~Uchuu ni Kieta Meka Taiko~ lyrics

Artist: Refer to Song of the Week page for list