Nintendo Wii Fanboy

CESA announced their list of the best games of TGS 2008, known as the "Future" category of their Japan Game Awards. Of the twelve games given the award (in no specific order), three are on Wii.

Of course Capcom's Monster Hunter 3 got a nod; nothing short of not calling it Monster Hunter 3 will keep this from being a ridiculous hit in Japan, and that held true at TGS as well, with the game commanding ridiculous lines. But the two other Wii winners may be more of a surprise: Chunsoft's Sega-published visual novel 428: The World Doesn't Change Even So, and Prope's experimental Let's Tap. Sega must be very happy right about now!

For the sake of Nintendo fandom, we'll include the DS winners here as well: the Phoenix Wright spinoff Gyakuten Kenji and Dragon Quest IX, which wasn't even playable.


[Via Kotaku]

Capcom's online control diagrams for Monster Hunter 3 are informative, especially with the video clips. But they lack one important component for most of us: coherent text. Nintendo World Report snapped pictures of English-language move charts at TGS.

The five separate control guides completely shatter the notion that the game's controls would be simplified in the transition to Wii. The MH3 controls don't look overcomplicated, just complicated. Every button is used, some in multiple ways. Different weapons have subtly different control schemes. Interestingly, there are different controls for "sub-aqua," so it must be more than just walking around on the bottom of the sea.

Luckily for those of us who wanted to read previews of Monster Hunter 3, Capcom held a private demo session for foreign press, allowing people to actually see the thing and not just stare dumbfounded at the insane line. Wired's Jean Snow got a chance to play the guaranteed multi-million seller, and brought back not-entirely-great news.

He calls the graphics "fine for a Wii title," which is a far cry from the eye-popping beauty we've seen in screens and video. That's not bad. Even better than not bad: apparently, your character can now hold his or her breath for "5-6 minutes," opening up an entirely new area of the world for exploration.

Unfortunately, the wait for Monster Hunter 3 wasn't limited to the TGS line: the game as presented was plagued by "constant loading screens when entering new areas."

When we saw control diagrams for Monster Hunter 3 on Capcom's TGS page for the game, we rejoiced, because we would finally learn how Capcom adapted their online ARPG into something that can be (optionally) controlled with the Wiimote. But then we saw, to our horror, that the diagrams were labeled with so many complicated characters. Just before we resigned ourselves to a few hours in the company of our kanji dictionary, we noticed that alongside each infobox is a video link.

Just click the black rectangles with yellow icons in them, and Capcom will explain how to play in the universal language of just showing you. Perhaps most interesting is the method of attacking, which involves moving the control stick in a direction and then swinging the remote -- or pressing the plus button.

So, here's some gameplay footage of Monster Hunter 3 (tri-). It's so incredibly gorgeous that we didn't mind typing out Monster Hunter 3 (tri-), which we've just done a second time. It looks pretty far beyond what is expected from a Wii game. Most importantly, it still looks like Monster Hunter.

It should be great comfort to Monster Hunter fans (also known as Japan) to learn that it should play like Monster Hunter, as well. Capcom revealed Classic Controller support for the sequel at TGS. We fully expect a specially-branded Monster Hunter 3 Classic Controller to appear soon. They also revealed that two players can play together in a split-screen mode while offline. The screen is divided horizontally.

Whereas previous Monster Hunter 3 media has mainly gawked at the game's environments (which look great), Famitsu's latest spread focuses on the scaly beasts who inhabit them. That's probably a good idea, as monsters have this tendency to play a fairly integral role in a Monster Hunter game.

Typically for the series, most of these are all teeth and scales and based on dinosaurs; this Pterodactyl-like fellow is probably our favorite to date. Hit the "Source" link for the full set of scans!

In Japan, the Monster Hunter series is one of the most successful game franchises in history, selling millions of copies on the PlayStation 2 and (especially) PSP. But outside of Japan, it's that one action RPG from Capcom or something. It's far from the system-selling sensation it is for Capcom of Japan -- over there, it sells PSP systems.

Is the Wii version enough to change that in North America (if it even comes out in North America)? Has your interest in the Monster Hunter games been increased at all by the existence of a Wii version?

Hunting for monsters in Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) might prove trickier than we thought, considering how pretty and distracting the environments are (they're not exactly small, either). Track monsters? No thanks. We'd rather go inspect that balloon, or browse at those market stalls, or dip a toe in that lake.

These shots come from the game's just-opened official site, which also contains some concept art of monsters, including Rayburn, a dragon that can exist on land or underwater. Here he is, in fact (we think)!


[Via Go Nintendo]

With the Wii desperately struggling for survival in Japan, it needs a big title to turn things around, and if there's anything bigger (in Japan) than Monster Hunter, we're yet to clap eyes on it. Monster Hunter 3 was trumpeted as a Wii exclusive almost a year ago, yet it's only now we're hearing and seeing anything substantial about the project.

Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Kaname Fujioka granted an interview to Famitsu, in which the pair describe how the switch from PS3 to Wii prompted a major overhaul, including a large number of fresh monsters. Set on an unexplored island, the new game will prominently feature underwater sections, where several monsters hang out. Some creatures (such as the game's main monster, a huge dragon) will be capable of surviving on land or in the water, and can be successfully hunted in either environment.

Tsujimoto and Fujioka also touched on what promises to be Monster Hunter 3's most appealing mode: online play. As in the PS2 versions, this can be played with four player groups, and there are lobby areas (in the form of a "city") that can be developed and expanded by offline play. The game makes a playable appearance at the Tokyo Game Show, so we should learn more soon.

[Translation via IGN]

In the U.S., Monster Hunter doesn't seem like much of a big deal, but it's serious business in Japan. It's not exactly Japan's Halo-- Halo 3 is actually doing a pretty good job of that right now-- but Famitsu and the other Japanese gaming sites manage to post about a Monster Hunter game nearly every single day. Such serious business is Monster Hunter that Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata celebrated Capcom's move of Monster Hunter 3 to the Wii as a strategic play on Nintendo's part to attract more hardcore gamers.

In a statement made during Wednesday's Nintendo Conference, Iwata said "I understand that some experts argue that our success is short-lived and temporary. So, now we need to make efforts to [offer] services and titles that can appeal not only to those who have never played games but also to those who play them hard."

In a delightfully hilarious understatement, publisher Enterbrain's Hirokazu Hamamura declared that "The transfer of the platform is a positive surprise for Nintendo and negative news for Sony." Yes, we'd say that a series that has sold 4.5 million copies on your systems moving toward the competitors is negative news. We think that there's almost no reason for Capcom to release a big game like Monster Hunter 3 on the PS3 when they could do so on the Wii. It costs less to develop Wii games, and there are more Wii owners to sell to. Oh, plus it sounds like Nintendo made them a very attractive deal, which doesn't hurt.

The Wii's relatively lacking online integration is the only thing that could hurt Monster Hunter, and we imagine that Nintendo will bend over backwards to help out in this case.

[Via Game|Life]

Nintendo's going to have to divert every Wii shipment straight to Japan for this one. The Monster Hunter series, while certainly doing decent business in the U.S., is an absolute sales monster in Japan. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd on the PSP sold half a million copies on its first day and became the first million-selling PSP game in Japan.

Monster Hunter 3 was previously announced for the PS3, but Capcom has now changed their plan and announced it as a Wii exclusive. Without the barrier of having to buy a new $500+ system, Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) (that's the official title-- we don't know either!) should be quite the hit. An important part of the Monster Hunter experience is online play. We expect such a feature will appear on the Wii, though we don't look forward to seeing how the game will integrate friend codes.