Following its successful launch in Japan on the weekend, Capcom have finally confirmed the release of Monster Hunter 3 for all Western territories.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - August 3, 2009 - Capcom Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that Monster Hunter Tri will be released in both North America and Europe for Nintendo's Wii system in early 2010. Monster Hunter Tri will set a new bar in the action/adventure genre with the introduction of new features and game play elements as the multi-million unit selling franchise makes its debut on the Wii system.

One of the most strikingly beautiful titles ever developed for Wii, Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where man co-exists with fantastic beasts that roam both the land and the sea. Featuring both online and offline cooperative modes, players can join online hunting parties with up to four players or play with two players on a single TV for select quests. Players also have the option to face Monster Hunter Tri's challenging quests as a single player experience accompanied by Cha-Cha, an AI hunting partner whose tracking and trapping skills will prove invaluable in the hunt. New items, weapons and armor sets will also be available to assist the hunters as they embark on the most incredible Monster Hunter adventure to date.

"Fans of Nintendo and Monster Hunter are eagerly anticipating the launch of this title in the US, which will be the first time the series is available on a Nintendo home console," said Steve Singer, Nintendo of America's Vice President of Licensing.

"Having Capcom bring Monster Hunter Tri to the Wii console provides tremendous action, fun and entertainment to both veteran players and series newcomers alike."

Visitors to this month's GamesCom European gaming convention in Cologne, Germany August 19-23, will be the first to sample a localized version of the title on Capcom's stand as it makes its English debut for a western audience. GamesCom attendees will have the opportunity to play the same game that took last year's Tokyo Game Show by storm, with lines that stretched around Capcom's stand as eager Japanese gamers waited in excess of five hours to play.

This desire to be one of the first to experience Monster Hunter Tri is indicative of the impact the Monster Hunter franchise has made on videogame culture in Japan. With sales of the series totaling well over 10 million units and 3.5 million sales of Monster Hunter Portable 2ndG alone, it's no surprise to find that Monster Hunter has given rise to dedicated "training camps", country-wide festivals and numerous licensed products. The franchise doesn't just top the charts in Japan; it's become a social phenomenon.

More information on Monster Hunter Tri will be revealed in the upcoming months.

 
I hope we don't have to wait too long, and that the US and Europe get the game around about the same time.

Online coop. Finally. Only problem is that its online coop on the wii..... but hey im willing to give it a shot. I like the monster hunter series but it needs online gameplay so badly.

Um what? The MH series was born with online co-op... Only the PSP games don't have that (without PS3). This is a return to its roots.
 
Edit just to have this near the top of the discussion:
The game was reviewed in this month's Famitsu and received a perfect score of 10, 10, 10, 10, a 40/40. Only 11 games have earned a perfect score in Famitsu so far. Only 6 of them are games on current generation platforms. 3 of those are Wii. 2 are DS. 1 is PS3.

" Online coop. Finally. Only problem is that its online coop on the wii..... but hey im willing to give it a shot. I like the monster hunter series but it needs online gameplay so badly. "

•  30 days - 800 points
•  60 days - 1,500 points
•  90 days - 2,000 points

It remains to be seen what the fee is going to be for the West. The previous online enabled MH games on the PS2 were pay to play in Japan but free elsewhere. Things have changed since the PS2 days however, and people are far more inclined to use the much easier and diverse processes of paying for online services, so it's likely they will charge for it here as well. On the other hand, perhaps they'll have at the very least a different price point and extended initial play. I guess being pay to play didn't stop the first Phantasy Star Online games from being hits anyway, maybe Monster Hunter can finally catch on as well. At least you have the solo and split screen play without fees anyway, and as PSP players can say, the games are worth spending hundreds of hours on even if you're by yourself, as the PSP entries didn't have online play at all, only local co-op, except for the third entry which allows for online play, as long as you have a PS3 on top of your PSP...

It's highly unlikely that Monster Hunter Tri will be pay to play for coop in the West.  The model simply does not work here for this game.  The first Monster Hunter was free online as well.  The problem is that Capcom has to put up the servers themselves, which is why there's a charge in Japan.  If the game had been on the 360 or the PS3, the server would have been ran through Microsoft and Sony.
 
The ad-hoc based PSP titles can be played online either with a PS3 or with a PC that has a compatible wi-fi card.
 
 http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/

They would charge for it regardless of what home platform it was on. Those PC and PS3 applications simply make local-multiplayer games playable online, a home console version would not work through them, and CAPCOM would provide their own service and charge for a PS360 version just as well as they do on Wii, at least in Japan, as it remains to be seen what they do for the West. Still, console online games with fees have worked out in the past, in the West, including titles like Phantasy Star Online and Final Fantasy XI, so it's possible they will attempt that too. CAPCOM don't just run fees to cover server costs, they do it for profit, just like any MMO type title. They wouldn't give it for free even if Sony/MS offered to cover costs, as it would mean no additional profit. It's their biggest franchise in Japan, and they want to make it big elsewhere too.

The game was reviewed in this month's Famitsu and received a perfect score of 10, 10, 10, 10, a 40/40. Only 11 games have earned a perfect score in Famitsu so far. Only 6 of them are games on current generation platforms. 3 of those are Wii. 2 are DS. 1 is PS3.

My point is that if they want to make it big in the West and turning it into profits, charging for the online is not going to help them expand.  They need a sizable base before they can attempt charging online for the game.  Both PSO/Universe and FFXI were built off a previous brand name and therefore had a established base to off-shoot from.  
 
The perfect example of this is MH Frontier.  It has full online capability and it could probably be ported to consoles.  It's been released all over Asia, but there's been zero announcement about a release in the West.  At some point, you have to factor in the cost of keeping servers up and running and the amount of money you're taking in.  If it's about profits, you probably don't want to be putting up servers that cost more to maintain than bring in revenue from the subscriptions and the amount of units of the game sold.
 
Also, the ad-hoc thing is a response to people who keep saying that there's no online mode.  There's no infrastructure mode, but you can get online just fine.

Capcom are definitely going to be advertising heavily, and will no probably offer free trials as they have done in Japan. Time will tell if that's sufficient.

There was no fee for their PS2 games as they weren't too popular in the West so the server cost wasn't great. If it does become bigger in the West this time, since they're marketing it far more than they did previously, then they may need to have a fee after all, and they'll certainly exploit it enough to also have a steady stream of profit from it. If it becomes big and they offer it for free it may harm them. If they offer it with a fee then it may well hinder its popularity as you say. It's all a risk for them, but I'm sure they've thought it through more than any of us.
 
But still, like I said, other fee-based games have become big in the past, and nowadays people are even more inclined to pay for online services, with the ease of use with the Wii/Microsoft/PSN points and all, so it's very likely they'll have a fee here also. It's not definite, but it's also not impossible to consider, and it wouldn't necessarily spell the game's doom. After all, it can still be played single player and in 2 player local multiplayer, which is how most people play the PSP games anyway (ok, 4 player local in their case).  Perhaps a reduced fee will be enough.
 
And yeah, people hacked the original Xbox Halo to be played online, that was hardly considered an official feature, and most didn't use it. I suppose it's different since it's officially supported for PS3 owners, but it's still a local mp game you play online, with none of the potential online based optimisations, like the larger hub cities or whatever, though in the case of MH it may not be a great difference as it's very streamlined.

 Japanese sales are out.
 
 583,000 copies sold.
 
In... a... full... weekend! Can't wait for next week's numbers :-)
 
It also boosted the Wii's 1-week sales to over 90,000 units. Those weekly sales averaged 20,000 so far (still double the PS3's in Japan).
 
Not bad for a weekend.