It's a scientific fact* that everyone in Japan loves Monster Hunter almost as much as they like cute poop, square watermelons and the occasional inappropriately hot-pantsed robot who thinks he's a boy. The Capcom mothership in Osaka has firmed up this supposition with the official news that Monster Hunter Freedom 2 has become the first PSP game in Japan to ship over 1.5 million units since its release in February. MH is the first game to hit this number in Japan. According to latest data we have here, the PSP currently sports an installed base of 6.5 million units in Japan. This means that 1 out of every 4 Japanese PSP owners has a copy of MHF2 in their collection. So, next time you're sitting on a plastic tarp in Akiba, shouldn't be too hard to find someone to play with. Over 4.8 million units of various Monster Hunters have shipped planet-wide since the first game was released in 2004 on the PS2. In fact, for many Japanese gamers, Monster Hunter on Ps2 was one of their very first online console game experiences. To pile on to the good news, the game also received the "Excellence Prize" in the Entertainment Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival. MHF2 was singled out from over 2000 different entries from more than 40 countries, demonstrating its merits as art. In your face, Ebert! * Not actually science, nor a fact.

1up.com just spilled the beans on their categories and nominees for Game of the Year 2007, and we're pleased as punch to see that there are several Capcom games included on their list. We're both amazed and excited to see Zack and Wiki on the 1up list for Game of the Year. Of course, we're also realistic, seeing as how it's a very long list and contains games like Bioshock and... well, other games, but Bioshock is on there, so I'm pretty sure I know right where that particular award is going: Ken Levine's desk. And you know what? I'm alright with that. If you're not too busy now, might we suggest you follow the jump to 1up and vote for some of our fine, fine products? Danke! Remember: Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, Mario, Bioshock, etc. are all selling just fine, but Z-Dub could use some serious love! Here's how the award season is looking for Capcom at 1up: Best Action Game:

• Resident Evil 4 Wii edition

Best Adventure Game:

• Zack & Wiki
• Monster Hunter Freedom 2
• Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

Best Console Downloadable Game:

• Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix

Game of the Year:

• Zack & Wiki

Tip of the hat to Kotaku to pointing us towards this Guardian blog on literacy concerns in the UK that gives the Ace Attorney series a major high-five. Author Steven Poole responds to his own paper's claims that "England has plummeted from third to 19th in an international league table of children's literacy levels as pupils replace books with computer games." Hm. Here's a clip from the piece: "News headlines don't tell you, for example, about the wonderfully batty series of games for the Nintendo DS starring Phoenix Wright... At a rough estimate, one Phoenix Wright game contains at least as much text as your average children's novel... In my opinion, Phoenix Wright is funnier and cleverer than most TV made for adults." I once read an editorial piece in which the author posited an alternate universe where radio was invented before the written word, and how nanny-state types would react to children spending all their time ruining their eyes squinting at black ink rather than improving their knowledge of the world listening to radio dramas. Poole also imagines a similar situation in his posting. Beyond the Ace Attorney series, imagine trying to succeed in a Final Fantasy title, undertake a quest in World of Warcraft, escort survivors in Dead Rising, or sing along with a song in Rock Band without varying degrees of literacy. Poole's conclusion, I personally feel, is right on the money. For more along these lines, I highly recommend picking up Everything Bad is Good For You by Steven Johnson. And the latest Ace Attorney title, too ;) Here's a fun quote from the Guardian's original piece on the findings: "Unless children get a buzz out of reading, the computer will remain much more interesting to them." -- Mick Brooks, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. Maybe that's the problem; if you could catch a buzz from reading, perhaps more teens would be getting together on the weekends and binging on Oprah's latest recommendation.

It's a hard knock life here at Capcom, what with working on some of the best video games on the planet and all. Every once and a while, folks round abouts need to take a few minutes (or a two hour lunch break, whatever) and blow off some steam. Thus was born: MANTISS AND THE HEX!!! A number of Capcom staff jumped on to the Rock Band fantasy bandwagon, including myself and freshman Jason; Darin and Randy from Customer Service; Ryuhei the IT guitar god; Colin, Lily and Tony from marketing; Rey from Product Development and a host of curious onlookers wondering just what the hell we were up to in the demo room. Songs were sung, drums summarily pounded and fans won and lost by the handful as we bashed our way through a number of rockers. All in all, the second-best game of the Fall to play with a room full of people -- after Zack and Wiki, of course. PS: Coheed and Cambria are THE WORST

Seems like every time you turn around, there's doom and gloom surrounding the business of video games. In a happy holiday turn, some good news comes our way from Dan at the ESA regarding the health of the games industry. Turns out that the annual growth rate of the games industry from 2003 - 2006 exceeded 17%, while the US economy as a whole only saw a 4% increase. And, from a personal perspective, you'd be hard pressed to find a more fun, interesting field to work in. Long story short, sitting up all night jamming on Rock Band is not only granting you mad drumming skills, but is also prepping you for a potential job in a white-hot technology/entertainment industry. Note to self: put Gamertag on resume. Here's some other fun data, stolen directly from the ESA's press release/report:

• The US entertainment software industry directly employs more than 24,000 individuals and indirectly supports, with an average salary of $92,300 in 2006.
• The computer and video game industry's value added to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006 was $3.8 billion.
• In 2003-04 and 2005-06, the industry's contribution to real growth exceeded its share of GDP by more than four to one.
• The entertainment software industry directly and indirectly employs more than 80,000 people in 31 states; and, U.S. industry employees received total compensation of $2.2 billion.
• The report states that California is the largest employer of computer and video game personnel in the nation, accounting for approximately 40 percent of total industry employment nationwide.
• Virginia's computer and video game industry grew by 552 percent in 2006, more than 172 times as fast as the commonwealth's overall growth.
• Washington state ranked second nationally in computer and video game personnel in 2006, with 9,284 direct and indirect employees at more than 59 facilities across the state.
• New York's entertainment software companies directly and indirectly employ 4,415 individuals at more than 25 facilities across the state.