Fuji TV and Bandai Namco have announced they’re porting the first two games based on GameCenter CX to Switch. The bad news is that, right now, they’re only launching in Japan.
You might know the first GameCenter CX title, released in North America as Retro Game Challenge. The collection resembles games that never were but resemble classics. You travel back to ’80s heydays, transform into a child, and complete various in-game challenges to defeat an evil version of the series’ host, Shinya Arino.
I wrote about Retro Game Challenge some time ago. What I want to stress about these two games is that they really capture the feeling of gaming in the ’80s. Even though they’re influenced by the Japanese perspective on video games at the time, it’s still easy to relate to as someone from North America. The game progresses chronologically, and you approach them as if they’re the newest, hottest titles all the kids are raving over. You find hints in game magazines dropped as you progress. You also learn of hearsay from your partner, a child-form Arino. It’s the full pre-internet experience.
Kacho on!
GameCenter CX is a bit of a pioneer in the “Let’s Play” format of videos. Arino, a comedian in workplace attire, plays through old titles over the span of a day. He sometimes finds himself tortured by 13-hour stints through ridiculously difficult titles. He’s often aided by staff, and a lot of the fun is the overly dramatic voice-over that summarizes what happens between the cuts.
There were attempts to bring the show to North America, but each episode has its own licensing concerns. The best way to watch it now as an Anglophone is through fan-subtitled episodes.
The first GameCenter CX game made it to North America in 2009, just as “retro gamer” began taking form as an identity. While I never stopped playing old games (I brought my NES to college with me alongside my GameCube) and was beginning to collect in earnest, seeing a game bring legitimacy to my niche interest felt like an extra push.
However, I can still remember the heartbreak when the North American publisher, XSEED, dangled the promise of a sequel out of reach. They stated that they were interested in bringing Game Center CX 2 to North America but said they needed the first title to meet sales goals before they could do it. It never did. Now, the best we have is a fan translation, which is great. No disrespect to the people who picked up the ball. I just would have preferred if they didn’t have to.
Now’s our chance
However, Fuji TV seems to have recently picked up on GameCenter CX’s quiet popularity over here. With luck, they’ll relocalize GameCenter CX: Arino’s Challenge 1+2 Replay. The series is about to celebrate its 20th year of broadcast (holy crap), which seems like a good time to try and push into other markets. Throw some subtitles on a few of the DVD box sets, and I’m there.
The compilation title has a few differences from the original releases. Firstly, there’s a new beat-’em-up game plainly inspired by River City Ransom. They’ve also modified the game to make up for the fact that it’s all going to be on one screen. On DS, the bottom screen mainly depicted the kids playing the game, but now they’ve pushed back into an off-screen viewpoint, so you still get that living room floor feeling.
I think that even if Bandai Namco passes on localizing GameCenter CX: Arino’s Challenge 1+2 Replay, I’ll probably still import a copy. I rarely watch TV and almost never watch other people play games (whether on stream or YouTube), but I’ve watched a lot of GameCenter CX. The two DS titles are both excellent, and I can only hope more people over here get a chance to experience them.
GameCenter CX: Arino’s Challenge 1+2 Replay is coming to Switch. There’s no release date yet, but so far, it’s only planned for Japan.
