Taiko no Tatsujin
Spoiler alert: it’s filled with one human, 10 pounds of sweat, and at least a year’s worth of back pain.
One of Japan’s most famous gamers tops all other performances we’ve ever seen by marching and drumming up a storm, clearing the song without looking at the screen.
You won’t want to take this guy on in the ring or at the arcade.
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Drumming game Taiko no Tatsujin has become something of a poster child for Japanese video arcades over the years, with pretty much every piece of movie or TV footage which shows a Japanese game centre including shots of either smiling schoolgirls or wildly flailing pros thumping away on one of the game’s giant plastic taiko drums in time with the cutesy on-screen icons and J-pop beats.
Up until now, diehard fans of the series had to make do with flimsy miniature drum controllers for their phones and games consoles whenever they couldn’t make it to an actual arcade to challenge their top scores, but peripheral maker Hori has just unveiled the ultimate home taiko experience in the form of the Taiko no Tatsujin Controller Pro – an enormous drum controller being rolled out for the launch of upcoming Wii and Wii U title Taiko no Tatsujin: Tokumori!
Sure, you’ve all heard of Dance Dance Revolution (affectionately called DDR by stomp dancing fans everywhere). But how about Taiko no Tatsujin? Translated as “Drum Master,” this arcade game gives players a faux taiko drum to bang out a predetermined rhythm, doling out points for perfect on-time hits. It’s been around in Japan since 2001, but there seems to be no shortage of amazing drummers turning up in game centers across Japan. The photo above, showing two enthusiastic taiko drummers playing the game with movements that are the equivalent of using that extra bar to launch yourself in the air while playing DDR, surfaced on Twitter just this week…which got us thinking, how many other crazy drummers have been spotted in Japanese game centers?
The taiko drum simulating rhythm game Taiko No Tatsujin has been a hit in game centers and home living rooms for quite some time now. Even the iOS app has fared well, currently standing as the 25th top grossing application on the Japanese App Store.
Still, playing it on a touch screen doesn’t quite match the experience of using a physical drum and sticks. You’d probably be too afraid of screwing up the screen by wailing on it too hard. That’s why Bandai will be releasing a Taiko No Tatsujin drum controller for use with Apple devices.
Walk into any amusement center with video game cabinets and you’re bound to run into a Taiko No Tatsujin machine, almost always with people young and old whacking away at it.
It’s a taiko (traditional Japanese drum) simulator rhythm game where you play J-Pop, classical or video game theme songs in the medium of taiko by hitting the drum in time with the various symbols that scroll by.
But for one guy playing at the Oni (demon) level of difficulty, it’s a brutal yet beautiful assault on the drums leaving spectators dazzled as they watched from a safe distance of about three meters.
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