14 DAY TRIAL // Information from the latest issue of EDGE magazine suggests that video game developer Capcom is getting ready to launch its wildly successful Monster Hunter 3G on both North American and European markets at some point during 2012.
It seems that the game will arrive in Europe during the third quarter of the year, with the launch window for North America still undecided.
The information from EDGE says that both Nintendo and Capcom are contributing to the localization effort for the game and that they might even include new content for Western gamers.
The 3DS version of Monster Hunter Tri has been launched during last year in Japan, using the new Slide Pad hardware add-on for the device, and has managed to sell well during its first months, topping the video game chart.
The third version of Monster Hunter has managed to sell more than 800,000 copies on the Nintendo Wii home console, more than 4 million units on the PlayStation Portable handheld and about 300,000 copies of a High Definition remake for the PlayStation 3.
Capcom has also announced that it plans to launch another 3DS-based entry in the series, called Monster Hunter 4, in Japan in late 2012.
It is not clear whether Capcom plans to also create a version of Monster Hunter 3G for the recently launched PlayStation Vita device from Sony, given that this is the platform most gamers usually associate with the franchise.
The Monster Hunter concept is built around quests that can be undertaken offline and online, with players asked to explore a huge game world in order to track down and then do battle with a number of huge creatures.
The game is very open when it comes to the equipment and the weapons that players can use and much of the attraction of the series is linked to the social interactions that it encourages between gamers.