Plug Pulled on Monster Hunter U.S. Servers

by Cavin Smith on January 2, 2008 at 3:38 pm

Apparently three long years of service were enough for the small community of gamers that still played Monster Hunter on their Western Playstation 2s.

Of course, it’s amazing that the love affair lasted as long as it did. Still serious business in Japan, sales of Monster Hunter games have been remained flat in the U.S. since their respective debuts. To date, the Playstation 2 version is the only one to feature actual online play, a major draw of the series in the first place (PSP releases only allowed ad hoc multiplayer in the same room).

For the seventy-or-so gamers logged on when the servers were shut off for good at approximately 12:25 PM EST, the departure must have been bittersweet. It wasn’t Capcom’s fault, though. According to a blog post on their community site a little over a month ago, the online capabilities of the game were outsourced to a company that no longer wants to remain in the business of networking Playstation 2 games (and really, what kind of business is that anyway?).

Ever the vanguard for its fans, Capcom even petitioned the nameless provider for a contract extension, but they weren’t having any of it.

It’s always kind of sad to see these small gaming communities disrupted — there’s something intriguing about having that sort of dedication to a game that most people have moved on from or completely ignored in the first place.

But progress must be made, and the pool of money to be made from providing support for a failed online platform must look more like a half-dried puddle these days, with everyone moving on to newer consoles.

Since they belonged to the same company, the servers for Resident Evil: Outbreak have been permanently removed, as well.

Tags: Capcom, monster-hunter, online-multiplayer, Playstation 2, resident-evil-outbreak

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Jonathan Zungre

how sad. Its like driving down the street of your town and seeing your once favorite storefronts boarded up.

Aaron Landeros

How sad that they shut sich a great game down....MOnster Hunter best game ive ever played.....
cause they decided to shut down the server where does that leave all the ppl that played that game online some never Fought the Fatalis
thats a dream fighting that thing very strong and fun now some weps and armours some ppl will never see

Mitsarugi

you 2 are right im Mitsarugi a MH veteran and It breaks my heart it really does I got so much out of playing MH with other people online. You have broken my heart capcom I wanted you to know that. It is deplorable that you release only one version of MH in the US on ps2 and then shutdown the servers. A honorable path would be to allow us to run our own servers I have hope that you may do the right thing so that your reputation will be upheld and a master piece shall remain un-mutilated. There are few authentic jewels in the gaming world and I believe you created one but you are on the verge of ruining it. A lot of companies choose to make profit over quality things which is a shame and thorn in the side of the gaming world. But sometimes a company decides it wants to be truly great. Perhaps a certain “company” should take a long look in the mirror and think carefully about which they would like to be. Make the wrong choice and you will have to square with that one day. And for the record i bought a ps2 just to play MH when it was first released. I do not regret anything about MH

I really love monster hunter… the game and the people on it im going to lose alot of friends and alot of fun. Why would you shut the servers when most players have over 600+ hours on that game! its just wrong..

all the ppl that played that game online some never Fought the Fatalis
thats a dream fighting that thing very strong and fun now some weps and armours some ppl will never see

thats what i think

signed: Mitsarugi MH veteran

Brendan Rodgers

Looking at that case just depresses me so much right now. I have this dying urge to play monster hunter yet I have no server to play on T_T. A sad day indeed. And to make things even worse the new monster hunter 3 thats gonna come out in america is now a WII exclusive >.< I had so many good times on that game, not even socom or counterstrike could top the great times I had on that game

Lucid_transition

So i heard Monster Hunter Frontier is finally being concidered for a US. Release. this will Remove all your sadness.. if you haven't heard about it, look it up. it blows MH original away. and its MMO Thousands of ppl per server, and your home base isnt just a small place anymore.. its a bounding city. Post anything you hear about it!

Jonathan Zungre

thanks for the heads up lucid!

Juggernaut

It's so sad to see this go. I've been hoping to play this online somehow, but I haven't found anything yet. I'm sure if news got out on a way you could play online, people would go crazy. Either way, we might be getting MH Tri for Wii, but I don't have the money to get the game, or the Wii for that matter. Hopefully they port MH Frontier over here so I can enjoy playing it again. I hear you can use a PC or 360 controller to play it!

john

that sux i just found out today

Kikiriu

I don't know how long ago these posts were, but I'm just now figuring this out after a couple of years and I swear I'm close to tears. I say we rally or something, get Capcom to bring back the servers and have someone continue running servers int he U.S. For the few months I played the origianl Monster Hunter, I was captured by it's gameplay and the fact that I could meet many other people, Though at the time, the most I saw in total over online areas were around a hundred. If people really feel strongly enough, once again, I say we rally for the cause.

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