Monster Hunter 4 has now sold over three million copies in Japan. The game is selling at a rate of roughly 40,000 copies each week.
Famitsu wrote in its latest issue:
“With the tenth anniversary of the franchise approaching, 2014 should be an even more exciting year for MH than ever before. MH4 continues to generate a lot of attention in the market, and we can expect sales to continue going forward. Going into the holiday season, the newly-improved MH4 will likely have even more of a performance to show us.”
I’m assuming the latest news coming from Famitsu is different from Capcom’s announcement last month. The publisher had announced that Monster Hunter 4 shipments had exceeded three million. Famitsu’s article seems to apply to actual sales rather than shipments.
Nintendo’s website has listed several titles set for release on the company’s digital download services over the next couple of weeks. You can find a roundup of games due out throughout the remainder of the month below.
Note that release dates are subject to change. Also keep in mind that the listing below is not the complete Nintendo Download lineup for the next two weeks.
November 21
Wii U Download
Coaster Crazy Deluxe
EDGE
The Mysterious Cities of Gold: Secret Paths
Wii U VC
3DS VC
November 28
3DS Download
3D Super Hang-On
3D Space Harrier
Race To The Line
DSiWare
This week’s Japanese eShop update is as follows:
3DS
Downloadable Titles
Gureko kara Ch?sen-j?! Eitango no Shima to Obake-tachi Step 3 – 500 yen
Gureko kara Ch?sen-j?! Eitango no Shima to Obake-tachi Step 4 – 500 yen
SteamWorld Dig – 800 yen
Picross e4 – 500 yen
Cooking Mama 5 (retail title) – 4,500 yen (from 11/21)
One Piece Unlimited World R (retail title) – 5,980 yen (from 11/21)
Little Doll Princess: Ry?ri-hen DEMO – FREE
Simple DL Series Vol. 16 – The Misshitsu kara Dasshutsu – Yukaina Saru to Fami-Res-hen DEMO – FREE
Gureko kara Ch?sen-j?! Eitango no Shima to Obake-tachi Step 3 DEMO – FREE
Gureko kara Ch?sen-j?! Eitango no Shima to Obake-tachi Step 4 DEMO – FREE
Virtual Console
Chack’n Pop (Famicom) – 500 yen
Nazo Puyo: Aruru no Ru (Game Gear) – 400 yen
Wii U
Downloadable Titles
Super Mario 3D World (retail title) – 5,985 yen (from 11/21)
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii U Version (retail title) – 5,480 (from 11/21)
Virtual Console
Clu Clu Land (Famicom) – 500 yen
Densetsu no Ogre Battle (Super Famicom, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen) – 800 yen
Image & Form is working on the next SteamWorld game. We’ve known that it won’t be a direct follow-up to Dig, but another entry in the series. This was recently reconfirmed by Image & Form Brjann Sigurgeirsson.
The new SteamWorld title will hit the 3DS “first”, according to Sigurgeirsson, suggesting that the downloadable release will eventually make its way to other platforms.
As for concrete details… well, there isn’t much yet. There will be some elements from SteamWorld Dig as well as “other gameplay elements.” The project is due out sometime next year.
Sigurgeirsson told NintendoWorldReport:
“It is the next SteamWorld game, meaning that it is going to be in the SteamWorld universe. The next game is not going to be a direct sequel to SteamWorld Dig, it is not going to be SteamWorld Dig 2. It is coming to the Nintendo 3DS first, because we think it is a fantastic platform. If I have any updates on the game? The thing is that earlier, when we did SteamWorld Dig, the first thing I went out and said was that it was going to be released at the end of February 2013 and then I said by the end of March.”
“If there is one thing I have learned, is talking too much before everything is set in stone. It is very likely that I would have to eat my own words. So I sort of promised that the rest of team, that they sort of would kill me if I say too much. I will say a few things. Gameplay wise, it will have elements from SteamWorld Dig, you will definitely know in which environment you are. Then there would be other gameplay elements in there and the mix is very interesting. I have played the vertical slice, the very early alpha version of this game and it is fantastic. I tell you that much. It is just the brilliance of our lead game designer, he is a genius at mixing stuff that really fits well together. It was so exciting to just spend 30 minutes playing this next SteamWorld game that I was… yeah, I was happy to see it. So the update on the game is I don’t have a release date for it, we don’t have a date on when we will release the title for it, but euhmm… that it is going to be very cool. It is coming out in 2014.”
