So I recently signed up to Twitch in order to support my buddy by
adding viewership to his streams. Whilst I have been aware of the existence of
Twitch as a platform for a while, I’ve not really checked it out until now.
And I think I’ve opened pandoras box…
For those of you who don’t know what Twitch is, it’s basically a
streaming platform where you can just drop in and watch other people play
games. I’m sure other stuff goes on as well but that’s the basic premise.
Pretty much any game you can think of is being played by someone somewhere out
there so for a game lover it’s a treasure trove. Whether it’s to watch someone
speedrun something with ridiculous skill (watching someone blitz through
Celeste is exhilarating) or to watch someone casually chat and react as they
play through a game for the first time - there are all sorts of streams out
there.
I’ve previously (a very long time ago) wrote about the appeal of Longplay channels on Youtube, and Twitch provides very much of that same
pleasure. In this day and age although you can emulate and play all sorts of games from older systems, sometimes you just don’t have the time, patience or means to do so. But
this way you can revisist and vicariously experience playthroughs of your favourite games by watching others play instead. It’s often less stressful and less
time-consuming than playing the game yourself as the one who is playing is often likely
to be a more skilful player, especially if they are a speedrunner of
that particular game and are intimately familiar with it having played it
repeatedly in order to better their time, often by merely a matter of seconds.
However I’m getting sidetracked. The real thing I want to talk about
is thus. Whilst browsing the different games and tags, searching for the
term ‘retro’ resulted in me stumbling across the channel called cardfrek whose
sole purpose appears to be the streaming of an old Japanese TV program called Game Center CX. The show is based on a
fictional company of the same name, whose ‘Kacho’ or ‘chief’ (played by comedian
Shinya Arino), takes on various retro gaming challenges set by his staff, often
spending hours at a time (edited of course) until he succeeds. You share his
struggles and rejoice in his victories. It’s funny, charming and also at times educational.
As well as the obvious interest I have for the retro games featured, I also
feel a heavy dose of nostalgia watching this having grown up and spending many
of my formative gaming years in Japan. Though the majority of the show (featuring
the challenge segments) is based in a mock office setting, this is also interspersed
with other segments where Arino travels around Japan (and sometimes even abroad) visiting old arcades or
shops that have retro gaming machines tucked away. Again this is so nostalgic for
me as discovering little arcades and game machines in places you wouldn’t
except was something that was so exciting for me as a kid.
The show also features the occasional surprise guest and an episode
I watched recently featured the late former president of Nintendo, Satoru
Iwata. He sadly passed away suddenly back in 2015 and seeing him appear on the show
and play Balloon Fight with Arino (a game he actually helped create back in the
day) raised a lump to my throat. He was such a kind and humble soul.
As episodes of Game Center CX appear to be constantly streaming on this Twitch channel, I’ve been
addicted to dropping in regularly to see what’s going, what game Arino is
currently struggling on, where he is travelling and to brush up a little on my Japanese.
According to wikipedia the show started in 2003 and is still going on to this
day! I wonder how long episodes of this show will keep looping on this channel
for (as im sure it's not entirely legal) but I’ll keep tuning in if I have a spare moment.
Arino's energy and enthusiasm is infectious and the chief’s catchphrase
when he switches on the game at the beginning of a challenge: “Kacho on!” now
constantly rings through my head as a call to arms. Any challenge, though they may seem insurmountable at first, can be taken on with perseverance and positivity.
14th May 2020
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