Dragon Quest IX for Nintendo DS

PKFC writes "Square Enix, at the 20th Anniversary Dragon Quest conference, has announced Dragon Quest IX: Defender of the Stars ... for the DS. Developed by Level 5, the game will feature four player co-operative mode and an action battle system. Also announced is a Dragon Quest arcade game called Battle Road. Both are expected to hit sometime in 2007 in Japan." This is huuuge news, as it puts the immensely popular Dragon Quest together with the immensely popular DS. Odds are Nintendo will pick up even more sales on the heels of this announcement. Relatedly, DS Fanboy got a few tidbits of info on the upcoming Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles , also for the DS.

Comments

Does it mean...

[IAstudent]

we're gonna get a slime-shaped DS as well, a la DQVIII + slime controller?

Re:Does it mean...

[voice_of_all_reason]

I'll wait for a Jessica-shaped controller

DS: It prints money.

[ParaphiliaNOS]

http://mario.nobon.boo.jp/images/prints_money.gif

Re:DS: It prints money.

[Anonymous Coward]

lol

I get the sudden feeling that there's some -Chanboard in my Slashdot. And I like it!

Re:DS: It prints money.

[ParaphiliaNOS]

While handheld and consoles are commercial hardware and software offerings I don't really know if increased involvement in the game marketplace is good for the /. community identity.  Sure a subset of /.ers are gamers, but there are lots more active high level discussions (and derivative humor) to be found in other communities.  The lack of support for the img tag pretty much sums it up.

Re:DS: It prints money.

[Pengunea]

How would an increase in the game marketplace not be good for the Slashdot community do you figure? I know you must have a reason or two in your mind. Please elaborate (so I can decide whether I'm intrigued by your thoughts and want to subscribe to your newsletter).

Re:DS: It prints money.

[ParaphiliaNOS]

Collective commenter websites are driven by their core content.  I fully agree that the game marketplace can be a subset of the technology umbrella, but I believe that it has become too expansive for /. to cover in this detail.  Right now we're discussing a top publisher's top title but that proves my point precisely.  It is mainstream culture.  When a large autonomous collective begins to diversify from its core content then it adopts a mainstream tone.  Readership and comment count might go up, but the depth and quality will go down in an inverse relationship.   The experts' departure to specialized forums is inevitable with this progression.

I don't have a regular newsletter if someone else already does it better.  I'm not going to consume /. if I can find a news aggregator portfolio with a collective culture that better fits my core interests.

Re:DS: It prints money.

[aplusjimages]

That would have been funny if it didn't look so damn creepy.

Re:DS: It prints money.

[Jerf]

Many of us consider the missing "img" tag a feature, not a bug. Posting a link is fine for many reasons, including not uglying up the discussion with animated gifs, and the fact that inlining an image in a freakin' Slashdot discussion would be pretty hostile to the host. Better to let only interested parties see it.

Also, the fact that you take advantage of the only alternate typeface leads me to wonder if you also want to <font size="+2" face="Comic Sans" color="red"><blink> too. Many of us also consider not having that much control over your HTML a feature, too, sort of like Douglas Adam's point about presidential offices; anyone who actually wants to do that to their font is also the last person should on no account actually be allowed to do so.

Re:DS: It prints money.

[ParaphiliaNOS]

I agree.  Lack of support for the img tag is a feature.  /. should continue to move in this direction of increasing meaningful discussion by any means possible.  Anyway, I don't select tt for stylistic reasons;  'Code' is the default because ghostzilla alphabetizes option menus.

Re:DS: It prints money.

[marshallbanana6]

So any reason why you chose this thread for your denunciation of the diversification of slashdot material? Last I knew Slashdot has been divided up into sections and rather "mainstream geek" for a long time. I don't understand why you think people can't pay attention to certain stories and ignore others that they are not interested in...

So what's the problem here? No experts on slashdot? *snicker* I think you came to the wrong place sir.

Re:DS: It prints money.

[ParaphiliaNOS]

I do participate in /. on a 'story' by 'story' basis.  I hope that the stories and culture that people want to find on slashdot are here.

Re:DS: It prints money.

[Jerf]

Wha? That's seriously broken. Order matters in option boxes.

My apologies for the wild accusation, then.

Also, Ghostzilla is pretty amusing.

Wow.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is pretty much the last nail in the psp's coffin (at least in Japan.. in Europe it's dead since it was released).
But it's nice to see that some big third parties (square's fully back again?!) embracing Nintendo consoles again. Let's see if we get a "real" Final Fantasy from them as well (for the Wii).

Re:Wow.

[ParaphiliaNOS]

With your reference to the Wii I assume that you acknowlege the Final Fantasy III for the DS and other Square properties for handhelds.  (For newcomers it was already released in North America November 17th.)

Square began supporting Nintendo again when Bandai's Wonderswan Color/Crystal began losing traction in Japan and the Advance was the clear handheld winner.  The support for the DS is just an organic extension of the Advance SP market share.  I'm sure we'll see a few more for PSP, but only as much as Sony makes it easier to port console titles.

For console titles, I'm with you here: Who's going to get the Squaresoft/Square-Enix love?

Re:Wow.

[masklinn]

This is pretty much the last nail in the psp's coffin (at least in Japan.. in Europe it's dead since it was released).

The PSP is actually much deader in Japan than in Europe as the DS has consistently been outselling it 5:1 to 10:1 for more than 30 weeks (since the release of the DS Lite in March)

Re:Wow.

[aplusjimages]

Nintendo nor Xbox need to put any nails in Sony's coffin. Sony has all the nails and hammers to do it themselves. The PSP tried to be too many things all at once, but ended up becoming so unfocused that it couldn't get a strong base from either gamers, movie lovers, or audiophiles.

Re:Wow.

[Drooling Iguana]

Let's see if we get a "real" Final Fantasy from them as well (for the Wii).

If they've already got Dragon Quest, why does it matter whether they get one of its inferior knock-offs as well?

wow

[astrokid]

This is a huge announcement, One of Japan's biggest franchises headed to the biggest handheld. The more I think about it though, the more it makes sense. Square-Enix has stated before that while it wants to support Sony it doesn't want to pour all of its development into the system. Essentially spreading the wealth to other consoles/markets.

Since the PS3 is already getting a Final Fantasy game, it's probably a little late now to bring out a new Dragon Quest game for the PS2, I can't imagine them sticking on 'waggle' functions for a Wii version and due to their current support of the Xbox360(have they released any games for the xbox360?) the DS is the best choice.

Re:wow

[sqlrob]

I think Young Yangus is already out in Japan, so it still may be released here.

Re:wow

[falcon5768]

Actually the reason a Wii one wasnt made might be because the Wii already has a Dragon Quest game coming out that SE is hoping to spin into its own series using the Wiimote.

Re:wow

[PKFC]

For the record, it is its own series now as the DQ Swords game is the second one. There was the stand alone game that plugs directly into the TV with a reflective sword that came out a couple years ago. It's sort of a remake of Dragon Quest I so maybe it doesn't count too much, but still.

Re:wow

[cybereal]

The 360 has FFXI. Also that little Square spin-off dev house Mistwalker has dropped two games, coming soon or maybe they are out already? One is Blue Dragon, and the other is Lost Odyssey.

I don't know how the financials are working these days, if it's really an independent dev house or if it's just a different name to attempt a different marketing strategy. But, the talent is directly exported from past Square projects.

Re:wow

[jdubois79]

Some other Square-Enix games, from the Nintendo website:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/software/lineup/inde x.html
Wii -- DRAGON QUEST SWORDS Spring 2007 Square Enix

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/index.html
DS -- Dragon Quest Monster Joker Dec 2006
DS -- Chocobo Magic Picture Book 12/14/2006

Re:wow

[justchris]

No, Mistwalker is a separate company formed by Hironobu Sakaguchi after he left Squaresoft (or Square-Enix as it was at the time). Blue Dragon was made with the help of Akira Toriyama and Nobuo Uematsu who always worked with Square (and Enix for that matter), but are free agents, not permanently employed by either company. Blue Dragon was released in Japan last week, and from early reports sold more Xbox 360's there than have been sold in a single week since launch. But basically, at this point, Mistwalker & Square-Enix are in direct competition. Mistwalker has 2 360 projects (Blue Dragon & Lost Odyssey), both partially funded by Microsoft, but they've already announced at least one other game (although I don't remember which system it was for. Probably DS or PS3, it wasn't Xbox 360).

Nintendo domaintes...

[Rendo]

because of it's extensive handheld games. RPG's are HUGE in Japan, and I'm personally a huge RPG fan. Another great RPG addition to the DS will further increase the divide with the PSP.

The real DQ9?

[hansamurai]

The real question is, is this the real and official Dragon Quest 9 (with no subtitle)? Square-Enix's latest craze is developing and announcing spinoff titles at the same time as the original game. Look at Final Fantasy XIII, there's the FF13 (no subtitle for the PS3), Final Fantasy Agito XIII (for the mobile phone), and Final Fantasy Versus XIII (also for the PS3). That's just one example, look how they're starting to milk Final Fantasy VII, according to Wikipedia there's something like five titles released or in development.

I am willing to bet that the "real" Dragon Quest 9 is being released on the PS3 and that Nintendo scored a one-off title and the early announcement. Either way, I'm sure the Japanese will continue to buy many millions of whatever console it is released on.

Re:The real DQ9?

[falcon5768]

FF versus XIII is for 360, not PS3.

But no this is IX proper, not a spinoff. They would never have announced a spinoff before their actual game.

Re:The real DQ9?

[ParaphiliaNOS]

I'm sure Square-Enix will follow the dollars/yen.  As RPG games increase immersion and gamers age; the graphical funfests will go console with increasing frequency and "for the people with jobs" RPGs will go handheld.

Re:The real DQ9?

[Bagels]

All of the main-line Dragon Quest games have subtitles like this (see: Dragon Quest VIII - Journey of the Cursed King, etc). And the head honcho behind the game, Yuji Horii, has stated that it's an actual factual numbered entry in the series (check http://ds.ign.com/articles/750/750590p1.html). And it's got the same Level-5 team that made DQ8.

Re:The real DQ9?

[hansamurai]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. I haven't played a DQ game since Dragon Warrior for the NES so I'm a little behind the times.

Re:The real DQ9?

[Anonymous Coward]

Way to be wrong, guy.

Final Fantasy XIII Versus is the name of the game, and it is PS3 exclusive. FF13 is PS3 exclusive as well, and FF13 Agito will be a cell phone game. The only Xbox360 game coming from Square-Enix was FFXI, a port of the PC version. Nothing since has been even hinted at for the Xbox.

Re:The real DQ9?

[Anonymous Coward]

FF versus XIII is for 360, not PS3.

If there is a mod option for -5 False, that is what I would mark your post as.

Re:The real DQ9?

[smithbp]

In TFA, it says that the title is the actual DQ IX, not a spinoff.

Re:The real DQ9?

[Anonymous Coward]

Square milking a franchise??! Say it isn't so!!

Re:The real DQ9?

[smithbp]

We reported earlier today that Square Enix would be holding a conference to announce a new Dragon Quest game, but no one quite expected the bomb shell they dropped: Dragon Quest IX, the next sequel in the officially numbered series and not a spin-off, will be arriving on the Nintendo DS. - from Article

Re:The real DQ9?

[kai.chan]

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is NOT for 360. Notice that at the end of this trailer, there is a big Playstation 3 logo? Due to the complete lack of popularity of the Xbox360 in Japan, it is pretty much guaranteed that no big-budget spin-offs of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, let alone the main series, will appear on the Xbox360.

Re:The real DQ9?

[SuperMog2002]

I'm pretty sure Dragon Quest VIII is the only one with a subtitle. That being said, you're right in that they have had mainline games with subtitles.

Re:The real DQ9?

[Garse Janacek]

Actually, that isn't the real question, as I quote from the first paragraph of TFA:

"Dragon Quest IX, the next sequel in the officially numbered series and not a spin-off, will be arriving on the Nintendo DS."

I know, I know, Ring TFA isn't what we do around here, but if you're going to say this is the real question, you could at least take the 15 seconds required to check the answer...

Re:The real DQ9?

[masklinn]

Not Square here, Enix (even though one bougth the other one, they don't mess with each other business).

It's also consistent with DQ's principles: release the main (numbered) games on the most successful console of the generation period

Re:The real DQ9?

[Anonymous Coward]

In Japan, every Dragon Quest game from the second onward had a subtitle. Prior to 8, the subtitles were dropped from the overseas titles, along with "Dragon Quest" being changed to "Dragon Warrior".

Re:The real DQ9?

[Whitemage12380]

Ahh. Thanks for clearing THAT up. I'm not sure why I didn't know that Dragon Warrior was always a moniker for Dragon Quest. I've always been sitting here with Dragon Warrior (the first one, still have it!) and wondering when it changed.

Re:The real DQ9?

[geminidomino]

When Dragon Warrior came out, another company had the trademark on Dragon Quest in the US. Apparently, at some point before DQ8 was released, they either reached a deal, or the trademark expired.

DS.. more like BS

[Micklewhite]

I haven't actually played any dragon quest games.. ever so I can't pass judgement.
I've found lately though Nintendo's been going through all its games and making them un-fun. It's like 'hey! instead of doing a game similar to the extremely popular starfox 64 let's change the format to include a totally lame strategy element! Ha people will love that!'
or 'Hey instead of making a new fun mario platformer, let's make a mediochre mario platformer, and release a mario basketball game! Haha! That'll be so great!'
or 'Hey, let's re-release dig dug on the DS! Remember Dig Dig? What no? Oh well someone made an obscene mod for it once. Yeah that's the one! Haha! People will love it!'
OR 'HEY! Let's re-re-release animal crossing for the DS, everybody loves paying off massive debts, it's just like life. Get up go to work all day long, put up with stupid assholes who don't have anything interesting to talk about! Hahah! It'll be totally great!'

Re:DS.. more like BS

[Aladrin]

I'm sure the mods had a hard time deciding between troll and flamebait on this one, but I'm gonna bite anyhow.

Nintendo actually takes the time (and risk) to develop different things for their series, instead of releasing the same old crap with a bit of spit and polish. Yes, that means they come out with crap some of the time. It means they will piss off people that wanted more of the same. But it also means fresh games and innovation. I'll take the latter, thanks.

If you don't LIKE the games, you are perfectly free to not buy them. You don't even have to buy the console for them. You can just let the rest of us who DO enjoy new stuff play them instead. In 10 years, if Nintendo is dead, then you can gloat and say 'I predicted their demise in a troll thread on Slashdot!' I doubt you'll get the chance, though.

Re:DS.. more like BS

[Erwos]

Is this some kind of joke? I played Mario Kart DS, and it was practically the same frigging game I played on my SNES! Ditto for New Super Mario Brothers - it's a fun game, but has practically no innovation (it's a pale shadow of SMB3) sans "big huge Mario mode", which isn't all that much. Not to mention that they've been re-releasing old games under new titles for how long now? While I haven't played it, one of the major criticisms of Twilight Princess was that it felt like every other modern Zelda game.

Nintendo makes fun games, but they're nowhere near being a pure font of innovation, and, if anything, they've gotten worse in recent years. A new controller with the old game does not mean it's a new game!

Re:DS.. more like BS

[MemoryDragon]

I actually like the strategy element, and btw. you can expect from nintendo to try new things once in a while, most of the times they are right on, but sometimes they fail. Btw. the strategy element should have been in one of the early Starfox games, which was axed due to the pending N64 release, so it is not really new, it just never made it into a published game. The strategy element is excellent, the time limits are the problem of Starfox DS.

Re:DS.. more like BS

[drinkypoo]

Is this some kind of joke? I played Mario Kart DS, and it was practically the same frigging game I played on my SNES!

Right, because Mario Kart for the SNES ran on a handheld and supported 8 player network play.

Oh, wait, it didn't.

Nintendo makes fun games, but they're nowhere near being a pure font of innovation, and, if anything, they've gotten worse in recent years. A new controller with the old game does not mean it's a new game!

No, but a new kind of controller is innovation. And this is new. Oh, it's not the first 3d controller, or even the first one from nintendo. It is however the first affordable 3d controller that is not a gimmick like the power glove or the space orb.

Re:DS.. more like BS

[Micklewhite]

I have every god damned right to say whatever the hell I want about whatever games I buy for my DS. They're MY opinions. Video games are a form of entertainment. We're not talking about religion or politics here.

God almighty.

Re:DS.. more like BS

[Erwos]

"Right, because Mario Kart for the SNES ran on a handheld and supported 8 player network play."

Neither of these two improvements could be classified as innovative - they're just obvious evolution. Upping the player count? WOW! Running on a handheld, just like Mario Kart Super Circuit for GBA did? I DON'T BELIEVE IT!

Again, no one's saying Mario Kart DS is not fun - hell, I was just playing it last night, and I had a great time. But Nintendo has been relying more and more on rehashes rather than new IPs, and it's starting to wear thin. Thus, I attacked the premise of "oh, Nintendo always innovates, unlike the other guys", because I don't perceive it to be true, and I think this perception is reasonably backed-up by their recent releases.

Re:DS.. more like BS

[Aladrin]

So the other troll's problem was that they changed games too much, and your problem is that they don't change games enough.

Let me help both of you: You're talking about different games.

Nintendo doesn't release 1 or 2 games a years. They release tons. Some of them are the same (New Super Mario Brothers) and some are completely different (Metroid Prime). Some are similar in feel and mechanics, but different in plot (Twilight Princess). They also have completely new and innovative games (Pikmin).

Re:DS.. more like BS

[scot4875]

If that's what you believe, then just because you haven't been playing the more innovative titles doesn't mean that they aren't out there.

Off the top of my head, from the Gamecube generation, Nintendo developed and/or published:

Luigi's Mansion
Pikmin
Metroid Prime
Eternal Darkness
Geist
Zelda: 4 Swords
Pac Man Vs.

I'm sure there are others I've forgotten. And I'll be the first to admit that Wave Race, Smash Bros: Melee, Mario Sunshine, Zelda: Wind Waker, 1080 Avalanche, the Mario Party line, F Zero GX, and Mario Kart, along with anything else I failed to list, are basically updated rehashes. In addition to the update, they generally make substantial improvements and refinements to the genres (Mario Party excepted. Fun, but seriously, bleh. I don't need detailed instructions and hand-holding every time I try to get through the MENU system -- Hudson Soft needs to be fired.)

And how many original genres did Microsoft invent last gen? Sony?

It's impossible to make every game completely original, and unreasonable to expect it of a publisher like Nintendo. However, they do regularly give us a good dose of new things to try.

--Jeremy

Re:DS.. more like BS

[7Prime]

Right, because Mario Kart for the SNES ran on a handheld and supported 8 player network play.

Furthermore, Mario Kart DS is NOTHING like Super Mario Kart (SNES). I think what you're thinking of is Mario Kart 64; the engine, of which, MKDS is based off of. And I will agree, Mario Kart DS, except for a few minor changes, is basically Mario Kart 64, with a new (and bigger) level set, and WiFi capabilities. That said, it was a very very welcome addition to the handheld game lineup, whether or not it was innovative (which I would agree, it wasn't). It was little more than a port of a really great game to a system that badly needed a port of it.

Similarly, Mario Kart Advance was based off the Super Mario Kart engine (with some minor changes), was a welcome addition... but a bit behind the times (Mode 7 died a horrible death at the hands of Star Fox, and had no need of returning).

The problem was Mario Kart Double Dash, which wasn't that bad of a game, but wasn't recieved too well, and basically just kept the same graphics, upped the polygon count, and really screwed with the gameplay (they were trying to be innovative, I'll give them that). Sadly, people would have been happier with Mario Kart 64 II, without the "2-seater" element, just a new level set andup-to-date graphics. They got it with Mario Kart DS.

Let's be fair, Mario Kart is not exactly Nintendo's "super innovative, OMG, you can't do that on a console!" series... leave that to Mario, Zelda, WarioWare, Smash, and some of their other games. No, Mario Kart is just a silly waste of time, fun as all hell, party game. It's a racing game... IE: just give me more courses, and I'm happy.

Re:DS.. more like BS

[LKM]

I played Mario Kart DS, and it was practically the same frigging game I played on my SNES!

Possibly because the more innovative Double Dash wasn't received as well as Nintendo hoped. Same applies to Zelda: Wind Waker was probably too fresh, so Nintendo took a step back. And yeah, the new DS Mario is a total fan service: Great game, not too much new stuff, just what people wanted.

So you picked the three games with the least amount of innovation. Doesn't mean that what grandparent said isn't true.

Re:DS.. more like BS

[Micklewhite]

There ya go

Not too surprising

[dancingmad]

While this announcement is a little surprising, considering the massive popularity of both the DS and Dragon Quest in Japan (believe me, I was there when 8 came out plus purchased my white phat DS and DS Lite there). They're going to make a fortune on this one, as everyone and their mother has a DS for one reason or another, and we might see DQ becoming more of a Nintendo franchise (don't forget that DQ: Slime Mori Mori was a big game for the DS, DQ: Monsters Joker is also coming out for the DS and there is also a game planned for the Wii) and Final Fantasy remaining a largely (aside from the DS games and Crystal Chronicles) a Playstation affair.

I am curious to see how they evolve the art style for 9 on the DS; 8 is still sitting on my "to play" pile of games, but from what I've seen it's pretty good looking. I'd hate to see a step backwards.

Re:Not too surprising

[Breakfast Pants]

I am curious to see how they evolve the art style for 9 on the DS; 8 is still sitting on my "to play" pile of games, but from what I've seen it's pretty good looking. I'd hate to see a step backwards. The article contains screenshots...

DS + Wii?

[dispatch]

So for the part mentioning Crystal Chronicles, I wonder is it just for the DS or will it be like the first and be a combination b/t DS and Wii (a la Gamecube and GBA)? (sorry, I couldn't rtfa, guess it got /.ed)

Re:DS + Wii?

[ParaphiliaNOS]

Possibly, but the DS already has what the GBA was missing: Wifi connectivity.  Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates is a 1-4 player game via the wifi.  The Cube game was console with optional GBA controllers so the development of this native DS game will follow a different structure.  (4p Console + 4x GBA versus 4x DS)

Action Battle System?

[SoapDish]

I'm worried about the action battle system. I've always prefered the turn based approach, even though Star Ocean was pretty cool.

The other thing that concerns me is co-op play. Will this limit the experience for those of us who don't have friends who like to get together and play video RPG's?

Re:Action Battle System?

[ParaphiliaNOS]

Unless content is hobbled like Final Fantasy III DS (Core content OK, only remake specific 'hidden content') than it should be fine.  The GC version held up pretty well with only one player.  (And sometimes a computer controlled ally is FASTER healing you than a friend.)

Re:Action Battle System?

[marshallbanana6]

You make a good point: many of us don't have friends! Oh noes! XD

More coverage at GamesAreFun

[Daetrin]

There's another article at GamesAreFun which includes links to some gameplay footage and other tidbits.

Re:More coverage at GamesAreFun

[PKFC]

Yeah that's a link I included in the original story along with your basic links to SE and Level 5. Surprised no one has jumped on it saying the subtitle is actually closer to "Defenders of the Sky" or "Defenders of the Starry Sky" (depends who you ask atm). It was written last night right before bed as soon as I could piece it all together. I got some stuff like the DQ Arcade game from Famitsu's blog directly, most of which is on their main page now. Surprised most english news sites have no idea about the Arcade game...

Re:More coverage at GamesAreFun

[ParaphiliaNOS]

I was thinking about jumping on it but it's a pedantic point.  Hoshizora is the combination of two kanji.  Hoshi, which means star, and sora, which means sky.  (The 's' gets palatalized to 'z' per common convention.  Perhaps you've seen a sushi menu regular such as inarizushi.)

The arcade game is nothing to get excited about as it's a derivative work.  A few 'game' sites have already covered it.

Re: Yamauchi vs. SquareSoft

[trdrstv]

Square began supporting Nintendo again when Bandai's Wonderswan Color/Crystal began losing traction in Japan and the Advance was the clear handheld winner.

Actually there was never a threat there. Square started supporting Nintendo when Yamauchi stepped down, and Iwata became president of Nintendo. There was real bad blood from the N64 / PS1 years, and Yamauchi didn't WANT Sqaure properties on Nintendo platforms. Iwata basically made amends, and Square began supporting Nintendo again with the GBA.

What is Squenix thinking?

[Pluvius]

DQ9 is the next main-line game of one of their biggest franchises, one of the most popular video-game franchises in Japan, and they put it on a portable? I don't care how popular the DS is, it's still a portable, and it can't offer the same technical power of any of the new console systems. It'd be one thing if Dragon Quest was still known to have crappy graphics, but DQ8 changed that. This move just makes Squenix look opportunist, not caring about the continuity and reputation of its games as long as it can make a quick buck. (We already knew that to be the case, but still.)

Rob

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[ParaphiliaNOS]

Just a quick question if you're still around.  I hypothesized in my comment http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=211356&c id=17209084 that this was a good move because it's growing up with their gamers.

1)    How much time do you devote a day to console games?
2)    How much time do you devote a day to handheld games?
3)    How much total free time a day could you devote to a console, if you wanted to?

What's more important, graphics and sound or gameplay?

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[Pluvius]

1. Including emulation? Probably a few hours a day, more or less depending on how interesting the game is.

2. However much free time I have at work that I don't feel like spending (or am unable to spend) on other things such as reading and surfing the Interwebs. I don't play portable games at home since I have no reason to, and I don't usually play them elsewhere outside of home because I tend to be busy doing other things.

3. If I wanted to, I could spend as much time as possible until I fell asleep. But that's not what you're asking, is it? The question is silly (and, quite frankly, insulting) because in context it implies that people who are unemployed and living on someone else's dime are in that situation simply because they're immature. (You also suggest that only immature people play console games and mature people play portable games, but that's not nearly as offensive.)

Gameplay is obviously the most important part to a game; that's why we call them "games." The fact that DQ9 will certainly have graphics of a lower quality than what is expected of a modern console RPG is not the crux of my complaint. The problem is the fact that Squenix has once again made a decision that short-sightedly looks to the bottom line without any consideration of how appropriate the decision is in context. Another example of this is making FFXI an MMORPG despite the fact that MMORPGs are very different stylistically from the rest of the series and are certainly not what people expect out of a mainline Final Fantasy game. And I don't even have to mention the FF7 spinoffs.

Oh, and quit it with the teletype; it's ugly.

Rob

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[ParaphiliaNOS]

Sample size 1.
1. Console
Emulation only: few hours.

2. Handheld
At work but not at home or outside of home.

3. Total available time
No limits.

4. Graphics or Gameplay
Gameplay and suitability/appropriateness of platform.

5. Externals
"The question is silly (and, quite frankly, insulting) because in context it implies that people who are unemployed and living on someone else's dime are in that situation simply because they're immature. (You also suggest that only immature people play console games and mature people play portable games, but that's not nearly as offensive.)"
I was not implying that unemployed console players are immature. I am implying that my family structure doesn't allow me a solid 1-2 hour block of time for a fulfilling console experience and was questioning how my position scales to the population. I can't even find the time to install GRUB on my external HD to get a Kubuntu CD image booting with permanence because award bios beeps every time I change the configuation (Which wakes the baby).

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[HeavenlyBankAcct]

I actually kind of see the point that the Courier guy is making here. I recieved a DS as a gift earlier this year and enjoyed it a lot. I played casually and I thought it was a neat gadget. Since I've moved from a small town to a thriving metropolis, I spend a lot of time on public transit and I've been loving my DS in ways I never knew possible. I think different people are going to be playing games for different reasons, but for those of us with 9-to-5's, handheld gaming is many ways more feasible. When I come home from work, I rarely have time to justify sitting around and play console games, but handhelds are great because it's easy to sneak a bit of play time in between more 'pressing' events.

So if a game company is going to release a game in a series held near-and-dear to the hearts of a lot of 'retro gamers', why not release it in a format that's more compatible with a 'grown up' lifestyle? I can't count how many traditionally 'respectable individuals' I see every day playing DS on the trains.

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[Pluvius]

When I come home from work, I rarely have time to justify sitting around and play console games, but handhelds are great because it's easy to sneak a bit of play time in between more 'pressing' events.

That's mainly a function of the portable games, not the portable systems. There's no reason why a "quickie" game can't be on a console, and in fact there are a few of them. They usually aren't seen on consoles, though, because the market for those games is on portable systems. By the same token, the market for epic console RPGs that are certainly not "pick up and play" is on the consoles. There's no reason to expect that DQ9 will have the same type of gameplay that games from series that were meant for portable systems have. And even if DQ9's gameplay will be like that, then that means that there will be massive differences between it and the rest of the series. (We already know about the whole "cooperative action-RPG" break from the other games.)

Rob

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[justchris]

They are thinking, "We are making this for the Japanese market where the DS is outselling all other consoles combined by 2:1 every week, and the reason DQ outsells FF every single time certainly isn't because of the graphics."

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[Breakfast Pants]

"They usually aren't seen on consoles, though, because the market for those games is on portable systems."

It has more to do with the fact that most people don't want to drop $60 on a 'quickie' game.

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[Pluvius]

I wasn't aware that the games on XBox Live Arcade, for example, were $60 each. There are a lot of reasons why the market is on portable systems, but development costs don't factor in nearly as much as the fact that portables can be taken anywhere, or the fact that portables have traditionally been much weaker than consoles, making huge blockbuster games unfeasible.

Rob

Re:What is Squenix thinking?

[Breakfast Pants]

Don't compare conventionally published 3d games to 2d games on XBox Live Arcade so lightly. All you do is conflate several issues--games on the arcade have less visibility at present, and when you buy a game on there, you can't later sell it, or take it to a friend's house. Both of these things incidentally have nothing to do with 2d and work to invalidate any comparisons you might make.

Re: Yamauchi vs. SquareSoft

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually there was never a threat there. Square started supporting Nintendo when Yamauchi stepped down, and Iwata became president of Nintendo. There was real bad blood from the N64 / PS1 years, and Yamauchi didn't WANT Sqaure properties on Nintendo platforms. Iwata basically made amends, and Square began supporting Nintendo again with the GBA.

Interesting.

Also as a side-note, Square was aquired by Enix, so it's not really Square returning to the Nintendo world so much as Enix, under its new name Square-Enix, releasing new titles for the Nintendo systems with its Square assets.

Either way, I'm happy to see more of my favorite games come out (hey, my first RPG was Dragon Warrior [Quest] and my second was Final Fantasy). I do sometimes worry about very-large companys' capacity to make the most puzzling (usually moronic) of decisions. Anyway, I'm glad to see Nintendo's return to a company that makes me excited to play games again.

--Dave Romig, Jr.

Re: Yamauchi vs. SquareSoft

[ParaphiliaNOS]

I agree with trdrstv; I had forgotten about the corporate side.  I was one of the 7% wonderswan marketshare who laughed at those GBA people who couldn't replay FFI/II, Saga, and a few Square originals(Wildcard, Bluewing Blitz, etc) so I admit a bias and blindspot.  At 7% wonderswan wasn't a threat but it sure was an easy marketshare aquisition to Nintendo; bring over Square and Bandai as developers and it's yours.

Re: Yamauchi vs. SquareSoft

[HappySqurriel]

There's a little bit more to that aswell ... Square lost a lot of money on Final Fantasy the movie and Iwata approached Square about how inexpensive game development was for the GBA and how (with Nintendo's help) they could make cheap games for the Gamecube; Final Fantasy: Chrystal Cronicles was a game made by a joint venture between Square that was funded by Fund Q (the new studio fund produced by Yamauchi when he steped down).

Why not the PSP?

[FarFromHomefish]

I have to admit that I am so surprised by the strong developer support for the DS over the PSP. As of November 30th, 2006, DS had sold about 26 million units, while the PSP had sold about 22 million units (worldwide, source: Wikipedia) - not that much of a installed base discrepancy. Furthermore, the PSP is, at first impression, a more desirable machine - despite the higher cost, it has (by comparison) lovely graphics abilities, and far more storage. Sure, it has loading time issues, but these could certainly be fixable if the developers were willing to address them (of course, I haven't worked for the PSP, so perhaps that's more difficult than I make it sound). Why the strong developer support for the DS, then?

Re:Why not the PSP?

[DrEldarion]

Pretty simple - the DS is more popular in Japan, where the most people will be buying DQ games.

Re:Why not the PSP?

[Whyte Panther]

Wikipedia seems to have the sales numbers for the Original DS (26.82 million as of Sept 30, 2006) and the DS Lite (26.8 million as of Nov 30, 2006) separate. They are not the same, as the breakdown of regions are quite different. So in total the DS has outsold the PSP by about 2 to 1.

Re:Why not the PSP?

[KDR_11k]

The game sales are much different though (not to mention that the current weekly sales of the DS in Japan are MUCH higher than the PSP's, in fact it regularly outsells all other systems combined). The DS has several titles that sold over 3 million units in Japan alone while the PSP doesn't have one. Also the PSP has limited battery life (which can't be good for a 40+ hour game) and Square Enix already said they don't want to hand Sony a monopoly. The DS regularly fills the majority of the top ten sales chart as well so it's reasonable to assume DQIX will sell more on the DS than the PSP.

Re:Why not the PSP?

[HappySqurriel]

As of November 30th, 2006, DS had sold about 26 million units, while the PSP had sold about 22 million units (worldwide, source: Wikipedia) - not that much of a installed base discrepancy.

I could be wrong but I believe those are shipped numbers for the PSP vs. sold numbers for the Nintendo DS. The reason for this is that vgcharts.org tracks North American and Japaneese sales and has the DS at about 21.25 Million sold in these regions (8,497,000[NA] + 12,809,750[J]) with the PSP at about 11 Million units (6,460,500 [NA] + 4,457,000[J]); basically, I doubt 9 Million PSPs were sold in Europe if only 5.75 Million Nintendo DS' were sold being that the PSP launched much later in Europe and has been reported to be far less popular.

Furthermore, the PSP is, at first impression, a more desirable machine - despite the higher cost, it has (by comparison) lovely graphics abilities, and far more storage. Sure, it has loading time issues, but these could certainly be fixable if the developers were willing to address them (of course, I haven't worked for the PSP, so perhaps that's more difficult than I make it sound). Why the strong developer support for the DS, then?

The DS love (from developers) comes largely because of the larger install base [in particular in Japan ~ 3 DS to 1 PSP), the better software tie-in ration [in particular in Japan ~3.5 pieces of software per DS to 1.75 pieces of software per PSP), and the much lower development costs of the Nintendo DS; in essence, if you are developing a game for Japaneese gamers you can spend 1/4 as much developing a DS game and are likely going to sell twice as many copies as a PSP game.

Re:Why not the PSP?

[MemoryDragon]

Easy, stronger game buy rate, many psp owners simply have bought it to play emus and shy new software due to firmware updates which close the homebrew hole. The games are way less expensive to develop for and the controller interface opens possibilities formerly only being possible with a mouse. Btw. the sales numbers have been corrected by others I do not comment on them.

Nintendo and Enix are in bed 2gether now.

[Warlock7]

I came to the conclusion that the Wii-mote is really just an enhanced and repackaged Kenshin Dragon Quest sword some time ago. I believe that Nintendo and Square-Enix got into an agreement which gives Nintendo the rights to Square's patented technology for the Wii. This also allows for Square-Enix to exclusively develop for Nintendo too since they're using the Square technology in the Wii-mote.

This change from Sony to Nintendo seems to fit into the whole concept rather well.

For those of us..

[marshallbanana6]

who never particularly cared for the most recent Dragon Quest games, this game looks so much different that it should definitely be worth checking out. I am quite excited about the concept myself!

Yay!

[seebs]

I've been playing DQ8 on the PS2 some, but the DS is what I have with me everywhere I go.

Re: Yamauchi vs. SquareSoft

[Grey Ninja]

That's a load of crock. It was money out of Yamauchi's pocket that funded Square's return to Nintendo, via the Game Designer's Studio. It wasn't his stepping down that allowed Square to develop for Nintendo systems again. It was the public apology from Square for their actions during the N64/PSX era, and the demotion of their officers.

Basically, Square flooded the consumers with anti-Nintendo propaganda, and publicly stated that they would never develop for a Nintendo system again, during the FF7 promotions. There is also a rumour that Square convinced Enix to move Dragon Quest to Playstation, costing Nintendo BIG TIME. Nintendo took a huge loss in sales over the incident, and held a grudge against Square for years.

Square started to feel the pain as well when the GBA came out. It was a PERFECT system for them to develop for. They could port many of their old games to it, and make tonnes of money. In addition, the FF Movie bombed big time, and Square was in TROUBLE. They really had no choice but to bite the bullet and give Nintendo their apology, to gain permission to develop for the handheld. A side effect of the deal was a Final Fantasy game for GameCube.