Music! Action! Drama! Taiko! (30/10/14)

Our pre-Halloween coverage of yesterday's Taiko Team livestream is now on! Find out the lows and peaks of yesterday's event with this handy illustrated recap.

Taiko Plus - Introducing the Girls Pop Mania Pack

While the latest Taiko Plus download milestone event is going strong, a new song pack has just been released behind the scenes. However, it's not as spooky as this day may be suggesting...

Taiko Wii U 2's TV Commercial video

While today's stream is wrapping up, here's the first TV Commercial for the incoming Taiko game for Wii U. The reason of why we are posting this video is because it reveals yet another free downloadable launch song!

From the game's release until January 31st, 2015, Taiko Wii U Tokumori owners can download for free the song Do You Want to Build a Snowman (雪だるまつくろう), yet another tune from the popular Disney film Frozen. Remember to get it before it's gone!

Across Japan: Kimidori Asia says goodbye too

No no no, Taiko isn't getting withdrawn from Asia! This is referring to deletion of a few licensed songs, mirroring what will happen in Japan's Kimidori as well.

On November 1st 2014, Day by Day!, the new 8* floaty Namco Original introduced as October's Donchare song, will arrive as scheduled. And on November 5th, the great song deletion occurs. There are far less songs in Asia's list so the deletion is not as tragic either. The songs that will be cut are:

J-Pop
Kimagure Romantic (気まぐれロマンティック)
Niji (虹)
Sobakasu (そばかす)

Anime
Dragon Soul
Switch On!
Happy Happy (ハピハピ)
One day
Guts Guts!! (ガツガツ!!)
We Go! (ウィーゴー！)

Variety
Maru Maru Mori Mori! (マル・マル・モリ・モリ！)

So, exactly the same songs to be cut as in Japan, minus whatever was never in Asia's songlist to begin with.

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Namco Taiko Blog (30 October 2014) - November's Donchare of Racing Goths

Less than 4 hours from today's Taiko Team livestream, yet we still have a Thursday blog update! As expected, today's post is about the monthly arcade unlocks for Banapassport players.

First video of Garakuta Doll Play's 2-Player Ura Oni mode

If you thought that today's newly-released songs have no more aces on their sleeves, think again! Tenkaichi Otogesai song Garakuta Doll Play also got a custom 2-Player Ura Oni on Taiko, which is being featured on the video above this caption. Max Combo values are 526 for 1P and 516 for 2P.

Twitter Snippets (October 29 2014) - Everybody Comments! Oct 30 Livestream Comment Goals

そうそう、明日の生放送のみんなでチャレンジ＠ニコ生版！の献立を、本日最後に公開しちゃいます！今回の放送はアンケートシステム使いまくりの予定です！１０万コメント一気にいくかも！？みんなで楽しく盛り上がりましょう♪ pic.twitter.com/wNLxWrGWLB
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) October 29, 2014

And what is a Taiko Team livestream without a comment challenge? Here are the goals for tomorrow, and in addition to the usual icon/points/title part/wallpaper deals, the higher goals are a tad different.

76,500 comments: Talk Session on the Tatsudon T-shirt Design
Instead of having Etou going places with the inside joke-worthy Tatsudon T-shirt, we are just going to have him talk why this idea ever came across.

87,600 comments: Revival of the Outfits, "Breakdown" Edition
Did you miss one of the retired outfits on AC0? Vote on the ones you would like to see revived in a brand spanking new two-piece form!

100,000 comments: Limited return of famous tune
Another staple that is the limited appearance of a previous beloved song on AC0. This time though, it is so limited the song will only be open to all on November 23 and November 23 only. And I am not going to comment on whatever connotation November 23 has (Tenkaichi Otogesai Shop Preliminary aside).

Kita Saitama 2000 in the other Tenkaichi Otogesai games

While Taiko games got three boss songs from popular, external rhythm game franchises, Linda AI-Cue's Kita Saitama 2000 has been busy traveling into the other arcades for the huge AOU tournament event of this year. Watch as the second song from Taiko games crosses the rhythm game boundaries in three other franchises simultaneously!

First videos of Game Version 5.06's new songs

It's another big day for arcade Taiko players! Kimidori Version's GV 5.06 is now live, featuring a huge slew of new songs for (almost) everyone! Here are the first videos for the new tracks.

Twitter Snippets (October 27 2014) - October 30 Livestream: Link Out!

ふう～、今日はこれで失礼します！あと３日で、太鼓チーム公式生放送！３０日１９時半から放送ですよー！！視聴はコチラ→ http://t.co/taB5xtbjPv から早速タイムシフト予約！放送内容もチェックできるよ♪明日も準備がんばるドン！ではまた！ #taiko765
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) October 27, 2014

There isn't much to say, but the view link for this Thursday's livestream is out, and you can book for time shift if you want. Check out the blog post last week for the details if you forgot!

Behind the Drums: Ishibashi Wataru @ mirawi

*Image pending*

Mostly known in the Internet under the alias of mirawi (みらゐ), Ishibashi Wataru was a composer for the doujin circles Luv-kraft (mostly together with composer/lyricist Satou-gin (佐藤銀)) and Coterie (同人サークル). On Taiko games, he has been put in charge for the creation of the majority of Chata and Kaori Aihara songs under the Namco Original genre.

He died on February 16th, 2014, at the age of 39.

Namco Original

• Yuujou Pop (友情ぽっぷ)
• Dream Tide -Yume no Chouryuu- (Dream Tide －夢の潮流－)
• Mulberry
• Shiro Neko Caramel Mugen no Wata ame (白猫きゃらめる夢幻のわたあめ)
• Dadakko Monster (駄々っ子モンスター)
• Omoi o Te ni Negai o Komete (想いを手に願いを込めて)
• Reviver (リバイバー)
• Famires Wars (ファミレスウォーズ)
• Mahou no Kissaten (魔法の喫茶店)

Back to Others page

Notechart Analysis: Dokadoka

The Classic genre may not have many songs, nor does it get updated with new ones very often, but difficulty-wise it's gone from strength to strength, featuring such stream-filled nightmares as Fantasie Impromptu, Flight of the Bumblebee, Etude Op.10-4, and the latest in devilish streamy challenges in the genre, Dokadoka.

Dokadoka takes stream challenges in Classic to a whole new level, putting even Bumblebee to shame, and it's so much faster and longer than its predecessor that it becomes a real test of endurance and note-reading ability. Unfortunately I can't help you guys out with stamina training, but I can give a guide on how to tackle each of Dokadoka's fiendish streams!

Song of the Week! 25 October 2014

Another double-request feature is upon us! Let's see our songs for this week by Yusri Khairi and kathy!

Saitama 2000 in Synchronica

Another pre-Song of the Week feature with another not-Taiko game! Here's the first gameplay video of Synchronica, featuring the original song Synchronicity (=the one being played for the demo reveal) and Saitama 2000, at the mark of 3:45. Enjoy the first song in the iconic 2000 series in a new light, thanks to the jacket album art and the trip-enducing video!

Taiko-related Composers in Smash Bros. (Wii U)

Continuing today's trend on this blog of talking about any other game but Taiko games whose elements and people are contributing to make, it's time to jump back on the Smash Bros. talk. It's safe to assume that any (even remotely) Nintendo fan among our readers has already seen yesterday's '50-Fact Extravaganza' video from Nintendo, which -among the other things- has listed an additional list of composers which has made original arrangements for this fighting game's upcoming Wii U version. So, what's new from Bandai Namco this time around, you ask? ...

...not very much, to be honest. Aside from all the composers who already worked for the 3DS version (which are returning both with the 3DS tracks and new ones as well), we have a couple of new names of a few other composers for the Wii U-exclusive tracks, as shown in the extract list above: Kohta Takahashi (URBAN FRAGMENTS) and Hiroshi Okubo (L.O.V.E; Bambini), two composers for Ridge Racer series games which have been really border-line contributors to the Taiko no Tatsujin franchise.

From a general rhythm game talk, it's also nice to see that Hirokazu 'COSIO' Koshio (of Groove Coaster fame) has helped making the incoming game's song selection even meatier!

Postcards from Synchronica's Location Test

The location test event for Bandai Namco's latest rhythm game have just begun, and for the occasion a demo video of the game itself has beel published on BNGI's Youtube channel! From what this looks like, this touchscreen-based game is a blend of concepts already seen in franchises like Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and ReRave.

Sadly, no other gameplay videos are lurking the web, but guess which song joined the tracklist...

싱크로니카 로케테스트 버전에 사이타마 2000 수록 확인 pic.twitter.com/lE26uQGF0P
— echospherics「エコーズ」 (@echospherics) 24 Ottobre 2014

There can't be a new Namco rhythm game without some Taiko magic! And so, Saitama 2000 joins the fun as an additional song for the Game Music genre, complete with hilariously awesome jacket album art, no less! It's also one of the highest-rated songs on the hardest setting of the game to date (Technical Mode), rated as 18.

Taiko Plus - 10 Million Downloads Celebration, part 2

As promised last week, today we are getting the last bits of promotional content for Taiko Plus's latest download milestone. Everyone is invited!

First of all, every user who has purchased a song pack for the game during the campaign's running period (from October 17th to November 4th) is automatically counted for a promotional lottery extraction, which awards free copies of the latest home console Taiko games! The prizes are 3 copies of Taiko Wii Chogouka-Ban (1 Tatakon bundle and 2 game-only) and 5 Taiko Wii U Version (2 Tatakon bundles and 3 game-only). Winners will be warned by an in-app message right after the 10-Million celebration's end.

For Taiko Plus' songlist, a song questionnaire is also being spread to every single Taiko Plus player. The most requested songs will all be put together for a special song pack, planned to release at the end of the promotional campaign.

And as a continued effort of the Gurt! collaboration, Katte Rock is made available for a limited time. The song will be removed at November 4 23:59, so make haste to download and play!

Just as a quick reminder that the 'Free Song with any song pack' deal is still on! And keep looking forward for the Special Pack's release!

In less-related RPG da-don collab news, the soon-to-be-removed-from-AC0 Sobakasu and Classical's La Campanella are newly put up for exchange.

Namco Taiko Blog (October 23 2014) - Oct 30 Livestream! and Nov 24 Reitaisai!

It's another month coming to an end, so here comes another livestream! Also some more bullet-hell later this post.

Date: October 30 2014
Time: 19:30 (to about 22:00)
Link: http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv197309436

A Composer's Farewell

Through all the joyful and eventful circumstances surrounding the Taiko no Tatsujin franchise, we at Taiko Time would like to have a good time with you readers, celebrating and sharing all the news coverage and features we post here. But today, let's have a moment of silence for a tragic event which we were completely unaware of until now.

On February 16th this year, Luv-Kraft composer Ishibashi 'mirawi' Wataru (石橋渡) passed away at the age of 39. The news comes from the Luv-Kraft unit itself, with a late-May post on its Tumblr account. We deeply apologize for our lack of coverage on the subject matter, as we came to know about the saddening reveal only now, thanks to our resident editor nigelliusnitrox.

Together with Satou-gin (佐藤銀), mirawi is the co-composer of nearly all the Namco Original songs featuring either Chata or Kaori Aihara as the singer. As we are also indirectly affected by this loss, we'll have a Behind the Drums feature about mirawi this Sunday.

May his soul rest in peace.

Namco Taiko Blog (October 22 2014) - Version 5.06! Kimidori Update

No matter whether you foresaw this or not, the surprise blog post for the October 29 update is inevitable (mostly because it is already out). And don't  shrug off thinking Tenkaichi Otogesai is the only noteworthy point, because there's more!

Kimidori Asia: October Tourney Results

 

And the results are once again in! In the October Facebook Tournament for Kimidori Asian, Hong Kong's Don~ won the Oni side with a close 1,062,900 points, amongst dozens more getting DFCs. The Muzukashii side sees Taiwan's Guruguru emerge with 859,840 points. 2nd place's Misaka?! also from Taiwan deserves props for taking on the song with Detarame on and still doing great.

And about the mini DonChare, the total number of plays logged is 4819, exceeding the 3000-time target for over 50%! As such Akuukan Yuuei ac12.5 is unlocked from October 23 until November 2nd as promised. Plan a trip if you want to catch the limited appearance!

Onto next month, the dates for November's Tournament are:

• Song Announcement: November 5
• Tournament Dates: November 8~16
• Results Announcement: November 19

The Team is hinting consideration of making Xa (Ura) be the Oni candidate song, so practice in advance perhaps? Other suggestions are still welcome in the comment section (there, not here).

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Synchronica!

In the same way one would talk about a new movie by the creator of another movie he adores, we're covering a new Namco 2-player rhythm game, called Synchronica!

...not much to talk about right now since there are no gameplay details on the official website yet, which opened yesterday. But part of its songlist is there!

From the beginning, there are 10 J-Pop songs (which includes the famous Natsu Matsuri and other contemporary hits), three Anime songs, a Vocaloid genre from the get-go (with a few songs not seen on Taiko too) and even a genre for Classical music, though both of them are remixes.

If this takes off, there may be crossovers with Taiko no Tatsujin too, who knows? Location tests will be from October 24th to 26th, 2014 in the Namco outlet at Lazona Kawasaki Plaza, so we should get videos and screenshots then.

Song of the Week! 18 October 2014

By popular demand, today's feature is about a staple of Japan animation; Real Robot animated series! Join us as we take a look at the very first and the very last Gundam songs on Taiko.

Taiko Plus - Popular Song Pack 18 and 10 Million Downloads Celebration!

Aside from arcade Taiko players, even Apple donders have something to rejoice in this week! As for several Fridays in the past, a new song pack has been released, featuring the following songs:

• Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari
• Wake up!
• Tsuki to Taiyou
• RPG
• One Night Carnival

Highlights for the Popular Song Pack 18 (人気曲ぱっく18)  this time around include both recent arcade and console exclusives. The honorable mention goes to One Night Carnival, a returning song from the eldest Taiko games that comes back with new note patterns for each mode! Here's the new Oni chart for instance, with 24th and long mixed streams:

On top of that, the Taiko Plus app has reached the 10-million download milestone! In order to celebrate, a 2-part campaign has been issued, with the first part starting today. Part two will start instead next week, from October 23rd.

In part one, players will receive two new songs after purchasing a pack, among the limited-release Namco Original song being distributed in the past. Plus, the in-game lottery has four new outfit parts for Don-Chan's customization, which can be won only during the 10-million DL celebration. In order to make the unlock of these promo parts faster, each song cleared on Taiko Plus will award double the points for the Lottery! Grab them until you can.

Tune in next week for Part 2's new content of this milestone event!

Namco Taiko Blog (16 October 2014) - Tenkaichi Otogesai Song Reveal!

After an half-day-long delay, here's the first blog entry from the Taiko Team that actually acknowledges the latest rhythm game collaboration extravaganza!

The Let-down - Update on Tenkaichi Otogesai

Remember how we were talking about the next AOU newsletter coming out today, probably containing further information about the big Tenkaichi Otogesai? Well now it is out, and isn't that a giant let-down.

This little clip below is all the coverage about the collab in AOU's October newsletter. We now know the scale of the event, involving 777 arcade centers across Japan (nice number). The tourney songs will be added to cabinets in 1329 shops. And that's it. Being a industry-focused publication, it is reasonable that player-centric information (like what songs are in) would be skimped largely. Oh well, we still have two weeks to the update, so patience young cricket. (Namco Taiko Blog tomorrow!)

As an interesting statistic, Taiko no Tatsujin can boast as the more widespread game among the four, being in 1231 shops out of the above-mentioned 1329 (92.6%). maimai has 562/1329 (42.2%), Groove Coaster has 562/1329 (42.3%) and jubeat 640/1329 (48.1%).

From Page 1, AOU October newsletter

[RUMOR] added later October 15: Meanwhile rumors has surfaced about the first batch of song candidates. This rumor is half-confirmed with stuck cover art in this inner page, despite "content not open for access yet".

• FLOWER by DJ YOSHITAKA from jubeat
• Garakuta Doll Play by t+pazolite from maimai
• Got more raves? by E.G.G. from Groove Coaster
• Kita Saitama 2000 from Taiko (Come on, you should know KitaSai. I am not linking this.)

We have also located a claimed official Twitter account for the collab, which tweeted a hint of an announcement tomorrow afternoon with all the games' makers, after a final check tomorrow morning.

こんばんは、いよいよ明日、ＡＯＵ加盟店のみに先行配信される楽曲名が発表されますね。さっきまでＨＰ製作担当者が行方不明？だったので、ちょっと焦りましたが、明日の午前中に発表内容の最終チェックを経て、午後には公開と共に各メーカー様からも発表となる予定です。大変お待たせいたしました。
— AOU 天下一音ゲ祭 (公式) (@AOU_Tenkatui) October 15, 2014

Also the final number of shops getting first-hand access for the new collab songs is 1335, counting in some last-minute new AOU member, to a total of 3001 points (multiple cabinets of the same game in the same shop counts as one). The list of confirmed shops and locations will also be announced tomorrow.

最終の配信店舗数１３３５店舗、４機種合計３００１カ所（１店舗に同一機種が複数の場合は１としてカウント）。。確定しました。 ホームとされる店舗が配信対象の店舗かどうかの問い合わせにつきまして、昨日の夜で返答を終わらせて頂きました。明日の発表にてご確認下さい。
— AOU 天下一音ゲ祭 (公式) (@AOU_Tenkatui) October 15, 2014

Taiko Wii U 2's latest website update

As the game's launch day is drawing closer and closer, the related website page has been updated once again! Here's a short synopsis for what's new this time.

Twitter Snippets (October 14 2014) - Tenkaichi Otogesai Imminent

I'll say it right out front: This post is mainly for the purpose of filling in a 3-day gap of no-post-ness. Getting really dry out here.

But as a ending statement to today's Twitter standby, Etou reveals that although the notechart(s) he completed today is not exactly for it, more news for the Tenkaichi Otogesai is coming and fast! The next update (to add the collab songs) is also being prepared.

さて、本日はそろそろ失礼します！そうそう、本日完成した譜面は天下一音ゲ祭とは違う曲の譜面だったのですが、その天下一音ゲ祭の続報は近々発表があるみたいですよ！太鼓の達人の次回アプデも準備してますので、続報いろいろお楽しみに！では今日もおつカレーライス！ #taiko765
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) October 14, 2014

Note that tomorrow is also the possible date for AOU's October newsletter, which is probably their last proper chance to announce the playable songs of the collab/tourney. So prepare for tidal waves of news and hype from (maybe) tomorrow.

In preparation, check out our previous posts on the collab so that you get the big picture right: The official Namco Taiko Blog and more info from August AOU newsletter and September AOU newsletter.

Instagram Snippets - Kimidori in Indonesia

From the chatbox and Twitter, we have caught notice of these two snaps of Taiko no Tatsujin Kimidori (in a Momoiro shell) at the recent Fun Asia Expo in Indonesia. It would be stupid to just show the cabinet and then retreat, so there might just be some potential that some AC0 cabinets are staying around the region.

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taiko no tatsujin at funasia expo, almost like a mini loctest (?)

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machine ver.

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Song of the Week! 11 October 2014

This week we had both highs and lows in the Taiko scene, and one of the lows was the removal of many other Taiko arcade staples songs. This lead us to yet another permanent licensed song deletion from any official Taiko game, our focus for this week's feature.

Tatsh and (more) Silver Forest for Kimidori Asia

Finally, some better Kimidori Asia news to end the day! The Composer Mecha Rush trio: Mugen no Sora, Souryuu no Ran and Xa finally joins the Asia cabinets next Wednesday (October 15)! Look for the new game version number (G/V: 2.06) before you play!

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Twitter Snippets (October 9 2014) - Sorry for the Removals

Well, the removal is (almost) set in stone. Before you descend into sorrow and tears, let's hear out on Etou's take on the removal, amidst the moderate uproar happening in Twitter.

The popular songs you know and love has all sorts of (copy)rights attached. To have it playable in Taiko, the Team has to only (hold various negotiations to) borrow the rights from their owners. With the deals comes all sorts of conditions, and for some the loan has to end some time, hence the removals.

The Team is sorry that some of the most memorable songs has to be removed one time or another. But rest assured they will be trying their hardest to get new and exciting songs into the games to add to that great memory hopefully.

本日午前中公開の開発日記にて太鼓の達人キミドリVer.からサヨナラとなる楽曲を発表しました。皆さんが知っている「アノ曲」は、それぞれ「権利」をお持ちの方がいらっしゃいます。我々はその権利をお借りして（のために色々とご相談して）みなさんに遊んでいただけるようになっています。（つづく
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) October 9, 2014

権利をお借りするには様々条件があり、サヨナラとなってしまうことはそれも１つお約束なのです。皆さんのそれぞれ思い入れのある曲が遊べなくなってしまうことは我々としても残念ではありますが、また新たな思い入れをもってもらえるよう今後も努力していくことで代えさせていただければと思います。
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) October 9, 2014

So there. The Taiko Team doesn't hate you with the removals. If they hate you they would have start mass-removing Namco Originals like Xa, that Namco holds most rights and has no decent reason. Speaking of Xa... (one more post today!)

Namco Taiko Blog 2 (9 October 2014) - Taiko no Tatsujin at the Hakurei Shrine Autumn Festival

As the previous 'doom and gloom' song removal post wasn't enough, today's second entry is something we already knew about since last week: the Taiko influence in the next Hakurei Shrine festival and King of Touhou music arrangement competition. Since we already featured the event last Friday, we'll just give you a quick link to recall what this contest is about.

Let's hope that next week will feature more fresh and positive Taiko news!

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Namco Taiko Blog 1 (9 October 2014) - Farewell My Dear

Double blog update from the official Namco Taiko Blog today! And the bad news comes first. Hold your tears, but we're seeing another slew of songs leaving AC0.

Fifth Taiko Plus/RPG Collab!

Between all the Taiko Brasilian craze of these days, we forgot to mention the latest collab between the two major Taiko iOs games, which started last Monday and will end on November 2nd.

Another couple of songs can be downloaded on Taiko Plus and played for free during said time span, as long as they have been purchased with Taiko RPG's Note Stones. This time around, the two songs involved are TRAIN-TRAIN and Kaze no Fantasy. Be sure to have the latest versions of the two games in order to nab them!

Kimidori Asia Monthly Tourney: October Songs, and a little more?

Another month, another tourney! And a new twist for this month? It's Kimidori Asia news time!

Wadaiko Master song list

Some time in May 2014, photos of an unknown region version of Taiko no Tatsujin Momoiro Version began circulating around the Internet, with only two pictures of its top and side banners in Brazilian Portuguese. It was called 'Wadaiko Master'. There was not much information to go on it except those two.

In September 2014, Taiko Time received a tip-off by a reader named Milton through email that several units of these were spotted in Brazil, containing more photos of Wadaiko Master and a short video, and more videos followed shortly after by another email from an anonymous reader, including one that showed Wadaiko Master's songlist in its entirety. It is thanks to them that we were able to gather this much information on this mysterious translation of Taiko Momoiro, and to him we express our utmost gratitude. From Japanese website wikihouse, we also happen to know that this arcade model has also been spotted in Kenya as well.

It is still unconfirmed whether or not Wadaiko Master is an export by Namco themselves, as they have not officially acknowledged its existence yet, but what we do know is that, aside from the fact that it contains mostly new songs, it has one of the smallest songlists in any arcade version ever, totaling 32 with 10 Ura Onis. There is no network infrastructure and the middle of the cabinet lacks a Banapassport card reader of any kind.

The play instructions and most of the menu interface save for a few details (and song names) is completely translated from Japanese to Brazilian Portuguese, which is the first time Taiko no Tatsujin has been presented in a language other than Japanese since Taiko 12 Asia, and the first non-Asian version of the game since Taiko Drum Master for PlayStation 2. As this forum post on Zenius-i-vanisher.com puts it, Wadaiko Master almost feels like a location test for Momoiro in Brazil. Keeping tabs on the development of Wadaiko Master in the future should be interesting!

One oddity stands out in particular; Sampling Masters AYA's Namco Original song, Samba Alegria, is in the Brazilian Pop genre, Ura and all, instead of its normal place.

Videos of Wadaiko Master

Thanks to our Taiko fans from across the Pacific, we now have recorded footage of Wadaiko Master in action! Not sure if it's an officially supported product but it's still interesting to see!

You can see the translation effort for the game is pretty patchy, with the main interface and basic instructions translated, but the song names remain in Japanese, and there's no translation for 'Oni' difficulty either, so it's half-here, half-there. The font used on the menus is different, making the Brazilian quite jarring against the original Japanese font. Well, it's something at least; the Asian version was left untouched with no translation at all (except the cardboard banners for the warning and play instructions, which are in pretty good English).

As mentioned before, the songlist is extremely small, with the total barely touching 30 songs. The J-Pop and Anime genres are completely cut out and replaced with a folder for Brazilian pop, with three songs in it: Escatumbararibe, Hoje e Domingo and Samba Alegria (yes, that Samba Alegria. For some reason it's in Brazilian Pop and we don't know why).

Below, we have videos for two of the three. Here's Escatumbararibe (wow that's a mouthful).



And here's Hoje e Domingo, a 4* Oni. Unfortunately the difficulty ratings for Escatumbararibe isn't in the video.

EDIT: Same reader sent a photo containing the missing difficulty ratings and confirmed Samba Alegria as being the Sampling Masters AYA song. Weird to see it swapped genres like that.



We should have a songlist page up for Wadaiko Master on the blog pretty soon! Once again, thanks to our Brazilian Taiko fans for the contribution!

Song of the Week! 4 October 2014

Today's Saturday feature is requested by kathy, one of the most active readers of the blog (you can pester her in the chatbox to the left). Enjoy the wonderful Namco Original!

Tenkaichi Otogesai: How it is Going to Run

Hey guys! Last month the initial announcement of the gigantic collab that is Tenkaichi Otogesai shocked the rhythm game scene. Today with the September AOU newsletter, we bring you further details!

Do You Want to be the King of Touhou?

The autumn run of the popular Touhou event Reitaisai starts November 24! Do you love Touhou? Do you have arrangement talent? Compete to become the King of Touh... No wait come back! There is Taiko stuff in here!

First capture video of Day by Day!

Apologies for the lateness as we have not been able to look for a regular capture video of this song until now! Here is Day by Day! in its full glory, a very nice, breezy Namco Original that's as fun to listen to as it is to play. The chart is an 8* Oni with 608 total notes (difficulty 3/5/7/8). Calm parts aside, the repetitive simple rhythm patterns and medium-length streams are reminiscent of a simpler time in Taiko where most high ranking Oni charts looked like this (Angel Dream, Yumeiro Coaster, Kirame Kirari etc.)

No mention on who the artist and singer are yet.

It is playable on Japanese Kimidori for those who have cleared 8 goals, and will be open to Asian Kimidori this 1st of November!

Namco Taiko Blog (2 October 2014): Livestream recap and Taiko Dojo/School Talk

Livestream recap? But we already did that! Read our super-detailed, picture-laden summary here! As for the Twitter icon and smartphone wallpaper that were supposed to be given out as gifts for the comments challenge, they're right here.

～Twitter Icon Image～

～Smartphone Wallpaper Image～

An extra thing announced with the Comments Challenge prizes is the revival of the Nostalgia Title Parts Gacha, available next week on Saturday and Sunday only.

But what's truly the core of today's blog entry is the first written explanation of the Taiko Cram  School (太鼓塾), the new Dojo Ranking-related feature which got added in yesterday's update. When Banapassport players finish a play in the Dojo Ranking mode, the Taiko School mode is unlocked for subsequent plays with a selection of suggested songs/modes for the player according to his previous play: if failed, the songs displayed will help train the player to pass it. while if cleared, the songs suggested are for gearing up for the course above it.

All the suggested songs by the Taiko Cram School for training can also be displayed by the players on their Donder Hiroba page, in a brand-new section dedicated to the Taiko Cram School. Alongside the suggested songs, Ms. Cat and Mr. Ladle will give some tips for clearing the current Taiko Cram School songs.

The Taiko Team is also asking for suggestions about this new feature and the recommended songs, to make the feature even more enjoyable for everyone!

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First Videos: October 1 update and October DonChare

Update today! Get your first videos here! And we are going to reserve this post to show tomorrow's brand new DonChare song too because, well, save space and stuff.

Before that, we have already updated the October DonChare list and some of the Ranking Dojo ranks. Check them out first if you want a sense of what it is before you get your hands on.