Nintendo's going to have to divert every Wii shipment straight to Japan for this one. The Monster Hunter series, while certainly doing decent business in the U.S., is an absolute sales monster in Japan. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd on the PSP sold half a million copies on its first day and became the first million-selling PSP game in Japan.
Monster Hunter 3 was previously announced for the PS3, but Capcom has now changed their plan and announced it as a Wii exclusive. Without the barrier of having to buy a new $500+ system, Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) (that's the official title-- we don't know either!) should be quite the hit. An important part of the Monster Hunter experience is online play. We expect such a feature will appear on the Wii, though we don't look forward to seeing how the game will integrate friend codes.
Monster Hunter 3 moved from PS3 to Wii
Posted Oct 10th 2007 12:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News
Tags: arpg, capcom, monster-hunter-3, nintendo-conference, online
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-10-2007 @ 12:15PM
David W. said...
haha poor ps3 can't catch a break, first 360 was stealing their exclusives and now Wii is doing it too :P
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10-10-2007 @ 12:23PM
ViewtifulVance said...
i never cared much for this series, but now that its coming to the Wii i'm gonna check it out!
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10-10-2007 @ 12:33PM
BebopFox said...
YES!!!!!!!! Thats all I can say. I've loved this series since the start! The Original Monster Hunter game is the one game that got me to buy a ps2. Ever since then I've been practically a slave to this series. I was planning on forking over the cash for a ps3 if needed for Monster Hunter 3, but Capcom just answered my prayers with 1> Monster Hunter on a cheaper/more affordable console (that I already own at that) & 2> If they do what I'd been hoping a Wii-Monster Hunter title would include, Motion-based weapon attacks, then Capcom has truly become my new king of games. Now all we need is confirmation of MH3 being released Stateside/European for the full bang (quite likely due to the popularity of the psp sales outside Japan for MHF and MHF2).
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10-10-2007 @ 12:52PM
LeChuck said...
I still play MH on PS2. And MHF is one of the main reason's I'll be getting a PSP so this is great news! And as annoying as friend codes may be (if they use them) it'll still be better than how you had to meet up in game to add someone to your friend list in MH and go through Xlink Kai to play Freedom online.
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10-10-2007 @ 1:18PM
Wiseguy said...
Today Monster Hunter 3. Tomorrow... THE WORLD!!!
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10-10-2007 @ 1:56PM
sly said...
Okay, so the Wii stole a previously PS3 planned title, and it's an action RPG?! Had never even heard of this series but after checking up on it, I'm psyched.
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10-10-2007 @ 2:17PM
01 said...
Sweet. Frickin' Sweet. From what I've been hearing, MGS:4 is also making the jump to wii-exclusive, leaving the PS3 with naught but mini-games going into the next year... [if only that were true :-)]
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10-10-2007 @ 2:24PM
Sonic_13 said...
PS3 can never catch a break. Its best exclusives just wind up moving to Wii or Xbox360 and the ones that don't get moved just don't sell well (ex. Lair...)
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10-10-2007 @ 3:02PM
Mike said...
Ouch.
Capcom dumped it because of high development costs for the PS3.
Double ouch.
Wonder if it'll be bundled with party games. ;)
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10-10-2007 @ 3:08PM
Rocketman said...
Is this the one where you put a music CD into the game and it creates a monster that you hunt?
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10-10-2007 @ 3:12PM
JC Fletcher said...
No, that's Monster Rancher. You put a CD in and it generates a monster that you can... ranch.
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10-10-2007 @ 3:16PM
Larz said...
Interesting... Time will tell if it was a good move. Makes sense financially for a company to go with Wii. Legacy hardware = less development cost, larger install base, and users don't care about graphics. So they'll sell more copies with less work.
BTW, PS3 is $400+, not $500+
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10-10-2007 @ 3:20PM
Hirsbrunner said...
Now all Wii needs is to court INSOMNIAC for Ratchet & Clank, and there will be no reason whatsoever for me to purchase a PS3.
Although my brain says it will never happen, my heart still believes it's possible.
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10-10-2007 @ 7:18PM
Mr Khan said...
Lads, i must request that if you want to have a good laugh (or get your blood riled up, depending on what you think), read the PS3fanboy version of this story, specifically the comment thread
I thought it was some funny stuff, if only because of how utterly opposite it is to this thread
Reply
10-10-2007 @ 8:55PM
yomachaser said...
IMO this is going to happen more and more in the coming year, PS3 has done little (eg 1st party games and workable price point) to sell itself and it looks like 3rd parties are getting tired of waiting for Sony to turn it around.
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10-11-2007 @ 12:53AM
KingMe said...
well, if 3rd party companies would start making games for the PS3, maybe it could turn around. But no, one by one they keep ditching Sony, and now all the die hard MH fans of both the US and Japan are going to get a dumbed down version of the game
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10-11-2007 @ 4:25AM
dannybuoy said...
Finally Nintendo have the power again! Is it me or is the wii the only exciting console at the moment.. the others are just not doing it for me.. viva la revolution
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10-11-2007 @ 10:31AM
Steinania said...
wow. just wow. I love the first Monster Hunter for the Ps2, and I just bought a psp for MHF and MHF2. I hope this game comes to the states. I can't wait to cook well-done steaks on my wii! :-D
MMMmmm! LOOKS TASTY!
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10-11-2007 @ 11:11AM
James said...
Can anybody explain the draw of Monster Hunter to me? I had it on PSP for a while, and I played through a few hunts, but it seemed really, really boring. Get a job, go mash buttons until everything in front of you dies, pick up stuff they drop, repeat. Was there a *point* to it?
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10-11-2007 @ 2:14PM
David W. said...
@ Danny...it's just you...my 360 is breaking my bank right now...
Just bought Halo 3 not too long ago...Just bought Orange Box yesterday, and I still want to buy the new Project Gotham
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10-26-2007 @ 10:38PM
David said...
I don't know if I'm a PS3 "fanboy" - I got the PS3 anticipating MH3, and also because I've just got a lot of PS2 games. I have Folklore, the new Rathet & Clank, and Heavenly Sword and the graphics are absolutely awesome. Monster Hunter 3 would have been incredible looking - and I already love the game-play. The only Wii I have seen is in gamestop hooked to a nice flat panel tv (next to an xbox360 and ps3). Wii graphics only go to 480 (or whatever) resolution, so unless I hear otherwise, this is just a "lateral" move by CAPCOM.
The good news about this is MAYBE Monster Hunter will get more of a following in the USA if it is on the Nintendo. Will Nintendo give it better marketing support? Will Wii owners get it in the USA because its a major "flagship" game (in Japan)...I am asking. I really don't know much about the Wii games.
I guess since MH is my favorite game, I'll be buying a Wii system eventually. But this whole thing is scary to me. Will they redesign the whole gameplay aspect to appeal more to the Wii Market? Isn't the Wii market "casual" gamers?
Monster Hunter is is a weird game - I think you may need to put about 100 hours into it (ok maybe 40 hours minumum) JUST TO GET STARTED!!! It is no wonder it has had a hard time catching on in the USA.
So help me out Wii owners - what can we expect now that the franchise is a Nintendo exclusive? And by the way, is nintendo going to leverage its huge sales to make a WiiMAX or UBER-Wii or Wii360 at some point? Game cube had good graphics for its time, No?
... but I am still crying, and you would too if you look at the graphics of some of the new games on PS3... I'm sure the XBox360 titles are pretty sweet looking too.
:-(
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