| GameCenter CX | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Retro gaming Comedy Variety show |
| Starring | Shinya Arino |
| Narrated by | Tsuyoshi Kan Ayako Yamanaka |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original language | Japanese |
| No. of episodes | 395 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Nozomi Ishida Seita Kadozawa Tsuyoshi Kan |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | Fuji Television Gascoin Company [ja] |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fuji TV One |
| Release | November 4, 2003 (2003-11-04) – present |
GameCenter CX 20th Channel | |
|---|---|
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2022–present |
| Genres | Gaming, Variety |
| Subscribers | 636,000 |
| Views | 45.9 million |
| Last updated: February 27, 2025 | |
GameCenter CX (ゲームセンターCX,Gēmu Sentā Shī Ekkusu), also known asRetro Game Master in other regions, is a Japanesegaming-variety showtelevision program produced byFuji Television andGascoin Company [ja]. The name is a combination of "game center" (the Japanese term for anarcade) and Fuji TV'scall sign, JOCX-TV. It starsShinya Arino, a member of comedy duoYoiko, who plays home console video games from previous decades and usually attempts to get the game's ending within a single day. The show has been on-air since November 4, 2003, with a new episode airing bi-weekly at Thursday midnight on Fuji TV One. As of 2023, 20 DVD sets have been released in Japan. In 2008,Fuji TV was looking for international distributors for subtitled DVDs.[1][2]
The show is presented as a gamingvariety show which follows a commentary-based long-play format. Shinya Arino challenges several games from previous eras, presented by his producers to get each ending. He is supported by the show's assistant directors (referred to as ADs) and sometimes other staff, both via moral support and actual gameplay. He also is featured in segments interspersed throughout the episodes where he goes to local arcade centers, as well as segments where he does a variety of things, such as interviews with game designers, showcasing classic console hardware or games, or a made-up game show where the staff participates.
Arino is presented as an employee of the fictitious GameCenter CX company. His jumpsuit attire is adorned with the GameCenter CX logo, which with the second season onward lost the original brackets around the "CX". Arino formally greets anyone of status by serving him/her a business card. The CX company even promotes Arino depending on how well he does during the season. The phrase Arino says right before turning on the console, "Kachō on!", signifies his role as chief of the aforementioned company.
| Season | Position | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Senior Staff (Shunin) | |
| Season 2 | Acting Chief (Kachō Dairi) | |
| Season 3 | Chief (Kachō) | After clearing every game in the 3rd Season |
| Season 4 | Acting Chief (Kachō Dairi) | 4 losses in a row -Ultraman toActRaiser |
| Season 4 | Senior Staff (Shunin) | Demoted due to a second final boss failure inActRaiser |
| Season 4 | Chief (Kachō) | Promoted due to successful completion ofQuiz Tonosama no Yabō [ja] |
| Season 18 | President (Shachō) | Only onGameCenter MSX, set in a fictional timeline |
To continue with the corporate theme of the show, a stock certificate was included with the second DVD collection to have the buyers feel like they owned stock in the company. In the last episode of season 7,Bandai Namco Entertainment president Ishikawa made Arino an honorary employee and presented him with a company card.
In addition, the company is set in a fictional universe featuring characters in the style ofDragon Quest, which also features several characters as a form of commentators: TheKing and the members of his family,Queen andPrince. BothQueen andPrince appeared earlier as main commentators in earlier seasons, but later ended up as DVD-only characters by replacing theKing. This universe also features villains, such asSkull King,Black Satan,Onitengu andTuxedo Clowns. An elder scientist calledHakase also exists, but he was only featured as a commentator ofTHE Game Maker DVDs.
The assistant directors help provide creative input, construct settings, and work as a camera crew at times, especially when on location. Their on-screen presence is typically precipitated by Arino struggling with a spot in a game. They will offer help of varying degrees, enough to dislodge Arino from his despair, but not so much as to raise questions about whether he beat the game on his own. These members of staff start as interns, and often they are promoted to various paid positions surrounding the show's production. Many have moved on to other Japanese TV shows. After they left the staff, sometimes they reappeared in the next seasons or special DVD challenges.
At the end of the sixth season, it was announced that there were plans to make aGameCenter CX video game. The game, entitledGameCenter CX: Arino no Chōsenjō, was developed for the Nintendo DS as a collaborative effort between Fuji TV and Bandai Namco Games. During the seventh season, certain parts of the show featured the development process of the game. The game was released in Japan on November 15, 2007,[3] and in North America byXseed Games on February 10, 2009, under the titleRetro Game Challenge. A second game,GameCenter CX: Arino no Chōsenjō 2, was released in Japan on February 26, 2009. Xseed Games has stated that US release of the game is unlikely, due to its predecessor's not catching enough attention from the North American gaming community. A third game,GameCenter CX: 3-Chōme no Arino, was released in Japan on March 20, 2014, and was the first installment in the series to release on Nintendo 3DS.[4]
Arino appears as a Mystery Mushroom figure inSuper Mario Maker, which is unlocked by clearing one of his Event Courses added to the game on November 4, 2015.
A remaster of the first two games on Nintendo DS, namedGameCenter CX: Arino no Chōsenjō 1+2 REPLAY for theNintendo Switch was announced by Fuji TV and is set to be released only in Japan by February 22, 2024. Currently, no news of English localization from either Fuji TV or Bandai Namco has been announced.[5]
Several books of the show have been manufactured and released byOhta Publishing from 2004 to 2011. These books cover secrets and interviews with the TV show's staff:
The Japanese MagazineCONTINUE (also from Ohta Publishing) has a frequent habit of interviewing Arino over the years as well.
GameCenter CX 10th Anniversary Soundtrack (HMCM-1120) is a music CD containing 16 tracks used in the show, manufactured byHappinet. Some of the tracks are part of the original songs, others are Staff themes and standard game music from games that Arino played in the show. It was released on July 24, 2013, as a part of the show's 10th anniversary.
BONUS STAGE (LNCM-1454) is a music CD fromaccekk (also called AXK, created by Staff writer Kibe and named by Arino), manufactured by Mastard Records. It was released March 4, 2023. Of the 9 tracks included, two of them,ENDINGRATULATION andASSISTANTDIRe:CTION, are used in the TV show.
GameCenter CX: The Movie - 1986 Mighty Bomb Jack was released on February 22, 2014, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the show. It features excerpts of the Mighty Bomb Jack episodes alongside a fictional side-story set in 1986 focused on a boy named Daisuke constructing a love relationship with a girl named Kumiko by borrowing his cartridge. As with the show's DVDs, it was distributed by Happinet.
Biohazard EX (SDS-12863) is a special bonus DVD that came with early pre-orders from Japanese copies ofResident Evil: Extinction in Blu-Ray, DVD, and UMD discs, manufactured bySPEJ. The disc itself includes an interview with Arino discussing his thoughts onResident Evil games and movies, as well excerpts of theCapcom episode from the show's first season. It was not sold as a retail disc.
THE Game Maker was a series of DVDs focused on a variety of content from video game companies, as a tribute to the show's first season. It features Arino &Yoshiuki Hirai doing playthroughs with live commentary, as well as extended Game Collections, interviews, and other kinds of extras (varying by disc). These DVDs were manufactured between 2010 and 2011. The companies featured wereIrem,Jaleco,Namco,Sega,Sunsoft,Taito andTecmo (theSega edition was sold in a DVD box with two DVDs rather than a single one).
GameCenter DX, starring another challenger (Masaru Hamaguchi, the other half of star Arino Kacho's comedy duo "Yoiko"), and featuring many staff of the original, began in 2015 to showcase contemporary Nintendo titles, such as the latest entries in theMario Bros. andStarfox series.
Yowiko no xx de xx Seikatsu (Yoiko's Everyday Life in [something]) is a spin-off of bothGameCenter CX andGameCenter DX, featuring Arino and Hamaguchi playing games for Nintendo Switch and being run by Nintendo's Japanese YouTube channel since 2017. Notable games played by the duo areMinecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition,Super Mario Maker 2 andNintendo Switch Sports.
Since 2023, the TV show's official YouTube channel made Arino do collaboration crossovers with known personalities from Japan, such asEiko Kano's CritiKano Hit,[6]Nijisanji'sHyakumantenbara Salome[7] andMasahiro Sakurai on Creating Games.[8]
On occasion, specialGameCenter CX programs were produced for theNintendo Channel for theWii.
Later, when theNintendo eShop succeeded the Nintendo Channel, additional specials were produced, such as a special where Arino and late Nintendo presidentSatoru Iwata interviewed each other and playedBalloon Fight, which Iwata had programmed during the early years of his career.