Katsuhiko Ichii, Capcom's managing corporate officer, explained the decision to Thompson Financial News (via Gamasutra). "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," Ichii said. While it remains unclear whether Monster Hunter 3 is now a Wii exclusive, or simply being released on both Wii and PS3, this quote seems to suggest the former. Either way, the fact remains: the most popular new console in Japan just got that much more powerful.

guys, im so jealous of wii owners
hey hey, the graphics not bad
after seeing the shots for some time..
yeah the graphics are awesome.

i wonder how the control scheme gonna work for the wii.
do we have to hack and slash our way through the game?
if like that walao.. cramps! xD

maybe it's time for u to get a Wii.
well...swing the wiimote to slice? man... thats gonna be tired... rather digitally tiring.

If it's anything like Phantasy Star Online, waggle to attack shouldn't be too bad because melee only consists of 3-hit combos. And magicks.. well.. just stand in correct distance and spam magic missles

Still excited, can't wait for a really good online game for Wii. Hopefully Brawl online is fun and addictive.

I wonder what's the max players like, PSP was 4 wasn't it?

Capcom Co., publisher of the ``Resident Evil'' video games, rose to a five-year high in Tokyo trading on expectations a sequel to its ``Monster Hunter'' series for Nintendo Co.'s Wii console will boost profits.

...

Paul Wan, a CLSA Asia-Pacific analyst in Tokyo, today raised his rating on the shares to ``outperform'' from ``sell,'' saying the game will add to earnings in the year ending March 2009. 

Monster Hunter Wii Revealed
Famitsu gets the full scoop on the Wii installment.
by IGN Staff
September 16, 2008 - Capcom's been pretty quiet following the shocking announcement of Monster Hunter 3's platform switch from the PS3 to the Wii. Now, with more than 2.5 million sales of the recent PSP version firmly establishing the series as one of Japan's biggest, the Wii version has at long last come back into the spotlight with a huge blowout in the latest Famitsu.

The magazine scored an interview with two key hunters, producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Kaname Fujioka. The concept for the game, according to Tsujimoto, is to restart Monster Hunter from scratch, filling the game with new ideas. The switch in platforms from the PS2 to the Wii was one of the reasons for this big rethinking of the series, Fujioka explained.

Monster Hunter 3 will place players on a new field: an unexplored island. This setting appears to offer a lot of variety, from thick forests, to dark caves, all the way to deep underwater environments surrounding the island.

The two developers spoke at length about the new swimming component of the game. Players will have full swimming controls over their in-game counterparts when exploring the underwater environments. Outside of hunting for giant submerged beasts, you'll also be able to hunt fish which can later be used as ingredients.

While you'll have most of your land-based abilities available to you while underwater, including the ability to use long-range weapons, you'll have to keep one thing in mind when swimming: air. You have an air gauge which depletes with time, similar to your stamina gauge when running about on land.

In addition to the water environments, you'll be able to explore dark areas, like caves. To light up your surroundings, you make use of torches. Without torch light, these areas would be too dark for hunting.

MH3 will also include brand new monsters. Capcom is approaching this area of the game from a fresh start as well. Fujioka expects that the monsters reappearing from past installments will have a certain freshness about them.

One particular creature is getting particular attention. An giant underwater dragon creature, who happens to be known as king of the waters, is the game's main monster, Fujioka revealed. This dragon can actually survive outside the water, so players will be able to face off against him while swimming or walking, depending on preference.

Monster Hunter 3 will see the return of one element of the series that has been missing from the recent PSP entries: online play. Online mode can be played in four player groups, just like the PS2 installments.

The game retains the concept of a "city," which acts as a lobby for chatting and meeting with other players. When playing solo, this city becomes a village that slowly expands with new facilities and access routes for the island.

While Capcom isn't ready with a final release date for Monster Hunter 3, the game is far enough in development that it will be making a playable appearance at the Tokyo Game Show, which kicks off in Japan on October 9. Expect full hands-on impressions from IGN's monster hunters then.

I'm actually a little disappointed that it's not going to be 360/ps3. I'm afraid it'll end up being a ps2 port with different controls.

I don't see them rebuilding the engine for the wii when it's similar to ps2 tho. So more than likely it'll be gameplay tweaking & control change up. I don't even think they'll honestly cater to the wiimote, will probably favor gamepad/cube controller.

I dunno, it may be nice but I feel the wii's strength really lies in games that take advantage of less realistic graphics & good wiimote controls.