Is it just me or do Japanese video game companies seem to address issues retroactively rather than proactively? Plastic stands for Kid Icarus, Circle Pad Pros, 'The Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Packet Relay Tool', lol. It's just silly.

Wait, wait... the 3DS version can't go online by itself?  Or the WiiU tool just lets the 3DS version play online with the WiiU version?  I'm confused.

The 3DS version can't go online by itself. Hence why I won't be buying it.

My understanding is that the 3DS version cannot go online on its own and it requires a Wii U to be played online which, of course, is silly to me. I believe this is similar to how the PSP MH games worked (requiring a PS3). Capcom had more than enough time to add online to the 3DS versions outside of Japan though I suppose that would affect the Wii U version. Still, it's silliness. I didn't know you needed the LAN adapter so this is even sillier than I originally thought it was.

then i'll likely get the 3ds version first and pick up the wii u game at a discount
you people are so ungrateful, You honestly expect capcom to do us any favors for what is honestly just a sliver of the games market. AT LEAST THEY DID SOMETHING. This is capcom were talking about and its convuluted and stupid but it's something and i honestly didnt expect this to come here

It has nothing to do with being grateful or ungrateful. At least not for me. Capcom are putting out a Monster Hunter game on the 3DS which you can only play online if you own a Wii U. I don't own a Wii U and won't therefore be buying the game. I can't imagine playing a Monster Hunter game without other people.

Yeah, guys!  Don't be ungrateful - they gave us online.

It just requires buying a $170 system, a $40 game, another $350 system and a $20 LAN Adapter.  But they gave us the online.

I'm wondering if the WiiU requirement was something Nintendo asked for to push more systems. :D

Back to this is how Capcom has always treated Monster Hunter.  Its the same on the Playstation Ecosystem.  WHat I really complain about is that their aren't quests exclusive to each platform.

you would have needed a Wii U to play online even if they didn't do this so you just don't need the Wii U version of the game now,
it's better then having to double dip if you want portability and online in your Monster Hunter

What the hell are you talking about? lol.

Also, In 2013 why shouldn't we expect handhelds games to offer online multiplayer without the need to tether the device to a home console? I don't care how the game was released in Japan. I don't care that Capcom have always done it this way. It's a silly oversight brought on by complacence. If Capcom want to make this series (a series that I myself am a fan of) as big as it is in Japan then this MacGyver stuff really needs to stop.

i'm referring to the way things would be without this and how if you want the portability of the 3DS Version and to play online you would need to have the Wii U version of the game as well and the cross save data voodoo that comes with it...
with that in mind Capcom was barely willing to bring Ultimate (aka 3G) to the US and you want to get them to add stuff to a game that more then likely won't sell more then a few hundred thousand units here in the US? I'm not defending the whole thing i'm saying you should count your blessings. Reggie said once that gamers are insatiable and you are proving his point right now.

I'm actually the opposite of insatiable. I'm actually satiated with the other games that I'm playing right now. Hence why I'm not buying a portable Monster Hunter game that requires a tethered connection to a home console that I don't own in order to play online. Which is ironic, because the reason I haven't bought a Wii U yet is because there are no games on the platform that interest me. No doubt Reggie would say that's because I'm insatiable, lol.

To tell you the truth them having Free servers here in the States is a step up from Japan.  Shoot in Japan they use to not have Servers at all.

and you immediately jump through the end
would you rather no 3DS online whatsoever in the west because honestly Capcom has no reason to inject online into a handheld game for a western market that barely uses handhelds compared to Japan. it's simple cost vs effect here.

To release a game in 2013 (on any platform, handheld or otherwise) which is predicated upon playing with other people, but which does not have an easy means of playing online is absolutely bonkers. I find it hard to accept that Capcom can't justify including online multiplayer in Monster Hunter, whilst next week some of us will be playing Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon online (a game which arguably doesn't even need online multiplayer). Online multiplayer on handhelds is not some exotic proposition. In fact, it has become commonplace, with most companies having long since realised that making an online game which is easy to use and navigate can ultimately maximise profits, be that through DLC or other avenues.

As I said before, Capcom's approach with Monster Hunter in the west has been one of lethargy and complacence. The game has become such a cash cow for them in Japan that they seem almost incapable of making the sorts of changes that need to be made to make this series viable in the west (and that's coming from someone who adored Tri).

and i completely agree here(although technically the game came out in Japan at the end of 2011). online is simply not enough to make  the game sell here.

but how would you do it? would we share with the wii u game?  will we have to retool the servers for the Wii U game? if so will we have to compensate for the differences between controls(stick vs pad)? what about the circle pad pro? would we have voice chat, how would that work would we use the 3DS mic? should we modify the Japanese version? How would we do that? can we just patch in something that big.

heres a better question. should we even go through all of this trouble for a version of the game that will sell around 300,000 copies total between the US and Europe

@pokepal148

Look man, I don't really care how or why they do it. You seem to be coming at this from the perspective of someone in Capcom's financial team. I'm approaching this from the only perspective I have on the matter, which is that of the consumer.

If Capcom think they can make more money by selling Monster Hunter on the 3DS with an ad hoc online feature which tethers it to the Wii U, as oppose to actually building an online feature in to the game, then all power to them. I very much doubt, however, that this decision will actually maximise their profit margins. There are a lot more 3DS's out there than there are Wii U's. There are also a lot more consumers in Europe and America than there is in Japan, and broadly speaking those consumers tend to prefer (or at the very least have more opportunity) to play their games online rather than locally.

I honestly believe that part of the reason Monster Hunter does not reach a higher sales figure in the West is because of the platforms it has been beholden to and the decisions that Capcom have taken. First there was the controls issues of the PSP, then there was the fact that Tri landed on a platform that was quickly declining in popularity, and now we have it coming to Wii U, a platform which (without wanting to sound alarmist) isn't exactly on fire in the West. The 3DS version of this game, it seems to me, should be the version Capcom should be really getting behind. I guess we'll see how Monster Hunter IV goes.

Maybe you're right and smarter heads than mine at Capcom have determined that there's no money to be made in building an online infrastructure for a handheld Monster Hunter game. Personally, though? I'm not convinced by that argument.

why should 3ds get online?which i would love without having to use my wii u.but to be honest psp monster hunter didnt have online play just local play.