The Bankslammer
Member
Okay, Pro controller stuff:
For one thing, I think jumping in on both console Taiko and the Pro controller all at once is a bit much. If you like the 3DS games, the first thing I would advise is picking up Wii 4 or 5 (or maybe both), a Classic Controller Pro if you don't have one (my personal favorite pad for Taiko out of all pads, using Control Type B), and just playing for a bit and seeing if it hooks you.
Anyways, without a doubt, the Pro controller is the best approximation of arcade Taiko at home (and it plugs into the Wii Remote so it works on both Wii and Wii U games). It's kinda hard to illustrate how sensitive it is, especially relative to the arcade game which I haven't played in 4 years, but perhaps this video will help convince you, lol. For my purposes, it's been plenty sensitive (if not too sensitive at times, but that's just because I have bad form). I've had a very positive experience with mine.
Touching on some negatives, I do recommend a few things along with it. Namely the bachi it comes with, while nice and seem a decent emulation of the arcade ones without being wooden, are heavy for my liking, so I bought MyBachi to use with it. The face does also smudge a bit after continued use, and while that's just an aesthetic thing and doesn't affect function, it still bugs me so I use a cloth and rubber band to cover the drum face. Also I didn't really have any tables at a good height to play it on so I bought a cheap 36" folding table that I now use for all my arcade rhythm games, lol.
Most of all, you do have to consider the price for what you're getting. iirc it's, like, $300-$350 shipped, and you have to accept the possibility that the next Taiko release may not support it (cuz we know nothing about the NX or if Taiko will even be on it) and the only games it'll work with are the 5 Wii games and 3 Wii U games (plus PC sims I guess lol). It's also worth comparing to a modded Tatacon, which can be more or less just as sensitive and costs about $50-$60 for the Tatacon plus let's say $10-$30 for whatever you use to mod it. The premium you pay for the pro controller is for out the box sensitivity and quality without the hassle and possibility of failure associated with modding (which let me tell you is very real, lol) and for the fact that it's damn big (as close as you can get at home to the arcade) and has other QoL stuff like adjustable angle, the non-slip mat, bachi that are a step up from the stock ones, etc. So it's up to you to consider how you value that.
... but I mean, all in all I'm very happy with mine. I've been able to take playing on the drum way more seriously since I bought it and it's been super fun to use rather than the frustrating experience that playing on stock Tatacon is. I just figure that for such a large purchase, it's worth seriously considering alternatives and negatives before jumping on it.
For one thing, I think jumping in on both console Taiko and the Pro controller all at once is a bit much. If you like the 3DS games, the first thing I would advise is picking up Wii 4 or 5 (or maybe both), a Classic Controller Pro if you don't have one (my personal favorite pad for Taiko out of all pads, using Control Type B), and just playing for a bit and seeing if it hooks you.
Anyways, without a doubt, the Pro controller is the best approximation of arcade Taiko at home (and it plugs into the Wii Remote so it works on both Wii and Wii U games). It's kinda hard to illustrate how sensitive it is, especially relative to the arcade game which I haven't played in 4 years, but perhaps this video will help convince you, lol. For my purposes, it's been plenty sensitive (if not too sensitive at times, but that's just because I have bad form). I've had a very positive experience with mine.
Touching on some negatives, I do recommend a few things along with it. Namely the bachi it comes with, while nice and seem a decent emulation of the arcade ones without being wooden, are heavy for my liking, so I bought MyBachi to use with it. The face does also smudge a bit after continued use, and while that's just an aesthetic thing and doesn't affect function, it still bugs me so I use a cloth and rubber band to cover the drum face. Also I didn't really have any tables at a good height to play it on so I bought a cheap 36" folding table that I now use for all my arcade rhythm games, lol.
Most of all, you do have to consider the price for what you're getting. iirc it's, like, $300-$350 shipped, and you have to accept the possibility that the next Taiko release may not support it (cuz we know nothing about the NX or if Taiko will even be on it) and the only games it'll work with are the 5 Wii games and 3 Wii U games (plus PC sims I guess lol). It's also worth comparing to a modded Tatacon, which can be more or less just as sensitive and costs about $50-$60 for the Tatacon plus let's say $10-$30 for whatever you use to mod it. The premium you pay for the pro controller is for out the box sensitivity and quality without the hassle and possibility of failure associated with modding (which let me tell you is very real, lol) and for the fact that it's damn big (as close as you can get at home to the arcade) and has other QoL stuff like adjustable angle, the non-slip mat, bachi that are a step up from the stock ones, etc. So it's up to you to consider how you value that.
... but I mean, all in all I'm very happy with mine. I've been able to take playing on the drum way more seriously since I bought it and it's been super fun to use rather than the frustrating experience that playing on stock Tatacon is. I just figure that for such a large purchase, it's worth seriously considering alternatives and negatives before jumping on it.