Capcom Talks Monster Hunter 3 Overseas Plans

A Monster Hunter 3 billboard that appeared outside Shibuya Station following the game's release.

Monster Hunter 3 has already made its mark here in Japan as the best selling third party Wii game yet. But the game's biggest fight is yet to come as Capcom takes it overseas to territories where the franchise has yet to see great success. Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto spoke a bit about the overseas version of the game in an interview posted today at 4gamer.com.

Tsujimoto claimed to know many overseas players who have extreme interest in the monster behavior component of Monster Hunter 3. The question is, he said, how many of these types of players are there are.

The overseas version of the game won't see much in the way of customizations or changes from the Japanese version. More than that, explained Tsujimoto, Capcom's promotional staff is considering what areas of the game to promote to players in order to get them to know about the series.

One point about the game that Tsujimoto believes helps appeal to new players -- both overseas and in Japan -- is the new Wii-specific control scheme. This control scheme allows players to experience the "invigorating" feel of the game using the fewest possible buttons and without too much practice, he explained.

Elsewhere in the interview, Tsujimoto spoke about Capcom's general plans to continue pushing Monster Hunter 3 in the Japanese market. A big part in the campaign is, of course, Monster Hunter Festa, a month-long series of nation-wide tournaments which kicks off on Sunday (8/23) at the Makuhari Messe just outside of Tokyo. Capcom hopes to give this year's showing more of the feeling of a "festival" than past Monster Hunter Festa events, and will have non-game stalls and stands as well as events off the main stage.