Once again, Capcom drops the ball when it comes to bringing the Monster Hunter phenomenon to North America and Europe. As the cheesy announcer says in a promotional video you can watch here, "One of the greatest things about Monster Hunter is the ability to meet up with your friends and play socially."

Note the first step: meet up with your friends. You can't go online in the upcoming Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for the PSP, which is a sort of add-on/expansion/sequel to Monster Hunter Freedom. Instead, you can only play multiplayer using the local wireless connection with other nearby PSP owners.

This wouldn't matter if Monster Hunter didn't have such an emphasis on playing in groups. It works a bit like a massively multiplayer online game, but at a smaller scale and with special features available to people who play in groups, such as unique quests and support weapons. Even the interface is designed for multiplayer, with a timer whenever you gather your loot to supposedly give everyone a chance to look over what's been won.

So why would Capcom neglect online multiplayer? Other than the fact that it's what they're used to doing?

It has to do with how videogaming is often part of social gatherings in Asian countries. In Japan, Monster Hunter's local multiplayer is sufficient to foster a strong multiplayer community. It's huge over there and people have no problem gathering together to play! However, for various reasons, us Westerners tend to prefer our multiplayer online, across the internet rather than with a local wireless connection. A Monster Hunter with online support would let guys like me finally play as it's intended to be played rather than plinking around with it and admiring it more in theory than practice. Unfortunately, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite won't be that game.