A million units may have not been enough for Wii's major 2009 third party release.
Monster Hunter 3 launched to great festivities last year.
Monster Hunter 3 sold around a million copies. A huge success for Capcom and Wii? Maybe, maybe not.
In a recent interview with Mainichi.jp, Enterbrain president Hirokazu Hamamura said of Monster Hunter 3, "I thought it would sell more. Crossing the million mark was the passing grade, though. On the Wii, which doesn't have games targeting core game fans, it made a strong effort against the 'hurdles' of being on a console and being a network game. However, I believe they wanted it to reach 1.5 million to 2 million copies."
Hamamura, who also praised the game in the interview, said that he expects continued sales. In addition to the game still selling at present, he believes that the game could see additional sales once a new MH sees release.
The Mainichi interview got Hamamura's opinions on many major industry talking points outside of just MH3:
Dragon Quest IX SalesHamamura wasn't surprised that DQIX managed to beat the previous Dragon Quest record of 3.8 million, thanks to its low price, the large user base of the DS, and the availability of just one save file. However, he was personally expecting 5 million sales. He believes that, thanks to continued availability of new download content, it's possible that the game's sales figure will continue to rise and reach his estimate.Final Fantasy XIIIIn addition to praise for FFXIII as a game, Hamamura commented on Square Enix's new approach to the Final Fantasy series that will result in titles like Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Versus III join the main numbered FFXIII. He refers to this strategy as the FF series entering a different world and believes that it's a way to effectively use development funds. He's looking forward to developments in the series both personally and from a business and industry perspective.Download salesHamamura noted that Nintendo's download services differ greatly from the services offered on Xbox 360 and PS3. The latter two assume its system's users are familiar with a PC environment. Nintendo's services assumes a user base consisting of children and the elderly.PSP goHamamura hopes Sony can increase the number of titles that are available for download, as only half of new games work with the system. He believes that if users were able to read a UMD into their PC, then download it to their PSP go, the system would spread like an iPod. He feels that Sony is having problems communicating their message for the system with software houses and is concerned that there may not be any creators who are sympathetic to the machine. PSP go's positioning feels somewhat vague, compared to the strong positioning PSP has with fans.DSi LLHamamura personally considers DSI LL a valuable item thanks to its large screen and strong sound. LL, with its large screen and the built in Brain Age, is for the baby boomers, he says. Nintendo has made clear its target audiences.PlayStation 3The PS3 market has strengthened a bit, says Hamamura. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has told him that following the system's price drop, sales of MGS4 have increased. Hamamura believes that thanks to the price drop and the release of Final Fantasy XIII, old titles will sell and the system will get 3 or 4 platinum selling titles.PlayStation 3 internationallyInternationally, Blu-ray has at long last shown its merit for the PS3 as many consumers buy the system because it can play Blu-rays. Hamamura thinks that it's great that you can play PS3 games and watch Blu-rays for ¥30,000, but he wishes that this could have been said at the system's launch. The system feels like it's launching now, he says. He expects it to keep on selling for 4 or 5 years.Falling Wii salesThe Wii's problem in 2009 was that the first half of the year had no big titles. Hamamura also noted: "game-like games do not sell particularly well." He hopes that with the release of game-like games like Monster Hunter, Wii will gain a market where game-like games can sell.http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/01/25/monster_hunter_3_sales/
