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Dragon Quest IX launches in North America on July 11 [update]
Nintendo and Square Enix have announced that the North American release of Dragon Quest IX: Sentinel of the Starry Skies for DS has been set for June July 11, exactly a year after it launched in Japan. As was revealed in February, Nintendo will be publishing the game here -- although the English localization is being handled by Square Enix and not NOA's Treehouse team. Dragon Quest IX has sold more than four million copies to date in Japan, where the game's WiFi "Pass-By Guest" feature has proven very popular. North American gamers will get a chance to experience it as the renamed "Tag Mode," silently trading character stats, battle records and play data with other DQIX players simply by walking near each other with their handhelds in sleep mode. If you encounter a player who's logged more than 400 hours in the game, it's probably this guy. You'll find pre-order information (and a rather delightful trailer) on the game's official website. Update: Dragon Quest IX will be released in Europe on July 23. %Gallery-93250%
Final Fantasy XIII, Dragon Quest IX, Batman sales lead Square Enix fiscal year
Square Enix had a good fiscal year (ended March 31, 2010), but its games division had a very good year. Final Fantasy XIII sold over five million units globally during the period, with the Japan-only release of Dragon Quest IX coming in second with 4.26 million units. Thanks to the company's acquisition of Eidos last year, the company could count on some Batman: Arkham Asylum cash, with the pointy-eared detective's critically acclaimed title selling 3.24 million units -- it's a shame Square won't get a piece of the sequel. Squenix's games division had sales of ¥109.9 billion ($1.18 billion) in the last fiscal year, up an impressive 128 percent over last year. With the Dark Knight out of the picture, Square Enix will have to depend on its other western franchises, including Kane & Lynch, Deus Ex and the games of Ms. Croft. Source [PDF link] -- Results Briefing Session for the Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2010
Dragon Quest Monsters Battle Road Victory has a monstrous controller
Let us lay it out for you: in 2008, Square Enix released Dragon Quest Swords for Wii, a game based entirely around using the Wii Remote to simulate a sword. It used the normal Wii Remote/Nunchuk setup. Now, Square Enix is preparing a Wii port of Dragon Quest Monsters Battle Road Victory, an arcade game based on collectible cards. For that, peripheral company Hori is producing a controller shaped like a sword. The optional controller, first shown off on VJump magazine's staff blog, features an exact replica of the arcade machine's layout, including two giant buttons and a replica sword hilt, which players push down to activate special attacks. The controller will retail for ¥12,800 ($137) and will be out in Japan this summer. Keep an eye on your favorite import retailer if you've been waiting for a controller with part of a sword sticking out of it. [Via Andriasang]
Dragon Quest Victory attacks Wii this summer in Japan
Been hankering for more Dragon Quest since the release of The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors? Square Enix has announced Dragon Quest Victory for Wii in Japan, an adaptation of the Dragon Quest Monsters Battle Road arcade game. The Wii version is set to launch this summer and features card-based battles for up to four players via local split-screen and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The game will also include a "Tournament" mode, in which players face off against a succession of NPCs in a virtual town, collecting cards. Perhaps the coolest feature of all is connectivity between the arcade and Wii games, using a DSi. Players will be able to download a special DSiWare app that will scan in the arcade version's cards, allowing transport over to the Wii game. The price of the DSiWare app is currently unknown. [Via andriasang]
What Itagaki's been playing: 400 hours of Dragon Quest IX
After taking the past two years off from game development following a messy breakup with his old employer, Tecmo, Tomonobu Itagaki is back in the game (biz) as chief creative officer of Valhalla Game Studios. But what was Itagaki up to in those two years? Speaking with Famitsu (translated by 1UP), the Dead or Alive creator explained, "I spent the days doing anything I felt like, researching whatever kind of technology struck me, playing whatever games piqued my interest ... for example, I wound up playing Dragon Quest IX for about 400 hours." That's alotta slime! In fairness, the developer wasn't exclusively sinking hundreds of hours of his free time into a single DS game -- he also spent quite a bit of time traveling to game studios around the world and doing R&D work for Valhalla's next (read: first) project, claimed to be "way outside the scope of our company" by Itagaki. According to him, that next game "will earn Valhalla Game Studios its place in history," and he intends it to sell at least four million copies. But for now, he's got a model train set to build with some of his friends. "I'm planning to rent out some space and build a seriously big train layout, 7 or so meters (23 feet) in length. There are some professionals in that field among my friends, so I'm thinking about building something really decent together with them and having people come over and play with the results. It'd be a business, though I'd make it free for children -- kids are pretty rough with model trains, but I'll just have to deal with that." Kids these days.
Mario, Metroid, Sin and Punishment, more dated in Europe
Here's some great news for those of you in Europe interested in playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. Nintendo announced that Galaxy will be available in Europe on June 11, not long after America's May 23 date. And Sin and Punishment will be out in Europe (under the slightly altered title Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies) on May 7, exactly one month before North America gets its hands on that Treasure. The bad news is that Metroid: Other M is dated simply "Q3." It's due June 27 in North America. We've collected all the European release dates for Wii and DS (including a "summer" date for Dragon Quest IX!) after the break. [Via Eurogamer]
Nintendo publishing Dragon Quest IX in North America
American DS owners have been waiting patiently for Dragon Quest IX, as the game racks up crazy sales in Japan and weekly DLC is released from Square Enix. Well ... we're going to have to keep waiting. While Nintendo didn't announce a date for the RPG at the Nintendo Media Summit today, the company announced that it will not only co-market Dragon Quest IX, it will publish it in North America. This is the first official confirmation of a localized release. Square Enix previously said that it would consider localizing DQIX in its next fiscal year (beginning in April). Update: Nintendo has scheduled Dragon Quest IX for a summer 2010 release. %Gallery-15248%
Square Enix summons strong sales for first nine months of fiscal year
According to Square Enix's financial report covering the first nine months (ending this past December) of its fiscal year, the company is going to finish its annual business cycle with plenty of glistening gil. Overall, the company's profits are up 48 percent from the same period last year, and it forecasts a profit of ¥10 billion (which is far less shocking when converted to $112 million) for the fiscal year ending in March 2010. The company's games division saw limit breaker sales and profits during the period due to Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Batman: Arkham Asylum -- which it obtained as part of the Eidos buyout. Square Enix's games group saw sales of ¥72 billion ($806 million, a 97 percent increase over last year), along with a profit of ¥18 billion ($202 million, a 99 percent increase during the same time). Kupos to you, Square Enix.
Dragon Quest VI remake approaches 1m Japanese sales in first week
The debut of the Dragon Quest VI remake for DS proves that a Dragon Quest game doesn't have to be entirely new to sell like crazy in Japan -- just new enough. In its first week at retail, January 25–31, the new version of the classic Super Famicom RPG sold 906,458 copies, according to Media Create, making it by far the top-selling game of the week. A pair of other newly-released RPGs also did quite well: the PS3 version of tri-Ace's shooty-RPG End of Eternity (we call it "Resonance of Fate") landed in second place on the weekly software chart with 118,088 units sold (the Xbox version charted respectably at #8, selling 27,048 units) and Ar Tonelico 3 hit #4 with 81,633 copies sold. Even the Japanese release of MAG managed to make it into the top ten! See the complete weekly top ten sales list after the break.
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 to be Japan's next hit DS game
With Dragon Quest VI in stores in Japan for almost one whole week, Square Enix wasted no time in announcing another upcoming Dragon Quest game for DS. The latest new announcement is Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, a sequel to the Pokemon-like DS Dragon Quest spinoff from 2007. The new sequel, out April 28 in Japan, will feature over 300 catchable monsters and online multiplayer for up to eight people. And in a post-Dragon Quest IX Japan, with millions of people happily playing online, this game would seem to have a built-in audience. [Via Andriasang]
Dragon Quest VI advertised in Japan by these guys
Maybe this is why Dragon Quest games haven't caught on in America like they have in Japan. Square Enix is promoting the DS remake of Dragon Quest VI the same way it did for IV and V: with a wonderfully goofy commercial featuring actors dressed up as hilarious semi-realistic versions of the game's Akira Toriyama characters. This ad totally fills us with nostalgia for a childhood that we didn't actually spend playing this game! Check out the new ad after the break. Dragon Quest VI will be out in Japan this week, with a Western release to follow at some unspecified later date.
Square Enix introduces 'Ultimate Hits' line for DS in Japan
It's a formula gamers are all too familiar with. First step: Release a game (and hope it sells a bunch). Second step: As time goes on and the sales pile up, gain interest in your product again through a discounted re-release. Rinse and repeat. Enter: Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy IV, Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest V, a line-up of games to be branded under Square Enix's 'Ultimate Hits' (partial machine translation) line of DS games. Square Enix is gearing up to re-release these games this March, at a discounted ¥2,940 (around $32). That's cheap, considering most DS games release there for around $50. [Via Kotaku]
Japanese games market shrank in 2009
2009 looked fairly dire for the Japanese games industry. Now that we're on the other side of the year, we can assess the damage. Andriasang reports Enterbrain numbers claiming that, overall, the market shrank ¥543 billion, a reduction of 6.9% from 2008. Since we're in a Seinfeld-quoting mood today, we might posit that the Japanese game industry had been in the pool. Hardware sales dropped 13.9%, with the DS unsurprisingly leading among consoles with 4,025,313 million units and the Xbox 360 even less surprisingly at the bottom, with 331,706 consoles sold. In software, the big winner (or smallest loser, we suppose, given the overall tone of the news) was Dragon Quest IX, which sold a whopping 4,100,968 copies -- slightly more than the total number of DS consoles sold in 2009! Final Fantasy XIII managed to make it onto the tail end of the top five with 1,698,256 copies. But if you weren't Square Enix or Nintendo (who had the other three spots on the top five software charts), 2009 was one to forget.
ASCII Media Works tracks Japan's top selling games of 2009 (so far)
[GAME Watch] Yes, the year technically isn't over yet -- but let's be honest: Nobody's going to be buying any new games over the next four days. As such, Dengeki publisher ASCII Media Works thought it appropriate to track the 30 best-selling games in Japan for 2009. Or, rather, 99 percent of 2009. There aren't too many big surprises; Dragon Quest IX took top honors with 4,089,136 units sold, and Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver came in second with 3,301,873 in sales. Despite having only been out for a little over a week, Final Fantasy XIII actually managed a sixth place finish with 1,455,505 units sold. Check out the full list of top-selling games after the jump. [Via Kotaku]
Dragon Quest IX breaks shipment record in Japan
According to Square Enix, Dragon Quest IX has broken a shipment record in Japan, but we can't help but be underwhelmed by the figure (and not just because Square was hoping for 5 million). Unfortunately, Google Translate initially told us that the game had moved 415 million copies, rather than the 4.15 million it actually shipped. Sure, we guess 4.15 million is okay, but with 415 million, the jokes would have written themselves. "There are only 127,704,000 people in your country! What, are you building forts out of the things?" See? There's a lot going on there. But let's not cry over spilled lulz -- 4.15 million is a great number and this is a time for celebration. That said, if everybody over there wouldn't mind buying just 3.22 more copies of Dragon Quest IX, we'd be eternally grateful.
Dragon Quest VI trailer prepared in time for Jump Festa
Given Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie's status as the only game in the main Dragon Quest series to be localized (except for the no-doubt upcoming IX), we watched this Jump Festa 2010 trailer raptly, seeing an RPG world that was both classic and unfamiliar. Even 14 years after its release, we found ourselves occasionally wowed by the trailer. The boat went underwater! The covered wagon floats! The characters look like every other Akira Toriyama character! (The last one was a different kind of wow). By the time the traditional theme came up, we were thrilled about Realms of Reverie. Too bad it's only coming out in Japan on January 28, with its North American release at some unspecified later date. [Via NeoGAF]
Trademark suggests upcoming European release for Dragon Quest IX
While we wait for the real, official announcement we so desperately need to hear from Square Enix, another hint has been dropped about a Western release for Dragon Quest IX. Square Enix has filed a series of trademarks for the phrase "Sentinels of the Starry Skies" in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German (search for trademark #008724528 on the EU trademark database to see the English application for yourself). The phrase corresponds closely to the Japanese subtitle of Dragon Quest IX, Hoshizora no Mamorubito ("Defenders of the Starry Sky"). The publisher could be waiting to get its other big RPG out the door before saying anything. It previously noted that if it does localize the DS game (which it will!) it'll be in the next fiscal year, which starts in April.
Santa's Dragon Quest IX cameo now available in Japan
He might know if you've been bad or good, but that won't stop St. Nick from sending you on a horse-related fetch quest in new DLC for Dragon Quest IX in Japan. Released on November 27, the Mr. Claus' Horse downloadable content brings the mythical gift giver to the insanely popular Nintendo DS title. Sadly, we can only hope Square Enix plans to include this and previous Dragon Quest IX DLC when the game eventually lands in North American stores. You'd think a guy with a sleigh and a few flying reindeer could help speed-up the process, but apparently Santa's busy horse-sitting.
Dragon Quest VI arrives in Japan in January
Square Enix is planning to start 2010 off right in Japan: by selling a Dragon Quest game. The publisher announced that Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, the last of the planned DS remakes, will be out in Japan on January 28, just over a month after another big RPG franchise release. We can now attempt a guess at when the North American release will take place, given the release dates of the last two games. Dragon Quest IV came out in Japan in November 2007, and then in America in September 2008 -- ten months apart. Dragon Quest V was released in July 2008 in Japan, and February 2009 in North America, just seven months apart. Therefore, Dragon Quest VI will probably be released in America in ... spring 2010. That's when every game is coming out. [Via Andriasang]
Square Enix summons Earnings Report; Final Fantasy XIII Sales Projections evade attacks
Square Enix recently chose to attack with its annual earnings report, and among the 12-page PDF file's barrage of numbers, things look pretty good for the company. Net sales for the six months ending September 30, 2009 were up 33 percent over the same period last year to 91 billion yen ($1 billion), while operating income was also up by 39 percent to 13 billion yen ($144.5 million) over the same period last year. It's not all roses and Dragon Quest IX sales, however -- net income was down almost 58 percent to 2.7 billion yen ($30 million). The statement also talks about the acquisition and assimilation of Eidos in direct proportion to Square Enix's games group division -- which includes video games across all platforms and online games for personal computers. Through the aid of titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and the aforementioned Dragon Quest IX, the games division rose its net sales and operating income by 117 percent and 63 percent to 4.8 billion yen ($53 million) and 1.0 billion yen ($11 million), respectively. As for the company's upcoming darling, Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix prez Yoichi Wada spoke about concern regarding the title's projected domestic sales. Basically, he's not concerned at all! "PS3 sales continue to increase. We're bundling PS3 and FFXIII, and can expect even further sales increases. Orders for FFXIII are definitely not bad," he said. While he didn't reiterate anything as bold as six million, Wada did claim that the game is expected to sell in the millions. Source - Square Enix earnings (PDF) [Via andriasang] Source - Wada comments on FFXIII sales
