So recently I found about [a twitch channel that does a 24/7 stream of subtitled Game Center CX episodes](https://www.twitch.tv/gemcentacxx), and it's become my go-to thing to put on TV when I've got nothing else going on. ([some un-subtitled stuff is clipped on this account](https://www.twitch.tv/gccxstream) but isnt currently streaming as of this post)
I really like this show and I feel like it does a lot of things well. Even though I dont speak Japanese, I find Shinya Arino quite charismatic and amusing. The challenges are the bread and butter of the program, but I love the "visit a gamecenter/candystore" segments as they offer some slice-of-life views of Japan that are interesting to me, as a foreigner.
The show has been running since 2003 and there are over 300 episodes. With luck, it might make it to two decades. It's been interesting watching trends change and Arino age and develop his skills over the course of the program.
I wanted to open up a thread for discussion about the program:
Favorite episodes/moments/segment?
Maybe someone with more experience with the subject can tell me what CX's cultural impact in japan has been like?
Who would you cast for an American version of the series?
I happened to recently catch a 2019 episode where they travelled to Russia and looked at a lot of old Russian arcade games from the 80's and early 90's that had been manufactured in repurposed military factories. It was a fascinating look at a subject I'd never heard talked about before, and I should probably check out the rest of their travel episodes.
I‘ve been keeping that twitch channel on in the background lately too although at this point it feels like I’ve seen every subbed episode multiple times over the years, sometimes one will sneak in that I haven't seen before. Favorite eps: SOS, Battletoads (mainly because it tickles me how much he likes the game).
I love the segments where they just show a few clips of NES/GB/SNES games from a certain year, not sure if it's everything released in chronological order or what but I could easily watch hours of just that part alone. Love the travel eps too!
I loved chucking this on and getting to watch whatever episode the rotation was up to at the time, but I just checked (to do exactly that) and it looks like some time over the last day the channel has disappeared from twitch
I can only guess they ran in to some sort of copyright issue, which is unfortunate because I don't think there even are any rights holders or distribution deals for it where I am (or perhaps even anywhere outside Japan?)
@hellomrkearns I think I heard about that, but only found a version of the Ninja Gaiden episode which contained only gameplay and no commentary whatsoever? I still stand by my claim that the english speaking dub guy (let alone retitling it ‘Retro Game Master’) is enough to make it a separate (and inferior) to Game Center CX.
Alternatively:
What if ‘Retro Game Master’ had dubbed over Arino as well???
