Game Center CX: Japanese Videogame Reality Hit

Brian Ashcraft profiles Japanese reality show Game Center CX, where a worksuit-wearing "section chief" is filmed as he attempts to beat some of the hardest videogames from the past.

Now starting its eighth season, Game Center CX is a certified hit among the ultranerdy otaku set, with merchandise ranging from DVD boxed sets and books to coffee mugs and Arino action figures. In November, Bandai Namco Games will release a Game Center CX title for Nintendo DS starring Section Chief Arino. Players hang out with the TV star and play retrogames, complete with lo-res graphics and "Engrish" translations. (No US release is planned — zurui!)

Japan's Reality-TV Gamer Just Keeps Playing and Playing and Playing... [Wired.com]

[#1 posted by A New Challenger , October 26, 2007 5:58 PM]

Oh man, G4 or some less crappy network needs to import this before I run out and buy the DVD.

I wonder exactly how that DS game is going to turn out. Will it be yet another Namco Museum but with a different name?

[#2 posted by A New Challenger , October 26, 2007 6:07 PM]

I just looked at the Wikipedia page. I'm intrigued by the fact that he finished both Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts but failed on Act Raiser, Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Bros. 3. That just doesn't compute.

[#3 posted by Hokkaido Hillbilly , October 27, 2007 9:25 PM]

I watch this show every now on then on SkyPerfecTV and it really is pretty funny, if not somewhat sad...

You've really gotta feel a bit sorry for Arino (part of the Yoiko comedy duo) when he goes on these 2-3 day gaming marathons. By the time it's all said & done, he's got cool pads slapped on his forehead and pretty much looks like crap, but the look of sheer happiness on his face at finishing the games is priceless.

[#4 posted by blipmusic , October 28, 2007 1:56 AM]

Just a little heads up in japanase usage: zurui (狡い) means clever, cunning while the word you might be looking for is dzurai/tsurai (辛い) which means hard, bitter.

Anyway I'll be on the look out for this. Eight season and I haven't even heard of it... Man, I creep out from that rock I'm living under. Lucky we have bb!

[#5 posted by Hokkaido Hillbilly , November 1, 2007 10:36 PM]

Um...sorry to have to play Nihongo police here, but in everyday normal conversation, it's "ずるい" (in hiragana, not in kanji) and just means "no fair!"