I know it's part of a deal as well, but one reason I think Nintendo is strongly pushing this game is because it's pretty much the first and only AAA third party game that's been developed for Wii. In terms of industry perspective, it doesn't matter that Monster Hunter is a completely unknown franchise outside of Japan. They need it to sell in order to dispel the notion that developing an AAA title for Wii is 'too risky'.
A game I'm developing with some friends:
www.xnagg.com/zombieasteroids/publish.htm
It is largely a technical exercise but feedback is appreciated.