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Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii confirms development of next entry
It's less "shocking revelation" and more "no-brainer inevitability," yet word of a new roleplaying game in the beloved Dragon Quest franchise still comes as big news simply by virtue of the series' hallowed pedigree. According to a Gematsu translation of a Game Jouhou report, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii delivered the news at the recent Nico Nico Super Conference 3. Horii offered no solid information on the game, simply describing it as the "next" Dragon Quest, before moving on to other topics. Before fans of classic, turn-based, Japanese roleplaying games get too excited, keep in mind that we have no word on when this new game might appear, nor if it will be available outside of Japan. Dragon Quest X, the most recent entry in the franchise, offers Japanese fans a massively multiplayer online world, but has yet to see release outside of its native land. Dragon Quest publisher Square Enix refused to comment on Horii's statement. [Image: Square Enix]
Building the Mt. Rushmore of Japanese RPG devs
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. Here's a question for you: if you were building a Mt. Rushmore for Japanese RPG developers, who would be on it? I'm partly borrowing this idea from sportswriter Bill Simmons, who once sat down to build a "Mt. Rapmore." He, in turn, got the idea from the Internet. So no, this is not a new question, but it does help put the history of the genre in proper perspective. Personally, I love asking myself these questions, because I'm an incorrigible nerd. So let's get to work building our own shrine to JRPGs, shall we?
Dragon Quest X almost done, announcement 'by the end of this year'
Series creator Yuji Horii announced Dragon Quest X, in development for Wii, at a press conference in December 2008. And that was the last anyone heard about it until the April 2011 issue of Nintendo Power. The subject came up in an interview feature about "Dragon Quest through the Ages," when Horii stated that it's nearing completion. "All we can say is that development is going well and we're on the last parts of the game," Horii said. "We can't really share much else at this point, but by the end of this year we should be able to announce something regarding it." Horii explained that the move to Wii was motivated by his feeling that "some users will want to play Dragon Quest on the big screen," noting that the choice of platform, including the decision to put a particular game on a handheld system, is "really a case-by-case basis." He also said that the team hears "that players want a new Dragon Quest that follows the same system of Dragon Quest VIII, so that's something else we're taking into consideration while in development of a Dragon Quest for Wii."
Answer Dragon Quest VI trivia questions, meet Yuji Horii
Have you been reading up on Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation obsessively since the announcement of next month's North American DS release? If so, you've been training for a competition you didn't even know existed. Today, Nintendo will begin a Twitter trivia contest on its official Twitter account, with prizes awarded in three rounds. 100 Round 1 winners will win t-shirts, four Round 2 winners will get copies of the game, and the winner of Round 3 will receive a trip for two to San Francisco and a chance to meet Yuji Horii in person, to impress and/or creep him out with encyclopedic knowledge of his work. Or you could cut straight to the Horii meet-and-greet without all the work. Horii will appear at GameStop's "Store of the Future" in Palo Alto, CA February 12 from 1-3 pm. Dragon Quest VI will be available at this event, two days before its release date.
Developers celebrate Super Mario Bros.' 25th anniversary
In case the red consoles didn't sufficiently alert you, 2010 is the 25th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros. for Famicom and NES. To commemorate the occasion, Famitsu spoke to a group of prominent developers about the impact Shigeru Miyamoto's masterpiece had on them and the industry. "The reason I entered the industry," Capcom's Keiji Inafune said, "was because I encountered Mario and learned how interesting games can be. Thank you, Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto." Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi expressed a similar sentiment, saying "It's the game that made me enter the game industry." Bethesda's Todd Howard said that Super Mario Bros. was the beginning of "the genre where the hero always follows the correct path." Our favorite quote is from Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii. "Also, I can't say much," he said, "but there was also 'Kintamario.'" Yes, yes there was.
Yuji Horii explains the Dragon Quest Slime's origin
This Sunday, with the release of Dragon Quest IX, thousands of gamers will begin the time-honored tradition of slaughtering adorable Slimes, over and over and over again. Don't feel bad, that's what they're there for. But how did Akira Toriyama's cutest character design ever (take that, all Dragon Ball characters) come to be? "I was really hooked on Wizardry the PC game, and that's kind of where I got the inspiration for the Slime," Dragon Quest producer Yuji Horii told MTV Multiplayer. "There's ... slime-looking characters [in Wizardry], so I got the inspiration from it. I was doodling the slime-looking character and I took it to Mr. Toriyama, who did the character design, and he made it the Slime we see today." The Slime went on to appear not only in every Dragon Quest game, but also in its own games, along with plenty of adorable merchandise.
Meet Yuji Horii at Dragon Quest IX launch event
Those in the New York area eager to pick up Dragon Quest IX a day early -- and have Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii autograph their plush Slimes -- should make their way to the Nintendo World Store Saturday, July 10.
