Totakeke: the secret song of Nintendo

So, do you think you’re a hardcore Nintendo fan? Well then, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to find the hidden signatures of the sound designer Kazumi Totaka who is known for his work in games such as Animal Crossing, old Zelda titles, as well as several Mario and Yoshi games, among others. However, for the rest of us who have not yet reached the highest ranks in the Nintendo fan hierarchy, we got a little help with the video we found floating around the internet.

For those who are unfamiliar with what we’re talking about, what we’re referring to is the small melody that Totaka has been placing in his games for the past ten years. These melodies are similar to Easter eggs, and can only be “unlocked” or listened to in certain conditions. As shown in this video, these conditions include going to an NPC‘s house and staying there for a certain amount of time, or staying at the Game Over screen for more than two minutes, and so on.

This “feature” is actually nothing useful. It will not give you a BFG, and it will not give you infinite lives during your next Hyrule adventure, however, this does not make it any less fascinating, as we realize that a man has placed his mark on gaming history. It may not be as obvious or as grand as Nobuo Uematsu‘s scores, but its discreetness adds to the fascination as the hunt for this melody goes on.

Now that we are in the next generation of gaming, with the Wii coming along, perhaps we all should start paying a bit more attention to the credits. Who knows? Maybe that next Wii or DS game that you’ve pre-ordered contains a little piece of Totaka. Please do tell us when you find him.

In the meantime, to get you started on the search for Totakeke, here’s a video which shows good places to begin.

Via PhilBond

So, do you think you’re a hardcore Nintendo fan? Well then, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to find the hidden signatures of the sound designer Kazumi Totaka who is known for his work in games such as Animal Crossing, old Zelda titles, as well as several Mario and Yoshi games, among others. However, for the rest of us who have not yet reached the highest ranks in the Nintendo fan hierarchy, we got a little help with the video we found floating around the internet.

For those who are unfamiliar with what we’re talking about, what we’re referring to is the small melody that Totaka has been placing in his games for the past ten years. These melodies are similar to Easter eggs, and can only be “unlocked” or listened to in certain conditions. As shown in this video, these conditions include going to an NPC‘s house and staying there for a certain amount of time, or staying at the Game Over screen for more than two minutes, and so on.

This “feature” is actually nothing useful. It will not give you a BFG, and it will not give you infinite lives during your next Hyrule adventure, however, this does not make it any less fascinating, as we realize that a man has placed his mark on gaming history. It may not be as obvious or as grand as Nobuo Uematsu‘s scores, but its discreetness adds to the fascination as the hunt for this melody goes on.

Now that we are in the next generation of gaming, with the Wii coming along, perhaps we all should start paying a bit more attention to the credits. Who knows? Maybe that next Wii or DS game that you’ve pre-ordered contains a little piece of Totaka. Please do tell us when you find him.

In the meantime, to get you started on the search for Totakeke, here’s a video which shows good places to begin.

Via PhilBond