Game Center CX DVD Up for Preorder

Game Center CX is a Japanese television show which has spanned over 10 seasons so far, but with very little attention in the US. It only really had a "test run" with one season of episodes being translated and shown via Kotaku. However, they blew it by using shoddy translators and not really caring about the property at all after the first season was done with.

What's the show about? It focuses on this guy named Arino who plays video games week after week for the show. The goal of each show is typically to finish a video game (sometimes to get a certain end in a game). However, his main focus is on retro games so it's often very hard to get to the end. Because Arino is also a comedian, he manages to make the prospect of watching someone play video games a lot of fun.

I started watching it a couple months back and it definitely is a fun show for gamers. Most of the episodes are slowly being translated by fansub teams and are even on Youtube (although some have recently been taken down for copyright). If you watch an episode though and like it then maybe you'll want to grab the upcoming DVD release sometime.

Even though it's rather expensive at $41 for 14 episodes, that's not so bad in comparison to the prices I remember spending for anime. The main bulk of episodes included are the Kotaku ones, except translated by someone much more skilled, which is a big plus. Why mention the DVD? I'm just hoping that enough people will buy it that they might consider releasing more episodes officially over here. It's fun enough to watch online but there's something about owning things you enjoy.

PS: If you've played Retro Game Challenge for the DS then you already have experienced a bit of Game Center CX. The game was based off the TV show and Arino is the polygonal "king" in the game.