Song of the Week! 21 July 2012

Europe-themed week this time! We'll start with a user request. Their titles may not be familiar to everyone, but they're quite popular songs around the world!

Taiko 3DS password mode

Remember that hidden password mode in Taiko DS3 that unlocked a bunch of costumes, Taiko sounds and the McDonalds song? Namco is at it again for Taiko 3DS, although the system is somewhat different in that it's not mutually exclusive to McDonalds.

The password is a ten-character sequence, and there are six buttons for you to press. Simply tap them and if the ten-character sequence is correct, you'll unlock some stuff! According to the official site, the passwords unlock Taiko sounds and a hint for the Story mode's 21st treasure. No new songs? Fingers crossed, maybe there will be one.



The four passwords announced will come in four different magazines, the August 2012 issue of Ciao, CoroCoro Comics, and the September 2012 issues of Famitsu DS+Wii and Dengeki Nintendo for Kids. The last of the magazines are released today, in fact. Let's see when the Japanese netizens will leak the passwords! Also remember there's a fifth password in Kimi to Hibiku Harmony on the song selection screen of Taiko 0.5.

Thanks to Lokamp for the find!

Taiko 3DS first week sales and Famitsu review score

Media Create figures for the week ending July 15th, 2012.

01./01. [NDS] Pokemon Black 2 / White 2 (Pokemon Co.) - 122.242 / 2.289.408 (-34%)
02./00. [3DS] Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb (Bandai Namco Games) - 65.462 / NEW
03./00. [3DS] Pocket Soccer League: Calciobit (Nintendo) - 26.449 / NEW
04./06. [3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D (Square Enix) - 18.245 / 812.452 (-34%)
05./03. [3DS] Little Battlers eXperience: Explosive Boost (Level 5) - 18.152 / 72.507 (-67%)
06./04. [PSP] Toriko: Gourmet Survival! 2 (Bandai Namco Games) - 15.187 / 53.827 (-61%)
07./02. [3DS] Etrian Odyssey IV: Denshou no Kyojin (Atlus) - 14.639 / 110.145 (-85%)
08./00. [PSV] Time Travelers (Level 5) - 9.332 / NEW
09./11. [WII] Mario Party 9 (Nintendo) - 9.090 / 481.414 (-18%)
10./00. [3DS] Time Travelers (Level 5) - 9.054 / NEW

Taiko 3DS lands in an impressive 2nd place in the top ten for its opening week! In four days of sales too; the last time any Taiko game reached 2nd place in the weekly chart was last year (Taiko PSP DX). DX had more units sold on week one than 3DS though, this could be because the userbase for 3DS is still growing in Japan. The DS userbase who bought Dororon! Youkai Daikessen! and Nanatsu no Shima no Daibouken are transitioning in nicely, Media Create reports.

Well it could have been first place, but it's up against the eternal sales juggernaut that is Pokemon, which just came out a month ago. Maybe next game.

For the record, all the 10th anniversary Taiko no Tatsujin console games are in the Top 50 this week! Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Ketteiban is in 25th place while the much older Taiko no Tatsujin Portable DX is still hanging on at 45th! Group photo everyone, nice work!

Launch week comparison:

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 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 3DS: 8/8/8/7 = 31/40 (same score as Wii 4)

Namco Taiko Blog 2 (19 July 2012) - Taiko no Tatsujin, Game Version 5.00

Finally, the Taiko Team decided to make official the release date to Taiko no Tatsujin's massive upgrade kit (which is July 25th, next Wednesday), as well as revealing other little details.

But first, let's see a clear shot of how the upgraded arcade will look like!

Namco Taiko Blog (19 July 2012) - Taiko PSP's REAL July DLCs

Do you remember the leaked set of five songs from 2ch we covered one week ago? Well, remove it from your mind: it was a hoax! Today's 2nd Taiko Team blog entry showed the real 6-song pack which will be published next week, on July 26th. Wanna know what's inside?

Namco Taiko Blog (12 July 2012) - We missed stuff (...again)

 

On the release day for Taiko 3DS (which also happened to be a Thursday), a blog entry from the Taiko Team was published with the Taiko staff talking about the new game. We missed the posting last week because of all the excitement surrounding the various unlockable songs and new charts in the game. Now that the dust has settled, let's see this late post.

pikaby asks: Best 'boss' song?

Starting from Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin on Nintendo DS, there has been a rhythm based combat-driven story mode in almost every subsequent console Taiko, and each of the bosses have their own theme songs which you can play to.

Taiko 3DS adds another awesome final boss Namco Original song to the list of already awesome boss songs, but how do you think it matches up with the previous ones? Which of these Story Mode songs do you think is the best, in terms of song quality, or notechart, or even just the general boss character design and theme?

Warera Muteki no Dokon Dan (Taiko DS2)
Yami no Tamashii (Taiko DS2)
Jigoku no Daiou (Taiko DS3)
Hikari no Kanata e (Taiko Wii 2) <- link is short version
Waruru-sama no Uta o Kike! (Taiko Wii 2)
Cycle of Rebirth (Taiko PSP DX)
Maou no Showtime (Taiko 3DS)

I have to say, Maou no Showtime is a real earworm and very hard to get rid of once it's stuck in your head, mainly because it's just so powerful sounding, and the notechart is epic too. Hikari no Kanata e had the same effect on me back in 2009. And the best stream too. Yeah, best deathstream in a boss song ever.