Across Japan (March 31 2015) - Collateral Benefits

As a collateral benefit from the completion of the March 31 Puzzle, Kimidori Asian ver. will also be getting one-day only limited unlocks as below. A lot of which have just become default (Hataraku) or on Rewards Shop shelves (almost everyone else) at/by Murasaki ver., giving just a little more buffer in the anticipation for the version change.

 Jingle Bells No. 765
 Surfside Satie
 Burning Force Medley
 Metal Hawk BGM1
 Mirai e no Kagi
 Akuukan Yuuei ac12.5
 Total Eclipse 2035
 Hataraku 2000
 Kidaruma 2000

Come back tomorrow for (legitimate) song choice announcement for the April tournament, which they say the Muzukashii will be see something slightly different... Stay tuned!

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Twitter Snippets (March 31 2015) - Ending the Serious Seriousness: Puzzle Pick-ups

And after a few hours of scrambling through the URLs and the .jpgs, some of the Donders have already found the password and tweeted it out. And the great (?) March 31 Puzzle is hence declared completed. **insert Professor Layton solution animation**

What is the gift from the scrolls? Tomorrow on Murasaki ver., the songs Kidaruma 2000 and 「？？？？」 will be open to all Donders for one day only. Hmmm... new song?

For those who have not get the puzzle, Etou also released a fifth scroll detailing the full solution steps. We will also be explaining in English after the jump. If you do not want to be spoiled of the solution, do not click the link on the tweet or the Read more jump here!

【ナゾ解明】「太鼓ノ秘伝書」に伝わる「合言葉」は、みんなのおかげで無事エトウに伝わりました！これを記念して、明日4/1に限り、楽曲「黄ダルマ２０００」と「？？？？」が、太鼓の達人ムラサキVer.で遊べます！ ナゾのネタバレ→(http://t.co/j3yBudZ68t)
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) March 31, 2015

Taiko Plus - Introducing the Super Skills Pack 2

The previously-reported discontinuation of the first Taiko Plus packs as separate apps isn't the only relevant piece of news for Apple Taiko gaming today, as the month of March is ended by a new song pack release!

Namco Taiko Blog (March 31 2015) - It's Not April 1, so Let's Get Serious

Let's emphasize that today is March 31, the March 31 that is just one day before the April 1. Cool? Okay. Surprise blog post time.

As noted in a livestream (beyond our knowledge before, but now you know), the company are having plans of moving out of the building where the Taiko Team used to work, known as Future Lab (there's even a song). During the packing up, the Team has discovered these rather peculiar "rolls", and Etou is here to share with us today.

Taiko no Tatsujin Popular Song Pack 1 and 2 (Separate) Ends Service

Continuing from the end of service of Taiko no Tatsujin RPG da-don! yesterday (March 30), we pick up on the news from last week where the separate app versions of Taiko no Tatsujin Popular Song Pack and Popular Song Pack 2 will also end service today (March 31).

The packs are very likely to still be available on Taiko no Tatsujin Plus, the current mainstay of Taiko on iOS. Yet, we can't say for sure for KAGEKIYO and Soul Calibur II, the exclusive bonus for purchasing the separate app versions. As a trivial note, KAGEKIYO is (soon "was") the only song on iOS to have an existing Ura notechart not included.

We will of course be keeping updates to the whereabouts of these two songs, as well as the whole Taiko Plus game. Check back when we see if more concrete reports emerge after the service termination.

Site Announcement: The Big Classical Title Fix

With Taiko no Tatsujin being an almost Japanese-language only game series, we as a English fan site often have to speculate when translating the song titles, and sometimes we might done goofed. When we find out the errors we will sure to be change it as soon as possible and inform readers like you with a erratum. Like now.

This time, we will be changing our translations for the titles of four Classical tunes:
 レクイエム 怒りの日より Wrath of Requiem → Requiem from Dies Irae

 行進曲「くるみ割り人形」から The Nutcracker Suite → March from The Nutcracker

 交響曲第7番から Symphony No. 7 → Excerpt from Symphony No. 7
 「軽騎兵」序曲から Light Cavalry Overture → Excerpt from Light Cavalry Overture

If you see other translations that doesn't feel right, feel free to ring us up wherever you can find us (comments, chatbox, Facebook, Twitter etc.)! We are happy to straighten things up.

Taiko no Tatsujin Murasaki Version unlock list

All unlockables are limited to Banapassport users only.

Taiko no Tatsujin Murasaki Version: Rewards Shop

 

Continuing from Taiko Momoiro, the Rewards Shop is a service on the Donder Hiroba website, where players can access their play data and customize their costumes, Don-chan colors and titles. The shop makes use of the accumulated Don Points (which were useless in previous HD arcade firmwares after the counter was maxed out) by allowing players to use them as currency to buy things like costumes and costume parts.

All the not-limited items which were purchasable with Taiko Kimidori arcades can also be purchased by Banapassport newcomers on Taiko Murasaki, as well as new items since the latest arcade firmware's launch.

Song of the Week! 28 March 2015

This week's theme is...healthy eating! In particular, we'll be featuring two songs whose titles have fruits or vegetables in their titles. One of them is a user request too! Let's see that one first.

Twitter Snippets (March 28 2015) - Moar Touhou!

【速報】5/10 博麗神社例大祭12「東方ゲームショウ（TOHO GAME SHOW）」に「太鼓の達人 ムラサキVer.」出展決定だドン！！今回も色々準備しています！詳細は後日あらためて発表予定！お楽しみに♪ #taiko765 pic.twitter.com/HJOs73KIT4
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) March 28, 2015

You think that was the end of Touhou Project collaboration efforts? Nope! Taiko no Tatsujin Murasaki ver. will be joining this May's Toho Game Show!

While that's the most being confirmed for the time being, it is not far off to expect new Touhou arrangement songs (especially the big NAMCO SOUNDS x Touhou Project remix campaign) and Don-chan cosplaying other famous Touhou characters as outfits as previous installments.

What would you like to see? Tell us below!

Namco Taiko Blog (March 26 2015) - Livestream Ahoy and April DonChare

Yesterday's surprise blog post was not very surprising considering most were already previewed in a livestream. Today's regular blog post is perhaps not very regular but still also concerns a livestream.

Namco Taiko Blog (March 25 2015) - First Update (1.07) on Murasaki ver.

Hello everyone! Surprise blog post today about the first ever update on Murasaki ver., including new exciting songs and other new exciting features! So new and exciting we are going to ignore April Fools and date it next week on April 1!

Twitter Snippets (Mar 24 2015) - Huis Ten Bosch Gets Purple Too

【お知らせ】ハウステンボスさんの「3Dプロジェクションマッピング 太鼓の達人」に、楽曲が追加されました。 ▼J-POP▼ ・Ｆｏｌｌｏｗ Ｍｅ ▼ナムコオリジナル▼ ・零の狂詩曲 ・きたさいたま２０００ ムラサキVer.からの新曲と…長崎だけどきたさいたま！(タケモト)
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) March 24, 2015

So even I have forgotten when exactly this installation started, but the Huis Ten Bosch 3D Projection Mapping Taiko no Tatsujin has no signs of retreating. In fact it is expected to add more songs, some being Murasaki ver. additions, no less!

 Follow Me
 零の狂詩曲 Zero no Rhapsody
 きたさいたま2000 Kita Saitama 2000 (so what if the park is in Nagasaki wwwww)

Day by Day! Lyrics (Unofficial)

Composer: Kazuaki Miyaji (宮路一昭), as TONES Project
Lyrics, Vocal: MANA

Note: This is yet to be a confirmed set of lyrics, only a popular speculation. This will be fixed when the official lyrics have been released.

Kanjani no Shiwake Eight Ends

Notable with us for hosting regular Taiko no Tatsujin battles and tournaments, the rather long running (almost 3 years now) variety show Kanjani no Shiwake Eight (関ジャニの仕分け∞) has aired its final episode on March 21 2015. Specially remarkable is that the show has been using quite a lot of newly charted J-POP songs (with the original recording no less), only seen in the show and the limited exhibition cabinet at the TV Asahi station (already retreated 2013 year-end).

The battles in the last episode uses Kurenai on Muzukashii and the limited Oni notechart of LOVE PHANTOM, reproduced in Taiko Sanjiro as below. Resident challenger Oogura has full combo-ed both attempts and wins over his previous rival.

Song of the Week! 21 March 2015

A bit late than usual, but we're back! Let's welcome a new Spring season's beginning with the first Variety pick of the year.

Namco Taiko Blog (Mar 19 2015) - Tournaments, and What You Want of Them

We are having a slightly different vibe in today's Namco Taiko Blog from Etou, who takes the time to sincerely talk to you, and more importantly hearing from you, about something near and dear to the franchise: Tournaments.

Players: Do you want more tournaments to join? Arcade centers (and staff): Do you want more tournaments to host? Etou and the Taiko Team are here to listen to your fresh opinions, and to help making what you hope a reality.

Write now via Twitter to @taiko_time to express your thoughts and even proposals! The Team is open for opinion from March 19 (in fact now!) until March 31.

For discussion's sake, this time we are not talking about large-scale national tournaments or online events over the Donder Hiroba, but more towards real-life, local arcade tournaments hosted by real-life arcade centers. Be on the lookout when the Team returns to these two in the future!

For the truest sentiments and gratitude from Etou which we are not going to butcher here, please do check out the original post.

First videos of Taiko Tokumori's March DLC songs

It's already past midnight in Japan, which means that both the weekly DLC for the latest 3DS game and the third lot of songs for the latest Wii U Taiko game are both live! Of course, Tokumori is the top performer of the month, as we get not only two recent arcade tracks, but three new songs as well!

Let's have a look of those, shall we?

Across Japan: AOU Phase 2

Wondering why Asia hasn't upgraded to Murasaki ver. yet? The team mentions that it is being prepared; methinks they had some unfinished business for the firmware, one of them being the AOU songs. Well, Phase 2 is finally rolling out, on 21st March, 2015 (Saturday)!

The update consists of four songs, which represent the cardinal elements earth, wind, water and fire (as we've mentioned before)

• Scars of FAUNA
• Fujin RUMBLE
• VeRTeX
• Ignis Danse

Have fun guys!

Addendum: March's Tournament goes to Hong Kong's Watashi~ in Oni and Taiwan's Shingo in Muzukashii. April's Tournament will be announced April 1 (hmm) and starts April 4~12. -ngnitrox
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Twitter Snippets (Mar 16 2015) - A Wild Tatsudon T-shirt Shop Appears!

【お知らせ】先日のJAEPOショー会場にて数量限定で先行販売いたしました「立つドンＴシャツ」の、一般販売が開始されました！ http://t.co/bndYOctp0b (※リンク先はSサイズとなっております。ご注意ください。)(タケ pic.twitter.com/joYBmnN4A3
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) March 16, 2015

In case you are waiting for the legendary (?) Tatsudon T-shirt to be out available in the wild for real after JAEPO, well here it is. Linked above is BNGI's LaLaBit Market online shop, where the T-shirt has just been stocked at all four sizes (note the direct link is for the S size).

Song of the Week! 14 March 2015

We haven't done a double feature in a while, so here's one of them!

Today's two songs have two things in common: both are songs I don't like, and both contain bits of different songs I would listen instead of these two! I'll try to talk about them with no personal bashing, but I make no promises...

Upcoming Collaboration: Idolm@ster 10th Anni. x Taiko no Tatsujin 15th Anni.

 

Screenshots from tweet by @falcon10391

In today's Idolm@ster Producer Day event, part of the franchise's 10th Anniversary reveal, it is announced that another collaboration with Taiko no Tatsujin (which is also expecting a nice round 15th Anniversary soon) is approaching. Expected to come from late April onwards, Taiko no Tatsujin (at least Murasaki ver. as pictured) will be receiving playable songs from the stars of 765 Production, featuring both new songs and classic selections. The first image also shows a whole line of Don-chan outfits for various Idolm@ster stars, new and returning.

And we concluded a collaboration with the spinoff franchise Cinderella Girls just before the version change! What a tight schedule!

Addendum: That is also what today's surprise Namco Taiko Blog is about. The official name of the event is confirmed to be Idolm@ster x Taiko no Tatsujin Collab Festival (アイドルマスターx太鼓の達人コラボ祭).
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Namco Taiko Blog 2 (March 12 2015) - March 10 Livestream Recap

We totally just published our own livestream recap! So here we will redirect you there for most of the same contents in this recap blog post. Before you do, check out the original post for links to download your very own Murasaki ver. themed Twitter icon and smartphone wallpaper, courtesy of all goals cleared in the comment challenge

 

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A Winter's Final Purple Days (10/03/15)

This year's first Taiko Team livestream session has been quite a wild ride, between the Taiko Team building up the release of the next major firmware update and us being busy live-tweeting the event with... well... mixed results (Just remember that it lasted for about 12 hours!).

Nevertheless, it has its chunk of good content to talk about on this visual-based blog entry, so let's get this ride started!

Namco Taiko Blog (12 March 2015) - Taiko Tokumori's March DLC

One of the surprises of the previous stream is today's blog entry! From March 19th, the extra content that has been revealed on the latest livestream will be avbailable, featuring 5 free songs and 7 new outfit parts. Soon after this post, our usual livestream feature will cover this content.

There's else to talk about for this entry, save for the fact that the next round of Wii U DLC content will pop up towards the end of April. Cheers!

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First Video: Murasaki ver. Novelties

Continuing from the livestream and the live tweet fiasco, here are our collection of first videos! Other updates, including new titles, are still being investigated by Japanese Donders, and we will have to wait for their good news.

Taiko no Tatsujin Murasaki Ver. songlist

Another seven-month cycle and Kimidori bids us farewell, leading us to the next Taiko HD update which uses a color theme not often seen in the series: purple. The name of the version itself, 'Murasaki', means 'purple'!

Aside from carrying over (almost) every song from Kimidori Version and its whole slew of side-modes and record-tracking systems, Murasaki introduces some new songs, some of which are ports from console versions, and it seems the Taiko Team are upping their game in the licensing department; a lot of good new stuff! All the Banapassport features are upgraded as well, such as the Kigurumi outfit system and the official introduction of the Petit Chara part.

Refinements to gameplay are few in this update, aside from the fact that the Favorites folder can now hold up to 10 songs, up from the previous 5, and a tweaked results screen which repositions several graphic elements so as not to obscure scores and play stats. With the potential to add updates in a cascading manner over a network connection, it seems the 'sudden jump' update might be a thing of the past.

Quick Takeaways: March 10 Livestream

This post might be removed when the full coverage is ready. Meanwhile, feel free to contribute screenshots and information to help out!

Livestream

• All comment goals met
• 50K title: Don-ishiki (ドン意識)
• 76.5K poll: Straps, Dakimakura pillows, Smartphone cases
• 87.6K poll: Cat and Spatula

Murasaki ver.

• NEW!  Miracle Go! Princess PreCure
• NEW!  Chikochiko
• NEW!  EDY -Eletrical Dancing Yoga-
• NEW!  Mahoujin -Summon Delta- (DonPoint)
• NEW!  Night And Day (DonPoint)
• NEW!  Sunset Runaway (DonPoint)
• NEW!  Oshiete Kumatomo
• NEW!  Jinpuumaru (Ura)
•  Zeihen ~transformation~
•  Hataraku 2000
• Outfits: Marisa Kirisame, Korosensei
• Ranking Dojo: rebalancing and adding Kurouto, Meijin, Chojin between 10-dan and Tatsujin; approx. late April to early May
• Friend invite system for Sitting Don
• Third no Ran = Shikou no Ran (紫煌ノ乱)

Wii U Tokumori

• NEW!  Himawari no Yakusoku (ひまわりの約束) Stand By Me Doraemon
• NEW!  Cerulean (セルリアン) Gundam Build Fighters Try
• NEW!  SURPRISE-DRIVE
• NEW!  Theme of Doctor X (ドクターＸのテーマ) Doctor-X ~Surgeon Michiko Daimon~
• NEW!  Shiny Kung-fu Revival