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Dragon Quest IX is Q3's top-selling game
Despite the handicap of not being for sale in most of the world, Dragon Quest IX for the DS sold more copies than any other game in the world between July and September of this year, according to a Top Global Markets report. With 3,925,000 copies sold in Japan, it outsold the number two best-selling game for that period, Wii Sports Resort, by almost 1,000,000 copies -- and that game was available worldwide. Following Wii Sports Resort in the top five: Madden NFL 2010 at 2,612,000, Pokemon HeartGold And SoulSilver at 2,068,000, and Halo 3: ODST, which was only out for a week in Q3, at 1,847,000 copies. All these games have plenty more sales ahead of them as the holidays approach!
Nintendo still planning to co-market Dragon Quest IX
Though Square Enix has yet to say anything concrete about releasing Dragon Quest IX outside of Japan, Nintendo has discussed its own plans to market the title. Last year, Satoru Iwata mentioned his intention to promote the game in the West, and during this week's financial results Q&A session, senior managing director Shinji Hatano reiterated that intention. "Hatano said that helping to sell Dragon Quest IX outside Japan is part of a larger effort on the part of Nintendo to partner with software makers to sell their games for Nintendo hardware," GameLife summarized. Maybe eventually, Square Enix will announce this game. Also on the subject of Dragon Quest IX, at the same event, Shigeru Miyamoto praised DQIX's communication mode, which allows players to collect and interact with others' characters passively. "Dragon Quest IX's passerby communication has caused the number of people walking around outside using their DS systems to increase greatly, and I'm thinking that I could probably make something unique like that," he said. And then he said "Also, recently, we got a cat." Hint, hint. [Via GameLife]
Dragon Quest VI: Screens of Reverie
At Tokyo Game Show 2009, Square Enix showed off the last in its trilogy of announced DS Dragon Quest remakes, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, and now Famitsu has some new screens of the RPG. Unsurprisingly, it looks, graphically, just like the other two DS Dragon Quest remakes, also developed by Artepiazza.So why is it exciting? Well, for one thing, Dragon Quest games tend to be good. But most importantly, like Dragon Quest V, the Super Famicom version of Realms of Reverie never left Japan, and this DS version has already been announced for localization. North America will then finally have the whole numbered Dragon Quest series. Well, except for IX, but we can also be pretty sure that's coming.
Japanese gaming market continues to decline
We got our first indication that the Japanese gaming industry wasn't doing too hot in July, when gaming hardware and software sales from the first half of 2009 had dropped 24 percent from the same period last year. The recently released sales figures from the first half of fiscal 2009 (which runs from March 31 through September 28) are equally downtrodden: According to the industry analysts at Enterbrain, the Japanese games market fell 10.5 percent during this six-month period. That figure represents a 15.1 percent drop in hardware sales and a 7.5 percent decline in software sales. The various models of the Nintendo DS were the biggest sellers during this period, moving nearly 1.7 million units combined. Appropriately, the top two selling titles during the half-year were Dragon Quest IX, which sold nearly 4 million copies, and the recently released Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver editions, which sold a little over 2 million combined. Not faring quite as well are the PSP (813k units sold), Wii (594k units sold), PS3 (581k units sold) and Xbox 360, which moved a paltry 137k units in the first half of the fiscal year. No use crying over spilled milk, we suppose. Things can only go up from here! Unless, of course, they continue to go down. That's also an option. [Via Kotaku]
Square Enix looking to develop more best-selling IPs
RPG juggernaut Square Enix already has a handful of reliable internet protocols intellectual properties in Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts -- however, the company is looking to expand its portfolio of best-selling franchises. In a recent interview with Reuters, Squeenix's Yoichi Wada explained that the developer is hoping to have eight flagship IPs, each installment in which will be capable of selling two million units. He added that with the company's average development time of two years, one of these flagship games could be released every quarter. So, where are these other five franchises going to come from? According to the interview, Square Enix is cooking up two or three potential blockbusters which should drop by late 2010 or early 2011. For the other IPs, the company may not need to look further than its recent Eidos acquisitions -- a haul which includes the recently successful Batman: Arkham Asylum. We certainly wouldn't mind seeing more of Bruce Wayne on a biennial basis. [Via Siliconera]
NintendoWare Weekly: Dragon Quest Wars, Arkanoid Plus, Altered Beast
Welcome to another Monday, a day when most of us with jobs or school must go back to that place we just love to spend most of our time each week. That is, unless you're one of the lucky few who just sit around waiting for the Wii and DSi shops to update. If you fall into the latter group, we'd just like to thank you for waking up this early to check out what's available for download today on the Wii and DSi. It's nice of you to do so considering you don't have any obligation to be up before noon. Boy, that must be nice. So head past the break and see what's available already!
ESRB: Dragon Quest Wars draws near
Right above Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (!!!) on the ESRB ratings page, a listing for Dragon Quest Wars reveals that Square Enix is considering a North American release for the DSiWare game.Dragon Quest Wars is a simplistic strategy game in which players control teams of four monsters, each trying to destroy the other teams or invade their bases (represented by a goal line). It's developed by Intelligent Systems, which makes it sort of a Nintendo/Square Enix collaboration. And it's got online multiplayer! It seems like a nice diversion while we wait to hear anything at all about Dragon Quest IX.
Weekly Dragon Quest IX sales drop under 100K for the first time
Last week, for the first time since its July debut, Dragon Quest IX sold fewer than 100,000 copies. Gamasutra reports that the latest Media Create totals (not yet up on Media Create's site) put Dragon Quest at 79,000 units sold for the week ending August 23, earning it the second-place spot behind another DS game, Nintendo's Tomodachi Collection. This isn't the first week out of the top spot for DQIX: the August releases of SD Gundam G Generation Wars and Monster Hunter 3 bumped Square Enix's RPG sequel as well. Gamasutra estimates life-to-date sales for DQIX at 3.7 million units -- the rate of growth is slowing, but the results are still ridiculous.
Square Enix 'considering' Dragon Quest IX localization sometime after April
Having sold well over three million copies of Dragon Quest IX in Japan, isn't it the obvious choice for Square Enix to bring the hit RPG worldwide as soon as possible? Well, maaaaaaybe. In an investor Q&A session, president Yoichi Wada said that the company is "considering" releasing DQIX overseas, according to Siliconera's translation, and still deciding which regions will receive it. And when Square Enix does get around to it, the company doesn't plan to release it anywhere until after April 2010, the start of the company's next fiscal year. The Dragon Quest series, obviously, isn't as major anywhere else as it is in Japan, but Dragon Quest VIII sold around half a million copies in North America, which seems, at least ... worth the trouble.
There are now 3.5 million Dragon Quest IX cartridges
Welcome to your weekly Dragon Quest IX sales update! We don't do this for most games, but, well, most games don't sell over two million copies in the first week. The relevant part of Square Enix's latest statement about the RPG's success is actually about shipments rather than sales: the company announced that as of yesterday, it had shipped out 3.5 million copies. Sales are currently at 3.39 million, so we're confident that the 3.5 million shipped copies will be out of stores soon enough, and within a couple of weeks we'll hear about the number hitting 4 million. Still no announcements about a release outside of Japan, however, presumably because ... actually, we have no idea why Square Enix isn't using this ridiculous popularity to promote an international release.
Dragon Quest IX sales cross 3 million mark
In the old American West, emigrants traveling in wagon trains through the plains would pass around the unenviable task of cooking for the group. Following in that grand tradition, the Joystiq staffers force each other to take turns writing stories about how Dragon Quest IX has sold several or perhaps even many severals of copies. In this case, the magic number is 3.2 million, as reported by Famitsu. While it's still 1.8 million short of the 5 million Square Enix hopes to ship, it's, you know, not bad. [Via andriasang.com]
Japan gets first DQ IX 'Story Quest' DLC July 24
Andriasang.com reports that Japan will receive the first "Story Quest" DLC for Dragon Quest IX this Friday, July 24. While there aren't specific details as to what a Story Quest actually is, it certainly sounds fairly self-explanatory. The DLC is entitled "Rikka's Dream Treasure" and tasks players with snagging a specific treasure map for Rikka the innkeeper. Andria Sang notes that treasure maps are distributed randomly, which could make the quest a bit more difficult than it sounds. Another standard quest will also be available, "Wonderful Birthday," in which a character is searching for an item available on the Dragon Quest IX Wi-Fi shopping system. So, we guess you have to buy someone something? Doesn't seem like much of a quest, really. Still, if you've already cleared Dragon Quest IX -- which is actually a requirement for playing the DLC -- you're probably ready for more.
Square Enix expects to ship 5 million copies of Dragon Quest IX
Last week, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada gave a statement to Japanese press that helps illustrate the company's (justifiable) sales expectation for Dragon Quest IX. "We're looking at reaching over 5 million copies of Dragon Quest IX shipped," he said, as translated by Kotaku. With three million shipped in the game's first week, 2.3 million of which sold right away, five million seems conservative, and we can only assume Wada is referring only to shipments in Japan. Somewhat less conservative is the forecast Wada made last year, of ten million units. While we have absolutely no doubt DQIX will break a record or two in Japan with the combination of Dragon Quest-level initial sales and DS-style longterm sales, that still seems optimistic.
Dragon Quest IX leads to increased DS sales in Japan
Nintendo of America touted the DS's sales in June, noting that the handheld outsold every home console combined, according to the June NPD numbers. Nintendo of Japan has its own success to be proud of, thanks to the release of Dragon Quest IX, which -- can you believe it -- led to increased hardware sales last week. According to Media Create, the DSi sold 118,202 units last week, up from the previous week's 46,855. That actually seems like a pretty minor boost given that Dragon Quest sold over two million copies, and given that the red DSi launched alongside it. The DS Lite even managed to sell 10,161 units, presumably because DSis were sold out. %Gallery-15248% [Via MCV]
McDonalds offering exclusive Dragon Quest IX minigame
Following the conclusion of the Pokemon Stamp Rally, the "Mac de DS" program at McDonalds will feature a promotion that ties into the biggest DS game of the year, Dragon Quest IX. Dragon Quest: McDonalds no Tabibito-tachi (McDonalds' Travelers) is a downloadable, battle-only Dragon Quest IX minigame in which players battle monsters in order to level up to level 10. It can only be played once per day -- if you want to continue leveling your character, you have to return to Mickey D's and grab the file again. Visit five times -- whether you complete the game or not -- and you get a free burger. It's a way for DQ fans to get a little extra content, and for that one guy who didn't buy DQIX to try out the game. The DQIX promotion runs from July 31 through September 1.
Famitsu hands Dragon Quest IX a 40
Famitsu has given Dragon Quest IX a perfect 40/40 score in its review. According to Kotaku, the reviewers lauded DQIX's "ground breaking" multiplayer and its music, and called the storyline "easy to follow and straightforward, but also with moving scenes as well." While it's kind of a running joke that Famitsu basically rubber-stamps effusive reviews for Square Enix titles, we were surprised to discover that this game is actually the first Dragon Quest to receive a perfect 40, and is one of only ten 40 scores awarded. Of course, Dragon Quests III, VII, and VIII weren't far off with their 39 ratings. Kotaku also notes that the Amazon Japan reviews tend ... not to be as positive, though they apparently center around complaints about the Sandy character, an annoying ganguro fairy who has already inspired a "Die Sandy " Flash game.
Dragon Quest IX sells 2.3 million copies in two days
Japanese consumers eagerly grabbed up copies of Square Enix's Dragon Quest IX over the weekend, putting to rest any concern that the move to a handheld system would bother fans in the least. Enterbrain reports that the game sold 2,343,440 copies in its first week -- its "first week" actually being two days. Media Create reports a similar total of 2,318,932 copies. This beats the first-week record set by ... Dragon Quest VIII, of course! Media Create reports a sell-through rate of 81.56%, suggesting (according to Andriasang) that it probably sold out in some locations. There's something very comforting about reading stories of massive Dragon Quest sales in Japan. It's a reminder that some things in the gaming world are just like we remember them, even after decades. After the break, you can watch the game's intro movie as you begin the long wait for localization. [Image via GAME Watch, video via Gemaga]
2 million people pre-ordered Dragon Quest IX
Square Enix is set to unload Dragon Quest IX onto the Japanese populace this week and it's apparently a big deal over there. A report (via Inside Games) shows the title has over two million pre-orders across various retailers in the country. It just blows our minds, because Japan has never been that fond of the Dragon Quest franchise. So, for those of you keeping score on your Craz-o-meters, this is basically Gary Busey-level stuff we're talking about here. It's like running around in the street with no pants on, screaming that you're the person responsible for velcro technology and the Aurora Borealis. [Via Kotaku]
Fake Dragon Quest IX ROM punishes overeager pirates
Okay, let's get this out of the way right up front: Downloading what you think is a ROM of the Japanese release of Dragon Quest IX, days before it even comes out, is not cool. It turns out that it will probably also end up being hazardous to your DS. DS Scene reports that a file going around, labeled "Dragon Quest IX JPN DSi Enhanced NDS iND," is actually not Dragon Quest IX at all, but rather a malicious program that can overwrite a DS's firmware and render systems unusable. The program is disguised as a hentai slideshow called "DS Owata," which is itself disguised as Dragon Quest IX. Our advice in this case is to do your very best not to be a pirate and just buy the thing when you can. Square Enix booby-traps its legitimate games against piracy anyway.
Dragon Quest IX save data 'enormous;' only one slot allowed
The upcoming DS-exclusive RPG, Dragon Quest IX, is massive. In fact, producer Ryutaro Ichimura notes that "the amount of freedom we give players is huge." The consequence? "The data that needs to be saved is enormous." Instead of providing multiple save slots, as found in most DS games, Dragon Quest IX is too large to fit more than one save file in the DS cartridge's limited memory. While those who prefer creating multiple save points (before a dungeon, for example) will be disappointed, we're reminded of yet another huge DS game: Pokemon. And like Nintendo's monster collecting RPG, Dragon Quest IX will feature a backup system just in case your DS battery dies. "The scariest for save data is when the battery dies," notes DQ creator Yuji Horii. With this system in place, you'll be safe knowing a failed save won't result in hours of gameplay lost. [Via Kotaku]
