61 Frames Per Second took a field trip to the IFC Center yesterday morning to catch the New York Asian Film Festival’s final screening of a localized Game Center CX. For anyone not up on the Japanese pop-culture, Game Center CX, renamed Retro Game Master for us yanks, is a strange mix of Jackass, classic Iron Chef, and videogames. Comedian Shinya Arino is “The Kacho” (midde-manager) and each episode finds him marathon playing (sometimes for well over eight hours straight) classic games from the 8 and 16-bit eras. Sitting in an all but empty theater at 11:30am and watching a middle-aged Japanese funnyman lose at Ghosts 'n Goblins for six hours might sound like a strange way to have a good time, but, let me tell you, it’s a blast. Even beyond the laughs and nostalgia fueled empathy a gamer compulsively feels watching The Kacho die repeatedly at the mercy of archaic game design, the show’s got a great vibe. It legitimately feels like everyone involved is having a good time making such silly entertainment. Most of the show is subtitled but the hokey English narration should be reconsidered if distributor Stylejam decides to bring the whole series across the Pacific.
Many thanks to Infinite Lives for tipping us off to the NYC screenings.