Fuji TV and Bandai Namco haveannouncedthey’re porting the first two games based onGameCenter CXto Switch. The bad news is that, right now, they’re only launching in Japan.
You might know the firstGameCenter CXtitle, released in North America asRetro 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 aboutRetro Game Challengesome 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 CXis 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 firstGameCenter CXgame 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 sequelout of reach. They stated that they were interested in bringingGame Center CX 2to 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 onGameCenter CX’squiet popularity over here. With luck, they’ll relocalizeGameCenter 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 byRiver 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 localizingGameCenter 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 ofGameCenter 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 Replayis coming to Switch. There’s no release date yet, but so far, it’s only planned for Japan.
