Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate online play between Wii U and 3DS explained

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate's Ryozo Tsujimoto has explained how online play will work between the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game.

Speaking with Eurogamer at TGS, Tsujimoto said on 3DS, a free app will need to be downloaded so save data from the Wii U version can be transferred to the handheld.

This will also allow folks with either version to play together as well, but remember the 3DS version only has local co-op, so you'll have to be at a pal's house to pull this off.

"We wanted people to play together," Tsujimoto said. "We know there are some people who want to play online. Unfortunately with the 3DS version you can't do that. But we have made this feature so you can play together. You can have your friends bring their save data to your house and have a Monster Hunter party.

"One person will play on the big screen and three other people will play with their 3DS versions. People can continue their save data from what they had before and go back home and update their data on their Wii U."

The Wii U version's online portion will work similar to Monster Hunter Tri on Wii.

"With internet play you can play with other hunters online," he said. "In terms of new features, we have text chat in the game. Right now we're looking into voice chat and seeing how we can get that to work, but it hasn't been 100 per cent confirmed.

"In the game we have a friends list. So if you have your friends you know personally, you can add them to that list. That makes it very easy to jump to wherever they're playing.
If you want to find other players there is a search function you can use. Once you get four hunters connected together you'll automatically go off on a quest. We're trying to make an online experience that's extremely stress-free and easy to use for the players."

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate will launch on Wii U and 3DS across Europe and North America in March 2013.