Nov 21, 2019

Monster Hunter: World - MHW_CAPCOM

The limited-time-only Astera Fests return to Monster Hunter: World for five full weeks of festivities! During the fests, almost all event quests will be available. With the release of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne just around the corner, now's the time to get any special equipment and materials you missed out on!

Week 1: Spring Blossom Fest
Friday, November 29 0:00 to Thursday, December 5 23:59 UTC

Week 2: Summer Twilight Fest
Friday, December 6 0:00 to Thursday, December 12 23:59 UTC

Week 3: Autumn Harvest Fest
Friday, December 13 0:00 to Thursday, December 19 23:59 UTC

Week 4: Winter Star Fest
Friday, December 20 0:00 to Thursday, December 26 23:59 UTC

Week 5: Appreciation Fest
Friday, December 27 0:00 to Thursday, January 2 23:59 UTC

What are Astera Fests?

Seasonal events held at the Gathering Hub. Visit Astera's Gathering Hub, the Celestial Pursuit, and you'll find it bedecked with decorations, and the staff garbed in their celebratory best!

・ For the duration of the fests, almost all previously released event quests will be available!
・ As a login bonus, you'll get two Lucky Vouchers! (Three during the Appreciation Fest.)
・ There will be daily limited bounties where you can earn Fireworks and Tickets only available during Astera Fests!
・ Special seasonal platters will be available in the Gathering Hub, and items and services at all facilities will be available at reduced costs!
・ The Handler will have special costumes available for a limited time!
Note: The Handler will have a different costume for each seasonal event, and if you want to keep using these special costumes after the events have ended, you can purchase them as downloadable content. Please visit the official website for more information.
・ You'll get new backgrounds, titles, and poses for your Guild Card,
as well as costumes for your Poogie! (If you have yet to acquire them.)

Week 1: Spring Blossom Fest
・ During this period, almost all of the previous special Event Quests are available again.
・ You'll get some new login bonuses and limited bounties too!
　　- As a login bonus, you'll get two Lucky Vouchers plus a Spring Blossom Ticket.
　　- For the duration of the event, there will be daily limited bounties where you can earn Blossom Fireworks and Spring Blossom Tickets.
・ With Spring Blossom Tickets, you'll be able to craft the Blossom armor set, as well as the Felyne Butterfly set for your Palico.
・ You'll get new backgrounds, titles, and poses for your Guild Card, as well as the Buzzy Bee costume for your Poogie.
・ The Handler's Busy Bee Dress will be available for a limited time only.
・ Items and services at all facilities will be available at reduced costs.
・ A special seasonal platter will be available in the Gathering Hub.

Week 2: Summer Twilight Fest
・ During this period, almost all of the previous special Event Quests are available again.
・ You'll get some new login bonuses and limited bounties too!
　　- As a login bonus, you'll get two Lucky Vouchers plus a Summer Twilight Ticket.
　　- For the duration of the event, there will be daily limited bounties where you can earn Twilight Fireworks and Summer Twilight Tickets.
・ With Twilight Tickets, you'll be able to craft the Diver armor set, as well as the Felyne Aloha set for your Palico.
・ Take the Summer Twilight Tickets to the Smithy to activate the delivery request for crafting the Diver layered armor set.
・ You'll get new backgrounds, titles, and poses for your Guild Card, as well as the Seaside Sausage costume for your Poogie.
・ The Handler's Sunshine Pareo outfit will be available for a limited time only.
・ Items and services at all facilities will be available at reduced costs.
・ A special seasonal platter will be available in the Gathering Hub.

Week 3: Autumn Harvest Fest
・ During this period, almost all of the previous special Event Quests are available again.
・ You'll get some new login bonuses and limited bounties too!
　　- As a login bonus, you'll get two Lucky Vouchers plus an Autumn Harvest Ticket.
　　- For the duration of the event, there will be daily limited bounties where you can earn Harvest Fireworks and Autumn Harvest Tickets.
・ With Autumn Harvest Tickets, you'll be able to craft the Harvest armor set, as well as the Felyne Ghost set for your Palico.
・ Take the Autumn Harvest Tickets to the Smithy to activate the delivery request for crafting the Harvest layered armor set.
・ You'll get new backgrounds, titles, and poses for your Guild Card, as well as the Pumpkin's Revenge costume for your Poogie.
・ The Handler's Mischievous Dress will be available for a limited time only.
・ Items and services at all facilities will be available at reduced costs.
・ A special seasonal platter will be available in the Gathering Hub.

Week 4: Winter Star Fest
・ During this period, almost all of the previous special Event Quests are available again.
・ You'll get some new login bonuses and limited bounties too!
　　- As a login bonus, you'll get two Lucky Vouchers plus a Winter Star Ticket.
　　- For the duration of the event, there will be daily limited bounties where you can earn Star Fireworks and Winter Star Tickets.
・ With Winter Star Tickets, you'll be able to craft the Orion armor set, as well as the Felyne Snow set for your Palico.
・ Take the Winter Star Tickets to the Smithy to activate the delivery request for crafting the Orion layered armor set.

Week 5: Appreciation Fest
・ During this period, almost all of the previous special Event Quests are available again.
・ You'll get some new login bonuses and limited bounties too!
　　- As a login bonus, you'll get three Lucky Vouchers plus an Appreciation Ticket.
　　- For the duration of the event, there will be daily limited bounties where you can earn Appreciation Fireworks and Appreciation Tickets.
　　- During the Appreciation Fest, the reward for the 4th limited bounty will be four Lucky Vouchers instead of just one.
・ With Appreciation Tickets, you'll be able to craft the Gala Suit armor set, as well as the Felyne Star set for your Palico.
・ Take the Appreciation Tickets to the Smithy to activate the delivery request for crafting the Gala layered armor set.
・ You'll get new backgrounds, titles, and poses for your Guild Card, as well as the Sparkling Party costume for your Poogie.
・ The Handler's Friendly Felyne costume will be available for a limited time only.
・ Items and services at all facilities will be available at reduced costs.
・ A special seasonal platter will be available in the Gathering Hub.

Important:
The latest version of MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD is revision number 167898.
You can verify the version number in the top-left corner when you launch the game
in windowed mode.
Keep in mind that you can only match with other players who have the same update
version as you.

For other questions, please visit the official MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD support portal below.
http://www.capcom.com/mhwsupport/
・ You'll get new backgrounds, titles, and poses for your Guild Card, as well as the Boa Bell Coat costume for your Poogie.
・ The Handler's Winter Spirit Coat will be available for a limited time only.
・ Items and services at all facilities will be available at reduced costs.
・ A special seasonal platter will be available in the Gathering Hub.

Nov 11, 2019

This solid gold Monster Hunter statue is officially licensed and costs a mere $80,000

Monster Hunter: World

We checked out some Monster Hunter figurines last year, shortly after Monster Hunter: World made its way to PC, and some of them were pretty sweet. But none of them are anywhere as sweet—or maybe "grotesquely ostentatious" is the term I'm really looking for—as the 24k Gold Rathian statuette, and the Silver Rathalos constructed of platinum, offered by Japanese collectible manufacturer U-Treasure.

Hypebeast shared photos of the statues on Instgram, while Google-translated details are available on the U-Treasure site. The Gold Rathian measures approximately 15.5 by 11 cm, stands roughly 7.5 cm in height, and weighs about 600g, while the Silver Rathalos is 15x15x7.5 cm and weighs about 840g. Each comes with a glass case, because of course they do—we're not talking about injection molded plastic crapola here, people.

How much do they cost? I'm glad you asked. They sell for ¥8.8 million each, which is a little over—holy kapowzers—$80,000, or you can pick them in a set for a negligibly discounted ¥16.5 million—that's $150,000 and change, depending on fluctuations currency conversion. For gamers on a budget, silver models, coated in gold or rhodium, can be had for a paltry ¥880,000, or about $8000. That's each, by the way.

In case there's any doubt, these precious metal monsters are officially licensed by Capcom, and actually appear on Capcom Japan's Monster Hunter 15th Anniversary website. Alas, they're only available for purchase in Japan.

Seriously though, just look at these damn things:

Nov 1, 2019

Smell like a Monster Hunter with the actual real life Capcom perfume range

Monster Hunter: World

What do Monster Hunter: World's diligent Hunters smell like? It's not a question I've ever asked before, but now that the Capcom Tokyo Store is selling a collection of Monster Hunter perfumes, along with Devil May Cry and Phoenix Wright scents, I think answers are needed.

The two Monster Hunter collections are actually from Monster Hunter Generations and Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, but I'm not sure if that would have an impact on the smell. First we'd probably need to establish if it's designed to make us smell like a Hunter or the game itself.

Its purpose is similarly a mystery. Does it have a practical application, like attracting monsters? Or dates? Does it cover up the smell of sweat and blood and monster drool, or does it just pile on more? Does it provide any buffs?

Clearly there's only one way to tell—I need to douse myself in it. Andy Kelly is in Japan right now, so I could just ask him to get a crate for the office.

I'm going to assume the Devil May Cry 5 range has the overpowering whiff of leather, and Phoenix Wright probably just sprays something generic on himself because he's too busy with justice to worry about smelling nice.

The absence of Resident Evil perfume is probably for the best.

I was given Marvel's Avengers cologne for Christmas one year, for some inexplicable reason, and it didn't smell anything like the Avengers, so I'm steeling myself for disappointment again. C'mon Capcom, let me smell like I've just kicked the shit out of a dinosaur.

Oct 26, 2019

Video games in China: beyond the great firewall

Dota 2

Video games are a small window into Chinese life, but they're a window nonetheless, and video games themselves, in China, are huge. China accounts for more than half of the entire planet's PC gaming revenue. In fact, despite it being smaller than mobile gaming there, China's PC gaming market alone made over $15bn in 2018; more than half the entire amount of revenue made in the US gaming industry overall, including consoles, mobile, the lot. Going by the numbers of analyst firm Niko Partners, as of 2018 there were a total of about 630 million gamers in China - a little over 8 percent of humans on the planet.

Huge. But we know there are lots of people in China, and we know lots of them play games. What's really interesting is that these people are playing games in what is, on paper, the most aggressively censored system around. I suspect this sort of thing is why economists love visiting China, even if doing so is a risk: everything is a case study.

Games are no different. Under Chinese law, video games can't contain anything that "threatens China's national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity". They can't harm "the nation's reputation, security or interests". They can't promote cults, or "superstitions". They can't "incite obscenity, drug use, violence or gambling" - although loot boxes are, of course, fine (in fact Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad reckons a Chinese game may have invented them as far back as 2003) - and they can't include anything that "harms public ethics" or China's "culture and traditions". They also can't include any "other content" that might violate China's constitution or law, whatever that may be, and they have to be published in China by a Chinese company.