Nintendo and Capcom have today announced that Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate is now avaialble for purchase in North America today for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, with PAL region releases set to be avaialble on the 22nd-23rd March 2013. Versions on both consoles are available to purchase at retail and also as a digital download in the Nintendo eShop.
In Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, players take on the role of a hunter and are sent to explore a settlement within the Monster Hunter universe, completing quests on their journey to seek and slay monsters while improving their skills and earning equipment upgrades. With an additional 38 monsters since the release of Monster Hunter Tri, extra stages, hundreds of additional quests and thousands of new pieces of equipment, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is set to be the most expansive offering of the series to date.
Players can experience the world of Monster Hunter alone or with three friends in local multiplayer on Nintendo 3DS, while Will U players will be able to form hunting parties of up to four players online or enjoy the hunt with Nintendo 3DS players via a local wireless connection. Nintendo 3DS players will also have access to play online via the Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Packet Relay Tools for Nintendo 3DS (appropriate cables required and sold separately), which utilizes the Wii U hardware to play online using one Nintendo 3DS hand-held system.
Hunters who own both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U versions of the game will be able to transfer their own personal save data from the Wii U version to their copy on Nintendo 3DS, and vice versa, taking the hunt from the living room to the streets in immersive 3D. In order to do so, players must download programs in the Nintendo eShop for both systems. From the Nintendo 3DS, the program is called “Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Data Transfer Program” and from the Wii U system, it is the “Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Packet Relay Tools for Nintendo 3DS”.
Capcom will be supporting the title with free of charge weekly downloadable quests for several months after launch, the first of which will be available this week. Releasing in April, a system update will add online cross region functionality and the ability to play solely with the Gamepad in off-tv play.
