Song of the Week! 28 February 2015

For the first Classic song feature of the year, let's take a look at a niche, console exclusive arrangement from the Sony-oriented Taiko games.

Nintendo 3DS's New Taiko Theme

One last bit of news for today, this time coming from Bandai Namco's main website. Though if no information about new downloadable Taiko content has been announced from the Taiko Team, the website's 3DS themes section has just added the voice for a new drumming theme!

Going by the name of Taiko no Tatsujin Medetai Version (太鼓の達人 めでたいばーじょん), this theme will be released next week, on March 4th. Much like the two already-released themes, this one is priced 100 Yen and doesn't feature any kind of custom background music or custom sound effects.

Across Japan (Feb 27 2015) - Jikuuchou Sousa 2-ka Abound

A very quick note that Jikuuchou Sousa 2-ka, Jikuu 1-ka's still cute and upbeat sequel, will arrive at Asian cabinets on March 1 punctual. Hug it while you wait for the Murasaki treatment that will not be on March 11 (or play the tournament, it's gonna be big they say).

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Taiko Plus: Popular Song Pack 21 and the Stolen Thunder

How often is iOS Taiko no Tatsujin Plus stealing song debut from other games? Quite frequently, especially when you count today's new Popular Song Pack 21 (人気曲ぱっく21), which has stole Murasaki ver.'s thunder in featuring the awaited Assassination Classroom theme, among others in a usual-priced 600-yen pack:

 青春サツバツ論 Seishun Satsubatsu-ron Assassination Classroom
 イマジネーション Imagination Haikyuu!
 桃源郷エイリアン Tougenkyou Alien Gintama
 さくら Sakura (Ketsumeishi)
 ごめんなさいのKissing You Gomen Nasai no Kissing You

And quickly we also do the first video here: Seishun Satsubatsu-ron has the medium-high difficulty set of 4/5/7/8. The 408-note Oni sees quite a few instances of longer clusters (5- to 7-hit) in condensed groups among otherwise quite sparse sections.

First Video: Matsuribayashi de Geragerapo

First of the two Geragerapo no Uta remixes for the new Yokai Watch anime (and Yokai Watch 2 game also), Matsuribayashi de Geragerapo is a solid 3/4/5/7, whose Oni has 292 notes of moderate 16th triples not unlike its predecessor.

Notably Jibanyan and co. now dances to the new Geragerapo moves as shown in the new Matsuribayashi opening animation (down-down-up instead of cross-cross-up). Will Hatsukoitouge de Geragerapo, expected at Murasaki launch, also feature its new dance too?

Namco Taiko Blog (Feb 26 2015) - Murasaki Release and Livestream

Well we've all been waiting for the big date's reveal, so let's cut to the chase then:

Across Japan (Feb 25 2015) - February Tourney Results!

 

...are as shown. Not being a top-tier challenge unlike some previous bouts, Hyakka Ryouran Oni attracted 8 DFCs during the tournament, with Garnet and Watashi~ tied at first with 9 drumroll hits. The two again comes close at Shunyuu Muzukashii with two more DFC, with Watashi~ winning out as double victor by just 1 drumroll hit and 240 points ahead.

Putting aside the past, let's look to March! This month's tournament in the Oni department will be slightly different, going back to the more conventional tournament rules: Three candidate songs, and Shin-uchi and Shin-uchi only for modifiers. The event starts March 7~15 and the song choices to be announced on March 4.

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Twitter Snippets (24 February 2015) - NAMCO SOUNDS's Latest Stream

【緊急告知】「NAMCO SOUNDS」のクリエイターがお届けするUSTREAM番組『NAMCO SOUNDS ONLINE』第2回目放送日が決定！2月27日（金）21:30配信スタート予定！http://t.co/C7z7p9XdDs #namcoso
— NAMCO SOUNDS (@NAMCOSOUNDS) 12 Febbraio 2015

As you may probably know at this point, all the in-house music composers and arrangers from Bandai Namco are part of the company's very own music label, NAMCO SOUNDS, which is mainly used for the soundtracks of many past Namco/Bandai titles. In recent years, the NAMCO SOUNDS composers/arrangers are having periodical livestream sessions on UStream, featuring their works and many trivia facts about their creation.

For this livestream series, Season 3 is about to begin with some Taiko no Tatsujin magic!

2/27「NAMCO SOUNDS ONLINE」Ust放送はゲストに細江慎治さんをお迎え！太鼓でも「Rotter Tarmination」等で有名ですよね♪さらにオーディオ刑事新作が放送予定！お楽しみに！ http://t.co/AfYp42q6JW #namcoso
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) 25 Febbraio 2015

A few hours ago, the Taiko Team's Twitter page began advertising the latest NAMCO SOUNDS ONLINE broadcast with some of the Taiko-related content that is going to be there. Two are the major highlights: Shinji "Sampling Masters Mega" Hosoe talking about the creation of Namco Original classic Rotter Tarmination and the return of the infamous 'Audio Deka' mini-series, starring Taiko Team member Masubutchi Yuuji itself on the stream

This livestream session will kick off in 2 days, on February 27th, at 21:30 (Japan Time). If something juicy is being revealed in there, expect from us a small recap post!

Across Japan (Feb 23 2015) - Help Me Seek for Erin Endlessly

Same day as the Japanese version update? What is this, Murasaki preparation for Asian version? Anyway, Asian Donders will see their arcade song list catching up with Japan on February 26, when two Touhou arrangement tunes are added in G/V 4.03:

Help me, ERINNNNNN!! 東方Projectアレンジ ビートまりお Touhou Project Arrange; BeatMARIO
Endless Seeker 東方Projectアレンジ A-One Touhou Project Arrange; A-One

And apparently a popular question (especially when the other three games' Asian versions all have them), the AOU Tenkaichi Otogesai songs have been put off due to adjusting of the company internal schedule. The Facebook page will keep everyone updated when details are confirmed.

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Song of the Week! 21 February 2015

Since this week's beginning, the fabled Tenkaichi Otogesai songs have become available for everyone to play, after the giant collaboration event's conclusion!

Today's song on the spotlight is one of these recently-shared tunes, coming from a well-known, bemani-related artist.

Namco Taiko Blog (February 20 2015) - One Last Update to Tie Up the Ends

Etou may have said "See you next week" yesterday, but that doesn't mean there is no more blogs this week. Today let's check out the final firmware update for Kimidori ver. on February 26 before we change versions.

Most of the changes would be back-end in preparation for Murasaki ver., but we will also see one last song addition: Yokai Watch theme Matsuribayashi de Geragerapo (祭り囃子でゲラゲラポー). We last saw the name from Murasaki ver. pop banners, and who would have guessed it would come first-hand eh?

Now more transition notes:

• Ranking Dojo and Taiko School: will be closed until later into Murasaki ver. Although you can't set your target ranks in Taiko School then, you will be able to check out all the lesson text for all the ranks. The Ranking Dojo title parts are once again available, and will count until the last day before Murasaki release.
• Personal best scores: will be disabled until Murasaki release.
• Cabinet rankings: will be reset on Murasaki release, or just frozen at the final state if the cabinet does not upgrade to Murasaki.

Well that's it for this week. See you again next week!

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PS. Remember that new Namco Original from JAEPO? The Taiko Team guys call it ZeroRapu.

Taiko Plus/Shinkyoku Tori Houdai x Aikatsu! Music Video Maker

Via 4Gamer, we are now expecting another collaboration with a spinoff application for the popular idol franchise! ...Oh yeah, we have to name "the idol franchise" now that we have multiple bigger ones.

Aikatsu! Music Video Maker (アイカツ！ミュージックビデオメーカー) is, true to the name, an smartphone application that allows you to direct and produce music videos with the Aikatsu! girls, among other functions. In this collaboration, players can receive a free collaborative frame for the Model Lesson section, with an Akari Oozora-cosplaying Don-chan at your side.

In Taiko no Tatsujin Plus/Shinkyoku Tori Houdai, the lucky draw will add various Aikatsu! goods, including the Akari Oozora outfit and collaborative wallpapers. Remember that four Aikatsu! themes (Du-Du-Wa DO IT!! / SHINING LINE* / KIRA☆Power / Diamond Happy) are still available via different song packs.

  

Namco Taiko Blog (19 February 2015) - The Transition: What Gets Carried Over To Murasaki

It's that time again: prior to the release of a new arcade firmware, one of the Thursday entries from the official Taiko blog is about the Banapassport content that will be carried over to the next version.

Game Music Showcase: Pokemon Medleys

Pokemon is an esteemed series of RPG games and the brainchild of Satoshi Tajiri, spanning all the way back to 1995, when the first two games, Pokemon Red and Green, were released in Japan on the Nintendo Game Boy. Featuring addictive 'catch 'em all' monster raising and battling gameplay, the series caught fire and grew at a breakneck pace all over the world, especially after its first movie turned out to be a massive hit. Many people would be familiar with the 'Pokemon craze' in the late 90s and early 00s. Though it is past that frenzied global phenomenon phase, Pokemon continues to enjoy worldwide popularity; with everyone enjoying the franchise in different ways, be it collecting Pokemon in the games, building strong competitive teams to battle, keeping up with the gigantic pile of Pokemon merchandise released regularly (which spans trading cards to plushies, figurines, even daily items like stationery and food!), or just simply adoring their favorite Pokemon, whether they like cute ones, cool ones, or everything in between!

Delving into the long history of Pokemon would be way too much for this blog, so let's look at it from Taiko's perspective. While Taiko no Tatsujin has been no stranger to opening and ending themes of the Pokemon anime series, the franchise has for the most time never tapped into anything from source materials; the actual Pokemon games that started it all. Then Namco struck gold when they managed to negotiate with Nintendo/Game Freak to allow them to use Pokemon game BGM as playable tracks for the Taiko games. The first one was released on Sorairo (Pokemon Black 2/White 2), and since then, at least one medley has been made for every game.

Game Music Showcase: Monster Hunter

Monster Hunter is, alongside Pokemon, one of the biggest crazes in Japan, featuring the same compulsive gameplay, though in a vastly different environment and context. While the goal in Pokemon was to catch, raise, and probably cuddle with your little colorful monsters, in Monster Hunter your goal is to hunt or capture some far less cuddly ones with various weapons and tools. In a way it's like a boss battle simulator; each of them have specific movement and attack patterns. The main attraction is co-operative hunts for up to 4 players, it's been that way since the beginning, and monster hunting still remains a popular pastime in Japan.

It's way more interesting than we're making it sound; the addictive aspect of Monster Hunter is killing the aforementioned monsters, getting materials out of them to build new weapons and armor, and then setting out to kill even more powerful monsters to forge even better equipment...the cycle continues. There are tons of subtle stuff in the series; it's something you have to try for at least a few hours to get a feel for.

Namco approached series producer Capcom when interest for Monster Hunter spiked up during its third generation of games, and from then on, each Monster Hunter game has had a medley on Taiko no Tatsujin, whether on arcade or on console. The medleys 'expire' however; on the arcade, each of them are replaced with a newer medley when one is released, and on the console side, the newest medley available is always used in a console Taiko release, never reverting to an older one; and never in any Taiko songlist do two MonHun medleys coexist. It makes some sense; since the medleys follow the same basic structure and are always bookended by the Monster Hunter theme song and the BBQ Spit tune (which are slightly different each game, but you get the idea). In selected occasions, non-medley MH songs have appeared in Taiko gaming, starting from a Monster Hunter Cross song (Generations in the rest of the world).

The collaboration between Taiko and MH is still going strong; sometimes you may see Taiko-themed equipment or accessories in Monster Hunter as well!

Taiko Postcards from JAEPO 2015

Now that this year's edition of the Japan Amusement Expo is over, we can talk about the Oni leaks ratings for the new songs, thanks to both Twitter users and early video footage.

Taiko Plus - Introducing the Ultra Classic Pack

Yesterday's Taiko experience at JAEPO 2015 is bringing up all sorts of details about its new songs, but before we get new leaks, here's a little something we missed two days ago: the release of a Classic-inspired Taiko Plus song pack!

Song of the Week! 14 February 2015

This week's Song of the Week is... quite literally, the Song of the Week!

More specifically, we're taking a look at the new J-Pop tune that can be downloaded for the second Taiko 3DS game since last Thursday.

Luka Luka Night Fever confirmed: JAEPO 2015 Business Day Update

Before JAEPO opens its gates today and we get to check out fan reports, let's review on what's new on the JAEPO 2015 Business Day.

From this report by Inside Games, on Namco's stage event a slightly different song list is presented. In addition to formally confirming Miracle Go! Princess PreCure from our image scourge yesterday, we also see a new Vocaloid addition Luka Luka★Night Fever (ルカルカ★ナイトフィーバー) by samfree with vocals of Luka Megurine.

The rest of the stage event includes another section on the collaboration efforts with Sachiko Kobayashi (coming in Murasaki ver.), and of course the spotlight newcomer Synchronica, coming June 2015.

Twitter Snippets: Taiko Murasaki ver. at JAEPO 2015

おはようございます。太鼓チームのタケモトです。 本日はJAEPOショーのビジネスデーという事で、一足先に会場にお邪魔しております。ムラサキVer.も、ブース左手でバッチリ稼働中です。明日は立つドンTシャツを着て、レッツドン♪ pic.twitter.com/yT8tszRWDZ
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) February 13, 2015

It's finally here! JAEPO will officially open its showfloor tomorrow and the Taiko Team sneaked in a couple of preview shots at what they're up to inside, setting up the booth and turning on Murasaki for the very first time.

Look out for the Tatsudon T-shirts tomorrow!

Namco Taiko Blog (Feb 12 2015) - Murasaki ver., A First Song List

Well as promised, today's Namco Taiko Blog is going to delve more into Murasaki ver., so here you go without ado.

Across Japan (Feb 11 2015) - Here Comes the February Facebook Tournament

...being Hyakka Ryouran Oni (8★) and Shunyuu ~happy excursion~ Muzukashii (6★), fitting to the happy Spring Festival seasons. Remember that Hyakka Ryouran's score route is the Master Notechart!

Tournament runs from February 14~23 over the AC0 Asia networks, and the results will come on February 25.

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Twitter Snippets (Feb 10 2015) - Tenkaichi Otogesai and JAEPO Pick-ups

#天下一音ゲ祭 AOU加盟店に先行配信致しました各タイトル7曲につきまして、 非加盟店舗への配信は2月15日以降に各メーカー様より配信されます。 それぞれの日程については、2月12日に各メーカー様のサイトにて発表予定と伺ってます。 店舗様へは案内済みのメーカー様も御座います。
— AOU 天下一音ゲ祭 (公式) (@AOU_Tenkatui) February 10, 2015

Have you been waiting for the AOU Tenkaichi Otogesai limited songs to go out to the rest of Japan (fingers crossed for overseas too)? From the union's special Twitter feed we now know they intended that the big date to be February 15, 2015, and each maker releasing their own announcements on February 12. With also Murasaki ver.'s partial initial song list we are bound for a decently scope-filled Thursday!

#天下一音ゲ祭 第２回天下一音ゲ祭について 開催するか、しないか？ 開催する場合はいつ行うべきか？ どのようなルールで行うべきか？ 競技機種や楽曲選定など、 JAEPOが終了した後に皆様の意見を募集しようと思います。 改めてご案内致しますので、建設的なご意見をお願いします。
— AOU 天下一音ゲ祭 (公式) (@AOU_Tenkatui) February 10, 2015

And foreseeing as they are, we are already talking about a second Tenkaichi Otogesai. Do you want it to happen? When, where and how do you want it? What games and songs do you want to see? AOU will commence collecting mass opinions for this after the end of JAEPO 2015. Feel free to provide constructive suggestions to push this forward!

As for why the date is to be February 15, we think there is a decent answer for that too. Remember when a past AOU newsletter hinted of a future tournament for JAEPO 2015? The All Japan Otoge Top Battle!! (全日本音ゲー頂上決戦) tournament, hosted by Bright, will take place on JAEPO stage from February 14 13:00~16:00, using again the same four games and eight Tenkaichi Otogesai songs at a final bit of exclusivity. The event appears to be mostly a talent search stunt from Bright, as the emerging victors are to be invited to register as "pro gamers", appearing in future publicity and events.

Check out the detailed rule set, the list of registered competitors and other details at http://www.chojokessen.com/, the event's dedicated site. The tourney is also planned to be streamed at UStream.

Takara no Oka Lyrics

Composer, Arrangement: Hiroto Sasaki (佐々木宏人)
Lyrics: Giw (祇羽)
Vocal: Takane Yabuki (矢吹高音)

Song of the Week! 7 February 2015

Just like last January, we kick off a brand new month with another accomplishment for our humble blog: earlier this week, we have reached 765 followers on Facebook. Thanks for all your support!

What better occasion to celebrate with the latest Nam-Combo song to date?

Twitter Snippets (6 February 2015) - Murasaki Version's First New Songs

【告知】太鼓の達人 ムラサキVer.発表！＆2/14JAEPOで先行体験実施！気になる新曲は…来週の開発日記(2/12)で発表します！お楽しみに！ #taiko765 pic.twitter.com/iIGsFCOKny
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) 6 Febbraio 2015

This year's edition of the Japan Entertainment Expo (JAEPO for short) is approaching fast, and so is Taiko arcades' next firmware upgrade. As the first cabinets with Murasaki Version will be playable by JAEPO attenders on Saturday next week, we have a rare announcement of what the next Thursday's blog entry will be about.

Come back on February 12th for Murasaki Version's first batch of new songs!

Taiko Wii U 2 Unlock Guide

Currently work-in-progress page. Costumes, Taiko Sounds and Miiverse frames coming soon!

To view the stamp album, click here.

Unlockable features on Taiko no Tatsujin Tokumori such as outfits, modifiers and songs are all granted through one of the in-game gacha (capsule) machines under the Mekadon Gacha section, accessible through the main menu.

Each gacha can be used by paying a specific amount of Don Koban (ドン小判), which are awarded to the players by either clearing songs, fulfilling achievements for the Stamp Album or playing the Intro-Don mode. Game modifiers and Taiko sounds share the same gacha, as well as costumes and Miiverse frames; Miiverse Stamps and Songs/Uras have their separate gacha. All the pulls result in a random prize, but watch out, as some capsules may be empty!

Sacred Ruin lyrics

Composer: Drop
Lyrics: Giu (祇羽)
Vocals: Yura Hatsuki (葉月ゆら)

Namco Taiko Blog (February 5 2015) - Murasaki ver., Livestream and 3DS2 DLC

This is two blog posts mashed into one. Click here to skip to the second.

Still recovering from the massive hype of Murasaki ver.? Let's get slightly down-to-earth with some of the usual across-version administrative stuff. But first...

First video of Jikuuchou Sousa 2-Ka

As the previously-released Jikuu Chou Jikuu 1-Ka closed the circle of Don Challenge content under the Sorairo version, its sequel song is doing the same job with Kimidori! The video above showcases the 8-star Oni mode of Jikuu Chou Sousa 2-Ka (4/6/7/8), counting 773 notes and tons of clusters like its harder predecessor.

Aside from the new singer being featured as the song's subtitle, it's very possible that Kawagen Collagen is the composer once again, as many of this month's Don Challenge missions mention a certain 'Agent Kawagen' working behind the scenes of Banapassport players. However, that's all for now- if a third Space-Time Division song pops up, rest assured that there will be a warm spot in our Song Series section, ready to cover facts about the whole bunch!

Random: A Fighting Game Blessed by Taiko Drums

For today's feature, here is a small piece of trivia that deeply links our drumming rhythm game franchise with the future arcade title Pokkén Tournament (ポッ拳), a fighting game that will merge Tekken fighting vibes with many iconic Pokémon characters.

In a recent article from Polygon.com, Bandai Namco general manager and chief producer of Tekken games Katsuhiro Harada (原田勝弘) talks about his incoming gaming agenda for his company, with a brief mention to the spark that ignited the whole Pokkén Tournament project. Harada stated that the idea for same game came from the Pokemon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara (石原恒和) during a recent meeting with Bandai Namco representatives, about -of all things- the licensing rights of Pokémon songs for Taiko no Tatsujin games. Talk about a sudden epiphany!

Who knows; maybe after this singular episode, Taiko games will have a favor returned from this newborn fighting franchise in the future...

Source (Polygon.com)

Across Japan: Haiyaaa!

In case you haven't caught the pattern yet, Asians get the DonChare songs with rest of non-DonChare playing people, or the first of the following month. And surly Shiny Kung-fu Revival is added to the Asian version song list just today. Enjoy t+pazolite's first song on Taiko no Tatsujin in Asia!

Speaking of, let's see how long a lag we will have Murasaki update for Asian ver.! Kimidori was just slight more than one month.

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