Capcom join forces with The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] on a real life Monster Hunt to South America
London - 6th September 2007 - Capcom is thrilled to announce a new partnership with The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] the only professional scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to 'crypto-zoology' - the study of unknown animals. Capcom is sponsoring the CFZ on a full scale Monster Hunt expedition to South America in association with its record breaking title 'Monster Hunter Freedom 2'.
The expedition aims to locate and collect giant Anaconda specimens with reports coming in of locals seeing the indigenous snakes as big as 40 feet long - twice as large as they're supposed to be - in nearby swampland. The CFZ hope to collect some young specimens and bring them back to their new zoo facility in Devon.
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is a non-stop epic hunt-or-be-hunted 3rd person action adventure game and continues the Monster Hunter series with more content and options than ever before. Gamers increase their play skills as they battle through breath-taking environments, gathering rare flaura and fauna and seeking out mystical beasts whilst battling against bloodthirsty monsters in some of the best graphics ever seen on PSP system.
And just like in Monster Hunter Freedom 2, the expedition aims to look for evidence of a real life monster - the mythical 'Di-di', a feared South American devil described as a hairy apelike being with scythe like claws and is believed responsible for the deaths of hundreds of cattle who were found with their tongues ripped out. The CFZ believe the beast may be a surviving species of ground sloathe thought to have been extinct for over 10,000 years.
The expedition will take place over two weeks this November and will be made up of the CFZ specialist team of Monster Hunters as well as the London Metro Newspapers own intrepid reporter, Oliver Stallwood. The team will be taken on a journey deep into the South American jungle by a shamen guide and will be posting daily blogs and footage of their adventures via their satellite enabled phones at http://cfzguyana.blogspot.com/. The last blog posted on a CFZ trip to Mongolia attracted over 70,000 unique impressions a day, the team hope to exceed that figure this time round.
The Monster Hunter franchise has become a cultural phenomenon in Japan with Monster Hunter Freedom 2 notching up over 2.4 million sales since its release this April and holds the title of fastest ever selling game on the PlayStation portable console.
Other Monster Hunter Freedom 2 Facts from Japan -
· Owners range from 8-50yrs old with an average age of 22.6 yrs old
· Owners of MHF2 spend on average 2-3 hours per day playing the game
· Owners have spent on average between a total of 200-300 hours playing the game since its release 6 months ago. However, some have clocked up an impressive 1000 hours
· An impressive 51.5% of MHF2 owners bought a PSP specifically to play MHF2
· Regional tournaments in 5 key cities attracted a total of 15,000 participants, but many had to be turned away due to oversubscription. Close to £100,000 of MH merchandise was sold at these events. Pictures are available on request.
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 releases in Europe on 7th September 2007 exclusively for Sony PlayStation Portable system.
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