There have been many attempts to craft a television show all about the culture and interactivity of video games. They have often fall either under utter kitsch (GamePro, Nick Arcade) or achieve a unique, long-lasting flavor only to be retooled by the powers that be (X-Play). Then, there are the very few that unsuccessfully want to make a reality show about video-gamers, only to exploit their appearances into broad stereotypes and have them involved with easy product placement (WCG Ultimate Gamer).
Pretty much the absolute best in this field of television, able to have the familiarity of reality shows while having an immense love and respect for video games and its history, is a Japanese show called GameCenter CX. Originally devised in its first season to be a variety show consisting of interviews with big-time creators and travel-logs of arcades all-around the great nation of Japan, the show was remodeled to greatly expand its most popular segment with viewers, the video-game challenge. Here, Shinya Arino, the host of the show and one-half of a comedy duo called Yoiko, is forced by his producers to play-through some of the toughest games ever devised. He is given help and guidance by a revolving door of Assistant Directors (ADs) but must complete each episode's game of the day in the allotted time.
Granted, the show certainly has a cult appeal. After all, the majority of the public think the act of watching someone else play a video game is not thrilling in the slightest. I can't neglect that valid point but I do strongly disagree with it. Anyone who has or had a sibling, a cousin, or a friend with a game console or ever went to a public arcade know the feeling of observing someone better at a game. For this show, the practice is reversed and placed in bizarro world terms, as the predominately smarter viewer is well aware of the retro games being played yet still watches as a far-low par gamer is tasked with beating it. Coupled with a sports-documentary style narration and pacing, seeing Arino falter consistently but never giving up, helps make the show a thrilling watch.
Attempts have been made to bring the show overseas in some form, including a brief run on the Kotaku website, re-titled Retro Game Master, with the Japanese narration replaced with an English one. Instead, the show continued to live on only through a devoted online fan-base, who produce fan-subs or help spread episodes through video sites like YouTube.
Discotek Media has thankfully given another push for the show, releasing a four-disc set of fourteen episodes of the series. The discs feature the episodes as follows:
DISC 1:
Ninja Gaiden
Super Fantasy Zone
Bonanza Brothers
Solomon's Key
Clock Tower (SNES)
DISC 2:
Mighty Bomb Jack
The Mystery of Atlantis (Atlantis no Nazo)
S.O.S. (Septentrion)
Battle Golfer Yui
DISC 3:
53 Stations of the Tokaido
The Wing of Madoola
Golden Axe
DISC 4:
Shiren the Wanderer (Mystery Dungeon)
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
The first three discs include the same episodes featured on the Kotaku run, as well as the inclusion of both its specially made English narration and the original Japanese narration. The last disc were specially picked out for the DVD release and remain entirely in Japanese. Frankly, due to the cult of the show, any fan and viewer would stick to the original format. The original narration was provided by Tsuyoshi Kan, who is also one of the producers of the show. He really gets into the act, making Arino's play-throughs feel like Herculean efforts. The English version, however, simply is a complete detriment. The English announcer is Adam Ray, who does have a good broadcasting voice but is miscast here. The best example between the two is during the Clock Tower episode: Kan speaks his lines through a hushed, dire tone in order to match up with the survival horror game. Ray, on the other hand, talks normally and way too excited when relating the plight of a young girl through a dark mansion. The other big problem between them is the translation: In the Super Fantasy Zone episode, there is a segment where Arino faces the second stage boss. He notes that the turrets on the boss look like Chocolate Babies candies, and begins to destroy them with the ship's twin bombs. Kan narrates with, "The twin bombs' hits are effective." Ray's reply? "Twin bombs score baby chocolate!" That there is some pretty terrible Engrish. The Japanese translation is far better with the original audio than the Kotaku-approved English version. The subtitles are generally great but do feature a few misspellings here and there.
It seems that the problems with Kotaku do not end there with the translation. The first twelve episodes are completely out of order with the seasons of the show. Anyone can notice this problem: Arino notes that the first game played on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive for the show is Bonanza Brothers. This episode is placed right after watching the Super Fantasy Zone episode, which also was played on the Mega Drive. This confusing series of events is worsen when involving the ADs. As stated earlier, Arino's assistants change out with each season or have a small run. When they come back on to the show as a special guest and helper, it is a major shocker and unexpectedly joyful to see how they have changed. You are not given this here, as this mix-up of episodes ruin any surprise and bring utter confusion to the proceedings. For instance, the original AD Toujima leaves at the end of the Atlantis episode (#201) on Disc 2 but already appears as a special guest on the Ninja Gaiden episode (#409) on Disc 1. Also, since these are all selected picks, you don't really get why some ADs have special nicknames or skills.
One of best things about the set is that you do get the entire long-plays of some of the games. For example, the game Mighty Bomb Jack took three whole episodes to be completed, culminating in a special live performance in front of a large crowd. Also, some of the episodes have the director's final cut; Battle Golfer Yui, a strange Genesis RPG golf game, ends not with its game ending as originally broadcast but with a special play-off between Arino and his three ADs. Not all are given this luxury, however, which leads to another big problem for fans: Each episode is completely devoid of the show's other segments. There are no visits to arcades, no history lessons of NES games, no goofy readings of game text, nothing. This is probably due to rights issues, the same issues that might explain why only certain games were picked out, leaving some of the other better episodes out in the cold. Another odd change is the mix-up of the 2D mascots. Each season would have a 2D Dragon Quest-like regal character at the bumpers of the show, or featured during special explanation segments. For the majority of the episodes, they are instead replaced with a baby king, who spoils and wraps up the show.
Packaging wise, the set has two discs on each side of the box, placed on top of each other. The cover and back art is striking but it is the special art illustration in the inside that is truly marvelous. Specially commissioned, it is a real treat for long-time fans. Each disc has nice art of the show's title screen but they all look the same except for disc number. Also, they lack the text of what episodes are feature on each and every one of them, so the buyer has to make a mental or physical note to remember. The menu screens are fun but every time you go through them, whether to look at the chapters or change the audio, you have to sit through the opening menu animation and hear Adam Ray say the English title every time. It gets a bit annoying, even if you only hear it for a short amount.
Though the price is a little steep at $50, I do highly recommend the show to those seeking video game drama or off-beat Japanese fare.
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