And happy 10th birthday, Okami!

Monster Hunter has the cameo-appearance situation on lock. If we're talking about a character from a Nintendo- or Capcom-published series, chances are they've shown up in one form or another as a fun extra, whether it's just their trademark weapon or a full-on iconic outfit.

For this summer's Monster Hunter Generations, Capcom is bringing out a special Felyne costume and glaive for Clover fans. Considering Okami just turned ten years old, good timing on the? news.

It does look a bit like they killed and skinned the poor thing, though.

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Be right back getting on a plane

Capcom and Square Enix are God-tier marketers, with new video game themed events seemingly every week in Japan. But Hong Kong is getting the latest one by way of the Satay King restaurant chain, as Capcom is promoting the recent release of Monster Hunter X.

This isn't a half-assed attempt, either. The locations have been redecorated entirel??y, and there's tons of themed food items on display. I'm all about taking a sip of that potion (and possibly the three wheel motion if I can find a car).

Monster Hunter [4Gamer]

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It's another hit

Where there's smoke there's fire, and where there's a Monster Hunter game, there's free promotional DLC.

Capcom has just announced the latest add-on for Monster Hunter X (their new 3DS game that launched recently), and surprise, it's Mega Man related. On February 25 players will get a Yellow Devil event quest, Rush Hammer weapon, and the Rocknyan armor ?for your Palico. There's also a few guild cards and titles in tow.

So yeah, all of this sounds pretty awesome! Par for the course for Monster Hunter.

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Sales hit historic 26-year low

According to Famitsu’s annual report (via VG24/7), the Japanese games industry wa?s worth ¥321 billion - that’s a 13 per??cent drop from the previous year.

Although these figures do not take into account digital sales (which, let’s face it, surely must be increasing year-on-year -- particularly with the rise of the mobile game market), console sales fell 8.5 percent and software sales dropped 16 percent, maki??ng this the least profitable year in 26 years.

In regards to traditional sales, last year’s leader was Monster Hunter X, which has sold 2??.4 million copies sinc??e its launch in November, 2015 -- an interesting tidbit, given Nintendo otherwise dominates the sales chart. 

Here, take a look at these numbers, stat fans.

Japanese top 10 bestselling software 2015

• 1. Monster Hunter X (Capcom) 3DS – 2,441,977
• 2. Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Akaneko-dan / Shiroinu-tai (Level 5) 3DS – 1,965,202
• 3. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (Nintendo) 3DS – 1,282,880
• 4. Splatoon (Nintendo) Wii U – 1,064,897
• 5. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Square Enix) 3DS – 864,865
• 6. Super Mario Maker (Nintendo) Wii U – 674,194
• 7. Monster Strike (Mixi) 3DS – 636,709
• 8. Yokai Watch 2: Shinuchi (Level 5) – 3DS – 625,223
• 9. Rhythm Heaven: The Best+ (Nintendo) 3DS – 607,343
• 10. Fire Emblem Fates: White Kingdom/Black Kingdom (Birthright / Conquest) (Nintendo) 3DS – 538,669

Hardware sales Japan 2015

• 1. Nintendo 3DS (including 3DS, 3DS LL, New 3DS, New 3DS LL) 2,189,900
• 2. PS4 1,205,163
• 3. PS Vita (including Vita TV) 959,342
• 4. PS3 188,207
• 5. Wii U 82,304
• 6. Xbox One 18,093

Brace yourself for a devil’s advocate question: given the drop in sales across the board… could this mean that Konami's recent, er, business decisions were understandable/right/correct? (lol). Well, it may go some way to explaining why so many Japanese devs are going under, right?

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That's a lot of monsters being hunted

Japan likes Monster Hunter. It likes Monster Hunter a lot. The series?? sometimes doesn’t get the love it deserves in the West, but in Japan it’s a bona fide gaming phenomenon.

Japan likes Monster Hunter so much that Monster Hunter X, which only came out a few days ago, has already outsold last year’s Monster Hunter 4G on the Nintendo eShop.

Nintendo doesn’t release concrete sales figures for its games, and even then X came out less than a week ago so it would be too early to announce anything anyway. But you can still see the rankings of the best-selling games of all time on the Japanese eShop page.

Just to be clear: this isn’t comparing the launch release windows, this is comparing all-time digital sales for both versions. Monster Hunter X has sold digitally in about four days what Monster Hunter 4G has sold since it r?eleased in Japan on October 11, 2014.

People love their Monster Hunter.

There is currently no confirmation as to whether Monster Hunter X will head West. The series is gaining global popularity, 4G did get a worldwide launch eventually in the form of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, so at least there’s a chance of X happening. 

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Let's rock 'n' roll

There's no real reason for me to get this much enjoyment out of costumes in Monster Hunter, a series I don't even play, and yet here we are once again. The little promo videos are entertaining.

Monster Hunter X, which releases in Japan on November 28, also has a Star Fox outfit. So, an animal character wearing anoth?er animal character's iconic garb. It's about as great as y??ou'd hope.

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Link with a tail and whiskers!

Capcom has a habit of putting crossover characters, outfits, and weapons in Monster Hunter and that amusing trend continues with Monster Hunter X. The upcoming 3DS game has tie-ins with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Macross Delta. Here's a look at them.

Link with whiskers. I repeat: Link with whiskers!

That said, there??'s something unsettli??ng about those cat noises.

Hehe, those little mech boots are adorable.

To end on a bit of a downer, Monster Hunter X is?? currently only confirmed for Japan (where it is releasing on November 28, 2015). Give it some time, though.

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Looking good

Monster Hunter X is coming in November in Japan on 3DS, and now you can get a quick look at the bow and h??eavy bowgun playstyles, with some new enemies in tow.

Capcom and Nintendo are absolutely killing it with the Monster Hunter releases, taking over a dynasty that Sony once had with the PSP. They have to be kicking themselves for the Vita's failure, as C??apcom lo?ves low-risk, low-development cost projects, and once they have a hit, they keep that wheel turning.

The post Watch hunters rock the bow an??d heavy bowgun i??n Monster Hunter X appeared first on Destructoid.

New monsters

This flashy Monster Hunter X video gives us a quick look at some of ?the new monsters in tow, as well as a bit of gameplay. While brief, it does a decent job of showing off a ton of creatures, in addition to some interesting class mechanics and abilities.

Despite the fact that the narrator clearly calls it "Monster Hunter Cross" in the video, I am still going to refer to it as "Monster Hunter X [Ex]." The same goes for Project X Zone -- forget that "Project Cross Zone" crap!

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November 28 in Japan

The latest Monster Hunter not slated for Western consumption, Monster Hunter X (or, "Monster Hun??ter Cross"), will be coming to 3DS in Japan on November 28. It will also launch as part of a new 3DS bundle, naturally.

We will be able to play Monster Hunter X at Tokyo Game Show, so I'll be sure to tell you all about it in September. The cartoonish, RPG spin-off Monster Hunter Stories (also for 3DS and pictured above) ??will also be play?able at TGS.

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