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Saturday, January 31, 2015

Song of the Week! 31 January 2015


Truth be told, the early image we got of the February Don Challenge was already posted online two day prior to the January Taiko mini-stream! Based on the Jet Pilot outfit's looks, Nigelliusnitrox tried to guess the related Don Challenge song...but it was a brand new song instead. Better luck next time!

Let's see what was his guess for the last Kimidori DonChare song.

Taiko postcards from the Game Party Japan 2015

 

As usual, here's our quick, visual-based recap about the 1-hour show from the usual Taiko Team live-streamers at this year's edition of the Game Party Japan event. There's little to know more from the previous takeaways, but nonetheless it's worth a separate page for some extra stuff. Off we go!

Quick Takeaways: Tokaigi 2015 Livestream

With a significantly shorter schedule than any previous streams, and a main focus on gauntlets with the live audience, there is significantly less to recap and this Quick Takeaways might be our only scope. Still, enjoy some nonetheless large news:

Full coverage: Taiko postcards from the Game Party Japan 2015
  • Daifuku failed 3 tries on Natsu Matsuri, aww :(
  • Taiko no Tatsujin Murasaki ver. announced
  • February DonChare: Jikuuchou Sousa 2-ka (時空庁捜査2課), sequel to Jikuu 1-ka
  • February monthly outfit: Jet Pilot

from AC0 main site

Taiko no Tatsujin: Murasaki Ver.


Kimidori's upgrade was announced today in the January 31st (midnight) livestream by the Taiko Team! Its name?

Taiko no Tatsujin Murasaki Version (ムラサキVer.)!

This time, Taiko moves to a predominantly purple color scheme; something it has not done before. Looks a lot classier than its predecessors in terms of theme! Currently we have no idea what new songs are on it, but it's slated for March 2015.

Japanese players will be able to test it out for themselves this coming February 14th, at the Mekuhari Messe. Look forward to more info and perhaps the first footage of Murasaki Version in action!

Friday, January 30, 2015

Taiko Plus - Introducing the Popular Song Pack 20

iPhone スクリーンショット 1

We are getting another Taiko-related stream session in 5 hours, yet the news just keep flooding the official Donder page! The latest of those is about the latest Taiko Plus song pack.

Twitter Snippets (30 January 2015) - The End of an Edible Battle


Two days ago, the recent Taiko x Meiji collaboration came to an end, and with that the Mushroom versus Bamboo Shoots arcade feud as well. But who actually won?

Emerging victorious since the very start of the competition, the Bamboo faction managed to stand alone as the ultimate winner of the feud! As such, the 'Bamboo Shoots Chibi-Don' (たけのこの里 ちびどん) outfit piece will be permanently unlocked for all the Bamboo supporters who made the victory possible!

As the true custom part will be put up soon, Takemoto has warned that the placeholder icon he put on Donder Hiroba for selecting the outfit piece will cause a temporary change for Don-chan, turning him into... a bamboo shoot?!? Man, talk about bragging rights. Rest assured, the real outfit piece will be available soon.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

First Videos of Kimidori Game Version 11.xx's New Songs

A little bit later than usual, but here we go again! here's a first look at the Oni charts of the newly-released songs on Japanese Kimidori.

Namco Taiko Blog (29 January 2015) - Taiko x Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls collab, part 2


Here we are with another 'end-of-the-month' blog entry, which (for a change) isn't about the next month's Don Challenge goods... Instead, here are additional details about the in-house collaboration which is starting today!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Across Japan/Twitter Snippets: One Year of Asian Drumming

Time flying is serious business (just ask Takkun). And at the one anniversary of the HD Taiko arcade expanding to the greater Asian region, Takemoto drops a stream of thoughts on the past year with the Asian version. And Xiaolongbao.


Monday, January 26, 2015

Common Shorthand Names for Taiko no Tatsujin Songs

Sometimes in life it is not convenient to say/spell/type out the whole song title and titles get abbreviated. Sometimes it is just the funny and/or catchy result of bad conversion into kanji by common Japanese typing systems. Whatever way these come by, there has been quite some iconic shorthand names for Taiko no Tatsujin songs that gained popularity over the years. Here we list a number of them with accompanying notes and explanations.

**Incomplete as of now. Do tell us if you have more information!**

Sunday, January 25, 2015

[RUMOR] - Taiko 3DS 2's next DLC song pack

As we have reported in the previous days, we had in this week our last DLC pack for the latest portable Taiko video-game with an additional Story mode chapter, which ultimately brought us 8 new songs (one of which is Story mode-exclusive), 2 Ura modes, a brand new boss-exclusive song mashup and an aftermath Boss Rush mode, supplied by the in-game avatar of Taiko Team member Sasaoka.

With all this stuff in one pack, you might think DLCs are no more, after so much content...

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Song of the Week! 24 January 2015


Even if really easy songs are becoming rarer and rarer in our journey through the third arcade generation (and all the derivative console games after it), that doesn't mean they are gone for good (and with the ever increasing difficulty, older songs would drop into these easy ranks too)! Today's feature is the latest 2* Oni to be released.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Namco Taiko Blog (24 January 2014) - Taiko no Tatsujin x Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls collab!


A surprise blog update doesn't happen on Saturdays that often, let alone about collaboration breaking news! It's sure no surprise to Taiko games at this point though, as they're getting even more Idolm@ster content, thanks to its latest sub-series.

Yozakura Ryouran Kanshasai


The January 2015 DLC pack for Taiko 3DS2, containing the final Extra Story chapter, is just full of surprises. First we get Sacred Ruin Ura, an unannounced modification to an existing song on the 3DS songlist which is playable on normal mode, and one which Etou uses to challenge you in the story. Then there's the unannounced appearance of Kat-chan to Mariko no Ekaki Uta in the Story Mode, not playable in the regular songlist but appears with a Full Combo requirement in the story chapter so you can still technically play it all the way to the end.

Both are repeatable, which is a welcome addition.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS THING. THE BOSS SONG OF THE STORY CHAPTER.

Look at that title! On first glance, the kanji-heavy title's first and last letters make you think that it's just Yozakura Shanikusai, but it's not.

It's "Yozakura Ryouran Kanshasai" (夜桜繚乱感謝祭), a mishmash of two different songs, one of which it itself a fusion of two songs! Yozakura and Hyakka Ryouran interleave with one another to create a really, really annoying boss song with all of Timedyne's sadistic obstacles and tricks. And he has like 20,000 HP; the number only starts dropping from 9999 once the meter is drained to roughly  half.



As expected, this thing is like Time to dine II, in that it's exclusively played as the boss battle song and cannot be found on the regular songlist. It's a crazy challenge and most likely you could play through the whole thing without beating Timedyne EX even if your team is fully Lv50; he's that tough.

Another thing to note is the phrase 'kansha' (感謝) in the title, it means 'to give thanks'.

SO THIS IS THE TAIKO TEAM'S IDEA OF HOW TO SAY 'THANK YOU FOR PLAYING'. GOOD JOB GUYS, YOU'VE TOTALLY BOWLED ME OVER.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Taiko 3DS2 Surprise: Sacred Ruin Ura and Kat-chan no Ekaki Uta

The January 2015 DLC pack is released today, but not as advertised. It seems that there's more to this pack than what the Taiko Team let us know!

From the livestream and on the DLC pack info in Taiko 3DS2, it shows seven songs and one Ura, all of them matsuri-themed. But what neither of them told us was that there was one more song, and one more Ura...for an existing song in 3DS2's default list!

Introducing, Sacred Ruin Ura!


Just like Picopico Ruin emulated all of Sacred Ruin's notecharts, it's only natural that this new Ura is identical to Picopico's own Ura, also containing 1000 notes. The only difference is the music.

The song that wasn't on the list is Kat-chan no Ekaki Uta; which actually isn't playable on the song select screen, but rather, Kat-chan will be present in Story Mode and challenge you with this song. It's also replayable (thanks to Lokamp for the info!)

This DLC might just be the best value ever!

Across Japan: January Tournament Results

 

A quick post on the January Facebook Tournament results! Hailing on from the Donder Festival tournament, Hong Kong's Garnet again triumphs both competitions, with almost DFC performances. Remember February's tourney would be announced on February 11 and starts 14th~22nd!

Link to original post
PS. We realize sometimes we might be butchering some of those names. If you are the person in question, please do tell us and we'll fix it ASAP.

Namco Taiko Blog (January 22 2015) - Battle Conference! Double-padded Gauntlets


More news of the January 31 livestream! As a color code, new things will be in red.

Livestream Links
January 31: http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv206305947 (Taiko Team is here 11~12am)
February 1: http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv206308735 (No Taiko here, but more Namco in general)

Padding the Gauntlets
The challenges announced last week gets extra kicks to spice up the event!
  • Daifuku's Gauntlet: Help me clear Natsu Matsuri Muzukashii Oni!
    Not the best player in the Team, Daifuku really wants to be better! Give her advice on how to proceed, now that she can manage Natsu Matsuri Futsuu.
    Addendum: If Daifuku can take a step further and even clear Natsu Matsuri Oni, everyone will receive the title part "Daifuku" (大福) for the advice!
  • Masubuchi's Gauntlet: Tell me your instant Intro-dons!
    What song(s) would you instantly recognize just by listening a bit of the intro? Do tell!
    Addendum: The intro quiz has prizes! Live audience and Nicolive viewers alike can have a chance of winning physical prizes for correctly answering! (Priority-wise live audience would have a better chance of scoring goodies, because they came all the way.)
  • Takemoto's Gauntlet: Surprise me with Taiko pics!
    Send via Twitter your photos with a Taiko no Tatsujin twist! Include the hashtag #タケモトからの挑戦状, your name and the title and description of the photo.
Make your timeshift appointments, send in your pics (by January 25) and ideas, and we will see you at the stream.

PS. WHF this weekend: Day 1 with Etou and Day 2 with Takemoto. See them there too!

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

RPG da-don is Closing Down



Not a spectacularly remarkable run, but Taiko no Tatsujin RPG da-don was a rather fresh twist from the rhythm game franchise onto the collection RPG bandwagon. For whatever reason though, Namco has decided to close down the service by the first quarter of 2015.

The service will official close on 12:00 (JPT) March 30, 2015. Before that, Fairy Gems will stop being sold from February 19 12:00 (JPT). Gems purchased before that can still be used all the way until March 30.

Namco Taiko Blog (January 21 2015) - Half of An Eleven: Kimidori Update Ver. 11.xx

Hello surprise blog update and firmware update! Here's a quick dose of Ver. 11.xx (second number undecided) to be released on January 29 (Thursday)!

New Songs
  •  SURPRISE-DRIVE 「仮面ライダードライブ」より from Kamen Rider Drive
  •  妖怪ウォッチ2 元祖/本家/真打 BGMメドレー
    Yokai Watch 2 Genso/Honke/Shin-uchi BGM Medley
  •  Help me, ERINNNNNN!! 東方Projectアレンジ ビートまりお Touhou Project Arrange; BeatMARIO
  •  Endless Seeker 東方Projectアレンジ A-One Touhou Project Arrange; A-One
We're updated with a latest Kamen Rider theme in the Anime department, and a Yokai Watch (game) BGM Medley that seems to run with the Pokemon Medley trend.

We are also having two of the four first-hand Touhou Arrange from last year's Autumn Reitaisai out officially. What about the Marisa outfit and the other two songs? They will be in for another time, so hold your horses just yet (we have held for so long anyway).

 
 

That was a little skimpy, especially considering Kimidori is almost... Eh? There's more? But not to be revealed for now? Oh well. =_=

Link to original post

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Mugen no Sora Lyrics


Composition: NYO (Silver Forest)
Arrangement NYO (Silver Forest)、Jupiter
Lyrics: ShibainuP (しばいぬP▽・×・▽) (Axis Planet)
Vocal: SAYA (Silver Forest)

Japanese lyrics sourced from Silver Forest's official site

3DS is now region-free! (somewhat)


 Since the 3DS was launched way back in 2011, it has gained a notorious reputation for being Nintendo's first fully region-locked handheld (yes I know about the DSi but that was only for a few select games). Many have tried to get rid of the annoying restriction through many means: starting petitions (which Nintendo didn't care about), hacking it (which went nowhere for the first few years, and even after it was hacked, the utility value was very low and not publically usable, see: Cubic Ninja exploit), or creating flashcards (Gateway 3DS, but has low firmware compatibility, is expensive, and also not widely available).

Then, just 2 days ago, Smealum, a top 3DS hacker, created something that embodies all the desirable aspects of a region lock bypass; it works on the latest firmware (currently), it's simple enough to use, doesn't involve installing any dodgy software into your 3DS (thus running the risk of corrupting/bricking the system), and doesn't leave any trace. With this, you can run any game, from any region, on your 3DS! It's almost too good to be true! Most importantly, in our context:

You can now play Taiko 3DS and Taiko 3DS2 on a US or EU 3DS!!!

The hack can be found here.

Obviously, Nintendo is not going to take this lying down and will probably patch it in a future firmware update (it also doesn't work on the New Nintendo 3DS or the New XL). Most likely the hack will be updated together with it, so keep a close eye on the scene if you have any doubts!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

List of Taiko no Tatsujin songs in Japanese Karaoke services


While the main sources for enjoying original songs from Taiko no Tatsujin games are the very same games (and all the officially-licensed merchandise after them and the artists behind them), a certain amount of Taiko songs can also be enjoyed through karaoke machines, another long-time staple in Japan public buildings for the spare time, such as bar/taverns and restaurants. So far, it's possible to find Taiko-related songs under three main brands: JOYSOUND, UGA and DAM Station (DAMステーション). Most of these songs come directly from the second Playstation 2 Anime-themed videogame, but other iconic songs from the series appear as well.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Song of the Week! 17 January 2015


General Nintendo gamers who have watched the previous, not-Japanese run of the Nintendo Direct presentation series are aware that the previously-exclusive 3DS title Puzzle & Dragons Z is coming this May to Europe and North America, together with a brand new Super Mario crossover game.

What better occasion for another P&D-oriented double feature?

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Namco Taiko Blog 2 (January 15 2015) - Battle Conference! First Taiko Team Live of the Year


Now that we are farther from the year-end, let's get monthly things back in schedule! Specifically, livestreams! Although things are a bit different for once.

In addition to the incoming World Hobby Fair appearances, Taiko no Tatsujin has one more event to appear at for this January: The Game Party Japan 2015(闘会議2015; Tokaigi 2015). And since there is no reason not to take the livestream out of the usual studio and star at the Namco Bandai booth then, so they will. Tune in January 31 (Sat) at 11:00~12:00 (am).

Let's take things literally for a moment: since it is the Battle Conference, the Team is throwing down a few gauntlets for the crowd to contribute:

  • Daifuku's Gauntlet: Help me clear Natsu Matsuri Muzukashii!
    Not the best player in the Team, Daifuku really wants to be better! Give her advice on how to proceed, now that she can manage Natsu Matsuri Futsuu.
  • Masubuchi's Gauntlet: Tell me your instant Intro-dons!
    What song(s) would you instantly recognize just by listening a bit of the intro? Do tell!
  • Takemoto's Gauntlet: Surprise me with Taiko pics!
    Send via Twitter your photos with a Taiko no Tatsujin twist! Include the hashtag #タケモトからの挑戦状, your name and the title and description of the photo.
Well what about Etou? Does he have a gauntlet too? He takes the emcee this time, but maybe he has something exclusive to say...?

Again stay tuned to all the events!

Taiko no Tatsujin x Assassination Classroom collab!




太鼓の達人 プラス

Taiko games are no stranger to create special campaigns tied in with popular Anime series, both internal and external to the Bandai animation division. However, today's newly-announced Anime collaboration ties in portable mobile/Apple devices together for the first time!

Namco Taiko Blog (15 January 2015): Huis Ten Bosch Cup photo album


The Taiko Team was kept busy last week with the 3D Projection Mapping Taiko no Tatsujin Huis Ten Bosch Cup (phew!) Taiko competition. Takemoto, Daifuku and Etou were on the scene to supervise the event and take some photos!

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Across Japan/Twitter Snippets (Jan 14 2015): New Songs and Tourney Results

New song image from Asian ver. Facebook

And we have two Across Japan posts in one week. Jolly Asian Donder is jolly.

First: new songs! Again later to the party, but Asian Donders will soon be able to play  Du-Du-Wa DO IT!! Hikaru Yami and  Pokemon ORAS Champion Medley on the arcade! In fact it is just tomorrow, January 15!

And then in tournament news: The Asian area and aggregated results for last year-end's Donder Festival tournament are in! Taking first in Asia and 27th overall is Hong Kong's Garnet, who is only a dozen thousand points away from the lead and maxed Yami no Mahou Shoujo. The rest of the Asian results can be seen at the Asian ver. Facebook.

As a close to a series of tweets, Takemoto also hopes to see a time when Japanese and Asian Donders can meet and exchange sticks (Taiko skills) in reality instead of just online. This would be quite a sight to wait for!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Across Japan/Plurk Snippets: Thus Begin The Journey of The Depth

Sourced from this Plurk

We once again turn to veteran Taiwanese Taiko enthusiast Woolala for today's scope, who has just returned from a trip to Fukuoka, i.e. the same region with Huis Ten Bosch. In fact he also competed in the Huis Ten Bosch Cup, and can be seen in the group photo we mentioned last Sunday.

And surly enough, he of course has done the favor of Donders towards the greater Asia and brought back the seed of Yuugen no Ran. The photo heading this post was a play on the Asian version Kimidori with a friend. (Note the English warning label)

That's all exciting and all, but you might wonder: "What about regions other than Taiwan? Do we have to send a guy to Taiwan to get it?" According to an earlier conversation with him, the further transmission of Yuugen no Ran can actually be done via migrating Banapassport card data, thus eliminating the need of physical travel.

Contact/stay tuned to your local Donder community for when they get a copy!

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Wrapping Up: Yuugen no Ran and Huis Ten Bosch



And the Donder that DFCed Yuugen no Ran from yesterday's tweet posted a video of his DFC play. Again 'nuff said, except to marvel at the excellent motor-like hand at work. How much longer after will we have the next exciting first DFC (Donkama I am looking at you)?

 
Group photos reposted from Huis Ten Bosch's official photo set on Facebook

Also as last night's Huis Ten Bosch Cup tournament with the 3D Projection Mapping Taiko no Tatsujin also wraps up, Huis Ten Bosch has released a photo set on Facebook, showing key moments of the event. Check them out!

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Song of the Week! 10 January 2015


Today's feature has a special spin into it, as our blog has reached another important milestone: since we put the Visitor Counter add-on, this blog has been visited over a million times!

As a result, here's a Namco Original song that became infamous in recent times for a certain grinding task... possibly taking as long as reaching our first million-view goal!

[Breaking] Twitter Snippets (January 10 2015) - Yuugen no Ran, Donderful-Combo-ed

'Nuff said, really. Though it's kinda nice it is achieved on the first (theoretical) day that Asian ver. Donders get to play Yuugen no Ran.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Across Japan: January Facebook Tournament


As with the rest of the Taiko Team crew, the Asian ver. Facebook page is also back and running! The first news of the year is the songs for January's Monthly Facebook Tournament: the AJURIKA duo Evidence of evil Oni (10★) and The Carnivorous Carnival Muzukashii (7★).

As it should have been obvious, Evidence of evil is already opened to Asian ver. players on January 1. And for the purposes of this tournament, The Carnivorous Carnival will be available free of unlocking (which is Full Combo-ing Taiko Time Ura Oni or any diff of Densetsu no Matsuri with Detarame on by the way) during the January 10~18 competing times.

Here's the January schedule again:
  • Song candidates Announcement: January 7 (this!)
  • Tourney Commences: January 10~18
  • Results Announcement: January 21

And while we're at it, let's also check out the February schedule, which is pushed a bit later into the month than before:
  • Song candidates Announcement: February 11
  • Tourney Commences: February 14~22
  • Results Announcement: February 25
By the way, the Team is thinking of songs along the theme of the Chinese New Year. If you have suggestions, you know where to put them! (hint: not here)

And don't you worry about last year-end's Donder Festival in Asia tournament: The results will be in soon. Stay tuned!

Namco Taiko Blog (8 January 2014) - Taiko Tournaments in Early 2015

In line with the last few years, to have some slow news features upon a new year's beginning is a surely-expected trend for gaming by this time, and Taiko games are no exception. Today, for example, Etou's Taiko Blog entry is about the two 'minor' Winter tournaments for Taiko arcades: the Huis Ten Bosch Cup and the elementary school-oriented World Hobby Fair '15 tourney.

Since we already mentioned the former before in our blog, now we're having a quick look to the latter's pre-finals schedule. As stated in the past, there will be five mini-tourneys in four local fairs for the youngest Taiko players, in order to pick the contenders for the Grand Champion prize at the WHF later this February. The tourneys are set in Nagoya (Jan. 18th), Tokyo (Jan. 24th/25th), Fukuoka (Feb. 1st) and Osaka (Feb. 8th) under the Bandai Namco stand, where either Etou or Takemoto will be the main host for the event. Stop by and say hello to these Taiko Team personalities if you happen to visit these stands in the next weeks!

Link to original post

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Made By You: DRAGON KILLER and more

After a long hiatus, the Made By You segment makes its grand return! Made By You will now be coming at you every two weeks, every Wednesday. This week, we'll be looking at another 3 maps.



From Sayaka-, previously known as dialgadu77, we have a hard rock song from bemani game REFLEC BEAT limelight. 96 and Mutsuhiko Izumi, two of the most prominent guitar artists from bemani's in-house stable of artists, team up to give this difficult rock song.

The chart's no slouch, making full use of the frantic percussion to give a nice 10* rock drum chart.



crystalsuicune provides another nice traditional-esque bemani song, with a chart reminiscent of the Kikyoku series. This song originates from beatmania IIDX, and has a chart comprising of simple clusters and makes for a good chart to practice.



A unique chart, as it's 10 minutes long! This song is a remix of the song 'goldenslaughterer' from visual novel Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, and provides for a long marathon chart. Will your endurance hold up for the whole song?

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Random: Super-Blind Play



You've probably seen a Taiko blindfold play before, where a player puts on a blindfold and attempts to play Taiko using only the music as cues. A test of memorization. But this particular blind play will blow your mind.

In here, the player isn't wearing any blindfold; the SCREEN OF THE ARCADE CABINET IS BROKEN. Everything else, including Banapass network services, work as intended, and the players in the video work out menu navigation through the speaker at the center (hence why the player is seen to be leaning to the center most of the time). Thank god for Don-chan's helpful vocal cues!

Three songs were played. Kita Saitama 2000, Hurtling Boys and Music Revolver (Ura). The last song was an FC. Super skills!

Thanks to Jia Yi from Taiko no Tatsujin Malaysia for the find!

Monday, January 5, 2015

The Almost Transient Mysteries: Rumors of the God of War

**Note: Rumors abound**

Nope, we are not getting Kratos. We are talking about the rumor that a title "God of War" (戦神, Ikusagami) might exist in Taiko no Tatsujin Kimidori, possibly added just last update. It was not clear how to exactly obtain it as of now though.

The question was also brought to the Taiko Team Twitter last year-end, and Etou was reluctant to answer to just one person instead of officially releasing the info to the public openly.

Currently wikihouse's list of titles puts a placeholder for this under "Sharera Master" (シャレラの達人) and before "He who Hunted the Double Dragon" (双竜を討ちし者, FC Souryuu no Ran Oni). This is recalling of the fact that "God of War" was a runner-up nomination in the livestream vote that "Sharera Master" emerged, for Full Combo-ing Xa Ura Oni.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Yuugen no Ran -Album New Mix-



The players have voted, and thus Yuugen no Ran was included in Tatsh Music Circle's latest album, FRONTIER! We've known this since mid-December, but what does the Album New Mix sound like?

...Pretty much the same as the in-game Yuugen no Ran, except with the addition of faint Taiko no Tatsujin don and kat SFX in the background, corresponding to Yuugen's sadistic Oni chart. You can almost hear the screams of players as they try to keep up with the impossible 300 BPM streams!

At least it's of a really high quality; Yuugen has never been released on any soundtrack prior to this. Enjoy!

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Song of the Week! 3 January 2015


A new year is upon us, and with that is the perspective of many song additions for both arcade and console games. For the latter, we are getting a peculiar DLC pack for Taiko 3DS 2 near the end of this month, featuring all songs that are somewhat related to Matsuri (祭),the Japanese word for 'festival'.

While the theme chosen is fine, the songs in the pack may sound quite stagnant to some people, as you can find all of them (with a few exceptions of course) in at least 3 or 4 Taiko console games in the past 5 years! Why don't choose something Matsuri-related that doesn't come around very often? Something like...

Friday, January 2, 2015

Feature: 2014 - The year in hindsight


A new year is upon us! A time to look forward to future events, and recollect our memories of the past 12 months.

And what an awesome 12 months it was; so much happened for our beloved Taiko no Tatsujin, it rivals even the cherished 10th Anniversary events! So many new releases, events and collaborations have occurred on both arcade and console that it's hard to keep track of them all! Let's look at 2014 month by month, shall we?

First video of Shiny Kung-fu Revival


For t+pazolite, composing techno-sounding songs about kung-fu is not something new, but this is the first one for this trend to come into Taiko games! Thus, meet this month's unlockable Don Challenge song.

Previously announced in the most recent Taiko Team livestream, Shiny Kung-fu Revival (4/6/7/9) clocks in with a very aggressive beats-per-minute ratio, making room for both stamina-consuming cluster sequences and a few 1st-time jumpscares in form of sudden large Kat notes. Watch out!

For the record, we have yet another Nam-Combo for the Oni mode, showed in the video above.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

New Year's Eve Final Quest Livstream Recap

Happy New Year! Although people say we should be looking forward at a new start, we are going to look back to the mega livestream happened on New Year's Eve, because there is good stuff in it.

Yami no Mahou Shoujo Lyrics


Composition: NYO (Silver Forest)
Arrangement NYO (Silver Forest)、Jupiter
Lyrics: ShibainuP (しばいぬP▽・×・▽) (Axis Planet)
Vocal: Aki (アキ) (Silver Forest)

Japanese lyrics sourced from Silver Forest's official site