Square Enix not lacking confidence in Dragon Quest IX
by Chris Greenhough 
{ May 27th 2008 at 8:45AM }
Is Dragon Quest IX really "almost done"? And does it even matter? We're not so sure, because Square Enix still isn't budging on a release date for the game. Company President Yoichi Wada announced at Square Enix's recent earnings briefing that the game will be released at some point in the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2009. Are we about to see that hopeful 2008 release date cruelly taken away from us? How much longer will we be writing paragraphs consisting almost exclusively of questions?However long we wait, Square Enix is confident of one thing: Dragon Quest IX is going to sell like cakes of the exceedingly hot variety. "With the DS, 10 million units is a possibility," proclaimed Wada to a bunch of no doubt beatific investors. He's presumably talking about global sales rather than Japan-only figures, but even so, isn't that a touch optimistic? We think it is, anyway -- as it stands, no game published by a third-party has come even close to the magical eight digit mark.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CitizenGeek @ May 27th 2008 8:55AM
Didn't Final Fantasy VII sell about 10 m copies?
Anywho, really, really can't wait for DQIX!
Flint @ May 27th 2008 9:23AM
10 million does sound a little too optimistic to me, but I've no doubt that however many copies it sells DQIX will go on to be one of the biggest selling DS games ever.
Latest main series entry in the most popular RPG series in Japan + biggest selling console this generation = Licence for Square Enix to print money.
mike @ May 27th 2008 3:01PM
i'll buy 5 million.
XDragon @ May 27th 2008 6:20PM
Considering DQ 4, 5 and 6 are also coming out, the anticipation for 9 will be high esp in Japan where you can almost expect over 90% attach rate. Then add the Final Fantasy 4 remake and the obvious 5 and 6 to follow. Then the possible Crono Trigger remake...SE has soooo many big sellers coming so I doubt they have anything to worry about just from the DS. On the other hand, their new titles havn't been as good as what i'm used to expecting from them. Lets hope FF13 is actually a step in the right direction. I'd also love to see an Actraiser remake or part 3.
Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! @ May 27th 2008 9:22PM
As far as my personal favorite RPGs go, Dragon Quest VIII was the first game that truly attempted to knock FF7 off its pedestal. If I were to play the games back-to-back, I'm almost certain DQ would win out in the end.
If DQ8 is any indication of what to expect out of DQ9, count me in as one of the millions.