Meeting the Kacho of Retro Game Master
This past Friday, as part of the United States tour that Game Center CX, also known as Retro Game Master (airing Thursdays on Kotaku), Arino-Kacho, the man behind the controller, visited Japan Arcade in the Little Tokyo Mall.
I have been to this arcade numerous times over the years, and may I emphasize that word, years. Yet I have never seen more people there than on that night.
I arrived right around 5 o’clock, with the Kacho to make his appearance around 7. There was already a small group of people playing around with their 3DS’s. For the record, by the night’s end, I would have around 20 StreetPasses.
I was able to meet with an English-speaking producer who expressed dismay, as over 100 people showed up to an event where no more than 30 were expected. Indeed, when one of the AD’s asked that we give Arino a warm welcome, we knew it would not be a problem.
In came Arino to thunderous applause. Humorously, he spoke to us in English that he was reading off of Flash cards on a keychain. After that, due to the overwhelming turnout, Arino would only have time for a handshake and a photo with each person (The original plan was to have him play a little Street Fighter). As you can see in the above photo, I got my picture.
As each person came to the front of the line, it burst forth from them how gaming changed them as they grew up, and how great it was to see someone struggle (and triumph) through the classics. Footage was also filmed for an upcoming broadcast. By the way, given one of my more… animated responses, the likelihood of yours truly appearing for a brief period is high.
After everyone in line got a picture, a little bit of merchandise was handed out, and he was off. The producers seemed overwhelmed at the turnout, and I can tell you that the arcade was packed to the gills. I also got Arino-Kacho’s StreetPass, which was cool until I looked at it. Guy has really long hair on his fantasy self. Dare to dream.