Maybe you already thought the PS2, GameCube and Game Boy Advance already were retro? To be honest, I’m not sure if I did, but that doesn’t really matter. Retro game master Shinya Arino thinks they are!
Back in May, the official Twitter account for the wonderful OG let’s play show, Game Center CX, tweeted out that since the aforementioned consoles have passed the twenty-year mark. By the rules of Game Center CX, makes their games retro. Therefore, Arino will be playing these console (and their games) this season. The PlayStation 2, the GameCube, and the Game Boy Advance all have libraries of excellent and interesting games, which will make for good episodes.
Today, Famitsu reports that the first PlayStation 2 game Arino will be playing is Simple 2000 Series Vol. 31 The Chikyuu Boueigun, which is the first game in the Earth Defense Force franchise, and a very solid choice. The game was first released in 2003 in Japan, and was later released in Europe as Monster Attack. The second game in the series, titled Chikyuu Boueigun 2, was renamed Global Defense Force. By 2006, the series had settled on the Earth Defense Force moniker for its English-language name.
If you are not familiar with Game Center CX, you can read (here and here) a profile I did on Arino in 2007 for Wired Magazine. (Full disclosure: Back in 2011, Kotaku broadcasted an English language version of Game Center CX which was localized as Retro Game Master.) The series is a forerunner to the gaming streams of today, and has long shown that people enjoy watching others play video games, especially when they’re as likeable and funny as Arino.
But twenty years, huh? Can you believe it? My mind will really be blown when Wii Sports starts appearing on the show.
Note: This article was originally published on May 14, 2021. It has since been updated.