Developed and published by an in-house studio at Capcom, Monster Hunter Tri is the third home-console-based game in a series with great success in a niche market: on handheld systems in Japan. Bringing the newest game to a broadened audience was a trick for Capcom. The Wii is a tough arena for "core" games to be successful, and North America never grasped "Monster Hunter Fever" like Japan has. Capcom developed and marketed this Action/RPG with international Wii owners in mind.

Still, Monster Hunter Tri stays true to its roots. Players partake in epic battles with large beasts while collecting, modifying, and creating items and equipment along the way. Fans of the storied series will be happy with what they see here, and not only for the purpose of familiarity.

Urugaan's Leno-like chin is a powerful, and devastating weapon.

In terms of the familiar, the plot is nothing spectacular. You (hunter of a name and gender of your choosing) find yourself at Moga Village, pressured by a water dragon named Lagiacrus. As a monster hunter, it is your job to build your weapons and armor up to Lagiacrus' level, to defeat him and spare the village from certain destruction. The game spreads to different locales, all very element-based, therefore forcing the player to cope with many beasts of the same caliber as Lagiacrus.

Monster Hunter Tri is also full of humorous characters. They usually stray from being your typical face-less non-player characters, but are not averse to breaking down the fourth wall. Both townsfolk and an organization called "The Guild" request jobs of all kinds from your character. Tasks range from gathering items and slaying beasts to mining for rare jewels and metals.

These game elements aren't just common in the Monster Hunter series, they're common in RPGs. It isn't clear what influenced Monster Hunter creator Ryozo Tsujimoto to begin the series on the PlayStation 2 in 2004, SEGA's Phantasy Star Online for the SEGA Dreamcast first showed console gamers the potential of online RPGs. Monster Hunter took the budding genre into new directions, especially in terms of being epic in its scale and graphics.

Underwater areas are abundant in Monster Hunter Tri.

While the game shines in its non-playable cut-scenes, Capcom delivers possibly the best looking in-game presentation on the Wii. Your first trek out of the village leads to a cliff overlooking a sparkling ocean with detailed, rocky islands in the distance. Lifelike birds coast across the sky during the day. Capcom created more than game levels. They payed attention to the necessary details in creating a world.

This world is accessible to players of all ages (bear in mind, the game maintains a Teen rating from the ESRB), primarily via online play. Capcom is devoting multiple game servers to ensure the highest possible online multiplayer experience for their western audience. Unlike Japanese players who are used to monthly Monster Hunter subscriptions, North American players get the full online modes for free.

Capcom also developed around different devices to enrich the player experience.

Hunters can chat via Wii Speak, or use any USB computer keyboard for text chatting. Capcom avoided Nintendo's friend code system by letting players find friends and family with nicknames and short user IDs. You aren't confined to undesirable motion controls, either; you have the option of using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk or the Classic Controller. The latter works extremely well, with the right joystick being swappable between camera control and weapon control.

As the cover monster for Tri, Lagiacrus is strong and fast.

Multiplayer is where the game shines. Players can challenge one friend to local bouts in the arena, or hop online to join in quests with up to three other players across the globe.  Players advance their Hunter Rank via the online quests, eventually encountering plenty of monsters not available in the offline mode.  Each hunter brings their own skills and equipment to the table in these higher-difficulty quests, and also reap the benefits of cooperating with one another to take down massive dragons and dinosaurs.

By benefits, I mean items, and plenty of them. Monster Hunter scratches both of the "just one more" and "I need to collect them all" itches to unhealthy amounts. By collecting hundreds of herbs, mushrooms, ores, skins, scales, and all the other spoils a hunter would gather, players are opened up to a simple-yet-deep combining system. Then, these combined and found items play into the weapon, armor, and decoration forging and upgrading system.

Monster Hunter Tri has a great, epic soundtrack to accompany grand entrances, yet most songs aren't very memorable. In the audio department, the game performs well, but doesn't "wow." Characters grunt and moan, and a strangely large amount of cats meow (they also steal your items).

Moga Village is your only offline hub world between quests.

The timing of this review speaks to the depth of Monster Hunter Tri's content.  I've personally clocked in over 85 hours with the game, am wrapping up the offline single player mode, and have plenty to see in the online modes.  In fact, it would be a disservice to the game to have posted my experience of the first few hours of the game, when it is entirely about the length and depth of the experience.

While it sounds like a lot of monotonous grind at first glance, the important thing to note is this: I am still addicted to this game.  In an age of Farmville-ian collecting and hoarding games, Monster Hunter Tri is second to none.

Online Communication. I'm not here to review Wii Speak. Even if it isn't the best voice chat solution, Monster Hunter Tri is the best implementation of it. With the ability to tweak voice chat settings on the fly, use customizable canned responses, and added usb keyboard support for in-game chat (without regard to friends and friend codes), this is the most communication-friendly online Wii game.

Event & Arena Quests. Capcom continues to release new, challenging online quests with special rewards for completion.

Excellent Pacing. Players are always a single quest away from something new, whether it's an equipment and weapon upgrade, treasure and items, money, or storyline-pushing quests.

Weapons, Equipment, Skills, and Elements. The incredibly deep skill points system in Tri encourages players to be creative with forging and equipping armor and item sets.

Lack of Pervasive Online. There's a disconnect between online and offline modes, not allowing players in their offline modes to interact with others online.  There are dozens of advantages to having a pervasive online structure, which Tri misses out on.

Clunky Item Management. Chalked up to "things you can get used to," the icon-happy item management screens are time-consuming and take some time to get used to.

Load Screens. Albeit understandable, load screens clutter up the game worlds. It's fairly easy to get accustomed to this, though.

No Lock-On, and Player Animations. While the lack of lock-on combat forces players to take down monsters with more skill, the dreadfully long player animations (such as the hunter drinking a potion, then taking the time to always comically flex his biceps with gusto) means the difference between life and death in a lot of tough situations.

Read the manual! The in-game tutorials do well to get players started, but the sheer depth of the skills, items, and elements system certainly requires the use of the game's physical manual, walkthrough, or links to Monster Hunter Wikis and FAQ sites. I've had five or six browser tabs of Monster Hunter Tri FAQs and charts up during my time with the game... all at once.

Overall, this game consumes you. No matter where you find yourself in it, you're always two to three items away from that next piece of equipment. By the time I finish playing in one sitting, hours have passed. It appeases the grind-happy RPG player in me, something no other Wii game has done.

Capcom is supporting Monster Hunter Tri with new online event and arena quests frequently. That, in addition to fantastic graphics, deep online play, and the "I need more" addiction it instills, proves that Capcom is all about the small, important details that makes for an excellent Wii game.

More About: Nintendo Wii, Call of Duty: Black Ops

The latest issue of the popular Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu reveals the top selling games of the first half of 2010 in Japan.

Topping the list with 1,401,895 units sold is New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which saw an early December 2009 release in Japan.  The hit game also helped move 700,000 Wii consoles that month in Japan.

Below are the top 20 best sellers, courtesy of 1Up.

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo, Wii): 1,401,895
2. Dragon Quest VI (Square Enix, DS): 1,293,916
3. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (Square Enix, DS): 1,194,584
4. Tomodachi Collection (Nintendo, DS): 1,012,437
5. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (Square Enix, DS): 728,286
6. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Konami, PSP): 727,823
7. Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo, Wii): 695,295
8. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo, Wii): 613,290
9. God Eater (Namco Bandai Games, PSP): 605,316
10. Yakuza 4 (Sega, PS3): 552,531
11. Fist of the North Star (Tecmo Koei, PS3): 544,807
12. Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs (Nintendo, DS): 475,275
13. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (Nintendo, DS): 393,862
14. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo, DS): 376,054
15. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Wii): 366,833
16. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii): 329,570
17. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (Capcom, PSP): 294,446
18. Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition (Capcom, PS3): 258,961
19. Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix, PS3): 193,179
20. Inazuma Eleven 2 (Level-5, DS): 186,066

In part 2 of our E3 2010 coverage, Scott Barkman returns to voice his opinions on the Nintendo 3DS and nearly every game he could get his hands on, including Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Sports Mix, Wii Party, Goldeneye 007, Epic Mickey, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Metroid: Other M, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and much more. Don't miss this episode, download today!

Topics covered in this week's episode:

• Epic Hands-On Impressions from E3 2010
• Epic Listener Mail

Runtime: 1:35:16

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GameStop is offering a new incentive to pre-order Sonic Colors: a plush Sonic hat as a bonus gift.

While the game looks promising, popular opinion is that SEGA has let down its fans with past Sonic games.  The screenshots look great, and the game is described as having the fast-paced chaos we expect from Sonic, with power-ups mixed in.  Pre-ordering may still be a gamble for even the most devoted of Sonic fans.

While GameStop lists Sonic Colors for release on December 31, we can expect an actual Fall release date sometime soon.  This pre-order applies to both the DS and Wii releases of the game.

Who's interested in pre-ordering Sonic Colors?  What kind of outfit can you match this hat with?

What impressions did you have of this year's E3? Were you impressed with motion controls like Kinect and Playstation Move? Or perhaps Nintendo's 3DS stole the show for you? Well, the CEO of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada spoke with Venturebeat (via CVG) and said none of these announcements are going to drive the industry forward.

So what does Yoichi Wada feel is actually going to move the industry over the next few years? That'd be the digital platforms on each of the consoles. He went on to say, "What's being announced are the Nintendo 3DS, the Microsoft Kinect, and the Sony Move... frankly, these are not the most essential parts of the console technology. The key parts of the console technology are Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and WiiWare." This means that Wada feels that it'll be software pushing the games industry, and not the new hardware.

He did not deny the potential impact these new announcements could make though. After looking at what the Wii was able to do with attracting such a broad audience, Microsoft and Sony's attempts must be taken seriously as well. Wada said, "I think that what they have focused on for Kinect is very interesting and I hope they will attract an even wider audience," however he remained skeptical that it would break new ground, as he stated, "I would say it is no different from just the Wii."

So that leaves me with two questions for you.

The first is, do you believe the WiiWare platform will have the content and sales to compete with PSN and the XBLA?

And the second question is, how much of a threat do you feel Kinect and Move are going to be?

President of Sony's Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida recently gave an interview to IGN where he spoke out against Nintendo's attacks on his company's 3D gaming efforts. It appears, in fact, that Sony wants to work with Nintendo to promote 3D gaming in general.

"I have hope that they have a broader perspective with 3D," Yoshida said. "When you listen to what they are saying about the effect of 3D perspective to the games, they are saying the same message we are, but they don't have to bash some small part of what the other company is doing."

That "small part" he's referring to is the glasses required for eye-popping visuals in most 3D, including Sony's plans for the PS3.

Those glasses, however, aren't a small part. They're the biggest hurdle. Personally speaking, I'm not sold on 3D yet. I think the 3DS looks like a nice upgrade, even without the 3D part. But not having to wear glasses is enough to at least keep an open mind and give it a shot.

It's hard to tell if Sony really wants to promote 3D in general or are looking to use "PR speak" to ride Nintendo's coat tails. I'm guessing the latter.

It's about that time. Certain industry folks are talking time frames for the next round of systems. All three consoles will see successors within three years according to David Reeve, current COO of Capcom and former Sony executive, Digital Trends reports.

“All the first-parties have got to be working on something,” said Reeve. “The tricky thing is when do you put a stake in the ground on technology? That’s the problem. You can be waiting a few extra months to implement something, but you’ve got to set a date to go with a certain chip at a certain point otherwise you’re going to miss the key milestones.”

In recent memory, most console generations have lasted around five years. The Xbox 360 will hit that milestone this fall followed by the Wii and PS3 next year. But is anyone ready for new hardware yet?

All three consoles continue to gain new features thanks to Internet connectivity and software updates. The Wii just gained the ability to stream Netflix this year, for example. Incremental hardware upgrades like Wii Motion Plus also help to extend a console's lifespan.

But the 3DS could be the first early shot in a new round of console wars. The handheld is capable of visuals nearly on par with the Wii. Add in that both of Nintendo's competitors will soon have rival motion controls and Nintendo just might be feeling pressure to release a new system with not only more power but new play experiences.

Details on Nintendo's future plans surfaced at the company's shareholders meeting on June 29. While there were no specific announcements, the tea leaves can still be parsed. Looking at the highlights, several statements stand out and one is especially exciting.

The biggest ear-perker was when Shigeru Miyamoto said, "It's about time for a new game character. Perhaps this can be delivered next year." What does he mean by new game character? While it could be another friend for Mario to romp around with, wishful thinkers can hold out for a new franchise. Nintendo properties don't come out very often, but when the do it's usually worth the wait.

It's great to see all the old favorites coming back for the 3DS but what would really send the handheld over the top were some strong original properties.

Miyamoto also mentioned he was hard at work on the new Pikmin game, saying he has to finish it quickly. It's curious Pikmin wasn't at E3 if production is indeed wrapping up soon.

Also, the creator of Mario and Zelda is famous for incorporating his hobbies into game concepts. He went out of his way to mention swimming. Perhaps Nintendo will finally have an answer to Ecco the Dolphin.

(Source: Andriasang)

More About: Nintendo Wii, Kirby’s Epic Yarn