Dragon Quest IX in Development – But Which System?

Dragon Quest is arguably the most popular series in Japan. So popular that a law was made stopping Enix (and now Square Enix) from launching the game on a weekday. Why? Well, when one of the games launched (Dragon Quest II I believe), children skipped school and adults skipped work just to buy it. Not only that, children were also mugged by teenagers for it. Dragon Quest XIII for the PS2 sold 3 million copies in the first few weeks in Japan alone. Now, it seems Dragon Quest IX is in development.

“‘[Series producer] Yuji Horii is really busy at the moment on Dragon Quest IX, and I’m really looking forward to what kind of game he’s making this time, as a gamer.’ Perhaps Mr. Sugiyama was not authorized to say this; he is, however, 75 years old, so let’s cut him a break.”

Woah. What a slip! Now, in most cases people would just assume that the game would be on the PlayStation 3. However, a few little things have started to change people’s faith. Firstly, Satoru Iwata (President of Nintendo) has a very good relation with Horii. So strong in fact that Horii was one of the first people to try out the WiiMote prototype. Also, check out some of his comments.

“Horii has commented that ‘graphics can’t get that much better’ than Dragon Quest VIII, and as long as the Wii is slightly more powerful than a PlayStation 2, it would be ‘enough’ for Dragon Quest IX. Hopefully it will be powerful enough to render the terrain textures so that they look like Akira Toriyama‘s manga landscapes”

“Yes, Yuji Horii said that the graphics in VIII were very, very close to what he always dreamt they should look like.”

Basically, he feels like DQVIII is how his games should look. He just wants a great way of showing off Toriyama’s artwork when it comes to graphics. However, PS3-only fans shouldn’t give up hope just yet. Square Enix might still be wary of putting Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest on two different systems. They are the two biggest franchises in Japan and it could cause a split in their fanbase. However, if Dragon Quest IX goes to the Wii, then expect a big shift in the Japan console market.

Dragon Quest is arguably the most popular series in Japan. So popular that a law was made stopping Enix (and now Square Enix) from launching the game on a weekday. Why? Well, when one of the games launched (Dragon Quest II I believe), children skipped school and adults skipped work just to buy it. Not only that, children were also mugged by teenagers for it. Dragon Quest XIII for the PS2 sold 3 million copies in the first few weeks in Japan alone. Now, it seems Dragon Quest IX is in development.

“‘[Series producer] Yuji Horii is really busy at the moment on Dragon Quest IX, and I’m really looking forward to what kind of game he’s making this time, as a gamer.’ Perhaps Mr. Sugiyama was not authorized to say this; he is, however, 75 years old, so let’s cut him a break.”

Woah. What a slip! Now, in most cases people would just assume that the game would be on the PlayStation 3. However, a few little things have started to change people’s faith. Firstly, Satoru Iwata (President of Nintendo) has a very good relation with Horii. So strong in fact that Horii was one of the first people to try out the WiiMote prototype. Also, check out some of his comments.

“Horii has commented that ‘graphics can’t get that much better’ than Dragon Quest VIII, and as long as the Wii is slightly more powerful than a PlayStation 2, it would be ‘enough’ for Dragon Quest IX. Hopefully it will be powerful enough to render the terrain textures so that they look like Akira Toriyama‘s manga landscapes”

“Yes, Yuji Horii said that the graphics in VIII were very, very close to what he always dreamt they should look like.”

Basically, he feels like DQVIII is how his games should look. He just wants a great way of showing off Toriyama’s artwork when it comes to graphics. However, PS3-only fans shouldn’t give up hope just yet. Square Enix might still be wary of putting Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest on two different systems. They are the two biggest franchises in Japan and it could cause a split in their fanbase. However, if Dragon Quest IX goes to the Wii, then expect a big shift in the Japan console market.