We had an official blog entry feature today, but now let's recover some unfinished business! After nigelliusnitrox's generous sum-up of the previous stream session, it's time to have another look at last Friday's Taiko Team livestream, complete with visuals and some extra bits.
My apologies in advance for the quality of some of the screenshots; due to the sparking color of the wall behind, some of the images got really bright, at the point to make hard to read things!
For starters, the very first things being discusses are some of the new incoming features to Kimidori arcades, such as September's Don Challenge/monthly rewards.
Right after that bit, here are the next songs planned for next week's incoming arcade software update! As mentioned before, the four songs are Kishidan's Kenka Joutou, FUTURE FISH from the latest season of the Anime Free!, the old-time favourite Vocaloid song World's End Dance Hall starring Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka for the first time on Taiko (even if said Vocaloid always appeared as custom dancer for all the previous Miku songs!) and Mugen no Sora, Silver Forest's latest Namco Original. The first half of the song has been played for the livestream reveal, and with the other half posted by Silver Forest as a tweet for the Taiko Team a few weeks ago (link), now we almost know how the final song will sound like!
Next off, the Funassyi x Taiko collaboration sneaks into another stream, featuring both old and new parts of the collaboration.
First for the old stuff, collaboration songs Funa Funa Funassyi/Boogie Boogie Funassyi and the promo outfit are being displayed once more. Hya-haa!
What's new this time is a special lottery for Kimidori arcade players, lasting from September 9th to October 28th. Banapassport players will be automatically counted for the lottery by playing Funassyi songs during the promotional period.
And here are the prizes! Twenty Don-Chan/Funassyi illusion dolls, 100 Funassyi hand-puppets and 500 keychains awaits the luckiest of the donders.
After a brief commercial for this collaboration, this livestream's comment challenge table has been fully revealed, unveiling the two previously-hidden points (Etou wearing the Tatsu-Don shirt for Taiko RPG Da-Don and drop rate increases for the rarest title parts in the Rewards Shop Gachas). Needless to say, all of the comments goals below have been reached during the stream!
The Comment Challenge goals are quickly followed by our first special guest for the stream: Ryuichi 'Professor' Sakamoto!
Of course, an interview from the Taiko Team is in order, but Professor Sakamoto has also other plans for this stream...
That's right- a live performance! With his laptop and trusty keyboard, the black-coated composer played some bits of music for all the streamers to enjoy. He started off with his new GUMI song Bokura no Sekai ni Dance wo, set to appear in Taiko games soon. Then he jumped back with three chiptune-styled pieces from Namco games, including a partial, 8-bit version of Namco Original Sacred Ruin, an original medley with Mappy music and -as requested by the streamers with a poll- some fragments from the Tower of Druaga as well. A generous Youtube user has recorded the latter three tracks, so you can hear them with the thumbnails below!
Then we come to that special announcement about Prof. Sakamoto's works that was previously mentioned with one of the past Taiko Team blog entries: in the next arcade software update, there will be a special folder for his songs on Taiko Kimidori, starting with the aforementioned Gumi song he performed for the Taiko Team and the streamers!
As displayed below, this is basically a plug for the incoming release of Ryuichi Sakamoto's next album but nonetheless, this means more playable songs! However, try ignoring that blurred folder on the right side- we'll get to that one later.
With the announcement, Sakamoto leaves and another sound clip plays integrally... what could possibly be? Well, let's try to directly ask it to its creator: Tatsuya Shimizu!
Our second guest star of rhythm games fame popped in after said musical clip to tell what's all about. Turns out that will be his first original song on Taiko games under the bemani-familiar Tatsh alias! Problem is, he doesn't know how to name it. What better helpers than the spectator streamers?
After a short online poll, it has been decided that the song will be simply known as Xa, with over half of the viewers voting for said name. The correct pronunciation of the song has been voted as well, resulting into reading it as 'Ikusa', the japanese word for Battle (as Namco Original LOVE Ikusa also teaches!).
But enough typing, have a hearing of the song for yourself with the video below!
Back on the keyboard, it's my duty to tell you again that this wasn't the only Tatsh song being revealed on the stream!
What are you looking at is the title of the next 'no Ran' song, called Souryu no Ran (双竜ノ乱). According to Etou, this will be the first song on Taiko to feature a different gimmick for single-player modes, involving the players to hit both the drums of the arcade cabinet for certain notes... you read right!
However, no title has been decided yet. Hmm... Streamers, any ideas?
So it's decided: Sou-Uchi (双打) will be the name of this 2-drums gimmick! Around this time, the 'Free Title Part' comment goal has been reacked, and the streamers have decided to pick 'No Ran', in honor of the reveal of said series' second song reveal.
We also had a preview clip for Souryu no Ran, but the bit we got wasn't as generous as the reveal of Xa...
Moving on, after a 15-minute break we got another folder reveal. Remember that blurred one from before? Turned out it's actually a folder for Zeami/Tatsh songs!
As for Prof. Sakamoto, this is yet another plug for the imminent release of an album from the Tatsh Music Circle: Rebellion. Hopefully, something from this album will come to Taiko games as well!
With that, Tatsuya Shimizu left and Taiko Team member Sasaoka (ササオカ) comes in to join the fun!
Like for the previous stream, his coming is quickly followed by the news about the latest Taiko console game's DLC content, starting with the August pack we already knew before.
Surprise of all surprises, even next month's DLC pack has been announced! Coming out on September 25th, this one will bring another bonus Story chapter, called 'Fuuga and Mirai's Deserted Island Training', featuring a re-skinned view to the main story's third world and another slew of monsters from the previous DS/3DS Taiko games!
The sad news is that this pack follows the 'Popular Song' circle, meaning that the featured tunes are all old songs we already heard before. Well, at least this time we get to play songs from very ancient arcade/console games in there, too!
But that's not all! Do you see that small book near Sasaoka's paper name plate in one of the pictures above? That's actually a strategy guide for Taiko 3DS2's Story mode, a first for this franchise! Released in stores since August 8th (but never directly advertised from the Taiko Team before), this guide has a complete breakdown of the game's Story mode, with tips for better accuracy results in-game, team/outfit suggestions and even providing a comprehensive list of nearly all the not-DLC team members of the game, including also the ones from both and new QR codes, such as Tatsu-Don's brother: Tatsu-Katsu! Sadly, the book was shown so quickly that we didn't make it to snap anything. Sorry!
Next up is the much anticipated talk about Kimidori Version's Dojo Ranking and Taiko School features.
First on, the already-known mode. The Dojo Ranking will come back with 22 different trials, ranging from Kantan to Oni mode as usual. Each trial's song sets will follow a particular theme for either the difficulty range, the songs themselves or other specific criteria. Once again, a Dojo Ranking play will use the whole credit session of the player and it's also possible to skip ranks like on Taiko Momoiro. The mode will return between September and October, thanks to a future update.
For the first time ever, the Taiko Team decided to spoil some of the courses' featured songs and clear conditions required for a pass!
On to the Taiko School mode! This new addition can help players clearing Dojo Ranking courses with a few songs chosen for training on a subsequent play. This additional mode will consume the entire play, just like the Dojo Ranking.
After failing a course, Ms. Cat and Mr. Spoon pop in to invite the player to try their training for the failed course, or even the next one if the Dojo Ranking run ended with a success! Keep in mind that the Taiko School mode's course training for the player is always set to the last one being advised with a message like the one below, whether the course played for last is either passed or failed.
"Taiko School is updated with 5-dan problems!"
To keep track of the songs to practise with, the players' Donder Hiroba profile will feature a custom Taiko School feature in order to know in advance which songs will be featured for the training, the player's best performances with said songs and even some tips from Ms. Cat and Mr. Spoon to improve the drumming technique! The Taiko School is planned to launch alongside the Dojo Ranking mode's return.
What came next is the revival of one of the eldest features of the Taiko Team's blog: song lyric features for some of the most popular Taiko-original songs out there! Today's featured tunes were Kaneko Chiharu's G Ishiki Kajou and Sacred Ruin, featuring Kazuri Yura (葉月ゆら) as the singer, Kami-wa (祇羽) as the lyricist and Drop as the arranger.
And now, for something completely different... the results of the 4th Outfit Contest! This is the first outfit contest since the two-part costume system is available, so prepare to see more creativity!
Here are all the best entries of the latest arcade outfit contest, which will probably end up to appear in yet another special wallpaper. Enjoy!
Among all the entries, the streamers have voted for the winner. The theme is "Mother", and the title being "40-year-old demon"... Is this a (not very) subtle call to how mothers are scary disciplinarians? Well congratulations anyway, because a majority of streamers apparently concurs!
Last (and probably least), one of the four hosts has tried to pull out some rare monsters with Taiko RPG Da-Don, ultimately resulting into a rare one and three lesser drops. With two dupes on a row, no less!
And with the four hosts spazzing once more under the notes of Xa (and a last-minute return of Tatsuya Shimizu with perplexing reactions to the Taiko Team's dancing interpretations), the stream finally ends. Not too shabby, for a run mostly aimed to arcade features! It's also nice to hear from Etou himself that he's considering to make of these live stream sessions a monthly thing.
I hope you enjoyed yet another image-based footage, guys!
Then we come to that special announcement about Prof. Sakamoto's works that was previously mentioned with one of the past Taiko Team blog entries: in the next arcade software update, there will be a special folder for his songs on Taiko Kimidori, starting with the aforementioned Gumi song he performed for the Taiko Team and the streamers!
As displayed below, this is basically a plug for the incoming release of Ryuichi Sakamoto's next album but nonetheless, this means more playable songs! However, try ignoring that blurred folder on the right side- we'll get to that one later.
With the announcement, Sakamoto leaves and another sound clip plays integrally... what could possibly be? Well, let's try to directly ask it to its creator: Tatsuya Shimizu!
Our second guest star of rhythm games fame popped in after said musical clip to tell what's all about. Turns out that will be his first original song on Taiko games under the bemani-familiar Tatsh alias! Problem is, he doesn't know how to name it. What better helpers than the spectator streamers?
After a short online poll, it has been decided that the song will be simply known as Xa, with over half of the viewers voting for said name. The correct pronunciation of the song has been voted as well, resulting into reading it as 'Ikusa', the japanese word for Battle (as Namco Original LOVE Ikusa also teaches!).
But enough typing, have a hearing of the song for yourself with the video below!
Back on the keyboard, it's my duty to tell you again that this wasn't the only Tatsh song being revealed on the stream!
What are you looking at is the title of the next 'no Ran' song, called Souryu no Ran (双竜ノ乱). According to Etou, this will be the first song on Taiko to feature a different gimmick for single-player modes, involving the players to hit both the drums of the arcade cabinet for certain notes... you read right!
However, no title has been decided yet. Hmm... Streamers, any ideas?
So it's decided: Sou-Uchi (双打) will be the name of this 2-drums gimmick! Around this time, the 'Free Title Part' comment goal has been reacked, and the streamers have decided to pick 'No Ran', in honor of the reveal of said series' second song reveal.
We also had a preview clip for Souryu no Ran, but the bit we got wasn't as generous as the reveal of Xa...
Moving on, after a 15-minute break we got another folder reveal. Remember that blurred one from before? Turned out it's actually a folder for Zeami/Tatsh songs!
As for Prof. Sakamoto, this is yet another plug for the imminent release of an album from the Tatsh Music Circle: Rebellion. Hopefully, something from this album will come to Taiko games as well!
With that, Tatsuya Shimizu left and Taiko Team member Sasaoka (ササオカ) comes in to join the fun!
Like for the previous stream, his coming is quickly followed by the news about the latest Taiko console game's DLC content, starting with the August pack we already knew before.
Surprise of all surprises, even next month's DLC pack has been announced! Coming out on September 25th, this one will bring another bonus Story chapter, called 'Fuuga and Mirai's Deserted Island Training', featuring a re-skinned view to the main story's third world and another slew of monsters from the previous DS/3DS Taiko games!
The sad news is that this pack follows the 'Popular Song' circle, meaning that the featured tunes are all old songs we already heard before. Well, at least this time we get to play songs from very ancient arcade/console games in there, too!
But that's not all! Do you see that small book near Sasaoka's paper name plate in one of the pictures above? That's actually a strategy guide for Taiko 3DS2's Story mode, a first for this franchise! Released in stores since August 8th (but never directly advertised from the Taiko Team before), this guide has a complete breakdown of the game's Story mode, with tips for better accuracy results in-game, team/outfit suggestions and even providing a comprehensive list of nearly all the not-DLC team members of the game, including also the ones from both and new QR codes, such as Tatsu-Don's brother: Tatsu-Katsu! Sadly, the book was shown so quickly that we didn't make it to snap anything. Sorry!
Next up is the much anticipated talk about Kimidori Version's Dojo Ranking and Taiko School features.
First on, the already-known mode. The Dojo Ranking will come back with 22 different trials, ranging from Kantan to Oni mode as usual. Each trial's song sets will follow a particular theme for either the difficulty range, the songs themselves or other specific criteria. Once again, a Dojo Ranking play will use the whole credit session of the player and it's also possible to skip ranks like on Taiko Momoiro. The mode will return between September and October, thanks to a future update.
For the first time ever, the Taiko Team decided to spoil some of the courses' featured songs and clear conditions required for a pass!
On to the Taiko School mode! This new addition can help players clearing Dojo Ranking courses with a few songs chosen for training on a subsequent play. This additional mode will consume the entire play, just like the Dojo Ranking.
After failing a course, Ms. Cat and Mr. Spoon pop in to invite the player to try their training for the failed course, or even the next one if the Dojo Ranking run ended with a success! Keep in mind that the Taiko School mode's course training for the player is always set to the last one being advised with a message like the one below, whether the course played for last is either passed or failed.
"Taiko School is updated with 5-dan problems!"
To keep track of the songs to practise with, the players' Donder Hiroba profile will feature a custom Taiko School feature in order to know in advance which songs will be featured for the training, the player's best performances with said songs and even some tips from Ms. Cat and Mr. Spoon to improve the drumming technique! The Taiko School is planned to launch alongside the Dojo Ranking mode's return.
What came next is the revival of one of the eldest features of the Taiko Team's blog: song lyric features for some of the most popular Taiko-original songs out there! Today's featured tunes were Kaneko Chiharu's G Ishiki Kajou and Sacred Ruin, featuring Kazuri Yura (葉月ゆら) as the singer, Kami-wa (祇羽) as the lyricist and Drop as the arranger.
And now, for something completely different... the results of the 4th Outfit Contest! This is the first outfit contest since the two-part costume system is available, so prepare to see more creativity!
Here are all the best entries of the latest arcade outfit contest, which will probably end up to appear in yet another special wallpaper. Enjoy!
Among all the entries, the streamers have voted for the winner. The theme is "Mother", and the title being "40-year-old demon"... Is this a (not very) subtle call to how mothers are scary disciplinarians? Well congratulations anyway, because a majority of streamers apparently concurs!
Last (
And with the four hosts spazzing once more under the notes of Xa (and a last-minute return of Tatsuya Shimizu with perplexing reactions to the Taiko Team's dancing interpretations), the stream finally ends. Not too shabby, for a run mostly aimed to arcade features! It's also nice to hear from Etou himself that he's considering to make of these live stream sessions a monthly thing.
I hope you enjoyed yet another image-based footage, guys!
