The Monster Hunter ARPG series has pretty much been an exclusive Sony title when it first started out but lately, we've seen an online PC and mobile phone version too. Now it looks like it's going to continue to go multi-platform because Capcom has announced that the latest title in the series, Monster Hunter 3, will no longer be developed for the PS3 but on the Wii!

Details are scarce at the moment. There's a single HD screenshot, a short action-less trailer showing off the environments and the logo itself, all presented at Wednesday's Nintendo Conference 2007. Nothing more.

The first thing that comes to mind after hearing this must be, what's going to happen to the control scheme? Will Capcom let players actually swing the Wiimote to attack with those Great Swords and let you feel the impact from them? That would be great fun but I think the developers will have to implement some kind of swinging timer for it to actually work out. You can pretty much get away with "wagging" the Wiimote with all the games we've seen so far after all. They will also have to make it optional because the feature could get boring after a while if you really have to swing slowly. As for ranged weapons such as the bowgun, the benefits are obvious.

On the other hand, there's also the button assignment to consider. At first sight, the Wiimote and Nun-chuk combo appears to feature considerably less buttons than the PS control pad but I think it can still workout. The Nun-chuk can be used for movement, camera control and the D-pad on the Wiimote can be used for inventory access, weapon changing etc.

So why cancel development on the PS3? Simple. Capcom actually admitted it will cut development costs. For one thing, graphic designers won't have to spend as many hours modelling highly detailed graphics so Capcom won't require as big a budget. Not developing the game on the PS3 obviously means there will be a huge reduction in graphics quality but, I don't really mind so long as it's adequate like in Zelda:TP. The screen above already looks good. The most important aspect in my opinion is the control scheme and game mechanics work out so that it plays just as good as the previous games, if not better.

And they must have a co-op mode at least! WFC support would be even better!

So that's Monster Hunter 3, another game that I will most likely get. The downside is I'll have to wait for a PAL release but, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G should keep me occupied.

Besides MH3, many more titles were actually shown at the conference. Mario Kart for the Wii has been confirmed to have WFC support with up to 12 players competing at one time. I hope this means you can have 2 or more players on one console before hooking up to the net. Then there's also No More Heroes and Vanillaware's Oboromasa. Oboromasa very much has an Odin's Sphere vibe to it but with a Japanese Feudal and Youkai setting so, I kind of have doubts it will get localised.