Featured Post

PSP2, Switch 2 and an Xbox handheld... a brighter portable future?

3DS Gets Monster Hunter 4, What Can Sony Bring?

At it's TGS event, Nintendo managed to drag out some remakes, a pink 3DS, the known-about Monster Hunter 3G and, drum roll, Monster Hunter 4 as a (possible - versions vary on this) exclusive for the handheld. At that point, Capcom's share price dropped (Nintendo was down 5% after the show, hardly a sign of confidence) and Iwata was apparently treated with a lack of respect by the audience (GB has an interesting read on the event). quite a big thing for the usually polite Japanese audience.

You can watch a rerun of the event here.The upshot really was that 3DS can play games that PSP owners have enjoyed for years, Monster Hunter, Metal Gear and so on. Having seen the line-up I'll happily pick up the remodeled 3DS whenever it launches, but Nintendo's whole vibe seemed to be about fixing the 3DS's weak launch.

UPDATE: I can't see "exclusive" mentioned specifically relating to MH4, so I'd imagine it is NOT an exclusive title, also based on a Capcom statement in its financial report (where you can't just make stuff up) the company said a while back that all titles being multiplatform going forward

And, while people waited for some new news that never came. No Wii U, nothing. Sony must have been quietly confident, IF IT HAS its own MH product tucked away to announce. The trailer (and its only a concept, so release could be a year off) for MH4 shows off some more agile combat, but there's a scary lack of multiplayer going on, the sole reason that the game sells.



So, Sony can easily steal Nintendo's limelight, just by turning up and blowing raspberries on stage. But what will it do without MH4? Even if its just a timed exclusive, Sony needs to react fast. Presumably a MH3 refresh in the HD style, or a MH1-3 compilation will do rabid Japanese gamers in the short term. But the six million plus MH players will want a new experience pretty quickly.

MH5? Way too early. A full court line up of God Eater, Phantasy Star, Frontier Gate and the other clones on Vita? More than likely, but Sony will need to fill the gap quickly, how about a Final Fantasy Hunter game?

Currently playing on my Vita/PS4/PS5