【お知らせ（ゲームセンター）】太鼓の達人 グリーンVer.— 太鼓の達人 (@taiko_team) January 8, 2020
幕張メッセにて2月7・8日に開催の【ジャパン アミューズメント エキスポ2020】に出展決定だドン！タイトル一覧とチケット情報は下記公式サイトをチェック！ 詳報は１月27日発表予定だドーン♪お楽しみに！#JAEPO2020 https://t.co/RmZymSqrtR pic.twitter.com/atKv2SVGL3
Any self-proclaimed arcade fan should have been paying close attention to the Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO for short), where arcade game makers gather to showcase their latest spotlights in arcade game development. For Taiko no Tatsujin, a quick tweet from @taiko_team let us know that Green ver. is exhibiting on the show floors on February 7-8 and more details are coming on January 27.
...hold on, didn't we have a little sneaky preview a few months back? What are we making of it now? Instead of waiting (and maybe ask Professor Timedine for help), we can take to the wondrous world of Press Releases!The press releases that Bandai Namco Amusement sent out to gaming press (example: 4Gamer) confirms with picture that a latest version of Taiko no Tatsujin (no version name, a third time) is slated for a March 2020 release. That new version will be available for first-hand trial on the expo floors also.
A first look of the tentative picture shows a few hopeful changes already, with promotional pop-ups (probably with the promised added LEDs) not confined to one singular color like the 3rd generation versions, and an additional part (may be the QR code reader) is seen above the central speaker. Keen eyes should also see significant design changes on the game-play layout (gradient side plate, differently designed nameplate, gold combo numbers). The internal changes to hardware, including the new monitor specs, new system board and game SSD, are understandably unnoticeable here.
Beyond the speculation though, do stay tuned of what Bandai Namco Amusement and the Taiko Team has to officially reveal in the coming weeks.
