3DS, Vita, PS3, blah blah blah...

TGS is right around the corner, and as well, Nintendo's own convention/press conference whatever it is, is right around the corner. I don't get what's with this pro-support thing that happens between all of the above consoles. If it comes out on the 3DS, sure. Vita? Great. PS3? Great. I suppose I'm indifferent since I have all the consoles, and many people are supporting their own consoles that they own. Added to the fact that some people can't afford other consoles and would be bitter and disappointed that other consoles may get Monster Hunter instead of their own.

Personally, I would prefer it on any console but the 3DS. I like the 3DS, but I don't think it's an impressive piece of hardware. It's 3D screen is impressive, but the hardware in general is pretty unspectacular. There are some good ideas such as the street pass, the analog stick/nub is nice, and it's aesthetically a good design. However, there are a lot of short comings which remind me of the first PSP hardware release.

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd e-Capcom version

So I got the e-Capcom version of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd which comes with some limited edition Jinouga inner earphones, a PSP carry bag, a phone/PSP charm, and ...the game. So what you see in this photo, is part of the bag, but the new felyne figures are some out of the box figure collection. It's definitely NOT part of the e-Capcom LE for 3rd, but I figure I'd just shoot a picture of these guys anyway.

It's a hunter's life

A bunch of us got together yesterday and played a good amount of Monster Hunter. There was candy, pizza, and Conan The Destroyer involved. It was a humble get together that was reminiscent of the days of youth, except there were 4 grown men having the get together instead.

The Monster Hunter group IS getting larger though. Many people couldn't make it due to some summer plans, but they will be there next time. They WILL.



Oh yeah, we tried kicking a low rank Great Jaggi to death but got impatient after 40 minutes of kicking. After awhile, it was just muscle memory, but it was one of the most exhausting quests we've done in awhile. We then just got tired and hit it with our weapons. Kudos to Shepard and crew for keeping it real in podcast episode #29 (they actually pull it off).

More Monster Hunter books!

Monster Hunter 1, Monster Hunter G and Monster Hunter 2 books!



Some would say I'm obsessed no? lol

Monster Hunter Frontier books

Monster Hunter Frontier books. I've never played Frontier, but I got the books anyway!

Monster Hunter fan art tribute

This won me a prize on Capcom Unity in the Monster Hunter tribute contest, but I never received it. But that's okay Snow, I forgive you.

I can't believe I never posted this thing before!

My current Monster Hunter collection

Save for a few items, this is what I have so far...

Monster Hunter Illustrations release date announced

The MH Illustrations are being localized by Udon Entertainment. It's release date has finally been set for August 2011! If this book does well, and generates enough interest, hopefully there'll be more books to be localized for us Monster Hunter fans!

What's notable is that even though this book (304 pages) can be originally found in a 2 book set in Japanese, this book has a lot of designer notes which give insight into their development of the Monster Hunter games pre-Tri and 3rd. I have this book set myself in Japanese, but I'll be picking this up in English.

Sourced from and more preview images here:
http://www.capcom-unity.com/snow_infernus/blog/2011/06/30/monster_hunter_illustrations_art_book_releasing_in_august

Buy at Amazon.com! It's only 25 USD!

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd in the US?

3rd has been for awhile a well disputed game as to whether it'll actually be released in the West; the Americas including Europe. There've been rumors, or slight leaks giving indication to it actually happening. There seem to be some people that say that it'll never happen and that Monster Hunter fans in the West should just stop asking period because Japan literally hates us (I'm in Canada).

Who knows.

However, vice president of strategic planning and business development over at Capcom US; Christian Svensson, has made a pretty forward statement about the status of 3rd or Monster Hunter in general, coming over to the Americas.



This IS somewhat old as it came from the live stream at E3 2011, but I only found out about this part of the interview a week or two ago. I hadn't the chance to post it here yet. This video has appeared on several Monster Hunter forums though. Strange that not enough people know about it.

More "clues" to come.

Demon's Souls

So Monster Hunter has taken a bit of a back seat in an attempt to clear some other games off my plate. I recently finished Infamous 1 and 2, The 3rd Birthday (which btw, doesn't make any sense at all even though i know the complete story), and I'm working on Assassin's Creed 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and of course Demon's Souls.

Often compared to Monster Hunter, Demon's Souls carries similarities in how it's about learning the patterns of enemies, it's punishing difficulty, the necessity to read and research about items, environments, and nuances, and has a similar level of risk and reward when it comes to the combat. I've played many hours of Monster Hunter; like 1500? Across 3 games, and have to say, even with that level of experience, Demon's Souls is still a really punishing game. It reminds me of my early days with Freedom Unite where fighting Tigrex for the first time was one of my most frustrating and teeth grinding experiences in my habits as a gamer.

After playing maybe about 10 hours, I'm grasping more of the mechanics and what the world is about. I'm a late comer, and perhaps there are still some out there that haven't checked out Demon's Souls or know nothing about it. In such case, I highly suggest you do:



Because the sequel is coming:

Monster Hunter Podcast #44

If you haven't checked out last week's Monster Hunter Podcast, I very much suggest you do. The crew invited a games reviewer from Gamecritics.com; Brad Gallaway. He comes onto the podcast with about 300+ hours of experience of Monster Hunter through Tri and Freedom Unite. The interesting thing to note is that he played Tri first for about 70 to 80 hours, wrote a review, and then played Freedom Unite for 200 hours? 300 hours? I can't remember. He then explained that he had quite more a deeper sense of respect and appreciation for the game, and wished that more people would give Monster Hunter the time he had as he believes the game would be more well-liked by many if they gave it a chance. You can listen to the podcast in more detail and I definitely suggest so if you're a person who's trying to get your friends into Monster Hunter:



I would also highly suggest reading Brad's Monster Hunter reviews as they would probably give more detail in how one's impression of Monster Hunter changes over time.

Monster Hunter Tri:
http://www.gamecritics.com/brad-gallaway/monster-hunter-tri-review

And then...

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite:
http://www.gamecritics.com/brad-gallaway/monster-hunter-freedom-unite-review

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD dated with limited edition version

P3rd HD's website

MHP3rd HD has been dated, as well as some details about a limited edition (only available via E-Capcom) version (referred to as an Extended Edition). It includes a special Monster Hunter themed bluetooth headset that's unfoldable. As well, the HD version of 3rd will be distributed via Bluray, and there hasn't been a PSN version announced. In my opinion, this heightens the chance of it coming to the West. If they release a PSP version, they might bundle it as a download voucher in a retail Bluray release. I think that's our best chance of getting it!

Oh yeah, it's dated for an August 25th, 2011 release.

Monster Hunter artbook coming to the West!

My friend who works at Udon Entertainment just messaged me this the other day:



Buy Monster Hunter Illustrations by Udon Entertainment on Amazon.ca!

The book is a translation of a two book set in Japan also known as the Monster Hunter Illustrations. It covers most of, if not all of the content from Monster Hunter 1 to 2 including the Portable versions.

He said he'll send me more details as soon as they come as it's not out yet. (also if it does well, they'll do more Monster Hunter artbooks)

Monster Hunter Podcast

http://www.youtube.com/user/SocialDissonance

I've been listening to these guys for the past couple...to few weeks? I'm actually really liking these guys. They've been playing Monster Hunter for awhile now; Freedom Unite, Tri and Portable 3rd. What's interesting is that one of them is a game developer, and the rest of them have a slight know how of how stuff works in the industry. So because of that, when they comment and talk about Monster Hunter, it's insightful to hear other developers' opinions on MH specially when he's from a totally different country.

Oh yeah. Subscribe to them on Youtube. They need 10k subscribers; I think they deserve it.

Their blog:
http://monsterhunterpodcast.tumblr.com/

Universal Studios X Monster Hunter

Official Website (in Japanese)

Only in Japan! I suppose they'll do some sort of ride or attraction that'll involve a merch store, museum, and a ride or walk through. But damn it... I wanna go.

It'll be available starting in August, and who knows how long it'll go for.

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd coming to PS3!

There'll be interactivity between the PSP (and probably NGP) and PS3 versions. Assuming that you'll probably be able to transfer the save to and from each console.



It looks like they kept the same art assets, just used the source textures, and probably added some more geometry to the foliage. It looks great regardless, and I hope that this means the announcement of the US version will be approaching soon...both on the PSP/NGP and PS3.

Limited Edition Monster Hunter 2 DOS

I have no idea what DOS stands for, but my limited edition copy of Monster Hunter 2 for PS2 came in yesterday. It's a big box! Surprisingly. And it came with a figure of Kushala Daora; one of my favorite monsters in all of Monster Hunter-dom. Like "kingdom" but not. A slightly larger figure than my other figures. Nicely detailed and well done.

I'll take more pics when I have a chance.

Back to it...

I'm back to playing Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. It's been awhile since I've been so busy with other things. I've also been scheduling mildly consistent Freedom Unite get togethers with friends, and am considering returning to Tri to get high rank armor other than high rank Alloy armor. It's quite embarrassing really.

Anyways, in the next few posts, I hope to do some critical study on why Monster Hunter doesn't take a hold of the West as much as it does in the East, and what could be done to remedy it. I'm sure it's done many times before, but perhaps me being a developer would provide some more insight. I'll compile it and send it to Capcom so that hopefully they'll get something out of it, and perhaps make use of it.

Monster Hunter moving to 3DS?

Link here.

It's not surprising that it Ryozo Tsujimoto is thinking about bringing Monster Hunter to the 3DS. The 3DS is as powerful as a PS2 and thensome, it's portable, it has 2 screens, and one of them displays in stereoscopic. It might change how the interface of Monster Hunter has been since it's days on the PS2.