Just thought I would post this in case anyone has missed these great programs. I know it was reported on Kotaku a while back, but you may have missed it. Anyway this is a Japanese game show where instead of covering news they just investigate anecdotes, or interesting games. There are ones on modern things like TGS or Modern Imported games in Japan but the vast majority is retro stuff. Some of the best exerts are things like A visit to a "virtually" complete famicom collectors house/apartment Lots of visits to retro arcades - often in the oddest places Lots of visits to big game shops, but they generally seem to be only interested in Famicom games. And lots of game playing! Also I quite like the presenter as well, he can be quite funny (in a very Osaka way). And he may not be that good at any games, but that is hardly the point. Also his Japanese sounds like mine after 5 pints! I can't help talking in strong Osaka-ben as that is what I originally learnt, anything else is affected. So if you want to waste a couple of hours just copy this text into youtube. ゲームセンターCX I warn you some episodes are not foreigner friendly if you don't speak Japanese! But the majority of episodes in Game Centers are easy to get into. I have actually discovered quite a lot from this program. Personal highlights include the visit to a arcade supermarket, super mario pinball machine, seeing some ultra rare famicom games in action and loads of arcade games made before I had even touched a controller. Well do enjoy. And do practice your Osaka-ben! (BTW There is hours of footage on youtube, but there are DVD available as well)
Here's a direct link to the one which features the guy with a complete Famicom collection !! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQM0TbDjLRU&search=ゲームセンターCX Yakumo
(HP - http://www.fujitv.co.jp/cs/gamecenter/index2.html for a bit more info) Well I'm glad people like them. They are well worth a look just for some of the arcade machines I have never seen before. I really like this kind of thing, because while I can collect consoles and games till the day I die, you cannot really collect arcade machines or the environment they are put in. Game Centers are one of the most intangible things in gaming, so it is nice to see programs that document them in a simple and fun way. That episode in Super Potato is great because I have never seen those Famicom games in action before. Those are the kind of carts you always see hidden away, it is nice to see them in use. I also doubt they would let me have a quick go on them if I just wondered in off the streets! I think I'm going to pick up the DVD box set, the episodes on youtube are just the same sections of the show from various weeks, there are a lot of regular items from the whole line up missing. I'll let people know if it is worth the 50 quid(!) admission.
I'm afraid the DVD don't look like they have subtitles. However I would really like to fansub these if I had the time. Maybe once the exams are over this summer (once I have the DVD).
Warakia I would love that. I've watched about an hour on youtube so far and it's great, but I have no clue what anyone is saying and my thirst for information is driving me crazy. Can someone tell me why that Famicon in the complete famicom collection episode has all of those messed up new ports?
From memory I believe that Famicom had AV outputs as well as SuperFamicom controller support. Pretty nice modification, I wouldn't mind one of those. But it does sound like a lot of work. BTW how awesome does battle formula look in that video? I just was not aware of that game.
Battle Formular is a great game. They didn't show any of the cool raster effects that the game has either ! Great tunes as well. I featured it on Retro Core about 2 months back. Yakumo
Here is another program, this time stolen from the famitsu dvd mag. I only mention it because they go to one of the same arcades as the Game Center CX team, but manage to be considerably less entertaining! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-DssYL1npU Weak parody of the Tokyo Game Show and Otaku abound!
Yakimo and I saw the DVD box sets at a DVD/Game store today. Funny how you hear about something for the first time then see it for the first time 48 hours later...
This is the coolest show I have ever seen, I am going to waste a good couple of hours now. Thanks for the link to the Famicom collection Yakumo.
(If I can just join in this bump) There have been a bunch of new shows added to Youtube, if you just sort the episodes by date you will see some new stuff. The best thing is there are now a couple of interviews, in particular the one with Kojima is worth a look.
