Namco Taiko Blog (18 August 2011) - Taiko Tournament 2011, the Area challenge

After the 2-week Taiko Team hiatus, it can be common sense to expect some great news about the incoming new arcade, or maybe about the September songs for Taiko PSP DX...

Taiko no Tatsujin tournament 2011 area challenge song revealed

The songs that will be used in the Area Challenge are:

Saitama 2000
No Way Back (regular)
Angel Dream (regular)
Tenyou no Mai
Black Rose Apostle (regular)
Doom Noiz

All songs are played on Oni difficulty and using Shinta Mode for scoring. This second round begins on August 20, 2011 and goes all the way to September 4. The challenge will take place in 22 locations across Japan and the top two from each participating arcade in the first round will be eligible to progress to this leg of the tournament.

Namco Taiko Blog (30 June 2011) - Taiko 10th anniversary 4th big news!

Well, I guess we all know what this is by now~ Read on, cause there are details that are confirmed from yesterday too!

More evidence of something hidden in Taiko 14

Just revealed in the poster for the Taiko countrywide tournament for this year is a song that isn't in Taiko 14 and is completely new, coming to Taiko Portable DX. No one knows how LOVE Ikusa got into Taiko 14, or how it was hidden away so perfectly without being revealed in the secret song list. The secret list was supposed to be a perfect one uncovering all the hidden songs of Taiko 14! If LOVE Ikusa isn't in there it could only mean that it isn't on Taiko 14, and there's a brand new arcade version coming, using the name Taiko 14. But, at the same time this is for the first round of the competition, meaning Taiko 14 machines which are already in arcades will be used. How does LOVE Ikusa fit in this puzzle?

Adding fuel to the fire is this, a VIP tag from god knows where.

The text on the top says 'Increase in songs ta-don!', with a Taiko 14 logo right beneath it. Looks like five new songs. Even under heavy blur, you can make out the third song as Black Rose Apostle, the fourth as Uchuu Samurai, and the fifth as Doom Noiz, all of which made their debut on Taiko Wii 3 and are coming to arcade for the first time. The first song is impossible to make out, while the second one.....

....is that '2000' I see at the end of the title? This isn't Shimedore, nor is it Joubutsu. Is the 2000 series still alive after all?

Speculations abound. Is there a Taiko 14.5 coming, or an upgrade to the current batch of Taiko 14 machines? If so, how will it be done seeing as every secret has already been wrung out of the arcade some way or other?

Taiko no Tatsujin Japan tournament 2011

If anyone still remembers, there was a grand Taiko competition last year organized by NBGI and it was met with roaring success. The competition took place across all the major cities of Japan at certain dates using pre-determined songs, then an area challenge, and then the grand finals on top of a stage.

And it's returning for a second round this year, using Taiko 14 instead of Taiko 13! The Taiko no Tatsujin Donder Japan Number One Decisive Battle 2011 (太鼓の達人ドンだー！日本一決定戦２０１１) ! Based on this poster here it looks like the rulesets remain the same, just score as highly as possible on the songs shown to make it to the next round. Schedules should be up on the tourney website by tomorrow when it opens officially (the URL to the site is at the bottom of the poster, but for easy linking, here you go~)

The five songs for the first leg of the competition are Shunyuu~happy excursion~ on Shinta Mode, Uchuu Samurai, LOVE Sen!!, NECOLOGY and DON'T CUT regular.

....Hold on, LOVE Sen? That's not in Taiko 14, it's supposed to be launched on Taiko Portable DX! Don't tell me it's yet another hidden song in the machine no one ever knew about, or probably Namco are using this competition as a front to launch the speculated Taiko 14 Zoryoban. This is exciting...We'll see what information the blog can provide us with by tomorrow then.

Image found by crystalsuicune. Thanks!