In Japan Capcom’s Monster Hunter franchise is huge. And by huge I mean ridiculously huge as it’s one of those games people will stand in massive lines to obtain a copy, take a day off from school/work to play and boatloads of tie-in products are released to coincide with the latest Monster Hunter adventure.
So with that being said it’s a bit odd that the game never struck the same cord with audiences outside of Japan. One can usually chalk up cultural differences when a game doesn’t perform well outside of Japan but Monster Hunter doesn’t feature any androgynous protagonists or spiky haired heroes and instead features burly warriors wielding massive weapons. Big dudes with swords/canon guns hunting massive beasts should’ve been a huge hit in North America and Europe but ultimately Monster Hunter became a cult hit of sorts.
Capcom looks to be trying their best to make the upcoming Monster Hunter Tri a hit or at least break through to the mainstream with a new series of promo videos. Personally I don’t know a better way to appeal to mainstream Wii owners than having a tongue-in-cheek commercial starring a Scottish Monster Hunter warrior who looks down on pansy forms of hunting such as crab fishing on the Bering Sea. If Capcom continues this marketing angle then I think Monster Hunter could finally break through to audiences outside of Japan. Scottish hunter + monsters = awesome.
These are pretty epic actually. I've had no interest in these games what so ever up until this point. :D