While Nintendo 3DS owners may have a new Pokemon game to look forward to with the upcoming X and Y titles, the Monster Hunter series is seemingly part of the Nintendo family now and there’s going to be smiles all round when Monster Hunter 4 arrives on the handheld exclusively. That’s what the general belief is after seeing Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate land on Wii U, but after a Monster Hunter 4 delay, speculation has begun that Capcom may have had a change of heart in relation to bringing Monster Hunter 4 to the PS Vita.

At the moment, Monster Hunter 4 is scheduled for the 3DS only and now has a revised release period of Summer 2013, for Japanese 3DS owners only first of all. A rumor highlighted by IGN just a few days ago claims that the real reason of the delay is to pave the way for a simultaneous release on Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita.

However, Capcom has moved quickly to end these rumors, with even Christian Svensson, the company’s Senior Vice-President inserting himself in a discussion thread on their website to politely distance themselves from a PS Vita release. When the IGN rumor was posted to Capcom’s website, Svensson had this to say in reply before closing the topic himself:

“I would not believe everything you read on the internet. It will set you up for disappointment or misdirected frustration.”

There’s no denying that a PS Vita version of Monster Hunter 4 would be a main attraction for Vita owners desperate for games, and it could be one of a select number of games that really has the ability to sell hardware for Sony. As you can see above though, the possibility of this ever coming to fruition seems very slim at the moment and it remains exclusive to Nintendo’s handheld for the foreseeable future.

What do you make of the lack of Monster Hunter on the PS Vita. Is it almost unthinkable seeing this franchise and also the Final Fantasy franchise missing on the Vita?

It’s fair to say that the PS Vita really needs a big name RPG title to boost sales. We’re a bit surprised that Square-Enix still hasn’t come forward and announced a new Final Fantasy game for the Vita yet, or even re-released a localized version of the excellent Final Fantasy Type-0 game that is still only available in Japanese.

Monster Hunter has a massive following and Nintendo 3DS owners should definitely consider themselves lucky that Capcom has chosen to seemingly make the franchise exclusive to Nintendo for the time being. Wii U will be getting Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate don’t forget in March 2013, while this extended version of Tri will also be coming to the 3DS as well – even more MH goodness for you to enjoy exclusively while PS Vita and PS3 owners can only drool in anticipation.

That means that 3DS owners have two games to look forward to, Monster Hunter 4 and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate – although Monster Hunter 4 is releasing in March for Japan first, meaning that European and US owners will probably have to wait until later on in the year to get their hands on it.

The game has been given a new preview in a Japanese publication and you can view the entire spread at the image gallery here, courtesy of AllGamesBeta who have uploaded the images. You can see just how nice the visuals are looking for a handheld game and it is surely going to keep 3DS users busy for a long time, or perhaps until the next Zelda game on 3DS arrives at least.

Remind us why this game still isn’t coming to PS Vita, Capcom? If you have a PS Vita and are wondering where are all the big name RPGs are, let us know your thoughts on not being able to play any new Monster Hunter games.

It’s no secret that some are still skeptical on what the 3DS can produce graphically. We saw with the re-release of Ocarina of Time that the handheld could handle N64 quality graphics and now Monster Hunter 4 is looking like the next game to showcase the device’s potential to handle quality on par with previous home consoles.

The 3DS may not be able to match the Vita in an direct graphics duel, an argument in itself, but there’s no denying that Monster Hunter 4 is looking highly impressive for a handheld game. Monster Hunter 3 was a good looking game in its own right, but the next game is going to rock graphics that you were probably used to seeing on a PS2.

A barrage of screenshots via AGB have shown up courtesy of the latest issue of Japanese publication Famitsu and the graphics on show are nothing short of mouthwatering. The shots available are in 2D of course, but imagine how good these are going to look on the 3DS when playing in 3D.

There has been plenty of endless debates on which handheld is better between the Vita and 3DS, but most Vita owners will probably admit that they are still hugely disappointed in Capcom’s decision to ignore the Vita. Has Capcom and Sony had a falling out behind closed doors? – As it still seems odd to us that Capcom would opt against bringing Monster Hunter to the Vita, when it was Monster Hunter on the PSP that put the whole franchise in the limelight.

As a 3DS owner, is Monster Hunter 4 the one game that you are really looking forward to above anything else? For Vita owners – how do you feel knowing that this game is exclusive to 3DS?

It goes without saying that this is obviously a major head-scratcher for those wondering what Capcom are up to and why they continue to be silent with regards to bringing their popular franchise to Sony’s new handheld. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd almost single handedly carried Japanese software and hardware PSP sales in Japan, but for some reason they are still not willing to extend the love to the PS Vita – six months on from the EU launch, or a staggering 9 months on from the Japan launch.

We take nothing away from Nintendo 3DS owners though as this is no doubt a huge coup if Monster Hunter 4 really is staying exclusive to the 3DS. It doesn’t make a lot of sense from Capcom’s point of view and we do wonder with all these under the table exclusivity agreements going on, if Nintendo has managed to prize Capcom away from Sony for exclusive rights on Monster Hunter.

For some bizarre reason, there isn’t even an English Monster Hunter game available in North America yet either. Right now, you can pick up an HD remaster of Monster Hunter Portable 3 on the PS3, but it is still the Japanese version and pretty much useless unless you have a good grasp of the language.

Saying that, only a Japanese version of Monster Hunter 4 has only been announced for the 3DS too, so perhaps we won’t even get an English version next year at the same time as when the Japanese version launches in Spring 2013. Are Capcom making a huge mistake in 1) not offering this game on PS Vita and 2) not putting the effort in to bring the franchise to EU and NA?

On a side note, those graphics featured in the trailer could do with a lot of improvement – let’s hope that it’s just an early build. If you have a PS Vita, let us know your opinions on the treatment you are receiving with regards to Monster Hunter.