http://kotaku.com/5326808/capcom-shipped-a-million-copies-of-monster-hunter-3
Tomorrow in Japan, eagerly awaited title Monster Hunter 3 goes on sale. Capcom is ready for big sales and has shipped a million copies to Japanese retailers.
The game was originally planned as a PS3 game, but Capcom later announced it for the Wii in Fall 2007.IGN:
July 30, 2009 - Monster Hunter 3 isn't even out yet, and it's already breaking records. Capcom announced today that the upcoming Wii blockbuster has shipped a full million units ahead of its release this Saturday. The company said that this makes it the first third party Wii game to ship a million units in Japan.
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Now Playing: Golden Sun Dark Dawn, God of War Ghost of Sparta, and DKC Returns
It has begun.
robio said:Not to sound stupid, but exactly how does this game play? What do you do? Is it like Pokemon? Do you just run around killing monsters? Can someone give me the Cliff's Notes version of the gameplay?
You would have to ask ASK or Kaepora. I've never played one. It looks like PSO to me, you load up on gear, weapons and items then head off on quests to get specific monsters?
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SAN MATEO, Calif. — August 3, 2009 — Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that Monster Hunter™ Tri will be released in both North America and Europe for Nintendo’s Wii™ system in early 2010.
Monster Hunter Tri will set a new bar in the action/adventure genre with the introduction of new features and game play elements as the multi-million unit selling franchise makes its debut on the Wii system.
One of the most strikingly beautiful titles ever developed for Wii, Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where man co-exists with fantastic beasts that roam both the land and the sea. Featuring both online and offline cooperative modes, players can join online hunting parties with up to four players or play with two players on a single TV for select quests. Players also have the option to face Monster Hunter Tri’s challenging quests as a single player experience accompanied by Cha-Cha, an AI hunting partner whose tracking and trapping skills will prove invaluable in the hunt. New items, weapons and armor sets will also be available to assist the hunters as they embark on the most incredible Monster Hunter adventure to date.
“Fans of Nintendo and Monster Hunter are eagerly anticipating the launch of this title in the US, which will be the first time the series is available on a Nintendo home console,” said Steve Singer, Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Licensing. “Having Capcom bring Monster Hunter Tri to the Wii console provides tremendous action, fun and entertainment to both veteran players and series newcomers alike.”
Visitors to this month’s GamesCom European gaming convention in Cologne, Germany August 19-23, will be the first to sample a localized version of the title on Capcom’s stand as it makes its English debut for a western audience. GamesCom attendees will have the opportunity to play the same game that took last year’s Tokyo Game Show by storm, with lines that stretched around Capcom’s stand as eager Japanese gamers waited in excess of five hours to play.
This desire to be one of the first to experience Monster Hunter Tri is indicative of the impact the Monster Hunter franchise has made on videogame culture in Japan. With sales of the series totaling well over 10 million units and 3.5 million sales of Monster Hunter Portable™ 2ndG alone, it’s no surprise to find that Monster Hunter has given rise to dedicated “training camps”, country-wide festivals and numerous licensed products. The franchise doesn’t just top the charts in Japan; it’s become a social phenomenon.
More information on Monster Hunter Tri will be revealed in the upcoming months. In the meantime, please visit the official Capcom press site at http://press.capcom.com
PR email
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3175394
The current Japanese ad campaign in Japan for Monster Hunter 3 Tri~ promises that this game is for everyone. From teenage girls who have only played the game for three hours to the hardcore hunter who has put in over 4,000, this Wii version positions itself as a slightly gentler breed.
Judging by the first couple of hours, though, it makes good on that promise. Monster Hunter is notorious for being totally unforgiving -- the last two PSP entries started you off with some optional tutorial missions and a couple of easy quests before throwing you into extremely difficult monster battles. Monster Hunter 3 Tri~, on the other hand, very gently and lovingly teaches you the basics through story missions that not only introduce you to the people in the city, but teach you how to farm, hunt, gather and swim. They also only start you out with two weapons: a sword, shield and Greatsword, to make sure you nail the basics of the game before you start using some of the more advanced weapons. More difficult-to-manage weapons like Lances, Bowguns, and Hammers are ready to be made as soon as you get the materials, but the Long Sword and the new Slash Axe aren't available to make until later in the game. Unfortunately, Capcom removed some of the weapons that existed in previous versions of MH. Say goodbye to Gunlances, Dual Swords, Horns, and Bows.
While we covered the Wii Remote-only controls in our impressions of the demo, it is worth noting that the game supports the Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro in addition to the Wii Remote. With those controllers, you're given two different options for mapping attacks: buttons or dual analog. If you use dual analog sticks, you will be forced to use the "claw" style controls -- where one lays their index finger on the D-pad, similar to playing the PSP editions -- for camera controls, whereas the config that has attacks mapped to buttons allows you to put the camera controls on the second analog stick. Better controls won't magically make a Monster Hunter hater into a lover, but at least the schemes improve upon the camera controls from the PSP versions.
Aside from all that, the game plays mostly the same. The old weapons get some new moves, there are some small presentation changes (item icons appear above your head), but the tried-and-true formula of "hunt, kill, skin, then make stuff" is basically the same. The weapons are still hard to control, too, but now you've got a little time to practice using them before a giant dragon bites your head off.
As for MH3's online play, it launched in Japan without a hitch. No server downtime, no problems connecting otherwise, and no insane forum backlash -- pretty rare for an online game. By the afternoon of the launch, there were about 15-20,000 people online, a fairly large number for only being up for a few hours. The online setup itself is almost exactly the same -- including the price of playing online -- as Monster Hunter G, the Wii release that preceded MH3. The only difference, of course, is in the form of scenery.
Playing MH3 online is pretty much lag free, but like in the PSP Monster Hunter titles, the smaller monsters aren't exactly prioritized, so you will often see your friends attacking and carving into nothing -- weird to see, but nothing to affect your game. There is no voice chat (fingers crossed that the western release will have it), but you can plug in a USB keyboard, and you're going to want to; typing with just a controller is clunky and almost unusable when out hunting.
That said, playing online is a breeze. Finding people to go on quests with is as easy as walking into the lobby, and you'll seldom find people who will turn you down. Be careful, though, because if you ditch your party in the middle of a quest, you'll lose money -- however, if you accidentally drop your connection, your character just reverts back to the way they were before you started the quest, with no penalty. In general, it's great to finally have a totally (OK, mostly) painless online experience on the Wii. It only took what, three years?
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I'm just glad to see Capcom going all out with MH3 for the Wii. I really thought they'd sort of phone it in while just riding on the PSP's success but it looks like that's not the case. Seeing those screens, it's really looking awesome. It makes me wish Nintendo would make a Zelda game with this same effort and scale. Imagine that!
My hope is that it becomes a hit here in the west. I know it'll sell like crazy in Japan but the series hasn't had the same success here. Hope this will all change so that when this game comes out, we can see a NPD month with a third party Wii game in the top 10 for once!
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Now Playing: Golden Sun Dark Dawn, God of War Ghost of Sparta, and DKC Returns
Few more pics, posting this last batch was a bitch, damn japanese sites make you retrieve urls from the properties menu for each individual pic. Ugh.
I posted the links before but no one checked em, go here NOW:
ASK_Story said:Wow! Famitsu giving perfect scores are pretty rare. This and Dragon Quest IX got perfect scores, both third party games for Nintendo systems.
I'm just glad to see Capcom going all out with MH3 for the Wii. I really thought they'd sort of phone it in while just riding on the PSP's success but it looks like that's not the case. Seeing those screens, it's really looking awesome. It makes me wish Nintendo would make a Zelda game with this same effort and scale. Imagine that!
My hope is that it becomes a hit here in the west. I know it'll sell like crazy in Japan but the series hasn't had the same success here. Hope this will all change so that when this game comes out, we can see a NPD month with a third party Wii game in the top 10 for once!
EA games have recentely been in the top 10 NPD multiplatform chart, their Tiger Woods and EA Sports active did really well.
Did you see this before? So badass. Now the Zelda team needs to get their ass in gear.
A few snippets of info from the Iwata Asks feature on Monster Hunter 3...
- Capmp worked extra hard on making the graphics in MH3 the best on Wii
- Nintendo's designers were very impressed with the graphics, so much so that the Zelda team really felt the pressure after seeing Capcom's work
- Tsujimoto said the Wiimote didn't have enough buttons, and the dev team took right up until the TGS showing to map out the controls
- the idea of motion control was tossed out due to the immense amount of hours players spend with this game
- Capcom worked with Nintendo to design the Classic Controller Pro
ASK_Story said:Wow! Famitsu giving perfect scores are pretty rare. This and Dragon Quest IX got perfect scores, both third party games for Nintendo systems.
I'm just glad to see Capcom going all out with MH3 for the Wii. I really thought they'd sort of phone it in while just riding on the PSP's success but it looks like that's not the case. Seeing those screens, it's really looking awesome. It makes me wish Nintendo would make a Zelda game with this same effort and scale. Imagine that!
My hope is that it becomes a hit here in the west. I know it'll sell like crazy in Japan but the series hasn't had the same success here. Hope this will all change so that when this game comes out, we can see a NPD month with a third party Wii game in the top 10 for once!
hasn't EA sports active done that already? oh rite, you mean a proper game!
like you i hope this becomes a phenomenal success worldwide as i feel there is a lot riding on the success of this game. not sure of capcom's expectations (i think they said 2m?) but i hope this exceeds them so they can feel that the wii market is worth their while for more than onrail spinoffs and abortions like chop till you drop.
any word on how japan is liking it so far other than the famitsu review?
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gamingeek said:ASK_Story said:Wow! Famitsu giving perfect scores are pretty rare. This and Dragon Quest IX got perfect scores, both third party games for Nintendo systems.
I'm just glad to see Capcom going all out with MH3 for the Wii. I really thought they'd sort of phone it in while just riding on the PSP's success but it looks like that's not the case. Seeing those screens, it's really looking awesome. It makes me wish Nintendo would make a Zelda game with this same effort and scale. Imagine that!
My hope is that it becomes a hit here in the west. I know it'll sell like crazy in Japan but the series hasn't had the same success here. Hope this will all change so that when this game comes out, we can see a NPD month with a third party Wii game in the top 10 for once!EA games have recentely been in the top 10 NPD multiplatform chart, their Tiger Woods and EA Sports active did really well.
Did you see this before? So badass. Now the Zelda team needs to get their ass in gear.
A few snippets of info from the Iwata Asks feature on Monster Hunter 3...
- Capmp worked extra hard on making the graphics in MH3 the best on Wii
- Nintendo's designers were very impressed with the graphics, so much so that the Zelda team really felt the pressure after seeing Capcom's work
- Tsujimoto said the Wiimote didn't have enough buttons, and the dev team took right up until the TGS showing to map out the controls
- the idea of motion control was tossed out due to the immense amount of hours players spend with this game
- Capcom worked with Nintendo to design the Classic Controller Pro
That's great! I'm glad Iwata is kicking the Zelda team's pants! Who else can? I hope MH3 really motivates Aunoma and his team to make, not just the best looking Wii game but the best Zelda ever...well, at least since Ocarina.
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Now Playing: Golden Sun Dark Dawn, God of War Ghost of Sparta, and DKC Returns
gamingeek said:
first time i'm seeing these. there really does seem to be great variety in the environments/habitats as well as in the monsters
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So there are 100 new screens, I will post some of them. These are IGN pics so they are awkwardly slightly out of size.
IGN has frozen so I will have to do the rest later.