I want this very much. I hope every day that these Wii iterations of the Monster Hunter franchise see a US release. Capcom's been good to the system overall, and I'd hate to think they'd want to pass up the opportunity to do me such a big favor.
In all seriousness though, I loved the original Monster Hunter on the PS2. I never got into the PSP versions, but I would easily dawn my armor made of velociraptor shoulder blades once again and give the Wii versions a spin!

Never got into Monster Hunter. I kinda sucked when I tried it(Boo). But I'm going to give it a shot again when the Wii version comes here.

DO WANT! The main reason i have a Wii is for Monster Hunter tri, so this is definitely something i want :-).

That is an amazingly sexy controller!

@Timstuff: Two things: 1) Monster Hunter G is being moved from the PS2, not the PS3, and 2) There's already been press information released that indicated that G will support both the classic PS2 style controls (which you would use that lovely controller pictured above for) or a new scheme revamped for the Wii. It's actually a nice idea. People who want to get back into the original Monster Hunter again can (you can't play the original anymore, as the servers are dead), but they dont' have to use waggle controls that they may not enjoy. The choice is yours.

If you're into Monster Hunter, can you help me to understand the addiction?"

The game marries old-school gaming conventions with contemporary RPG elements, creating a game with an imperative similar to WoW or Diablo where the chief principle is to get better gear and weapons, however the execution is vastly different, despite being highly sublime.

First off, EVERYTHING revolves around the creatures. They are the lynchpin by which the series pivots. The gameplay that revolves around them is more like Punch-Out or Castlevania, in that there is no level-grinding or leveling up to progress in the game. Gameplay progression hinges entirely on the player's ability to get better at the game.

In that regard, the gameplay is in realtime, and with collision detection. In order to score hits, you actually have to hit the enemies, and in order for you to get hit, the enemies must hit you. This means that the game really does play like Castlevania or Punch-Out where you have to observe how the enemies behave, figure out what their patterns, movements, and attacks are, and attack in a manner that allows you to do the most damage, while at the same time avoiding reprisal.

Instead of gear and money falling off of monsters when they die, you carve their body for parts, and use these to make armor and weapons that thematically represent what they were made from. Almost all armor carries skill ratings that let you use abilities to optimize your performance in combat. You can wear armor with skills to let you do more damage, or make your weapons sharper, block attacks better, or block attacks you normally couldn't block, among many others.

Because you make armor and weapons from monsters, this also obviates one of the chief frustrations in the likes of WoW and Diablo: Instead of killing everything, and hoping the armor or weapon you want drop, you can pick and choose what you want to craft, because the vendors tell you what is needed to make armor, and upgrade weapons.

So in that regard the games gives you multiple avenues to try different things, multiple avenues to do the same thing (Hermitaur and Gravios Armor both gives blocking skills), and pretty much gives the player every option and opportunity to find armor and weapons that back up their playstyle. In WoW you're usually forced to change the role of your class situationally, but in Monster Hunter you can hammer a square peg into a round hole if you're skilled enough.

And that's what's so great. You can apply what you have learned from the game, start over, and do vastly better with crappier gear, crappy weapons, but in this game the gear isn't a bunch of numbers that dictate your odds of success or does your fighting for you. It literally backs up the player and complements their playstyle.

There are so many options, and so much room for strategy, and improvisation. Nobody is ever locked off from content, since there really are no classes, only different weapons, which you can switch between quests. If one quests demands a melee weapon, then you use one of those, if the next one demands ranged weapons, you switch to a ranged weapon. Every weapon requires its own approach to its use, and even that can change depending on what you are fighting.

But that's really the draw of the series. It puts old-school gaming into an online formula and it's awesome. I could never play another MMO if it didn't play like Monster Hunter, and that's what it boils down to for me.

I've never played a monster hunter game in my life, but god damn I want that classic controller O_O

That controller looks friggin' sweet :-)

why make a port of this game to the way?? i guess capcom loves some wii-ports... xD hmmmm you'll have to pay for online so it will be probably lagfree.