The Almost Transient Mysteries: The Hidden Secret Behind Tsumami-kui Performance

Thanks to Sehuny and I'm don with you kats (Nether) on the Taiko no Tatsujin Discord for setting off this little journey.

Being more than 5 years overdue certainly makes it transient for the longest time. The Tsumami-kui Performance (つまみ食い演奏) mode was first introduced in PSP2 and then revived for Wii4 and Wii5, after which it went on to inspire the Taiko Training (太鼓トレーニング) mode in PSVita1. Today we look at those later incarnations for a quaint little secret.

"It's just a training mode that lets you rewind songs. What's so hidden about that?" And THAT is what is so hidden about this.

Namco Taiko Blog (20 June 2013) - Taiko at World Hobby Fair '13 Summer

Summer is approaching once again! Time for another bi-annual World Hobby Fair. A Namco Bandai booth will be there to feature the latest stuff in the Taiko franchise, among other things. 

Taiko no Tatsujin 3DS, Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Chogouka-ban reach sales milestone

Taiko no Tatsujin 3DS and Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Chogouka-ban (henceforth referred to as Taiko Wii 5) has always been doing great at the weekly sales rankings ever since they were launched, consistently putting themselves into the top 20 every single week. Whenever they dipped below 20, some public holiday or event would always be there to push the two games back up. It was a surprise, more so for the Wii game; no other Taiko no Tatsujin on the flagging console has ever sold this well.

And so the inevitable has happened. On May 21, 2013, both Taiko no Tatsujin 3DS and Taiko Wii 5 sold their 500,000th copy. No, not the two of them added up, they have sold 500k each, with Wii 5 being 4 months faster than the 3DS version! Million sellers are a big thing, but for smaller franchises like this, having half a million sold is already an achievement. Plus, it's already a million if you combine both sales figures together.

Namco throws a grand shindig at the official blog whenever a Taiko game reaches a sales milestone (DS1 and DS2 break through 500k, Taiko+ getting a million downloads, PSP2 download songs being accessed a million times). Wonder if they're going to do anything this time?

Thanks to crystal for the heads-up!

Source

Taiko no Tatsujin Chogouka-Ban BGM Collection

 

Taiko no Tatsujin Chogouka-Ban BGM Collection (太鼓の達人Ｗｉｉ 超ごうか版 ＢＧＭ集) is the first soundtrack CD to be released only as a digital download, via the Japanese iTunes store.

For the first time ever in Taiko, this is an album that contains background music instead of actual songs; the various tunes that accompany the menu screens, minigames and letters from Taiko no Tatsujin Chogouka-Ban are in here. The CD also includes a bonus track which lasts 10 seconds long (and is instantly recognizable to all Taiko fans!)

Namco Taiko Blog 2 (20 December 2012) -First Taiko soundtrack on iTunes

 

Hey donders! Have you enjoyed the Taiko no Tatsujin CD soundtracks released so far? If you're asking for more (and possibly on iTunes), Namco has an answer to your prayers....well, somewhat. A BGM collection for Taiko no Tatsujin Chogouka-Ban!

Shunkan Soukai! Don-chan Sawagi minigames

"Shunkan Soukai! Don-chan Sawagi" is the lengthy name for Taiko no Tatsujin Chogouka-Ban's minigame mode, and it is slightly different from the older minigame modes. Instead of picking a single minigame, players can choose one out of three different minigame courses with multiple games in each, and there are a little over 30 total variations of minigames that can be played. All minigames can be played on all three courses because they are picked at random, but they have their own preference for certain sets of games. Each course is 7 games long.

Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Chogouka-Ban first week sales and Famitsu review score

Media Create figures for the week ending December 2nd, 2012.

01./00. [PS3] 2nd Super Robot Wars OG # (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} (¥8.379) – 217.710 / NEW
02./00. [3DS] Professor Layton Vs. Ace Attorney (Level 5) {2012.11.29} (¥5.980) – 128.856 / NEW
03./00. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Super Deluxe Edition # (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} (¥5.040) – 115.955 / NEW 
04./01. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf # (Nintendo) {2012.11.08} (¥4.800) – 105.553 / 1.212.312 (-51%)
05./03. [3DS] Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Magnagate and the Infinite Dungeon (Pokemon Co.) {2012.11.23} (¥4.800) – 48.039 / 169.519 (-60%)
06./04. [PS3] Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational # (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2012.11.22} (¥4.980) – 37.874 / 138.736 (-62%)
07./02. [PS3] Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Subtitled Edition (Square Enix) {2012.11.22} (¥7.980) – 36.234 / 233.584 (-82%)
08./05. [3DS] New Super Mario Bros. 2 # (Nintendo) {2012.07.28} (¥4.800) – 32.973 / 1.453.157 (-6%)
09./00. [PSV] Fate/Stay Night -Realta Nua- (Kadokawa Shoten) {2012.11.29} (¥6.300) – 30.583 / NEW
10./00. [PSV] Atelier Totori Plus: The Alchemist of Arland 2 # (Gust) {2012.11.29} (¥6.090) – 27.651 / NEW
11./00. [PSP] Kamen Rider: Ultra Climax Heroes (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} (¥6.280) – 20.739 / NEW
12./00. [WII] Kamen Rider: Ultra Climax Heroes (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} (¥6.280) – 14.237 / NEW
13./09. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Best Price!) (Capcom) {2012.11.15} (¥3.800) – 11.721 / 36.325 (+3%)
14./08. [PS3] Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft) {2012.11.15} (¥7.770) – 8.584 / 97.467 (-48%)
15./00. [3DS] Naruto: SD Powerful Shippuden (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} (¥5.230) – 8.023 / NEW
16./17. [3DS] Style Savvy: Trendsetters (Nintendo) {2012.09.27} (¥4.800) – 7.528 / 188.005 (+2%)
17./14. [3DS] Tousouchuu: Shijou Saikyou no Hunter-Tachi Kara Nigekire! (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.07.05} (¥5.040) – 7.526 / 251.890 (-1%)
18./00. [PSP] UnchainBlades EXXiV (FuRyu) {2012.11.29} (¥6.279) – 6.793 / NEW
19./00. [3DS] UnchainBlades EXXiV (FuRyu) {2012.11.29} (¥6.279) – 6.645/ NEW
20./00. [PSP] Saint Seiya Ω: Ultimate Cosmos (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} (¥5.230) – 6.448 / NEW

3DS 167.408
PS3 29.809
PSP 15.941
Vita 11.066
Wii 5.550
360 1.217
PS2 812
NDS 457

The general assumption was always that portable Taikos sell better than home console Taikos. This time, we have been proven soundly wrong.

Namco has really done it this time. This is the first Taiko game in 5 years to break 100,000 copies sold on its opening week. Well, actually, 115,000 in four days, and is the highest selling Taiko game from our analysis and also the highest average daily sales too! It comes in 3rd, sandwiched in between three major Nintendo 3DS games (Layton vs. Ace Attorney, Animal Crossing and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon) and the chart is topped by another game from Namco themselves, a Super Robot Wars game. In fact, this week has been a great week for Namco overall; their games are littered all over the top 20!

I don't know what sorcery Namco used to get this particular Wii Taiko so high up as the previous games on this console have all sold poorly compared to their portable counterparts. Is it the licensed songs? The minigame mode? Better advertising? Who knows.

Launch week comparison:

Taiko Wii 5: 115955 (4 days)
Taiko 3DS: 65462 (4 days)
Taiko Wii 4: 32098 (5 days)
Taiko PSP DX: 80215 (5 days)
Taiko Wii 3: 29328 (4 days)
Taiko DS 3: 70000 (3 days)
Taiko Wii 2: 28282 (3 days)
Taiko DS 2: 55950 (4 days)

Average daily sales on launch week:

Taiko Wii 5: 28989/day
Taiko 3DS: 16366/day
Taiko Wii 4: 6420/day
Taiko PSP DX: 16043/day
Taiko Wii 3: 7332/day
Taiko DS 3: 23333/day
Taiko Wii 2: 9427/day
Taiko DS 2: 13988/day

Famitsu score for Taiko Wii 5: 9/8/8/7 = 32/40

Source: Media Create

Twitter Snippets (30 November 2012) - New Namco Original songs for iOs players!

【告知】iOS用アプリ太鼓の達人＋に新曲追加の「すご腕ぱっく」が登場！収録曲はコチラの５曲！「DON'T CUT」「The Carnivorous Carnival」「天妖ノ舞」「ファミレスウォーズ」「きたさいたま２０００」是非遊んでみてください！

It's been quite a long time since Taiko Team's last Twitter spoiler, isn't it? After the Taiko havoc of this week with both arcade and console receiving new awesome entries and songs, a brand new Namco Original song pack is going to be released for the third group of players on their smartphones. This pack, called 'Sugoude Pack' (lit. Super Skills Pack) will feature DON'T CUT, The Carnivorous Carnival, Tenyou no Mai, Famires Wars and Kita Saitama 2000 (boy, playing this on an iOS is going to be interesting). Credits to crystalsuicune for the find!

Also, here's a drawing from the Taiko Team to celebrate Chogouka-Ban's release, from the same Twitter account:

Taiko Wii 5 video feature

Because of the organization of the update post and also our own time testing the game itself, we've decided to dedicate one post to the new charts of Taiko Wii 5 for easy reference! Come see some of the new charts that are introduced in the game, with a brief explanation of each one. Proper descriptions will be made when these songs are put into series or Song of the Week.

Taiko no Tatsujin Wii Chogouka-Ban unlock guide

Oni difficulty- Clear 5 songs on Muzukashii (Hard)

Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Chogouka-ban/0.5/PSP DX update post

This post is mainly for the purpose of covering the details of Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Chogouka-ban, but since the AC0.5 anniversary update and the Taiko PSP DX November download pack all fall together in the same week, I've decided to combine them all into one.

Number of updates
Wii5: 51
Taiko 0.5 arcade: 7
PSP DX: 3

Namco Taiko Blog (29 November 2012) - Taiko Wii 5's release and collabs!

It's release day for Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Chogouka-Ban! And there's a ton of stuff to cover; there are collaborations we haven't even seen from Namco until now!

Namco Taiko Blog (22 November 2012) - A new Rose song and December's Don Challenge stuff

In today's feature, a new song comes to light and December's Don Challenge prizes have been revealed. Come and see what's going on!

Chogouka-ban's 2nd website update!

16 days before the release of Taiko Wii 5! Namco has finally updated its barebones official site for the game after 3 months of hiatus. Every single section of the site has been updated, so let's see what's new!

IdolM@ster minigame in Taiko Wii 5

On the same day as the official blog post yesterday, the same author (alias 'inamasu' or '１７マス') went out of his way to post another blog entry on the IdolM@ster page regarding Taiko Wii 5! And it's not the same as the one on the Taiko Blog.

Namco Taiko Blog (8 November 2012)- 3 weeks to Taiko Wii 5!

We are exactly 21 days from the release of Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Chogouka-ban! (does Namco pick Thursdays for launch days on purpose just so they have something to fill the official blog with?) Today's entry being about the game, is a simple interview with the game's producer, Tomoki Matsumoto (松本 智貴).

Namco Taiko Blog (26 September 2012) - Yet another Taiko no Tatsujin x Dragon Quest collab

 

Yesterday, another collaboration has been officially announced, once again between Taiko no Tatsujin and the role-playing game series Dragon Quest, focusing on their latest game, Dragon Quest X, released on Wii and Wii U. We already know that the latest game's overture will be in the fifth Taiko Wii game, but this collab has more stuff to offer!

Taiko Wii 5 REAL starting songlist

If you've been following the blog closely for the past 3 to 4 days, we have posted two articles about the new songs for Taiko Wii 5. You can disregard them now, as they have been confirmed fake. Information leaks from Tokyo Game Show is not easy to come by as videos and photos are forbidden and so, whenever something is posted, we can only take it at face value and with a pinch of salt, and for that, we apologize for any inconvenience it might have caused you.

However, just this morning someone on 2ch uploaded seven videos (sideways) taken from an iPhone, with the real Taiko Wii 5 starting songlist, making all previous rumor posts completely useless. Read more to see the final story from Tokyo Game Show!

[RUMOR] Another batch of songs for Taiko Wii 5

Important: Confirmed fake 

"レポまとめ　版権追加なし　バラエティにウマウマ、線路は続く、ハローキティー何とか（忘れた）。
クラシックに運命、雷鳴、アメリカン、漢字の多い新曲、他数曲
ゲームにベノ、られへろ、七色、バンパイア、ラブリーメ、他数曲
ナムコ　旋風天地、ヌムジカ、消失、ラブユー、スポドン、蟹蟹（マジドリかも）、切るな、ケチャ、リバイバー"

The post above comes from 2chan, where someone allegedly has had a peek at the Taiko Wii 5 starting songlist. This list contains a few songs not in Wikihouse's list. The new additions to Chogouka-Ban's starting rostes (marked with bold characters) are:

-) A new song about Hello Kitty in the Variety genre (the author doesn't remember the title)
-) A new Classic song with a long Kanji title and some other unnamed songs for the Classic and Game Music genre
-) The return of The Carnivorous Carnival on Wii (remember, Kanikani is the nick used by Japanese fans for referencing the song)
-) In brackets next to The Carnivorous Carnival, The Magician's Dream is coming too, though it's a bit ambiguous being in brackets

Taiko Wii 5's starting songlist

Important: Confirmed fake

As the Tokyo Game Show comes to an end, Japanese website Wikihouse has posted the titles of all the songs which were available to play. Wanna see what's new in the cauldron?