Hunt it down on April 20

Among all the other tidbits and release dates coming out of Nintendo's American Media Summit today, Capcom confirmed the hopes and dreams of Western monster hunters by announcing a whole slew of things about Monster Hunter 3 Tri.

The game has been given a solid release date of April 20 with a demo disc hitting GameStops across the country on March 8. Wii Speak support is in and online play will cost zero dollars. The game will also be optionally bundled with the Classic Controller Pro.

Oh, just read what they have to say:

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CAPCOM® BLOWS THE LID OFF MONSTER HUNTER™ TRI

Free Online Play, Release Date, Wii-Speak Support, Playable Demo, and Exclusive Pre-order Incentives Give Consumers Even More Reason to Join the Monster Hunter Phenomenon

SAN FRANCISCO, CA— February 24, 2010 — Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced big plans for its upcoming game Monster Hunter™ Tri at the Nintendo Media Summit in San Francisco. Capcom revealed that the Wii™ exclusive would be shipping to retail stores on April 20, 2010 along with the launch of the new Classic Controller Pro™. Limited quantities of Monster Hunter Tri will be bundled in with the new controller for a suggested retail price of $59.99. The standalone game will be released with a suggested retail price of $49.99. Along with the exciting news of the ship date, Capcom and Nintendo revealed its online plans for the North American fans by offering online play at no cost. Gamers also now have options for how they want to communicate as they develop tactics and strategies for hunting majestic monsters, either by text based chat or Wii Speak™, Nintendo’s hands free microphone.

Additionally, a playable demo and new pre-order incentive will be available exclusively via a partnership with GameStop locations across North America. Nintendo fans can get a taste of the action on March 8th when the demo becomes available at GameStop stores nationwide. For a limited time only, those consumers who place a pre-order for the game will receive an exclusive collectible Monster Hunter™ Tri Points Card valued at 500 Points ($5.00) and available at time of pick-up, good towards the purchase of any content in the Wii Shop or Nintendo DSi™ Shop Channels.

Simultaneously with these announcements, Capcom today begins a robust marketing campaign including the first in a series of viral videos focused on “true hunters” as the doors on the Monster Hunter Tri website officially open. Featuring a master hunter named Ironbeard McCullough, the new website and videos give deeper insight into becoming a true monster hunter and allows them to sign up for a hunting license. The Monster Hunter Tri Hunting License rewards users for sharing content by unlocking achievements and digital rewards. The videos and content that are shared will be derived from the Monster Hunter Channel on Youtube.com.

Making its North American debut on Wii this spring, Monster Hunter Tri is one of the most strikingly beautiful titles developed for theWii. Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where man co-exists with the fantastic beasts that roam both the dry land and the brand new sub-aqua environment – a first for the series. Offering the player varied control configurations to suit their style of play, players can choose between the Classic Controller Pro™, Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™, or Classic Controller™ to slay the majestic beasts that inhabit the world.

The Monster Hunter® series has sold over 11 million units worldwide and has become a social phenomenon in Japan giving rise to training camps, dedicated festivals and numerous licensed products. Monster Hunter Tri sold 520,000 units in its first week of release in Japan and became the leading title sold across all platforms for the week of its release.