Thursday, July 29, 2010

Monster Hunter Tri Sales strong, but Capcom profits are down

By ARCHON

Capcom's first fiscal quarter of the year has been less than brag-worthy. According to gamrfeed:


For the three months ending June 2010, Capcom earned revenues of 19.037 billion Yen ($213.9 million) down slightly from 19.497 billion Yen ($219 million) in the previous June quarter...foreign exchange losses for Capcom caused a sharp drop in profitability compared to a year ago. 

Going on to indicate that Monster Hunter Tri sales were fairly strong

During the first quarter of the fiscal year, several Capcom titles performed well.
  • Lost Planet 2 shipments for X360 & PS3 combined reached 1.50 million units worldwide
  • Super Street Fighter IV shipments for PS3 & X360 combined reached 1.35 million units worldwide
  • Monster Hunter 3 shipments for Wii (launched in the West in April) reached 0.69m units worldwide and now stand at 1.8m worldwide
So in this quarter Monster hunter sold 690,000 copies which brings its total copies sold to 1,800,000 units. A respectable number, especially considering that Monster Hunter Tri is considered a bit of a niche game here in the west.

Monday, July 19, 2010

MH3 now only $40

By ARCHON


It's a reasonable assumption that most of you reading this blog already own Monster Hunter Tri, but for the few of you who do not good news: the price for a brand new copy of the game has dropped to $39.99 at Gamestop saving you $10 off the previous price. If you've been waiting to pick up a copy, now's your chance. Considering how many hours I've put into the game and how much fun it has been, $40 is a steal! If you have friends who are thinking about getting the game and need a little push, perhaps this is it. Spread the word...your reward is even more hunters to help you on your quests online.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Better Know a Monster: Barroth

By ARCHON


Monster Hunter Tri's Barroth features a pretty significant jump in difficulty from all the monsters prior. He his harder and is faster than any before him, and the first few times you face him he can be quite unpredictable. Don't be discouraged if it takes a few times before you beat this foe as the challenge is formidable, but the rewards are worth it. The Barroth armor set is one of my favorites, featuring lightning resistance (useful against the upcoming Lagicrus) and a feature that increases the staying power of your stamina bar.

The Barroth  is unique in that he is weak to two different elements depending on the situation. When he is covered in mud, water attacks are the most useful and help slough off that thick layer of mud armor. Once the mud is washed away, he is weak to fire. So pick a fire or water weapon for this one.

Attacks to watch out for: tail whip, running charge, a head ground-smash that sends bits of mud flying, a sideways head-but, a Great Jaggi-style hip-check, and a mud-flinging shake. Above all avoid his running charge! This attack is by far his strongest and even with substantial armor this move can kill a hunter in one hit. He lowers his head and then charges at you. Block this attack with the lance or GS or dodge out of the way, though not too early as he will curve the path of his charge to intercept you.

Most of the other attacks should be familiar to you from previous monsters, but the mud-shake is new. This attack doesn't usually directly hurt you, but it throws large globs of mud in an area around the Barroth. Getting hit by one of these knocks you back, does damage, and binds your character with mud which slows you and makes you unable to attack for a time. Use the "cleanser" item to quickly knock this off (or have a buddy kick the mud off in multiplayer), or better yet equip the Rinapolos weapon set or a mud/snow gem to negate the binding effect. Without one of these mud-proof implements I suggests staying clear while he shakes it off.

Be sure to paint your target early, as he has the ability to dig underground and scurry to another area. If you have no paint watch for the small puffs of dust to trail him. Attack anywhere you can, but do your best to take off that pesky tail. I have had particular luck using a water lance. I'll block his incoming charge , turn around, and use a high lance-thrust where the sun don't shine...then repeat but don't let your stamina deplete entirely. The bowgun might also be useful since you can keep your distance AND you can switch to water and fire ammo when the situation calls for it (scatter-shot is useful for knocking mud off).

I could go more in-depth as each weapon has its own strategies, but if you watch out for these main attacks (which are devastating) and get your licks in when you can, you'll have him down before you know it.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Monster Hunter Tri Brawl Stage

By ARCHON

This resourceful soul has managed to skillfully mix two of my favorite games: Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Monster Hunter Tri. As visitors to this blog, I assume you have interest in, or own Monster Hunter Tri, but if you don't already own it I suggest adding "Brawl" to your Wii game collection as well. If you look to our last post, it is Brawl that has the highest play-time per player of any other Wii game and it is this title that Monster Hunter Tri is out to de-throne in this regard.

Ok, back to the mashup. This person has managed to take the Jhen Moran quest from MH and create an entirely new Brawl stage out of it, complete with the massive monster skimming alongside you and occasionally leaping toward the screen, mouth agape. I strongly recommend checking out the video below.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Monster Hunter Rises in the Ranks

By ZANZIBAR

Monster Hunter Rises in the ranks of the top 20 most loved Wii games. You can see it at Kotaku or via your very own Nintendo Channel. Only time will tell, but could Monster Hunter Tri really dethrone Smash Bros? It had a huge increase from last month but I expect it to taper off. 

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Bagging two Laggies gets you a Rising Soul Sword

By ARCHON


Well killing two Lagicruses several times will anyway since you will need 5 lightning tickets to craft the Longsword blade. The new event quest "Sea Power" pits you against two writhing and devilish Laggies in an underwater arena. You must have a hunter rank 40 or higher to try your hand, and as with any quest it's better with friends, so bring some along. More details of the quest can be found at Nintendolife. I'm not a longsword user but that weapons looks awfully cool with its cool blue glow; maybe its time I start learning.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Virtual Lagicrus!

by ARCHON


A few days ago I came across this link describing an 'augmented reality' Lagicrus. Intrigued I followed the link and what I ended up with eventually with a 3-D Lagicrus model floating above a piece of paper in mid-air between the computer screen and I! That's what it appears on the computer screen itself anyway.

If you have a webcam and a printer try this out! Apparently the computer tracks the pattern on the printed page and uses it as a reference for for projecting a virtual lagicrus model in seemingly thin air. You can rotate and tilt the model. It's a little buggy, but really neat when you get it to work. Be patient as you may have to hold the page there for a while for everything to come into focus just right.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Bowgun Crafting Tutorial

By ARCHON

The Bowgun is arguably the most complex weapon in Monster Hunter Tri. It comes in three different parts, has slots for decorations, and depending on your build can shoot completely different kinds of ammo. It makes sense that this is weapon option is rarely exploited by hunters (playing online I see very few bowgunners) One youtube user has created a really slick crafting tutorial that makes using bowguns a little more approachable. So check it out, and then go build your own!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Keyboard or no keyboard, that is the question

By ARCHON

Those who have spent any amount of time playing Monster Hunter Tri online have found that communication among hunters is extremely valuable. The game offers a variety of ways to interact. There are of course the avatar gestures (funny, but no always that useful), wii-speak support, an in-game text entry screen, and support for a usb keyboard. It is this last option that I am thinking about taking advantage of.

I love that the game supports wii-speak, an underutilized device for the Wii. I love talking with my friends to plan methods of attack, set up quests, and warn them of low health or a nasty incoming monster attack. This option is fantastic but limited. I can only speak with those I register as friends through Monster Hunter Tri, and in my day to day interaction with other players my only other option is the terrible (alphabetical rather than QWERTY) keyboard in the game itself. Using this to communicate is do-able but painfully slow. So, is getting a keyboard worth it?

I have a friend who swears by using a keyboard, and for good reason. You can get your point across clearly and quickly (sometimes voices come through muffled on the wii-speak) and more importantly you can easily converse with non-friend teammates while battling. If you are a fast typist, it's not even that far of a stretch to type a note or two in the heat of battle, something that is impossible to do with the in-game text entry method. But is it worth it? Should I track down and buy a USB keyboard for just this one game? The video below is a CNET review for logitech's wii wireless keyboard. A particularly slick option. What do you think? How do you communicate in Monster Hunter Tri?

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Monster Hunter Tri Smashes onto the Charts

By ZANZIBAR

For those of you who are familiar with your Nintendo Channel on the Wii will hopefully have seen the list of Wii games with the highest average amount of play-time. This list has been dominated by by Super Smash Bro's since it's release an the list itself has been fairly stagnant. But Kotaku has created a really neat chart to display this information and on the far right side about 1/2 way down debuting at solid 39:56 is our beloved Monster Hunter Tri.  Not bad for a first month!