That’s right kids, the previously unknown equation has been solved with an announcement today in Tokyo. What is the announcement? Well, for me it’s pretty yawn-worthy, but PC title Monster Hunter Frontier is coming to the Xbox 360. A PC online RPG, Monster Hunter Frontier was first seen on the PC way back in the summer of 2007. Yep, that’s why it’s kind of yawn worthy for me, releasing a game from 3 years ago. Hell, I guess I shouldn’t say that, I would get pretty damn excited if they re-released GoldenEye or Counter-Strike from 1997 on the XBLA.

A closed beta for the Japanese Xbox Live will go live this May, with the service beginning on a PC server, and a separate server for the Xbox. Eventually they’ll begin migrating the two servers together allowing everyone to play in harmony. I really don’t see that, as I see this becoming a bad move for both sides: two factions of mouse-clickers and controllers going their separate ways. And they say that segregation is dead and gone. Yeah right! Expect to hear “Die mouse-clicker scumbag!” and “Eat my analog shit!” over your headset come May.

Hidden costs begin to rear their ugly head at the announcement today, with users being asked to pay $15 dollars a month (in yen) over the course of a year in order to play online. Don’t worry though, this cost also includes a 1 month subscription to Xbox Live, bringing the yearly total for Xbox Live/Monster Hunter to $180 dollars. Now, factor in that you won’t have to pay the $60 dollars for Xbox Live anymore (since you are getting that bundled) and your cost comes to around $120 dollars if you play this all year.

I’m in the boat of “This shit wouldn’t fly like that here in America, and I definitely wouldn’t pay $120 bucks to play 1 game for a whole year,” but that’s what separates us from the Japanese markets, they eat this shit up! I might be in for a month or two, but there are not very many games that hold my attention for more than a month or two.

[via Kotaku]