Game Center CX

[samalis]

Anyone else watch this show? I started watching it and love it. Arino is fucking hilarious.

Brief description of the show: Arino aka the Chief (Kacho) gets tasked to clear a retro game to the endscreen in one sitting. Usually he has like 13 hours to do it. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses.

For those interested in watching episodes this site has a bunch subbed http://www.gamingcx.com/category/gccx

If you want more info on the show you can read more at SA forums.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...readid=3452856

Apparently the chick at SA does most of the fan subbing of the episodes.

[Kaisha]

Been watching an unhealthy amount of it lately also, almost caught up on everything that's been fan dubbed.

Kotaku's (badly voiced) announcer dub run of some episodes is getting a proper DVD release also, so I'm looking forward to that to show my support for the series......even though all the good shit is stripped out due to licensing reasons.

Nearly laughed to tears on the USA special...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...MES/usausa.jpg

Spoiler: show

Had no clue such a game that repeatedly shocks you existed
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ES/fester0.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...MES/fester.jpg

[samalis]

Yeah I'm looking forward to the dvd release, only because it has dual audio and subs as well. I can't stand the dubbed version, can't watch it at all.

[miokomioko]

I was such a fan of Bomberman, so watching him do just about every possible thing you possibly could to fuck yourself over was borderline frustrating.

[Hitoshura]

Some of my favorite episodes were the USA visit, Out of This World, Clock Tower, S.O.S, Zelda LTTP, Battletoads (needs sub), Donkey Kong Country (ditto).

[samalis]

Arino dump

Spoiler: show

[Kaisha]

I was such a fan of Bomberman, so watching him do just about every possible thing you possibly could to fuck yourself over was borderline frustrating.

He has the reflexes of a turtle. Makes for both groans and laughs depending on the game.

Some of my favorite episodes were the USA visit, Out of This World, Clock Tower, S.O.S, Zelda LTTP, Battletoads (needs sub), Donkey Kong Country (ditto).

SOS was the ship one with the ...........unpredictable AI you had to escort? I felt sorry for Arino on that one.

Spoiler: show

Some shit I been stealing from other discussion threads.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...gayogayoga.jpg

[EDIT] Damnit samalis, beat me to some of 'em.

[samalis]

Beat Takeshi is one of my favorite episodes, so good.

[Hitoshura]

He has the reflexes of a turtle. Makes for both groans and laughs depending on the game.


SOS was the ship one with the ...........unpredictable AI you had to escort? I felt sorry for Arino on that one.

YES haha, that's the one.

[samalis]

New episode out:

[Hitoshura]

Damn! It won't let me embed it with the time, go to 15:50. I have no idea if this is an episode of Game Center or not but it has the Kacho.. and this is too goddamn funny. A must watch if you are a huge fan.

[Correction]

It's not an episode of Game Center CX. It's Lincoln, one of Downtown's comedy shows. You may also know Downtown from the 'silent library' clips from years of olde.

[Kaisha]

Is that related to the show called Gaki no Tsukai, where a group of adults get ass smacked if they so much as smirk? Wish I could find a place to watch them, fucking hilarious stuff. Laughed my ass off at the non-stop slapping of Arino though, so thanks for posting that.

Also two more episodes for GCCX have been subbed this week, a quiz game, and Street Fighter 2010.


The Retro Game Master DVD set needs to hurry the heck up at any rate.

[Hitoshura]

NVM FOUND IT LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

[Kaisha]

Bumpin'. The NA disc release of Retro Game Master coming out September 18th, can pre-order it from Amazon.com for $40ish - http://www.amazon.com/Retro-Game-Mas...dp/B0087VCG2Y/

Not sure if it's specifically the Kotaku dubbed & subbed episodes in this release (dual-audio so you can shut off the dub). They streamed 12 episodes, but the Amazon details says this release includes 14, so I'm not sure where the extra two episodes come from. Region 1 at any rate, so sorry Europeans, unless you got a region-free player.

Also, new sub came out last night.

[Correction]

If it's called 'retro game master' then it's the hackjob that Kotaku was airing briefly.

[Eleven19]

Great show. We watched the Musashi episode the other night, 51 I think. Brutal game, he kept jokingly slamming some kinda floppy pig toy from Korea down. Then when he beat it he found out it had like a hard mode lmao. His staff had him do vs mode with them instead of playing the 2nd half.

[Kaisha]

If it's called 'retro game master' then it's the hackjob that Kotaku was airing briefly.

Outside of the ass narrator it was no more hacked apart than the Japanese DVD releases, which axed all the non-challenge content to my knowledge.

Licensing is a bitch, 'eh?

[Vandole]

Is this show easily available to find in hd? i can't stand watching the low quality 480p uploads on youtube. PM me with torrent link iffin so plox.

[Kaisha]

I don't think the majority of the show was even composited for HD viewing.

At any rate, posting here again since zari-gani did a translation on an interview with Arino recently, who also just happens to be the same person responsible for the translation of the episodes coming on the NA DVD release.

Spoilered for long:

Spoiler: show

+act mini Game Center CX interview with Shinya Arino
July 26, 2012

The DVD "Game Center CX in USA" will feature a director's cut of the BS SkyPerfecTV special aired in October of last year. Arino, when was the first time you hear about the USA filming?

"Every time they hand me ice cream on the show, it's to announce something big. That time, as usual, the staff handed me ice cream and I was eating it by the window. I ate the rock solid ice cream that just came out of the freezer the best I could. And then, "We've decided to go to America." For such a huge announcement, it was a pretty relaxed scene. (laugh)"

It's not often a variety show gets to go to America.

"Not these days, no."

Before going to America, did you know "Game Center CX" is popular overseas too?

"No, we had no idea. Last year Kotaku (famous American blog) began airing it on their site. I heard the server crashed the first day it aired. I don't know much about the Internet, so I'm not sure. (To Producer Kan) How many people came on to cause the crash?"

Kan: "We don't know the exact numbers."

"The producer doesn't know either. (laugh)"

Kan: "Kotaku is capable of handling that kind of response, yet the server went down. Everyone must have been waiting."

"I hear Kotaku was happy about that. Even though their server crashed. But when we were going to America, we figured 2-3 people would be great. We thought, as long as four of us can play versus games together."

After going all the way to America, were you nervous and hoping for at least a few people?

"If no one showed up, worst case scenario, I thought we could put (Director) Inoue in a blonde wig and try to pass him off as American. (laugh) And make him sound like he's speaking English. That's what I was picturing in my head. When we arrived in America, we first had a shoot in San Francisco. A place with lots of old games set up like a museum. We went to "Musée Mécanique." Then someone who looked to be in their late twenties was standing out front. Well, waiting in front of a business is normal, so I thought maybe they're meeting someone else, but they started talking to us. When I called the interpreter over, he said, 'They're a fan of the show and have been waiting for you, Arino.' I was like, 'No way.' Then a family with a baby stroller came up and said 'We watch the show too.' Then when we entered the museum, there were quite a few more people like that. We took a commemorative photo."

So you found out you have American fans before the event.

"Right. There was even someone who flew all the way from the east coast."

Whaaat?!

"I don't know the distance so I'm not sure how amazing that is. From about Nara to Osaka? (laugh)"

No no, it's not that close. (laugh)

"I figured they made a short trip out of it. (laugh)"

That must have been a very passionate fan. But when you began the show in 2003, you must have never thought you'd have American fans and make an event out of it.

"That's true. At first, it was a show that interviews game creators about making games. That format ended after ten episodes. (laugh)"

Back then, "Arino's Challenge" was a side segment but gained popularity and was made to be the main focus. What kind of feelings do you face a shooting of "Game Center CX" with?

"Like 'I hope I don't die over and over in the same spot.' It happens once in a while. Parts I can't beat no matter how many hours I've spent. So even though the last boss is my antagonist in the game, I always hope it'll raise the energy of the show in the end."

Then what kind of feelings did you face the America shoot with?

"I thought, 'I bet we're going to keep moving without any time for rest.' (laughs) The staff told me, 'We're going to start shooting as soon as we arrive in America so please get some sleep on the plane.' But the plane I got on, there was an old Japanese man sitting next to be. He talked to me the entire way and I couldn't sleep at all."

Was he happy because he was able to meet you?

"No, he had no clue who I am. He was like, 'Is this your first time going to America?' (laugh) When I ran out of drinks, I thought I'd use the opportunity to sleep, but he went 'You're out of drinks. What would you like?' So I went, 'Then I'll have orange juice......' (laugh)"

And you couldn't sleep. (laugh) Was the whole shoot harder than you thought?

"Let's see. It was just as expected. Even in the car ride between locations, the camera was rolling and they sprung a quiz on me. What was that quiz again?"

Kan: "Game Center CX Quiz."

"What a straightforward name. (laugh) They went, 'after 8 years you must not remember a lot of things,' and gave me a quiz about the show. I was like, 'don't treat me like I'm an old man!' but it turns out they were right. (laugh) The camera was rolling even when traveling, so it didn't feel like a shoot."

You brought up Musée Mécanique earlier. There must have been many strange games, but what left the biggest impact on you?

"Put in money and it blows wind. That's the most original one I saw. It plays music and the tattered cloths on the horse wagon blows in the wind. Then it ends. I was like, what the hell? (laugh)"

Kan: "But that game is famous over there. When we went to other places, they'd say "So you went to Musée Mécanique. Did you try the wind-blowing game?"

"That's right. But at the bottom of the game, there was one spot that was clearly fixed with plywood. I thought, 'Oh, I bet someone kicked it'. (laugh)"

Did you want to kick it too?

"No, I thought it was funny no matter how many times I looked at it. I didn't get bored of it at all."

Asides from Musée Mécanique, you played games in various locations. Did anything about that feel different from Japan?

"I think they have games in more different locations than Japan. In Japan, if they aren't in an arcade, they have them in department stores or other places with lots of people. But over there, they have them at laundromats and donut shops. It felt like any place that required waiting, there was a game there. We couldn't film this, but at the donut shop there was a token-grabbing game but with real money. (laugh)"

You can grab real money and drop it down?

"Right. If you dropped it down, it's yours. We were hungry so when we went to buy donuts, there it was. I thought, 'what the hell?' and called over the staff. We asked the owner if we could film it, but he said 'No!' (laugh)"

That's too bad. (laugh) Please tell us about the "Game Center CX" event in Los Angeles.

"It took place at an arcade, but as soon as I saw the entrance I thought, 'Must be a popular arcade.' I wondered how we can tell apart fans from the non-fans, but it turned out they were all fans."

Wow! Did the American "Game Center CX" fans feel different from the Japanese fans? Their energy level, for example.

"They were the same. There were many energetic girls. Even girls who'd squeal. You make a pose like you want a hug and they'll hug you. The boys were nervous and offered handshakes. There were many muscular fans in America. Lots of people with hard hands. In Japan, there are more kids with squishy hands. (laugh) Also, they were wearing T-shirts with game and cartoon characters on them, T-shirts featuring all sorts of characters you'd never see in Japan. I wanted one."

What kinds of characters?

"It was really all over the place. From Ghosts'n Goblins to Mario. (laugh)"

That's very mixed up. (laugh)

"Also there were many fans who had done something. An aspiring singer made a CD. One did an illustration. The one who drew the illustration couldn't make it themselves, but they got their friend to print out a poster. Actually that poster was used for this DVD cover."

It's a cool picture.

"It is. Very American, too."

Incidentally, are there any "Arino's Challenge"s in this DVD?

"I played a different game for the DVD. A Sega Saturn game called 'Die Hard Arcade.' The package illustration is Bruce Willis-esque, but in the game it's completely different. His face looks like a ring finger. (laugh)"

A face like a ring finger??

"It has few polygons, so his face is like a square tofu."

I've never played that game before so I look forward to it on the DVD. By the way, the next time you go to America, what would you like to experience?

"Next time, maybe we'll go to the east coast? There were people who brought their family from the east coast, so this time I can go meet them there. (laugh)"

That's wonderful.

"Not that anything has ever gone my way in this show. (laugh)"

Kan: "Would you like some ice cream? (laugh)"

"Oh, no thank you. I'm still full. (laugh)"