Thursday, May 11, 2017

(Reference) GameCenterCX: Taito Interview



(I wanted to post this on a slow day, but things are getting busy, so I'm posting this here now, in hopes that it'll get buried over the next couple of entries.)

I decided to post another Game Center CX episode.

Not just because this also happens to be the first episode of GameCenter CX, but because there's this really interesting interview Arino conducts with the creator of the Desha de Go/"Go by Train" series, where we learn of Akira Saito's history with Taito and what eventually drove him to create such a unique and interesting series of video games. (@20:00)

There's this interesting sort of revelation, during the interview: That it's not just people who are fixated on "Numbers" or "Game Design" who want to create games, but people from all different walks of life, who simply never had the opportunity to experience certain things (In Saito's case, being a train engineer, being able to drive a train) and video games are often created as an extension towards that - a way to fulfill that experience - very interesting.

As always, please use discretion when sharing.

(Alternative Download - GameCenter CX - Taito/Takeshi No Chousenjou)
(CrunkGames.com write up)
(Go by Train series on Wikipedia)
(GameCenterCX/RetroGameMaster on Amazon)

(from The TV Database - thetvdb.com )

"First Aired 2003-11-04

"In the first episode of Game Center CX, Arino visits Taito to learn it's history and play one of it's most difficult and cruel games Takeshi no Chousenjou. Upon first entering Taito he marvels at the Space Invaders machine. Tomohiro Nishikado, the creator of Space Invaders comes and discusses with Arino the history and impact of the game and they challenge one another to a game. After this Arino meets Akira Saito to discuss the Densha de GO! series. As the tour continues he finds out nobody from the original development team of Takeshi no Chousenjou is left so he meets Tetsuo Egawa instead to discuss it. To find out more about the legendary game he talks to Kazuhiro Hayashi who presents Arino with guidebooks for the game.

Finally we see Arino tackle Takeshi no Chousenjou which includes various hilarious snippits of him getting frustrated at the game's bizarre challenges such as singing karaoke, and waiting one hour without pushing anything. Does Arino complete Takeshi's insane challenge? Watch and find out!"