1 - I think videogames are plenty hard, but then my ability to "train" and overall skills have diminished. I don't have an issue with regenerative health or even unlimited lives if it's done correctly and the player is sufficiently penalized.
2 - Kinect is accurate enough for what it's being asked to do at present. However, if they are able to increase the accuracy in such a straightforward manner (basically just a software patch) AND it doesn't put too much additional stress on the 360's processing, then it certainly points to interesting things, including individual finger - rather than just hand - detection. They've already made one adjustment prior to launch (though it wasn't present in the launch titles - not enough time) and I can see them continually tweaking the algorithms, since that will all be a requirement to get the most out of individual game concepts.
3 - Japan is probably the most unusual market out there. They give love to even niche products and have very defined tastes. It's probably easier to release something over there in terms of meeting sales expectations than it is in the western world, with obvious exceptions (Halo anything, Call of Duty anything, GT anything, Civilization anything, etc.). Of course they also turn a blind eye to western products. In any case, I think it's a sound strategy releasing Monster Hunter exclusively on the PSP over there simply because over there the PSP is still a top seller, while in the rest of the world it's pretty much on its last legs. So I don't really see much issue with that. If someone wanted to release a high profile PSP exclusive here in the US (not named Sony), I'd call them crazy...
1 - I think videogames are plenty hard, but then my ability to "train" and overall skills have diminished. I don't have an issue with regenerative health or even unlimited lives if it's done correctly and the player is sufficiently penalized.
2 - Kinect is accurate enough for what it's being asked to do at present. However, if they are able to increase the accuracy in such a straightforward manner (basically just a software patch) AND it doesn't put too much additional stress on the 360's processing, then it certainly points to interesting things, including individual finger - rather than just hand - detection. They've already made one adjustment prior to launch (though it wasn't present in the launch titles - not enough time) and I can see them continually tweaking the algorithms, since that will all be a requirement to get the most out of individual game concepts.
3 - Japan is probably the most unusual market out there. They give love to even niche products and have very defined tastes. It's probably easier to release something over there in terms of meeting sales expectations than it is in the western world, with obvious exceptions (Halo anything, Call of Duty anything, GT anything, Civilization anything, etc.). Of course they also turn a blind eye to western products. In any case, I think it's a sound strategy releasing Monster Hunter exclusively on the PSP over there simply because over there the PSP is still a top seller, while in the rest of the world it's pretty much on its last legs. So I don't really see much issue with that. If someone wanted to release a high profile PSP exclusive here in the US (not named Sony), I'd call them crazy...