Yes it is true my friends, a very strange thing is happening indeed. Capcom have recently announced that Monster Hunter 3 will be due for release on the Wii! According to Kotaku, the game is 30% through current completion and here is the title advert from Famitsu for you too drool over:

Initially the title is labelled Monster Hunter 3 Tri for the Wii, and begs to ask the question why? Or how come? It has been confirmed that Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP was a huge success in Japan, especially combining the online elements on game play. The online aspect that especially came to be used so often by the Japanese was the co-operative element of game play which very often the Japanese do not go for in their games. However, if we take a step back nearly 10 years ago when Sega released Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast, it was a another huge online success for the Japanese (and incidentally) Worldwide as the first real console MMORPG. We all know that PSO portable is also coming to the PSP which is another shock for old time gamers but considering Sega haven’t been in the console market for 8 years now it is not surprising, as they are now a re-known 3rd party developer.

Anyway, enough of Sega, back to Capcom, Monster Freedom 2 was a massive hit for Japanese Gamers and its online capabilities a massive surprise for Capcom and Sony too. So the question arises why, how, the Wii fits into all this?

One can only assume that the run away success of the Wii this Generation is that Capcom have to decided to make this game and that this makes sense for a console version exclusive to Nintendo’s Wii to appear then a portable handheld. And as one can see we are in for treat if we own a Wii (I do!). Personally, I was shocked and amazed to see the news as reported by Kotaku, but it makes sense as the Wii signifies a major portion of the console market and with the amount of 3rd party drivel served on a platter for the ‘family’ it absolutely fantastic to see some serious gaming in the form of JRPG (as people call them these days, gone are the days when RPGS were all Japanese, hence the JRPG) and it appears the perfect platform to appear on. Monster Freedom 2 had no really chat in the form of text or voice and the Wii version appears to follow suit, I would like to see some text chat in there at least as co-operative game play needs that IMO. So there you have it” Drool over these screens and the game is 30% in completion and due for Wii release in USA & Europe early 2009. Personally I can’t wait, my Wii doesn’t get played much, my son plays his all the time but the games suit him…I mean with current titles like NinjaBread Man D’oh!

I hope the transition to the Wii platform is success, it means my Wii will not be gathering dust, however, the Monster Freedom 1/2 series on PS2/PSP was not well received in the west. There again I could be wrong, it was a huge success on the PS2 as Monster Hunter 1 came out so maybe this generation the Wii will do it the justice we all love about Monster Hunter games.

Screens etc Courtesy Kotaku, 2008.
Article review: skidpro
Game anticipation rating: 9.5.