GameCenter CX

GameCenter CX (ゲームセンターCX, Gēmu Sentā Shī Ekkusu), also known as Retro Game Master in other regions, is a Japanese Gaming-Variety show television program produced by Fuji Television and Gascoin Company. It stars Shinya Arino, a member of comedy duo Yoiko, who plays home console video games from previous decades and usually attempts to get the game's ending within a single day. The show has been on-air since November 4, 2003 with a new episode airing bi-weekly at Thursday midnight on Fuji TV One. There are currently 11 DVD sets released in Japan. In 2008 Fuji TV was looking for international distributors for subtitled DVDs.^[1][2]

Premise

The show is presented as a gaming variety show which follows a commentary-based longplay format. Shinya Arino challenges several games from previous eras, presented by his producers in order to get each ending. He is supported by the show's assistant directors (referred to as ADs) and sometimes other staff, both via moral support and actual gameplay. He also is featured in segments interspersed throughout the episodes where he goes to local arcade centers, as well as segments where he does a variety of things, such as interviews with game designers, showcasing classic console hardware or games, or a made up game show where the staff participate.

GameCenter CX as a company

Arino is presented as an employee of the GameCenter CX company, which exists solely inside the GameCenter CX universe. His jumpsuit attire adorns the GameCenter CX logo, which with the second season onward lost the original brackets around the "CX". Arino formally greets anyone of status by serving him/her a business card. The CX company even promotes Arino depending on how well he does during the season. The phrase Arino says right before turning on the console, "Kachō on!", signifies his role as chief of the aforementioned company.

To continue on with the corporate theme of the show, a stock certificate was included with the second DVD collection to have the buyers feel like they owned stock in the company. In the last episode of season 7, Bandai Namco Entertainment president Ishikawa made Arino an honorary employee and presented him with a company card.

ADs

The assistant directors help provide creative input, construct settings, and work as camera crew at times, especially when on location. Their on-screen presence is typically precipitated by Arino struggling with a spot in a game. They will offer help of a varying degree, enough to dislodge Arino from his despair, but not so much as to raise questions about whether he beat the game on his own. These members of staff start as interns, and often they are promoted to various paid positions surrounding the show's production. Many have moved on to other Japanese TV shows.

• Naoki Yamada (山田直喜) - Season 1
• Shinichirou Toujima (東島真一郎) - Seasons 1 & 2(first episode only)
• Hiroshi Sasano (笹野大司) - Season 2
• Shun Urakawa (浦川瞬) - Seasons 3 & 4
• Yuuya Inoue (井上侑也), a.k.a. Inoko MAX (イノコMAX) - Seasons 5 & 6, later promoted to Trainee Director in the end of season 13
• Sachi Takahashi (高橋佐知), a.k.a. Meijin,Sensei (名人,先生) - Season 7
• Takeshi Tsuruoka (鶴岡丈志) - Season 8
• Tomoaki Nakayama (中山智明) - Seasons 9 & 10, left the staff in the 12th season.
• Hiroyuki Emoto (江本紘之), a.k.a. Emoyan (エモヤン) - Seasons 11 & 12, left the staff in the end of the 12th season.
• Akane Itou (伊藤茜) - Seasons 11 & 12 & 13
• Yuuki Katayama (片山雄貴), a.k.a. Katakin-kun (片きんくん) - Seasons 13 & 14 & 15, now only appears in the "TamaGe" segments starting the 15th Season.
• Junpei Takahashi (高橋純平) Seasons 13 & 14 & 15
• Atsushi Itou (伊東篤志) - Season 16
• Gen Matsui (松井現) - Seasons 16 & 17 & 18, left the staff in the 18th season.
• Hideaki Yanai - Season 18

Miscellaneous staff

• Kouichi Abe (阿部浩一) - Cameraman
• Masayuki Kibe (岐部昌幸) - Art Director, Writer
• Tsuyoshi Kan (菅剛史) - Producer, Narrator
• Yuuichirou Suda (須田祐一郎) - Video Editor
• Muneaki Tanizawa (谷澤宗明), a.k.a. Tanii (タニー) - Voice Mixing
• Kensaku Sakai (酒井健作) - Planner
• Yuko Watanabe (渡邊優子) - Assistant Director, left the staff in the 12th season. Came back as Director in 17th season.

Recurring themes

A train on Tokyo's Yamanote Line with GameCenter CX livery

• He often will apply reikyaku sheets (adhesive cooling pads intended to decrease temperatures and inhibit fevers) on his forehead. During earlier seasons, he exclusively used Hiepita-brand reikyaku. Occasionally he'll write encouraging words on them as a form of self-inspiration.
• He has a large array of water bottles and junk food to his left to snack on. The snacks are 'nostalgic' sweets Arino recalls eating in his youth, the purpose of which is both to maintain his energy, and to keep with the show's theme of carefree childhood reminiscence.
• Many of the food items in later episodes are sent in from fans. Arino really enjoys kusashisuika, which are skewered vinegar-soaked squid.
• Whenever Arino plays an arcade machine and makes a top scorer's list (or plays a home console game with a top scorer's list), he enters the letters "SEX" as his name (or "SEXY" if four characters can be entered). However, since this has become expected, Arino has occasionally switched to using "SET" instead.
• Arino will often comment on his strengths and weaknesses as a gamer as he is playing. The narrator often reminds viewers how bad he is at shoot 'em up games, but Arino takes pride in how good he is at puzzle games.
• Often after a difficult section or at the end of a game, Arino will raise his arms in victory or clap in celebration, only to find that something else remains to be done (and with his hands not holding the controller, may sometimes not react in time). Usually this involves multiple forms of a final boss, or, in the case of Konami Wai Wai World and Metroid, having to escape.
• Arino often forgets to continue in older games that require a cheat code to do so, and ultimately winds up having to start the game from the beginning losing many hours of game play.

Music

• Audio clips from the videogame Kid Icarus (光神話 パルテナの鏡) are often used to intro segments with The King.
• The song used during Arino's arcade field trip adventures is called 異国のしらべ from HEAT WAVE.
• The song during his trip north is "Between the expansive sky and large land" by Chiharu Matsuyama.
• The second and third seasons made extensive use of the soundtracks from the games Headhunter and Headhunter Redemption to highlight the show's dramatic segments.
• The show also frequently features popular music by contemporary artists such as Phil Collins, Jesse McCartney and Madonna, as well as music from film scores like "Jurassic Park" and Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".

Game challenges

Main games

NOTE: An asterisk (*) is noted beside the episode number to indicate the episode's localization and release on Kotaku. Western titles in "quotes" are unofficial names Kotaku uses to refer to Japan-only games.

1st season

(This season featured a game series or game company as its main focus with Arino's challenge game as a secondary feature)

2nd season

(episode numbering started with Arino's challenge games being the main feature)

3rd season

4th season

(The season mascot changes from King to Queen)

5th season

(Season was shortened due to birth of Arino's daughter)

6th season

(The season mascot changes from Queen to Dark King)

7th season

(the season changes from Dark King to King. The Dark King makes a brief reappearance in #53)

8th season

9th season

(Season was shortened due to Arino being hospitalized)

10th season

11th season

12th season

(The season mascot changes from King to Fallen Warrior)

13th season

(The season mascot changes from Fallen Warrior to King)

14th season

15th season

16th season

17th season

18th season

(The season mascot changes from the King to Elephant King)

19th season

DVD-Exclusive Challenges

Each DVD-Box set released includes a game challenge exclusive to the DVD set. Most of these challenges were famicom games.

Video Releases

On June 23, 2011, gaming website Kotaku started streaming English translated episodes of the series.^[3] On January 13, 2012, Kotaku announced that their agreement to broadcast the show had ended; there will be no second season, and existing episodes will be removed when the rights expire.^[4] However, on February 28, 2012, Discotek Media announced via their Facebook page that they had acquired the rights to the 12 episodes shown on Kotaku and will release them on DVD. They are hoping for a summer release and the sales of the DVD set will determine whether more episodes will be released in the future. On April 24, Discotek Media announced on their Facebook page that the episode count will be fourteen. On May 17, Discotek Media set September 18, 2012 as the release date.

So far there have been eleven DVD sets put out with the latest released in December 2014. Each one contains key episodes, game center visits and a game challenge exclusive to the DVD set. They are not season compilations.

DVD-Box Vol. 5 also includes;

Tamage In South Korea

DVD-Box Vol. 6 also includes;

Game Center CX Museum Report／Cannes Infiltration Report

Revenge Challenge

Legend of the Mystical Ninja

DVD-Box Vol. 8 also includes;

Revenge Challenge

The Genji and Heike Clans

DVD-Box Vol. 9 also includes;

Southernmost Gaming Travelogue

Revenge Challenge

F-Zero

DVD-Box Vol. 11 also includes;

Revenge Challenge

Famicom Trainer Jogging Race

Tamage In ASIA: Director's Cut Edition

DVD-Box Vol. 12 also includes;

Tamage In Paris: Director's Cut Edition

Segments

Each episode of Game Center CX is made up of a number of different segments. The only segment which appears in every episode is Arino's Challenge. The other segments vary by episode and season. However, the episodes that appear on Kotaku omit these segments, instead focusing only on the challenge of the week.^[5]

Media

Video games

At the end of the 6th Season, it was announced that there were plans to make a GameCenter CX video game. The game, entitled GameCenter CX: Arino's Challenge, is for the Nintendo DS and was produced in a collaborative effort by Fuji TV and Bandai Namco Games. During the 7th Season, certain parts of the show featured the development process of the game. The game was released in Japan on November 15, 2007,^[6] and in North America by Xseed Games on February 10, 2009, under the title Retro Game Challenge. A second game, GameCenter CX: Arino's Challenge 2 was released in Japan on February 26, 2009. Xseed Games has stated that US release of the game is unlikely, due to its predecessor's not catching enough attention from the North American gaming community. A third game, "Game Center CX: 3-Choume no Arino" was released in Japan on March 20, 2015 and is the first installment in the series to come to the Nintendo 3DS.

Arino appears as a Mystery Mushroom figure in Super Mario Maker, which is unlocked by clearing one of his Event Courses added to the game on November 4, 2015.

Theatrical Film

A movie named "GameCenter CX: The Movie - 1986 Mighty Bomb Jack" has been released on February 22, 2014 to commemorate 10th year anniversary of the show.

References

1. ↑ Game Center CX debuts in New York City
2. ↑ Subtitled Retro Game Master DVDs seek distributor
3. ↑ McWhertor, Michael. "Kotaku Presents Retro Game Master, Japan's Cult Hit Video Game Show, Airing Exclusively Right Here". Kotaku. 
4. ↑ Fahey, Mike. "This Could Be Your Last Chance to See Retro Game Master". Kotaku. 
5. ↑ Crunk Games Game Center CX Episode Guide
6. ↑ ゲームセンターCX 有野の挑戦状

External links

• Official GameCenter CX site (Japanese)
• English episode guide at Crunk Games