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Let us calmly discuss the Monster Hunter 4chan rumor about PS4 and Switch

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Oregano

Member
First, I'm not saying the rumor is true (though it wouldn't surprise me).

The problem is that the 3DS successor is nowhere to be seen (the system was released early 2011, so it has been around for 6 years). The WiiU factors in, because console fans of MH were abandoned. Sure, the games weren't that huge sellers on consoles anyway, but MH3 sold close to 2 millions on the Wii, that's still money left on the table, also they need to update those assets/code/engine or whatever for modern hardware, and with 3DS it wasn't possible. There's also the fact that the 3DS isn't setting the charts on fire in the west, although the MH games have sold very well.

Seeing how secretly Nintendo handled the Switch, and the quality of third party games released for it at launch, even the quality of first party games (port of Zelda, port of MK and 1-2 Switch), I would say third parties new the details less than a year from launch, honestly. If they had let third parties know before, leaks would have happened sooner.

Switch is the 3DS' successor and always was.

Nintendo talked to third parties about NX at E3 2015 and Capcom is literally their closest partner so they probably knew about it before then.(Actually I'm fairly John Harker said they were sharing details before then and he's good peeps).

I don't remember that but I'm talking about Nintendo locking down MH to the 3ds.

Why would a September real at TGS make more sense for a supposedly western oriented MH5 on the PS4? E3 is the most likely venue for this particular rumor.

Because you don't announce a game for August and then supplant it with another game, especially considering according to the rumour Sony wants a short time between announcement and release.

EDIT:
Simply because its potentially a new game in a series and nothing is known besides a rumour with questionable legitimacy. It isn't like there is a DmC style reveal for people to react negatively against and so far the only element people are whining about is a rumour stating that it isn't on their console of choice. What Capcom could do might not be to all fans tastes but the possible options on what they could do may appeal to many of the fans. There isn't enough to say one way or the other and a rumour based on what system it is on doesn't really say much about the quality of the end product.

You know except the big part of the rumour detailing gameplay changes and talking about how there's a lot of conflict within Capcom about it.
 

yurinka

Member
It would be fun to see a MH5 in PS4 co-developed by Platinum. Metal Gear Rising also had QTEs, and then there's Scalebound.
 

Allonym

There should be more tampons in gaming
The Capcom Five were a result of a pissed Mikami. Capcom killed the Five pretty fast, Mikami is gone and the whole thing is 15 years ago, a time where Nokia was relevant.

Seriously, do your homework.

I did my homework, I was around for it. What I'm saying is that Capcom can make moves that wouldn't seem to be the most auspicious for themselves. So what are you saying?
 
You know except the big part of the rumour detailing gameplay changes and talking about how there's a lot of conflict within Capcom about it.

Which is conjecture but unrest on a franchises direction in a company like Capcom who don't have the best record of changing a franchises direction should be the norm especially when it's a series that has decent sales. However that is a different point from the one I was addressing which is that being on PS4 would alienate the Japanese fan base.
 

Syril

Member
The thing about that title prediction that always seemed off to me is it predicting the title "cross-cross", when the actual title is Double Cross. The only way I can think of for someone to have actually had information but say the title that way it's if the only way they had seen it was acronymed MHXX. In text the full title is always written out ダブルクロス and not XX. Meanwhile the actual logo always has Double-Cross in English under the XX for clarification. It's not completely implausible, it just seems like it would have required a very specific set of circumstances.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Wouldn't this previous PSX have been a pretty ideal time to reveal something like a western-oriented Monster Hunter? I mean, shit, they revealed a TLOU sequel there and there was no shortage of coverage of it not being revealed at E3.

When we had this thread last year, that's what everyone thought who wanted it to be true, with people trying to read too much into a Sony guy's comments who was on an 8-4 Play podcast episode around the time PSX was going to happen, where he said there are lots of Japanese game announcement surprises for PSX.
 

Oregano

Member
Which is conjecture but unrest on a franchises direction in a company like Capcom who don't have the best record of changing a franchises direction should be the norm especially when it's a series that has decent sales. However that is a different point from the one I was addressing which is that being on PS4 would alienate the Japanese fan base.

Well the PS4 not being portable is a pretty good reason it might alienate the Japanese fanbase.

Not to mention just the maths of trying to sell 3-4 million copies of a game on a less than 5 million install base.
 

Orayn

Member
Oh, right, I'm betting a Monster Hunter won't appear on the PS4 not with the Switch raking in a ton of sales worldwide and the series seems like a much better fit on handhelds.

I think a cross-platform (including Switch) MH5 is a plausible way for Capcom to grow the series worldwide.

All the talk of the series getting split, re-moneyhatted, simplified, made into a movie tie-in, etc. seems like a mix of wild speculation, TALES FROM MY ASS, and wishful thinking by some.
 

Oersted

Member
I did my homework, I was around for it. What I'm saying is that Capcom can make moves that wouldn't seem to be the most auspicious for themselves. So what are you saying?

But Capcom killed the deal. And you can't extrapolate from the past like that. "Capcom gonna Capcom trolololol". Make an actual argument why the torpoed decision from 15 years ago would be repeated.

https://www.destructoid.com/capcom-...at-handhelds-are-limiting-market-397165.phtml

Capcom are aware handhelds aren't viable outside Japan. And outside of Japanese gamers preferring handhelds, I'm not quite sure how an action game is a better fit on handhelds.

Funnily enough, there is an answer to that dilemma. Covers both handheld- and home console. Starts with a S end with a H.
 
I think a cross-platform (including Switch) MH5 is a plausible way for Capcom to grow the series worldwide.

All the talk of the series getting split, re-moneyhatted, simplified, made into a movie tie-in, etc. seems like a mix of wild speculation, TALES FROM MY ASS, and wishful thinking by some.
As I said before, the reason it won't come to Switch is if it is beyond the Switch's capabilities. Not because of moneyhats and all that other stuff.
 

Oregano

Member
People love quotes from Capcom execs but the one where they say Switch is being included in their multiplatform release plans seems to be completely ignored.
 

KrawlMan

Member
https://www.destructoid.com/capcom-...at-handhelds-are-limiting-market-397165.phtml

Capcom are aware handhelds aren't viable outside Japan. And outside of Japanese gamers preferring handhelds, I'm not quite sure how an action game is a better fit on handhelds.

This is Something I don't get about the monster hunter discussions. Although I'm not sure people boil it down to just being an "action game", your point still stands - what about this series is somehow not a good fit for consoles?

Keep in mind I haven't played them (other than 15 minutes of the Wii game)
 

NSESN

Member
As I said before, the reason it won't come to Switch is if it is beyond the Switch's capabilities. Not because of moneyhats and all that other stuff.

I don't think this makes sense. If they make a game that can only run on PS4, it would be very expensive to make. Considering the loss of sales in Japan they would need to spend a lot of money in marketing to the west. If all of this fails it would be pretty bad for capcom.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
People love quotes from Capcom execs but the one where they say Switch is being included in their multiplatform release plans seems to be completely ignored.

That's just as weird too lol.

Switch getting the traditional MH games that all the fans love. Sony getting some kind spin-off but under a mainline number that no one may even want.
 
People love quotes from Capcom execs but the one where they say Switch is being included in their multiplatform release plans seems to be completely ignored.

The only multiplatform snub I can think of is that Disney Afternoon Collection. Really doesn't make sense why it wasn't on Switch as well.

They don't really have many big multiplat releases these days.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
The Disney Collection would have been great because of the huge nostalgia push Nintendo was pushing with Bomberman and Street Fighter 2 and all that stuff. Trying to reel in the NES and SNES fans.

Capcom made a huge mistake there by not doing that. Not to mention there's more value there since it's a collection of titles and mascot platformers sell the best on Nintendo platformers and they often have longer tails too.

It's literally the most brain dead easy thing to understand.
 

Oregano

Member
The only multiplatform snub I can think of is that Disney Afternoon Collection. Really doesn't make sense why it wasn't on Switch as well.

They don't really have many big multiplat releases these days.

Apart from pretty much everything they release?

The more specific point is that if Capcom specifically wants to include Switch in their multiplatform releases it makes less sense to skip the platform for a release in the franchise which has been Nintendo focused for the last five years.
 

Fiendcode

Member
As I said before, the reason it won't come to Switch is if it is beyond the Switch's capabilities. Not because of moneyhats and all that other stuff.
Capcom's never made a game beyond Switch's capabilities. Why would they start with a series that never really went beyond PS2's capabilities before?

This is Something I don't get about the monster hunter discussions. Although I'm not sure people boil it down to just being an "action game", your point still stands - what about this series is somehow not a good fit for consoles?

Keep in mind I haven't played them (other than 15 minutes of the Wii game)
It's multimillion sales success in Japan is reliant on portability and local multiplayer. It's the Pokémon model basically.
 
I love video games and I had no idea Monster Hunter was this big of a deal.

It's a pretty big deal, especially in the context of the Japanese market and it's historic performance and contributions to both Sony's and Nintendo's handheld success there.

Rising awareness of the series in the West means it's increasingly important for Capcom to capitalize and expand there.

It's also a flashpoint for fans of the series, as many are more hardcore and this more defensive of their preferences, which is made worse as the series has tended to stay (outside a infamous betrayalton) on a single platform holder outside of the MMO versions.
 

Orayn

Member
As I said before, the reason it won't come to Switch is if it is beyond the Switch's capabilities. Not because of moneyhats and all that other stuff.

I still don't believe Capcom is eager to reinvent a popular series in such a way that they can no longer release it in the format where it's historically done very well. It would be expensive and have a high probability of blowing up in their faces.
 
This is Something I don't get about the monster hunter discussions. Although I'm not sure people boil it down to just being an "action game", your point still stands - what about this series is somehow not a good fit for consoles?

Keep in mind I haven't played them (other than 15 minutes of the Wii game)

Nothing. The series is great for online multiplayer on a home console/PC. Thing is, in Japan, where the series thrives, handhelds are king, and multiplayer is more of a social thing where people get together and play the game in person.

It has the potential to really penetrate the Western market if they structure the game more towards what would appeal to home console owners who play online multiplayer. If left as is, it would probably fail to capture the West. This isn't to say they need to radically alter the game, but trimming some of the more extraneous elements and making QoL improvements would go a long way, as would overhauling the visual experience.

There's really no incentive for Capcom to go the whole nine yards (visually) on the Switch: They've been selling the handheld experience to mostly the same audience migrating over — on a handheld with terrible screens — across titles with very dated assets. Some texture upgrades and a resolution boost would be satisfactory to their base on the Switch's lovely screen. With a proper PS4 title monetarily backed by Sony, at least they'd be forced to bring the game up to modern standards. I think that's where a lot of the excitement stems from.
 

Ridley327

Member
Capcom making such a demanding game is... well... unusual.

I would have to think it would be in their best interests that if this was true, the assets wouldn't be so outrageous to give them an escape route for a quick downgrade for a more traditional game in the event that it failed. That's why it was probably an easy decision to switch MH3 from PS3 to Wii, since the Wii wasn't extraordinarily beyond what the PSP could do.
 
Apart from pretty much everything they release?

The more specific point is that if Capcom specifically wants to include Switch in their multiplatform releases it makes less sense to skip the platform for a release in the franchise which has been Nintendo focused for the last five years.

What else are they even doing these days man?

RE7 came out before the Switch and they'd probably have to do quite a bit of work to get it to run at 60fps anyway. RE2make could very well get a Switch version as we know nothing about it. Other than that, I'm shooting blanks. Capcom are far past their glory days of releasing a bunch of games.
 

Oregano

Member
What else are they even doing these days man?

RE7 came out before the Switch and they'd probably have to do quite a bit of work to get it to run at 60fps anyway. RE2make could very well get a Switch version as we know nothing about it. Other than that, I'm shooting blanks. Capcom are far past their glory days of releasing a bunch of games.

MVC Infinite? Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen? Dead Rising 4?

Even then why would any other franchise be more of a candidate for a multiplatform with Switch release?
 

KrawlMan

Member
Nothing. The series is great for online multiplayer on a home console/PC. Thing is, in Japan, where the series thrives, handhelds are king, and multiplayer is more of a social thing where people get together and play the game in person.

It has the potential to really penetrate the Western market if they structure the game more towards what would appeal to home console owners who play online multiplayer. If left as is, it would probably fail to capture the West. This isn't to say they need to radically alter the game, but trimming some of the more extraneous elements and making QoL improvements would go a long way, as would overhauling the visual experience.

There's really no incentive for Capcom to go the whole nine yards (visually) on the Switch: They've been selling the handheld experience to mostly the same audience migrating over — on a handheld with terrible screens — across titles with very dated assets. Some texture upgrades and a resolution boost would be satisfactory to their base on the Switch's lovely screen. With a proper PS4 title monetarily backed by Sony, at least they'd be forced to bring the game up to modern standards. I think that's where a lot of the excitement stems from.

I see. Thanks for that.

Given what you've said I just don't see how this rumor makes much sense. At most I'd see them doing a simultaneous Switch / PS4 release of the game - PS4 exclusivity sounds foolish.
 

Allonym

There should be more tampons in gaming
But Capcom killed the deal. And you can't extrapolate from the past like that. "Capcom gonna Capcom trolololol". Make an actual argument why the torpoed decision from 15 years ago would be repeated.



Funnily enough, there is an answer to that dilemma. Covers both handheld- and home console. Starts with a S end with a H.

I understand that Capcom had killed the deal after most of, if not all of those projects tanked. There's evidence through the years after the dissolving of the deal that show Capcom don't always make the greatest decisions in terms of management or their games. Dino Crisis 3 being only on Xbox is another such example, morphing Lost Planet into Monster Hunter with bugs in LP2 was a mistake, LP3 from a game play perspective was a step back from LP1/LP2, million selling franchises are just shelved (Onimusha, Dino Crisis), procedurally generated levels for Deep Down which we don't even know what happened to, they've outsourced one of their most valuable franchises (DMC) to polarized reception, the Panta Rhei engine was a waste of resources and we haven't seen a single game that uses it. The SFV debacle is another example, they allowed most of their talent to leave in a mass exodus.

I personally think that they lack creativity or a clear sense of direction when it comes to their franchises. I think that's clear when you look at the debut trailer of Deep Down that aped Demon/Dark Souls hud, Resident Evil 7 was an attempt to cash in on the hype surrounding PT and Outlast and it didn't work out for them. They chase market trends or recreate their own commercially successful games in a new skin. I may seem critical of them but that's because they were my favorite game company and they've become a shadow of their former selves. You may disagree but they are mismanaged and a possible Sony deal isn't unprecedented in terms of head scratchy-ness. They've demonstrated they have the capacity to do far stranger things.
 

wildfire

Banned
I don't think this makes sense. If they make a game that can only run on PS4, it would be very expensive to make. Considering the loss of sales in Japan they would need to spend a lot of money in marketing to the west. If all of this fails it would be pretty bad for capcom.
Capcom is foolish enough to spend more than what Sony gave them?


20% above would be excusable but over 40% and I would say Capcom isn't exploiting this opportunity properly.


All that money could go to the switch version that is guaranteed to sell a few million.
 
I don't think it needs to be so complicated. Capcom probably took a guess that switch would be a non starter, threw their hand in with changing the franchise to have a broader appeal to compensate for a diminished Japanese audience, Switch pans out, Capcom backtracks.

Seems cut and dry.
 

NewGame

Banned
I love video games and I had no idea Monster Hunter was this big of a deal.

Filthy casual

Whoops typo, what I meant to type was "Monster Hunter is the epitome of the 3D hack n slash action/rpg almost-fighter like genre of modern games deeply nuanced and technical marvel to exist in today's ecology of cutscenes and handholding"

Yeah, that.
 

Foffy

Banned
Wouldn't this previous PSX have been a pretty ideal time to reveal something like a western-oriented Monster Hunter? I mean, shit, they revealed a TLOU sequel there and there was no shortage of coverage of it not being revealed at E3.

Did PSX have a huge international presence last year? E3 seems to be the big show that the Japanese side leans to the hardest that's not local shows like TGS.

A Monster Hunter announcement there seems more apt. It would seem like a very strong "megaton" announcement that would have people here and in Japan talking.
 

Ridley327

Member
Did PSX have a huge international presence last year? E3 seems to be the big show that the Japanese side leans to the hardest that's not local shows like TGS.

A Monster Hunter announcement there seems more apt. It would seem like a very strong "megaton" announcement that would have people here and in Japan talking.

It's been the stage for some really big Japanese announcements in the past, such as Street Fighter V, Ni No Kuni 2, Ace Combat 7 and was also the first place where we saw what we've been led to believe as being actual gameplay footage for FF7R. This previous one saw the likes of MvC:I and localizations for both Yakuza Kiwami and 6 being announced.
 

oti

Banned
As I said before, the reason it won't come to Switch is if it is beyond the Switch's capabilities. Not because of moneyhats and all that other stuff.

From Capcom? lol
That's not what Capcom does with MH. MH pays their bills. They'd want to sell as many copies as possible while keeping the costs relatively low. I don't believe they're trying to show the world their technical capabilities at all. Why? So they could lose more money?
 

Cerium

Member
They'd want to sell as many copies as possible while keeping the costs relatively low.

I don't really agree with this narrative; they recognized that the series' bread and butter was on portables and they targeted their specs accordingly. I don't think it was ever an unwillingness to invest.
 

oti

Banned
I don't really agree with this narrative; they recognized that the series' bread and butter was on portables and they targeted their specs accordingly. I don't think it was ever an unwillingness to invest.

I didn't say they were "unwilling to invest". But the combination of the huge hardware base and relatively low development costs of the 3DS was absolutely perfect for Capcom. Their other AAA games failed to meet expectations but MH paid their bills all those years. What is there to gain for them if they made a graphics state of the art MH? They really believe the higher sales would offset those higher costs? Risking this much sounds odd for Capcom. MH is their bread and butter.
 
From Capcom? lol
That's not what Capcom does with MH. MH pays their bills. They'd want to sell as many copies as possible while keeping the costs relatively low. I don't believe they're trying to show the world their technical capabilities at all. Why? So they could lose more money?
The only problem is that they're now on a new console and the sureshot sales like the 3ds version aren't a guarantee, which while looks sucessful at the moment, isn't really old enough for them to rest future of their company on.
So they either make a couple dumbed down ones that work both on 3ds and switch, or they hope to make money from the western playstation audience along with the switch, for which theyll need major overhauls.

Rest assured, if at any point they invest big into the series, its going multiplat.
 

gconsole

Member
Which is conjecture but unrest on a franchises direction in a company like Capcom who don't have the best record of changing a franchises direction should be the norm especially when it's a series that has decent sales. However that is a different point from the one I was addressing which is that being on PS4 would alienate the Japanese fan base.
Actually Capcom has the best record of changing their franchise direction ....
 

oti

Banned
The only problem is that they're now on a new console and the sureshot sales like the 3ds version aren't a guarantee, which while looks sucessful at the moment, isn't really old enough for them to rest future of their company on.
So they either make a couple dumbed down ones that work both on 3ds and switch, or they hope to make money from the western playstation audience along with the switch, for which theyll need major overhauls.

Rest assured, if at any point they invest big into the series, its going multiplat.

They totally should. Why not go PS4 and Switch. I just don't see them going all out on a PS4 exclusive game with AAA graphics unless someone pays them to do that, that someone could only be Sony. Capcom wouldn't risk it otherwise.
 

KrawlMan

Member
I don't really agree with this narrative; they recognized that the series' bread and butter was on portables and they targeted their specs accordingly. I don't think it was ever an unwillingness to invest.

Yeah but as with any game release, it's an investment. They might have just been targeting the specs of the system, but it's proven immensely successful. It's a major risk to not only put the main franchise exclusively on a home console, but also invest a lot more into presentation than they have in the past.
 
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