MH3 move to Wii

News ripped off NeoGAF
I cannot say I liked the idea of MH porting over to the Wii, but then again I am rather eager to know how the game controls work on platforms besides SONY's, the prospect of a whole new MH experience is somewhat enticing to me.

Sharewatch - Japan's Nintendo wins exclusive deal for Capcom's Monster Hunter 3

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Last Updated: 10-October-2007 10:48:55

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Nintendo Co Ltd, the world's largest maker of portable game consoles, on Wednesday won an exclusive deal in which major game developer Capcom Co Ltd will supply its blockbuster Monster Hunter 3 action game title for its Wii home-use, stand-alone game machines.

The Osaka-based Capcom had previously said it was developing Monster Hunter 3 for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc's PlayStation 3 game console. The company's Monster Hunter 1 and 2 games were exclusively offered on PlayStation 2 consoles.

Capcom's Monster Hunter series have accumulated global sales of 4.5 million copies.

"Due to high development cost of titles for PS3, we have decided to switch the platform to which we release our Monster Hunster 3 title," Capcom managing corporate officer Katsuhiko Ichii said. Nintendo has a rich title line-up for children but has few strong titles that can appeal to core game players or adults.

The announcement comes as Sony is struggling to recover its once-mighty position in the global video game market where competition has heated up since Microsoft Corp launched the Xbox 360 in 2005 and Nintendo Co introduced its Wii last November.

Sony said Tuesday it will cut the price of its new generation video game console sold in Japan to prop up sluggish sales of high-end game machines ahead of the approaching Christmas season.

Sony will cut the price of the most powerful version of the Playstation 3 (PS3) with a 60-gigabyte hard disk drive to 54,980 yen from around 59,800 yen offered by retailers on Oct 17.

In unveiling the exclusive deal with the influential game developer, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that the company is now "entering the third phase of its strategy, aimed at expanding the game player population." "With the release of the Nintendo DS portable game console and Wii stand-alone game machine, we managed to lure those who have never played games or those who have stopped playing games to play them," Iwata said.

"I understand that some experts argue that our success is short-lived and temporary. So, we now need to make efforts to constantly expand the player base by offering services and titles that can appeal not only to those who have never played games but also to those who play them hard," he said.

Analysts think the deal could strike another blow to the Sony camp, which is losing support from game developers.

In late 2006, Square Enix Co Ltd, a developer of computer games, decided to release its latest DragonQuest IX game exclusively for use in Nintendo Co Ltd's Nintendo DS portable game console.

Square Enix hadn't published a main version of DragonQuest for use on a Nintendo game platform since 1995.

"Wii has so far been successful, but it lacks a strong player base among teenagers, while Monster Hunter is highly popular in this age group," said Hirokazu Hamamura, president of Enterbrain, the publisher of influential entertainment magazines.

"So, the transfer of the platform is a positive surprise for Nintendo and negative news for Sony," he said.

Hamamura also said the decision by Capcom, which has a reputation for creating high-grade graphics, may also help encourage more third-party game developers to enter the Wii business, because it was thought that Wii would not be able to cope with such titles as Monster Hunter that requires strong graphical chip power.

Meanwhile, Nintendo also announced a plan to ally with NTT East and NTT West, the regional fixed phone service unit of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. The partners will offer a one-stop service for Internet-ready Wii, covering select Internet service providers and setting up an Internet connection.

Nintendo offers the so-called "Virtual Console" service which allows Wii users to download legacy games and play on Wii.

To enrich its Internet-ready features, Nintendo said it will also introduce a new service called Wiiware, which allows game developer to sell not only legacy games but also newly-developed games directly via the Internet.

"With the launch of this new service, game developers can set prices on new games more flexibly and cut the risk of holding inventories," Nintendo's Iwata said.

Official Capcom Press Release

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Capcom unleashes the beast as "Monster Hunter 3 (tri-)" rumbles its way onto the Nintendo Wii®

Capcom Co., Ltd. (Capcom) is pleased to announce the development of a new edition in its mega-hit "Monster Hunter" series: "Monster Hunter 3 (tri-)" for the Nintendo Wii.

The "Monster Hunter" franchise is a series of action games that puts the player in the boots of a fearless hunter tracking down and battling huge and ferocious monsters all while traversing breathtaking natural environments. To date, the series has shipped over 4.5 million copies worldwide (as of September 30, 2007). The "Monster Hunter Freedom" series for the PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system (referred to below as the PSP® system) makes use of Network Play to build upon the gaming experience, which has boosted its popularity, especially in the student market, and has also helped to make it the first PSP® game to sell over a million copies in Japan. The series has also been the recipient of numerous awards with "Monster Hunter" for the PlayStation®2 receiving the Award of Excellence at the Eighth Annual CESA Game Awards and "Monster Hunter Freedom 2" receiving the Grand Award at the Japan Game Awards: 2007.

Capcom has worked tirelessly on the latest title in the series, "Monster Hunter 3 (tri-)", to utilize the unique aspects of the Nintendo Wii, which will create a "Monster Hunter" game unlike any of its predecessors. The attractiveness of the Wii experience is sure not only to please existing fans of the series, but also attract newcomers to this unique adventure.

As always, we at Capcom will continue to strive to develop new and original games that appeal to a broad audience around the world while expanding our properties for multiple platforms. We believe that by bringing the "Monster Hunter" series to multiple platforms, it will help the franchise reach an even greater number of users eager for its unique gameplay.

Game spot

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Monster Hunter 3 now Wii-exclusive
[UPDATE] Citing "high development costs," Capcom has moved development of its formerly PS3-exclusive game to Nintendo's platform.
By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UK
Posted Oct 10, 2007 3:16 am PT
The Monster Hunter series is big in Japan--Monster Hunter Freedom for the PlayStation Portable was the first PSP game to sell over a million copies there, and the series has shipped over 4.5 million units worldwide.

The first game, Monster Hunter, was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2. Since then the games have always been on Sony platforms, with the latest, Monster Hunter 3, previously scheduled for release solely on the PlayStation 3.

However, Capcom announced today that Monster Hunter 3 will be coming to the Nintendo Wii, and it promises it has been "working tirelessly" to make use of the unique aspects of the Wii in the game.

The company explained the latest decision by saying, "As always, we at Capcom will continue to strive to develop new and original games that appeal to a broad audience around the world while expanding our properties for multiple platforms. We believe that by bringing the Monster Hunter series to multiple platforms, it will help the franchise reach an even-greater number of users eager for its unique gameplay."

[UPDATE] After some initial confusion, Capcom clarified to the Thomson Financial news service that Monster Hunter 3 is not only coming to the Wii, but will be completely exclusive to the platform. "Due to high development cost of titles for PS3, we have decided to switch the platform to which we release our Monster Hunter 3 title," Capcom managing corporate officer Katsuhiko Ichii told Thomson.

Also speaking to the wire service, Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata said the deal was part of a new phase in the global Wii strategy, "aimed at expanding the game-player population."

This is horrible. I wish doom and misfortune on Capcom, and I hope they fix this horrible mistake soon. The Wii is an inferior system made for children and people without the attention span of a real gamer, the prospect of fighting things in Monster Hunter with a Wiimote is both laughable and assinine.

They're realize their mistake sooner or later and release it onto the PS3 like they should.

But the important part is. Can I still get it for PS3.
(If it's in there I probably missed it)
Thnx

While i understand that th official pag for MH has put up Wii as the exclusive release console for MH3, we all know just how fickle Capcom has been.What may be deemed exclusive now may ust make it's way to other popular consoles! I would buy the Wii and MH3 on release thoughI had wanted to buy Wii for the party games so my nephew an nieces have something to do at my place as my NGC is almost expired.

Noooooooo.
I'm going to have to go to Capcom and slowly kill them all. I need a PS3 release.

I hope that you're right about fickle.
Thanks for telling me
ADB

Update at 1st post, I'll still wait and see what happens after the title i released. Until I see my copy of MH3I'll not stop loving it!

that's is why I like wait till the end when I think buy a videoconsole only for a Game, till the release NEVER BUY a console for a game!!

LOL I bought a nintendo game cube. 4 controllers and a PSO title bundled with a network adaptor just to play Phantasy star online abeit I played only offline. Yea, I can be crazy at times.

My friend hates his Wii, so if all comes to all I might be able to get it pretty cheap.

damm. hes sold it for two hundred and something.
grrr

Tough luck.

i sware to god if i have to get another system just to continue playing 1 of the best hunting games known to man kind im gana sue someone and go balistic..

i'll join you in that one

does anyone have psp love T.T

i love mine
hes awesome

i feel less alone now =D and jg howed you get ur psp to work on firmware ?