I'm a big fan of the Japanese show Gamecenter CX. The show pits Japanese comedian and host Shinya Arino against some of the toughest retro games of yesteryear. The entire appeal of the show is not only watching his frustration and hopes go down the toilet after every game over, but to see the poor man triumph over some of the hardest games ever conceived.
Arino also gets the chance to interview developers from time to time, and seek the assistance of those that made these games over twenty years ago. The fact that he has become a video game icon in is interesting to say the least, and is sad because his show is more of an underground thing in the west. What surprised me with this interview is how Gamecenter CX has become popular enough that the President of Nintendo, Mr Satoru Iwata himself pops in unannounced to take the time to talk with Arino.
Video games are a different culture here in the West where "dude-bro" first person shooters and Western MMO's rule the landscape. People have great nostalgia for the games of the past, but they don't actually play them anymore. Which is honestly a terrible shame. The irony is that game folks often agree that developers are trying to find out why those games from long ago were so fun and original. Nowadays the focus is on hardware and graphical crunching power from overpriced consoles... I'm getting off the subject here.
Here's Iwata asks Gamecenter CX.
No comments:
Post a Comment