First Video: Taiko Plus STH Hands-on!

As an accompanying feature for our Plus STH launch details post, here are a few selected "first moments"-type videos of the new Google Play release of Taiko no Tatsujin. Be it you are planning to [METHOD REDACTED] or [METHOD REDACTED], these should show you what to expect of the general gameplay, Fukubiki and reward systems, and how to obtain more songs (or at least where to get them - none of the videos we found actually purchased the plans).

And some more details to note:

• Log in daily (resets daily at 04:00) for additional points and other rewards!
• You can obtain individual songs from the GTH plans for free with the coins you get from trying apps or other offers. Current songs for this include Natsu Matsuri, A Cruel Angel's Thesis, Angel Dream and Hyakka Ryouran. With this method, each song can be played for either 7 days (150 points) or 30 days (300 points).
• Plus STH (and also normal STH for those Japan-exclusive smartphone content plans) has used the new-generation Bachio Sensei ending congratulations, unlike the iOS Plus that still uses the Wii-incarnate of the thing.

Enough said, see two more of these videos after the jump!

Site Announcement: 2nd Lyrics Feature Request Poll, the Pre-poll!

Addendum (2016/2/6): Let's put a cutoff date to the pre-poll, because it has to end somewhere. Please submit your suggestions by February 10! And feel free to leave more than one suggestion (we will pan them out afterwards to make it fair enough for everyone).

...Pheonix, Eringi, Neh Oshiete... yup we have all of the 1st Lyrics Feature Request Poll candidates done and scheduling! Yay for us able to finish something for real!

Now while the remaining six Lyrics Features of the first poll are being panned out for release in the coming weeks, let's go forward and start thinking about the next! Like the first, the 2nd Lyrics Feature Request Poll will be having 16 songs to vote for, and one Lyrics Feature will be coming out every two weeks on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, generally avoiding crashing dates with our other Features like Sympho-neighbors.

And for that, we need your song suggestions! Leave them down below for this pre-poll and we might include up to 8 reader suggestions, chosen by popularity and technical feasibility (best are Wii/Wii U/OST-confirmed lyrics, but we at least need a speculative set to work with).
Addendum (2016/1/13): As always, suggesting at any other place you can reach us (chatbox, Facebook, Twitter, email) is also accepted.

With your suggestions, we will be starting the main poll on Monday, February 15. The batch of new Lyrics Features will be starting in mid-March, right after the final Feature of the last poll, being Neh Oshiete (which is my top choice personally but oh god why it has zero votes).

Song of the Week! 6 February 2016

The Chinese New Year celebrations are drawing close once again! It's a perfect occasion for us to do yet another double feature about some of the elder Asian Taiko arcades' exclusive tracks.

Taiko Plus STH - Launch Version Details

Now that some time has passed since the latest smartphone Taiko game's release, it's time to take a further look at the whole picture to point out what's actually different between this app and i-devices's Taiko Plus.

• Starting from the app's Play Store page, Version 1.0.0 is currently downloadable from Google Play accounts of any nationality, although this may be changed in the near future.
• Oni mode for all the songs is only available to the devices that are recommended from the Play Store page to use the app. For a full list of the currently-recommended devices, a list is currently in the works by Bandai Namco, as even users with the already-trusted models have sent reports of bugs due to the game or the in-system Android version being too low (although the Play Store page is listing that anything from 'Android 4.0 and Up' is enough to play).
• Ura Oni modes for all applicable songs are not currently playable with the launch version.
• The game comes with Carmen Prelude, March From the Nutcracker and Saitama 2000 already attached to the app, with RIP SLYME song Deep Cleansing not getting ported. Another trio of songs -Bolero, Namcot Medley and Oshiete Kumatomo- can be downloaded for free in the game's Additional Content menu.
• No song pack is currently available for purchase on Version 1.0.0, as the unified Taiko +/Taiko + STH website's Google Play song list side only reports the list of content for the Gakkyoku Tori Houdai (link).
• The subscription-based Gakkyoku Tori Houdai mode also makes its debut with less/different features in comparison to the original version on Taiko Plus. In short, the Android version only offers the over-100 songs that the GTH service had for its launch on Taiko Plus, now being limited only to a monthly subscription system. The service's songs can be played through two different subscription plans: Popular Songs Plan (400 Yen/month sans taxes) for all the J-Pop/Anime/Variety/Vocaloid/Classic songs and Namco Original Plan (300 Yen/month sans taxes) for the Game Music/Namco Original tracks only. It's possible to subscribe to both plans together for the price of 500 Yen/month (again, excluding taxes). These prices are the same for everyone, including the players with not-recommended smartphones (and thus without Oni mode).
• The pre-registration campaign's rewards are already available for everyone as in-app unlocks that are sent through an in-game notification (much like with the Lottery unlocks).

If some of these features will evolve/get changed for the next updates, we'll let you know!

Namco Taiko Blog (4 February 2016) - Taiko 2016 Tourney's Final Recap and Updates on White Version's Ranking Dojo Bugs

 

It's recap day once again for the Taiko Team, as today's dual-entry post is about the World Championship 2016 tournament details digressed during the past World Hobby Fair/Tokaigi events, with a slice of update of what's the current situation with the Ranking Dojo bugs.

First Video: TAIKO WITH A MISSION

As Yuuyatails in the chatbox points out, the newest PSVita1 DLC pack has a little MAN WITH A MISSION theme running through the Anime choices. While database feat.TAKUMA(10-FEET) is the same as the database from Wii U3 with only a new title, here's the actual new song of the day:

 Raise your flag Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (411 notes on ★8 Oni)
With a 1.25x scroll speed boost through the bulk of the 145-BPM song, the song is mostly test of your processing power over both odd and even mixed 16th patterns at a moderately faster speed. Slightly to the lower end of some of the newest ★8s.

 Seize the day Tokyo Xanadu (884 notes on ★9 Oni)
Completing today's newcomer song post is the Facolm poll winner track, coming from Tokyo Xanadu to V Version players as a free piece of downloadable content. Much like for the Sengoku BASARA Medley, this piece of music comes with a really aggressive Oni notechart where its high BPM and multiple note clusters can pack quite the challenge if teamed together!

Across Japan: February Starts with a Steam Whistle

  

As Kurofune Raikou was added to Asian White ver. on February 1st, punctually as always for Namco Originals.

Next is the February Facebook Tournament across February 6-14, which will be covering half of the Chinese New Year's named days. If you are free of family gatherings and round table meals, get to an arcade room to play Sugar Song and Bitter Step Oni (★8) or Lost One no Goukoku Muzukashii (★7) to snatch a spot on the leaderboards, to be released on the 17th.

Link to original post (Kurofune Raikou)
Link to original post (February Facebook Tournament)