Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) will be hitting shelves across Japan on the 1st of August. The game will be available standalone or bundled with the Nintendo Wii in the Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) special pack, the first time a third party game has been bundled with the Wii.

Capcom has a number of special preview events planned for July where eager Monster Hunter fans can get a little hands-on time with the game before its release. The Monster Hunter Festa ’09 will also be held in August to celebrate the popular series.

You can find out more about the game at the official Japanese Monster Hunter Tri website, which has been updated with new information, screens of monsters, areas, weapons and game modes.

According to Capcom, “The villages are packed with all sorts of things to explore, from towns full of merchants, to your basic farm for growing and harvesting items and materials. Monster Hunter Tri even allows for two player split screen multiplayer, and introduces some new game modes instead of just co-op.”

“The new areas are just as varied as you can come to expect from any Monster Hunter game, featuring even hunting in an active volcano. And since Tri introduces these new areas, there’s plenty of monsters to hunt, even a giant angler fish.”

Find out more about the control system of the game here. You can play the game with a Classic Contoller, Classic Controller Pro or Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Head over to our previous coverage to check out the first trailer of the game.