Capcom's
Monster Hunter Tri released for Wii in Japan last August to strong critical and commercial success, selling more than a million units and garnering high praise from the press.
But fans and the media weren't the only ones who took notice; Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says his company has been feeling "pressure" to compete with
Monster Hunter Tri's high graphical standard on Wii, particular among the group developing the next
The Legend of Zelda game.
"It has placed the
Zelda team under a considerable amount of pressure," Iwata told Ryozo Tsujimoto and Kaname Fujioka, two
Monster Hunter Tri developers, in the
latest edition of his "Iwata Asks" interview series.
Tsujimoto, the game's producer, said the goal of "the best graphics ever seen on the Wii console" was of paramount importance to the team, and was part of "the first project planning document that we wrote."
Director Fujioka added, "Graphics aren’t really Wii’s best point."
Iwata himself seemed to concede that many developers have found Wii's graphical hardware lacking, saying, "I imagine the first thing you thought with regard to visuals was that you might not be able to do much."
"I can tell Nintendo’s staff has really been galvanised by you," he said. "I can tell they feel like you did what they hadn’t yet."
Monster Hunter Tri is set for a North American release on Wii later this month.
