Business, bandai namco games, game center cx, japan, wired

Hey Someone, Localize Game Center CX

Back when I visited Bandai Namco headquarters to watch the filming of Japanese reality show Game Center CX, I got to check out the then unreleased Game Center CX game. From what I played, I really, really enjoyed. The title does a nice job of mixing mini-games and old style video games in a fun, novel way. Over at Wired.com, Chris Kohler has done an extensive hands-on with the title, writing:

It doesn't matter whether you've seen the Japanese reality show on which Game Center CX: Arino's Challenge is based. This new Nintendo DS game will deliver a dose of humorous and all-too-true retro game nostalgia to anyone who remembers the 80's.
Hey, remember the 80's? Remember poring over game magazines for cheat codes to help you get past the impossible sections of the short, difficult NES games of the era? Remember sitting around with your friends on lazy summer days trying to be the first one to get past that tricky part? So do the people who designed Game Center CX, an homage to 1985's game culture.

The game isn't exactly import friendly (thanks to the Japanese text). But really, someone Kohler is right: Someone should totally localize this game. And while they're at it, subtitle the Game Center CX DVDs so non-Japanese speakers can enjoy it!
Game Center CX Impressions [Game|Life]

6:40 AM on Wed Nov 14 2007
By Brian Ashcraft
1,886 views
13 comments

Comments

hondo at 07:02 AM on 11/14/07
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I would love it if someone subbed the show and brought over the game. It sounds like fun ^_^ I love retro stuff.
Onizuka-GTO at 07:02 AM on 11/14/07
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what??! mini-games again?

How DARE THEY!

When are they going to bring out REAL games?!

You need guns and blood, zombies and assassins, aliens! not these old childish games for childish people, which are not worth it because they aren't 1080p like XBLA!

daammn you nintendo, your making a mockery of us Hardcore gamers, you and your simple formula's and girl pulling money spinning advertisement filth!

*buys three copies*
DaiMacculate at 07:14 AM on 11/14/07
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Connectedness Index: 1047

@Onizuka-GTO: *slow clap*
tkshredder at 07:57 AM on 11/14/07
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Man I would love to work on a localization project like this. Seriously, I am a programmer / graphic designer / Japanese translator by trade, looking to get into the games industry. Would love to start by working on some zany project like this. Maybe I could too Arino-san? Anyway, great article about Game Center CX, Bash!

Word.
fuchikoma at 09:27 AM on 11/14/07
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@tkshredder:

You have the perfect combination of skills to do a ROM hack of it then... there are tool packs out there just for that purpose if you look hard enough. Don't know what it's like on DS though - if there's any encryption or something like that, but when I played with translating Gyakuten Saiban 3 on GBA it was pretty easy (stalled out though because the tool pack was incomplete and the guy heading the project vanished :/)
Benjo at 09:34 AM on 11/14/07
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Nice, I really liked the Wired article on this.
onomeister at 11:07 AM on 11/14/07
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*drools* ...Oh man! Gotta get me this game... <---Child of the Eighties
jacksinn at 12:03 PM on 11/14/07
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I miss the 80s except pretty much everything about it.
sabishii at 01:20 PM on 11/14/07
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I was surprised to find that there don't seem to be fansubs yet.
marcus_ivo at 03:53 PM on 11/14/07
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Yeah I was looking for a subbed version of the show too
denki at 04:45 PM on 11/14/07
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While DS owners are a little more supportive of software for their system than PSP owners, the likelyhood of this game being ported is about nil to a million. Take, for example, Baito Hell 2000 for the PSP. Sold huge quantities in Japan, became a Greatest Hit title, known for its quirky nostalgic mini-game gameplay, great humor, etc. When it was ported over by D3 into WTF it had about as much impact as a fart in a hurricane. Even though by porting a game you sidestep a lot of dev costs, the amount of people that would buy this game stateside is so small that whoever ported it would make no profit. We'll see as ja.wiki lists that this game goes on sale today in Japan, so maybe if it breaks New Super Mario Bros in sales it'll get ported. Not likely.
muu at 05:22 PM on 11/14/07
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Connectedness Index: 45

Sub the show, and watch it get spread around on torrents to half-interested folks that won't pay for the DVDs whether it was available or not? And then release a game on the show, which also gets warezed to hell?

Fansubs may have been great and all to catch the attention of bored adolescents looking for free ways to kill time, but it's long been way out of control. At least a few years ago people pretended to to want to buy DVDs when they came out...
tkshredder at 07:43 AM on 11/15/07
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@fuchikoma: Yeah, the problem is getting financial support to do something like this. Between my current job which keeps me busy, working on my own game, and playing the gazillions of new titles coming out right now, I'm booked until next year with stuff to keep me occupied!

Honestly speaking though, I am seriously looking for a job in the games industry right now - and I think translating something like this would be a really cool job and actually _could_ be a success with the proper marketing background. I mean, sure, it'd be hard pressed to sell more than 100K copies here in the US, but still I think there are 1) enough hard core fans that would go for it, and 2) retro games have a lot of potential in this market. it would just have to be at a very affordable price ($20 launch price or something like that).