Dragon Quest IX announced as DS exclusive
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Dec 12th 2006 at 6:20AM }
The strange and somewhat pathetic sobbing you hear in the background originates from the offices of Microsoft and Sony, where once diligent executives have now completely broken down and given up on much of their lives. Square Enix just handed Nintendo the keys to the Death Star. As if the DS wasn't already an unrelenting steamroller in terms of sales and popularity, it was announced today that Dragon Quest IX would be released exclusively on the most touchy-feely of portable systems. In the unlikely event that you've been stuck in some sort of spatial anomaly (like Disneyland) for the last few years, it's important to remind you that the Dragon Quest franchise is one of the most popular properties ever in the minds of Japanese gamers. It was widely expected that the next instalment in the franchise would move to the PS3, an expectation that has now been crushed beneath Satoru Iwata's diamond-encrusted boot. Expect more news on the title as the week continues -- for now, all we know is: it's being developed by Level 5, it supports multiplayer battles and the subtitle is something along the lines of "Protector of the Starry Sky."
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Proton @ Dec 14th 2006 12:23AM
I really feel bad for the people who use the word "brilliant" alongside "Dragon Quest".
OrganicShadow @ Dec 12th 2006 10:45AM
DQIX for DS will lack depth COMPARED TO IF IT WERE ON A CONSOLE***********
No, DS did not steal DQ from PSP or PS3. It stole it from PS2, which is what the game should be on considering the install base and their experience with the platform. If they would have announced it for the PS2 today I guarantee you far less people would be pissed off about this whole ordeal. It's funny to see which camps are on which game sites, because not a whole lot of you guys are upset about this but the users over at 1up are having a heart attack.
I'm not against adapting to new platforms and pushing things further, but from PS2 to the DS feels like a few steps BACK if you ask me. And I will say it again, if it were a side-story or prequel to DQIX or something like that I would be all for it, and I would be totally cool with the hack-n-slash combat and multiplayer. The fact that it is an actual installment in the series is what is a spit in the face to me though.
SE/Level5 should have just pulled a "Crystal Chronicles" with this one instead of placing the actual DQIX on the DS. That's my opinion.
moofree @ Dec 12th 2006 10:53AM
Since seeing Dragon Quest Monsters Joker running on DS, this doesn't scare me too much.
DQ9 will look pretty good.
socrates @ Dec 12th 2006 10:55AM
@Darc Requiem -
Why would I be eating crow if the game turns out to be better than I expected? I'd be buying a damn good game, in that instance. That is an insulting premise, that I'd rather see a good game be ruined than be wrong (the kind of logic that pervades from the ridiclous "fanboy" junk that this blog has somehow managed to cultivate).
But your arguments aren't very good - yes, some SNES games were long. They were also in 16-bit, and if you think releasing games on those standards of graphics and gameplay today is viable, then you're insane! If SE were to release a new Final Fantasy game and it was on par with FF6 in every way, shape and form, it would be universally lombasted as an incredible failure. It makes NO SENSE to take DQ8 - which was a world of improvement over DQ7 due to its graphics, sound, immersive world, etc. - and DOWNGRADE it in every aspect. Things should be getting better, not worse. This is depressing to me; I'm going play Guitar Hero to cheer myself up.
Sven @ Dec 12th 2006 10:57AM
>I just can't see myself enjoying a game that I can barely see without magnifying glasses.<
Considering the DS / GBA combination has had some superb RPGs (let alone games in general), you're really closing off avenues by saying that.
Natalie @ Dec 12th 2006 11:01AM
@42 I never said that there was no life or animation, did I? I simply said the animation for the DS version was a step backward. My 2 year old daughter draws better trees then that. I have also seen more than one screen shot, thank you kindly. If you haven't realized, that picture is also a link to the Japanese site.
My whole decision that the game will not be worth the money, and that Sony sucks for selling it, is based on more than that.
Have you ever sketched a thumbnail drawing? And then made the same sketch on a large piece of paper? I have, being an artist. and I will tell you this. you can add more detail in a larger piece of paper. That is all I'm saying with the graphics. The characters are damn near the height of the trees...I know that's how the original game was, but, as I said, why step back when leaps foward are what games are about?
They've also changed major things like the battle sequences. No more turn based play? That's a Dragon Quest staple!
Add that to the size of the screen it will be played on, and the fact that, I agree with who ever said that recently, Nintendo has been coming out with rather suck-ass RPGs, I can't really say that this will be good for DQIX. Yes, Level5 is still behind it, and that gives it some hope, but... as another person said, and I have no issue with repeating myself again, the game would have been much better on the Wii. One, the graphics are much better, and two, the interactivity that is the key component on the Wii system would have made some fairly interesting game play.
I don't see Dragon Quest IX being as popular in the US as it will be in Japan. Japan loves handheld devices like the Nintendo DS for the sheer fact that they are hard-pressed for space(proven fact, which is why systems keep getting smaller). That's why it's popular. Here...you had a thousand people damn near killing each other for the Playstation 3(and then selling them for $5000 on Ebay)...even though I am not one of them. I'll wait for next year, when the lines die down and all the bugs are fixed.
Sven @ Dec 12th 2006 11:01AM
>They were also in 16-bit, and if you think releasing games on those standards of graphics and gameplay today is viable, then you're insane! If SE were to release a new Final Fantasy game and it was on par with FF6 in every way, shape and form, it would be universally lombasted as an incredible failure.<
Um... Square's doing quite well for themselves with their apparently 'insane' releases of the FF games for the GBA and the DS.
And Golden Sun was obviously "lombasted" as an incredible failure.
You ARE aware that this isn't the first portable RPG ever produced, right?
Sven @ Dec 12th 2006 11:09AM
>I don't see Dragon Quest IX being as popular in the US as it will be in Japan. Japan loves handheld devices like the Nintendo DS for the sheer fact that they are hard-pressed for space(proven fact, which is why systems keep getting smaller). That's why it's popular. Here...you had a thousand people damn near killing each other for the Playstation 3(and then selling them for $5000 on Ebay)...even though I am not one of them. I'll wait for next year, when the lines die down and all the bugs are fixed.<
I take it the latest NPD charts escaped your attention. The DS / GBA are currently accounting for about half of all consoles sold in North America, with the DS selling 900,000 units in North America alone.
C'mon, most of these stories are a couple clicks away on this very site.
>why step back when leaps foward are what games are about?
They've also changed major things like the battle sequences. No more turn based play? That's a Dragon Quest staple!<
Do you get whiplash from talking out of both sides of your mouth like that? OMG keep moving forward... unless it's the combat system, in which case, STAY IN THE PAST!
Final Fantasy XII did fine for itself by moving to a real-time model, no reason to think DQ won't be able to take the leap as well. If you want traditional turn-based RPGs... well, Final Fantasy III and VI work nicely.
shivr @ Dec 12th 2006 11:09AM
wow... looks like this'll be the first DQ game I've ever played.
socrates @ Dec 12th 2006 11:13AM
Sven, don't be dense. Of course the FF remakes are doing well - I own every single one of them! But all of those GBA/DS versions of FF1-6 are UPGRADES from the original versions, not an original title that drastically DOWNGRADES on the precedent set by a title earlier in the series. And besides, the question of how well it will sell is not at all germaine to my concern, which is that instead of the DQ9 we thought we'd be getting, we get....a screenshot that looks like it was taken from the Secret of Mana DS game. Fan-fucking-tastic. How can anyone think that the capping of this game's potential is a good thing?!?
maximus @ Dec 12th 2006 11:15AM
Have you lot all forgotten that Sony actually own a share of Square Enix? They too will profit from this. Just goes to show that MS even with all their money can't get these games.
dark_inchworm @ Dec 12th 2006 11:42AM
@52: "My whole decision that the game will not be worth the money, and that Sony sucks for selling it, is based on more than that."
Square-Enix isn't a first-party developer for Sony, and Dragon Quest was never a Sony-exclusive franchise, just a franchise that happened to not pump out the same title for more than one damn system, which you can't say about most franchises these days. Sony never "sold" the Dragon Quest name to anyone... they didn't own it. (#56's comment aside, if there's any truth to it)
OrganicShadow @ Dec 12th 2006 11:27AM
@47 & @49
You guys seem to be tuned to the same frequency as I am. When I said it will lack depth I meant more of a comparison between how much depth is possible on a hand-held and how much is possible on a console.
DQVIII is the perfect example. What gets me though, is how so many of you are completely okay with the hack-n-slash and the multiplayer. I just can't see myself playing a DQ game without random battles and tactically taking out my enemies with turn-based combat. I can't see myself playing a Diablo-esque Dragon Quest game on co-op with friends..........UNLESS IT WERE NOT A PART OF THE MAIN SERIES.
I just can't understand why so many of you don't see how great and big, and awesome the DQ games were getting(and how much American interest it was gaining) for it to all of the sudden take a sharp left turn toward "hand-held Nintendo64's ville".
I told my co-worker this morning: It's like if Peter Jackson had announced he was going to do the Lord of The Ring trilogy.............straight to pocket-sized flip book. No movie in theaters, no DVD's. Just a pocket-sized flip book. THAT's how I feel about what they announced this morning.
Sven @ Dec 12th 2006 11:30AM
>not an original title that drastically DOWNGRADES on the precedent set by a title earlier in the series. <
The vast majority of FF gamers (esp. in North America) came into the series with FFVII. They view the graphical standards of FF as the big cinematics, polygons instead of sprites, long summon sequences, etc. Yet the FF remakes do tremendously well. Why? Because they're good games and people recognise that.
FFVI is supposedly unchanged from the SNES original, and it's going to do big numbers.
Additionally, FFIII is essentially a new game in the series since it was probably the most obscure FF release (in North America, at the very least). It's certainly a step backwards in terms of visuals from contemporary FF games, yet it's been a major sales success.
Heck, the Castlevania series looks far "worse" on the GBA and DS than it did in its 3D incarnations, but - in North America at least - sales for the 2D games are far better than their 3D counterparts. Nintendo didn't exactly struggle with selling Minish Cap after Wind Waker. And those are only a few examples.
v1cious @ Dec 12th 2006 11:37AM
YAY! let's dumb down Dragon Quest. how the hell could anyone think this is a good idea?
Vinnk @ Dec 12th 2006 11:40AM
@Natalie
We get it. You like fancy graphics.
I like good gameplay and a moving story. They mean much more to me than real-time facial expressions. Final Fantasy X2 looked great but I will take Final Fantasy IV over it every time. Sure amazing high-def, lighting and wind effect graphics would be the icing on the cake, but not having them just isn't the deal-breaker for me that it seems to be for you. Yeah, the game might suck, but until I have actually played it I will reserve my judgment. I think that is good advice.
"Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" -Dragon Quest
suffah @ Dec 12th 2006 11:39AM
Natalie (and other whiners):
You guys make my head hurt. Do you think SE cares that you guys won't be buying a DS to play DQ9? I sure as hell don't care, and once the sales figures are released, SE/Nintendo won't care either.
You guys claim to be "real" fans. Well, real fans stick with their games, through good and bad. They don't abandon a franchise because THEY think it's moving backwards.
takao @ Dec 12th 2006 11:55AM
as a turnbased RPG i welcome the chance to real time and also welcome the chance to online coop.. playing through rpgs alone is only half as fun and playing alone through turn based rpgs with random battles is kinda like a sleeping pill
Ken @ Dec 12th 2006 11:59AM
Yesterday I said that as long as DQIX came out on one of the systems I owned, I'd be a happy camper. It seems I have caught myself in a lie. I would have much prefered to play this title on the Wii or PS3. The thought of playing DQ on the tiny DS screens saddens me.
It seems to me that so much potential was been tossed out the window. Slicing slimes w/ a stylus < slicing Slimes w/ a Wiimote. :(
TheMuffinMan @ Dec 12th 2006 12:04PM
http://www.gamebrink.com/news/735-Dragon_Quest_IX_First_Gameplay_Footage.html
Gameplay footage
Natalie @ Dec 12th 2006 12:07PM
@60 & 61 Actually...you should read further up. I play more NES and 32-bt Sega, than I do my fiance's PS2. As for not "sticking with my game"...I will tell you this. I am not an exclusive fan of the series. Oh, and as for the "remake" of FF3, I have the original(yes, the one not released in the US), and I will tell you something. Fancy graphics do not make a game, game play makes a game. My favourite game of all time is Dragon Warrior IV, and last I checked, that had the suckiest graphics EVER(except, of course, 1-3). But the story was great, and the gameplay as fluid as you could get back then. Sure, it was 2-d, but it was a good game. But changing the basic format of the game, WILL ruin a game. And if you can't see that, then you have no respect for the series yourself.
Yes, I am impressed with how different the game runs in 3-d. Yes, I like the new features in Dragon Quest VIII. But I still have no issues with the older 2-d graphics, done correctly. DQ may have always been cartoony, but at least it was at least in part, good artistry. Never in one of the Series games has there been triangle trees.
I'm sorry if I'm not one of those adults that carried a gameboy in my pocket through highschool. I don't like small screened games. they hurt my eyes, and I find them inadequate.
And ast I checked. It is a free country, where people are allowed to speak there mind. I have not insulted you like a child, why must you do it to me? To call me a whiner is to say I have no right to disagree with you. And if you believe that, you can call yourself ADOLF HITLER and go back to the past.
Thank you, have a good day. Enjoy your micro version of a great large-screen game, and let people have their own opinions.
socrates @ Dec 12th 2006 12:07PM
"FFVI is supposedly unchanged from the SNES original, and it's going to do big numbers."
FF6 isn't unchanged.
Sven, nothing you have said at all engages with my issue - yes, portable RPGs can be fun. This is almost always because they're remakes of games that we have nostalgia for (and nostalgia can exist for things you haven't played before, which is why your "but everyone started with FF7" claim, despite not being true, isn't responsive anyways. if you think sales would exist for FF4A if it played and looked the same but *wasn't* actually a Final Fantasy title, you're insane).
The point is, you can't do a lot with just 128 megabytes nowadays. Sidegames, DQ8:2, Remakes...whatever you want to put on a portable, go nuts, just don't fuck up the next real entry in the series! And that's precisely what they've done. It isn't that DS games or DS rpgs can't be good, it is that they can't be anywhere near as good as if it was released on a console.
Have you seen the video footage yet? They just take the images from DQ8 and downgrade them big time. Enemies look the same (but crappier, of course), and there's little children running around bonking on them. It breaks your heart.
There's another aspect to this that hasn't been mentioned - big, epic RPGs are like books you want to get sucked into for hours on end. It is exceedingly obnoxious to play FF5a with my DS plugged into the wall so the power doesn't cut out. If it doesn't matter because DQ9 isn't going to be an epic in 8's footsteps (as is evident from the video released)...then why make it a main entry in the DQ series? Oh, that's right...money. They're rehasing stuff from 8, throwing it on the hottest system, and using the DragonQuest name to make big bucks. Bye bye, good game. Hello profits! There's Nintendo's legacy as of late.
Austin Powers @ Dec 12th 2006 12:26PM
Les jus 'ope it don't 'ave no annoyin' accents that disrupt gameplay, eh Guv'nor? /pfft
bounchfx @ Dec 12th 2006 12:11PM
socrates you are a fucking idiot
"just don't fuck up the next real entry in the series! And that's precisely what they've done."
Darc Requiem @ Dec 12th 2006 12:12PM
Socrates you'd be eating crow because you said that because the game is on DS it would lack depth. My argument about the older RPGs had nothing to do with their length. Length and depth are two different things. When I say depth I'm refering to the gameplay. Its part of the reason I threw Final Fantasy VII into the equation. Despite superior hardware and the additional storage space provided by the three CDs it was placed on,it lacked the depth of Final Fantasy VI. Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis for GBA had depth rivaling Final Fantasy Tactics despite cartridge limitations. Ogre Battle 64's gameplay was still engaging despite having less than a third of the storage space of a DS cart. The reason I threw Phantasy Star 1 into the question is because despite being 19 years old it holds up surprisingly well. The game featured things from a presentation and gameplay standpoint that wasn't replicated by other RPGs, outside the PS series itself, until Lunar series came around years later on the much larger CD format. Graphically DQIX will be inferior to DQVIII but the depth of the game has nothing to do with the DS hardware. The gameplay is determined by the developers vision. FFXII's design was dramatically different than prior titles and it had nothing to do with the PS2 hardware and everything to do with the developers vision.
Vinnk @ Dec 12th 2006 12:18PM
And then I was compared to ADOLF HITLER...
:: sigh ::
JodyAnthony @ Dec 12th 2006 12:18PM
"I have not insulted you like a child [...] you can call yourself ADOLF HITLER"
lol.
Natalie @ Dec 12th 2006 12:24PM
And one more thing before I go, since you all think all I care about is graphics. My step-brother has a DS, and the system does have good graphics( the dogs on NintenDogs are adorable and near life-like). My main issue with this game is gameplay. Playing Dragon Quest with a stylus is just something I could not envision doing. That's why I said previously, that releasing it on Wii would have been much better for gameplay. It has nothing to do with the graphics itself, it's basic gameplay I'm concerned with, and I think there are many people on here that agree with me in that sentiment.
and now, I must be off to work, because I don't have all day to sit here and argue MY opinion like a 15 year old.
JodyAnthony @ Dec 12th 2006 12:34PM
"and now, I must be off to work, because I don't have all day to sit here and argue MY opinion like a 15 year old.
Posted at 12:21PM on Dec 12th 2006 by Natalie"
Posts by Natalie in this thread: six.
umrain @ Dec 12th 2006 12:42PM
OH NO! Now I may never get to see what Slimes look like in HIGH-DEF!
Miniboss @ Dec 12th 2006 12:45PM
So it is true... the DS truly DOES own Japan. Wow...
TheMuffinMan @ Dec 12th 2006 1:00PM
Natalie, if you watched the gameplay video that was posted (Post #65) you would see that as far as we've seen so far, the stylus has nothing to do with the gameplay (The person we saw playing it was pressing the buttons and was not using the stylus). Beleive it or not, not all DS games use the stylus
VampireHunter Z @ Dec 12th 2006 1:03PM
I've never played DQ but I'm very aware of it's impact in Japan. A BIG thumbs down for SE on this one. This was strictly a money making move. The DS is obviously the #1 system in Japan thats why they are making the game for it. They did not considered the expectations of their fans. Handhelds are good for gameplay but not great for epic and immersive worlds. People wanted to see what cell shading would look like on next gen platforms. A big title like this should never get crippled.
Grant @ Dec 12th 2006 12:59PM
Natalie: "It has nothing to do with the graphics itself, it's basic gameplay I'm concerned with"
Natalie: "My 2 year old daughter draws better trees then that."
Natalie: "I enjoy the game for it's realism, the new game looks like a badly drawn cartoon."
Are there two Natalies posting on this thread?
Natalie: "NPC's turn to the Character, the sun moves if you use the first person view and stare at it, the trees sway in the 'wind', and dust kicks up when you walk on dirt. That's realism in an RPG."
Natalie: "But the kindergarten trees in the snapshot remind me more of my 2 year old daughter's Dora the Explorer game, then what DQVIII was like."
Natalie: "I don't like small screened games. they hurt my eyes, and I find them inadequate."
Are there two Natalies posting on this thread?
Grant @ Dec 12th 2006 1:01PM
Disregard the repeated sentence in my last post...
CousinSal @ Dec 12th 2006 1:07PM
It's funny how everyone who is trying to bash this game does so by saying that they have already ruined the game and that it is terrible to play when all we have seen is a few screenshots and a 30 second video clip. I wouldn't say that anything is a step back from what I've seen, more of a sidestep onto a different platform.
@Natalie
"I don't like small screened games. they hurt my eyes, and I find them inadequate."
I suggest investing in a pair of glasses. My 80 year old grandmother with terrible vision can play games on the DS with no problem so if it hurts your eyes to look at the screens then you may have bigger problems than just not liking this move off the console.
"Playing Dragon Quest with a stylus is just something I could not envision doing."
To be honest, playing any game with a stylus was not something I could envision myself doing originally, but I tried it and I think it's great. I'm not saying all games should be this way, but that's been Nintendo's policy for a while now. To pararphrase from an interview I believe was with Iwata, might have been Miyamoto, "if you keep giving people exactly what they want, then they will be getting the same thing forever, but sometimes you need to change your thinking and give people something they never thought of having before"
So while you may not want to play DQIX on the DS because of your bad eyes, there are a couple million DS owners who would love to play it and are thankful that it's coming to the system. I'm not trying to bash your opinion and have you call me Hitler as well, but you're not the only gamer out there and as a DS owner I'm excited for this game and hope there are more to come.
Evan @ Dec 12th 2006 1:22PM
The DS is a downgrade? A stylus is superior over a D-pad for controlling an RPG.
Lack of depth? In theory, but not in practice. Most developers are more filling DVD-ROMs with pre-renderd cut-scenes, not more story.
Scooby Doo @ Dec 12th 2006 1:23PM
This is interesting news. What it really makes me wonder is if this is the early warning about developers changing their attitudes toward handheld machines. I remember reading an article some time back that explored the DS phenomenon in Japan and how the handheld market is quickly outpacing consoles and becoming the dominant 'platform'...for lack of a better word.
So I have to wonder...
Will we see more developers flock to handhelds? Is it possible that what's happened in Japan could also happen here in the States or Europe? Will we see any big projects on the PS3 or 360 canned in favor of using the DS or PSP?
I like my DS, and love the DQ series. I do at least partially understand where some of the concerned posters are coming from. I love my DS but RPG's aren't as fun for me on the handheld units. I just can't get into them on the same level as a console. However one needs to be fair to the developers in this instance. We really don't know much about the game to make a call one way or the other. It's wiser to wait it out, check the hands-on impressions and reviews, instead of condemning the product well before it's hit the shelves.
OrganicShadow @ Dec 12th 2006 1:23PM
>Additionally, FFIII is essentially a new game in the series since it was probably the most obscure FF release (in North America, at the very least). It's certainly a step backwards in terms of visuals from contemporary FF games, yet it's been a major sales success.<
That's a poor comparison. FF3 is an OLD FF game. Giving it a face lift is no biggie. If SE was to make FFXIII on the DS with the FF3 remake's graphics there would be mass spontaneous combustion worldwide. It's one thing if it's an old title rereleasing, but a NEXT title in a series taking the step back is another thing all together.
>You guys claim to be "real" fans. Well, real fans stick with their games, through good and bad. They don't abandon a franchise because THEY think it's moving backwards.<
Don't recall anyone on here saying "i'm a TRUE fan..." or anything of the kind. In fact, I only own DQVIII and have briefly played VI and a few old titles on an emulator- which were in Japanese so that didn't last but a few seconds. DQVIII changed my mind about turn-based RPG's and opened my eyes to what it takes to make a great game. It didn't look as good as Half-Life 2, nor was it as complex or stunning as the new FF games are, but I love it anyway, and it led me to get into a slew of other RPG's.
Since the time that I bought DQVIII I had been eagerly awaiting DQIX to come out on PS2 or PS3 or 360 or whatever, and take what DQVIII did and take it even further, seeing as that's kinda what they did by taking VII up to what VIII was. Now that I am seeing them take it BACKWARD I am a bit confused, and saddened that I must now wait another few years or so for DQX to come out, and pray that turn-based combat makes a return, as well as the graphics, map system, and overall glory that VIII had.
@66: Everything you said was a slam dunk.
Oh, and if X comes out on Wii as a motion-controlled gimmick then I guess DQ is over for me. Another reason to hang onto my PS2. Someone explain to me how turn-based would work on the Wii along with motion-controlled integration.....
32_Footsteps @ Dec 12th 2006 3:19PM
"What's to be shocked about? Nintendo's DS has ONE HUNDRED TIMES the install base of the PS3. It's a slam dunk."
The shock is that a portable poached a top-tier franchise as an exclusive from a console. I don't remember seeing that before. Ever.
JodyAnthony @ Dec 12th 2006 1:44PM
"Someone explain to me how turn-based would work on the Wii along with motion-controlled integration....."
1) Walk around with Nunchuk.
2) Get into a battle.
3) Use Wiimote pointer to choose icons (attack, etc) on screen.
4) Repeat.
How anyone can think that the Wii would have any sort of hard time running a turn based RPG I haven't a clue.
crono141 @ Dec 12th 2006 1:50PM
The only reason this is coming to DS and not Wii is because there are hella more DS's than Wii's. I could see a Wii port eventually.
I've never been much of a DQ fan (or enix fan, for that matter), so either way this isn't the end of the world for me. Its not so much one more reason to own a DS as it is one more reason NOT to own a PS3.
Yeah, that was a fanboy comment. I've got my flamesuit!
Charlie @ Dec 12th 2006 2:00PM
I just saw the pictures for Dragon Quest IX, and all I have to say is that I've lost all respect for Square Enix/Level 5, I mean, what in the blue hell were they thinking when they let NINTENDO put DQIX on the DS? Dragon Quest VIII: Journey Of The Cursed King was an amazing game, and not just for the graphics, for the game play, and for the story line, but come on, to follow it up by tossing DQIX on the DS in my opinion is utterly ridiculous. I mean, if anything, Nintendo should of released Dragon Quest IX on Wii, not on the DS, because we all know for sure that the graphics themselves would not be lost on Wii, they get completely lost on the DS. I'm sorry, but it's just a cop-out, 'specially how poorly I think Nintendo made the remake of the "newly never released in America" Final Fantasy III, because the graphics were so poor. If anything, Sony would of done a better job, in my personal opinion.
Off of that topic, I agree firmly with what Natalie, Socrates, and Organicshadow had to say. Putting Dragon Quest IX on the DS is a complete downgrade of the graphics, and it's a shame that Square Enix/Level 5 decided to go with Nintendo instead of Sony with the new Dragon Quest, and as Natalie said, you can't put as much detail in a four inch screen as you can on a full screen system. And that even goes for the earlier versions, the graphics on VII were poorer than VIII, but they were pretty decent for the game itself, and if SE decided to put VII on DS instead of on the PS, I'm sorry, I would of never picked up the game. I was a huge fan of the originals on the original Nintendo, but again, that was a full screen system, not, again as Natalie put it, "a four inch screen." SE/LV5 should of stuck with Sony, and just made Dragon Quest IX for the PS3 instead of handing the reigns to Nintendo, who I believe are falling apart, especially with how poorly the new Zelda is selling. Thank you, that's my rant, and I'm sticking too it. Good day.
warlock7 @ Dec 12th 2006 2:13PM
Not a surprise when you consider that the Wii-mote is based on the Dragon Quest sword technology.
Charlie @ Dec 12th 2006 2:17PM
@58: I take offense to that statement, just to let you know, I live in North America, and I started with the Final Fantasy series from FFI, and I've been playing it ever since, I did not start with FFVII like you happened to mention in your post earlier, so please, do us all a favor, do your research before you post such a blatently dumb statement like that. Thank you.
Sven @ Dec 12th 2006 2:11PM
>but it's just a cop-out, 'specially how poorly I think Nintendo made the remake of the "newly never released in America" Final Fantasy III, because the graphics were so poor.<
Are you off your meds? Nintendo had next to nothing to do with the FFIII remake.
>SE/LV5 should of stuck with Sony, and just made Dragon Quest IX for the PS3 instead of handing the reigns to Nintendo, who I believe are falling apart, especially with how poorly the new Zelda is selling.<
Yeah. It's selling quite poorly at a ONE TO ONE RATIO WITH THE SYSTEM IT'S ON. And, again... Nintendo has nothing to do with DQIX.
My god. At this point the trolling's getting a little too obvious.
Charlie @ Dec 12th 2006 2:18PM
@Sven: I take personal offense towards that last comment about my meds, so please leave stuff like that out of this, thank you. You say Nintendo has nothing to do with DQIX, then how would the game be released on the DS if they had nothing to do with it? Thank you, my point has been proved.
Kevin @ Dec 12th 2006 2:23PM
Charlie, you're an idiot. Neither Nintendo nor Sony doesn't decide who gets exclusivity for certain games. Square-Enix does.
All I can say is whoever Reggie works for now after Nintendo, he will always be reigned as a Nintendo God for changing around the company.
TwilightKnight @ Dec 12th 2006 2:31PM
#88's reasoning is so completly and off the foam padded walls retarded that trying to reason against it would make me more dumb in the process.
The reason why DQIX is going on the DS is so simple, yet everybody keeps ignoring it because of it.
PS3 worldwide sales come mid 2007 ~ A million or so, depends if and when they can get production going.
Wii Worldwide sales come mid 2007 ~ Following current market trends then the Wii will lead the PS3 by 2:1, so around 4-6 million.
DS world wide sales come mid 2007 - ALOT. As in '8% of the Japanese population has one' ALOT. Who knows what sort of crazy numbers the DS will be putting out.
Spite popular belief, third parties kind of need to make money on their games to stay afloat. I know, it sounds upsurd. So any common sense business pratice would tell you to ship as much games as possible on the system that has sold the most, right? Especially considering said game is known to sell out immediatly, regardless of quality. See where I am going here people? Good boys...
Moving on to the other retarded arguments mentioned:
Will the graphics be turned down for a portable?
Yes.
Does it actually matter?
No.
Will the game length and thus the story be cut?
Yes.
Does it matter?
No. Having a short RPG is a bad thing, but having a drawn out one is equally painful. Also it depends on the developers and how much story is needed for a PORTABLE GAME. Comparing a portable RPG to a console RPG does both an injustice.
Will the realtime combat ruin the DQ experience? Depends on the player and his/her personal tastes.
Will this game sell like crazy and cause riots regardless of if it had a turn based or real time combat?
Oh Science yes.
In closing, anybody that tries to put a console RPG standard on now a porable RPG franchise is retarded and labeled forever as thus.
Sven @ Dec 12th 2006 2:53PM
>I did not start with FFVII like you happened to mention in your post earlier, so please, do us all a favor, do your research before you post such a blatently dumb statement like that.<
Re-read that statement. I said the *vast majority* of North American Gamers had their first exposure to FF via FFVII, which is factual.
The best estimate I could find of North American SNES FFVI sales was 870,000; FFVII cleared that figure in North America by December of its release year (it actually sold a million *before the calendar turned*). If memory serves, it settled somewhere between 2.5 and 3 million copies, an astonishing feat considering the series' earlier sales.
It also got ported to PCs - a first for the series - which were the traditional North American home for PCs and got more exposure for the series in that market than had ever happened before.
Saying the majority of North American FF players got their first exposure to the series in VII is pretty well-established fact.