GameCenter CX is debating whether Wii and PS3 count as retro now

GameCenter CX, the long-running Japanese TV show where host Shinya Arino battles notoriously hard classic games, is about to make a lot of fans feel very old. On August 23rd, the program will broadcast a debate on whether to officially add Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 games to its lineup — which would mark the first time the show takes on hardware younger than itself.

GameCenter CX has been running since 2003, racking up nearly 400 episodes built around Arino sweating through Famicom-era games like Ghosts 'n Goblins, Ninja Gaiden, and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. The show has gradually expanded its scope from the Sega Master System era up through the PlayStation 2, but the Wii and PS3 represent a new frontier. The occasion is the 20th anniversary of both consoles — yes, both systems launched roughly two decades ago — and the show is marking it by considering them officially retro. Games like Super Mario Galaxy and Fallout: New Vegas, which feel recent to anyone who played them at launch, are now apparently vintage.

GameCenter CX is a genuine institution in Japanese gaming culture. Beyond the show itself, it spawned two Nintendo DS games and Arino has popped up across gaming history in various forms, including as an unlockable outfit in Super Mario Maker. The show's appeal goes beyond the challenge runs too — some of its most beloved episodes are quieter detours, like Arino travelling to find Japan's northernmost arcade.

The prospect of Arino taking on Wii Sports or Portal is genuinely entertaining, but the real gut punch here is the math. If the Wii is retro now, the PlayStation 5 turns 20 in 2040 — a thought the original article wisely declined to finish. The August 23rd broadcast will settle whether Wii and PS3 games officially enter the GameCenter CX canon.