The Monster Hunter series has been one of the biggest things missing from the PlayStation 3 platform, but a few months back Capcom gave us hope. A PSP “remaster” version was revealed exclusively for the PS3 titled Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD. Unfortunately, only a release for Japan has been announced, but Capcom has now updated us with what’s going on behind the scenes.
After a user posted a question regarding Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD releasing outside of Japan, Christian Svensson, Senior Vice President at Capcom, quickly replied with the following:
Still talking to SCEA and SCEE about it however there’s been no progress at this time. 🙁
So why are SCEA and SCEE stalling a project that has so much value? The answer is surprising, and Christian posted the reasoning in a second post, which states:
They [SCEA and SCEE] have to make exceptions to approve this sort of project in the West: one that runs on PS3 but doesn’t have trophies or make use of regular PSN for online play… it uses a modification of adhoc party which doesn’t exist in the West.
In short, it requires them to localize and launch SCEJ network services (which is development work and QA/support on their side) that don’t currently exist in either territory and a release it from the usual platform requirements for trophies, etc. It’s not trivial on Sony’s part.
Okay, so Capcom doesn’t want to develop trophies, and the online play is a difficult implementation for Sony. That’s unfortunate, but this is a potentially huge game, and would be well worth the effort on Sony’s part. Konami and Sony were able to find a way to make Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which is similarly a PSP game with ad-hoc play, work for the PS3 in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Collection release, so this definitely isn’t impossible.
Lastly, you might be wondering if Capcom has begun development on the project and are simply waiting for authorization from SCEA and SCEE, to which Christian replies:
And we won’t start the localization process until we know we can bring it out here (as much as I know you guys want it).
So even once this does get approved, we’ll likely be waiting until 2012 to see it. Bummer.
Post your thoughts about this in the comments below, and maybe if there is enough fan feedback, Sony will make this project a priority so we can finally see the extremely well-received Monster Hunter Portable 3rd in full HD glory.
