Sunday
Jun212009
Japanese Gameshows
Sunday, June 21, 2009 at 4:11AM
In the midst of repairing various parts of our desert compound, I spent part of this weekend watching G4's Ninja Warrior marathon.
The show itself, known as Sasuke in Japan has been broadcast by TBS for over 10 years and has finally made its way across the Pacific to find a perch on American cable television.
I can see why the show's landed on G4 - its multi-stage obstacle course from hell would be right at home in some permutation of Ninja Gaiden, Tomb Raider or another 3D action platform game.
Of course, as with previous Japanese TV exports such as Iron Chef, eventually, some television network here has made an attempt to copy the show - witness ABC television's Wipeout which happened to be airing on the same day.
One marked difference between the two shows however is that where Sasuke's whole point is to see if there is anyone physically blessed to beat its insane, 4-stage course, based on some of the contestants chosen, Wipeout's apparent intention is to watch people fail spectacurlarly.
Witness:
The show itself, known as Sasuke in Japan has been broadcast by TBS for over 10 years and has finally made its way across the Pacific to find a perch on American cable television.
I can see why the show's landed on G4 - its multi-stage obstacle course from hell would be right at home in some permutation of Ninja Gaiden, Tomb Raider or another 3D action platform game.
Of course, as with previous Japanese TV exports such as Iron Chef, eventually, some television network here has made an attempt to copy the show - witness ABC television's Wipeout which happened to be airing on the same day.
One marked difference between the two shows however is that where Sasuke's whole point is to see if there is anyone physically blessed to beat its insane, 4-stage course, based on some of the contestants chosen, Wipeout's apparent intention is to watch people fail spectacurlarly.
Witness:
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