Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

[Waylander]

I'm looking forward to this. I've never played a DQ game before. I hope it gets released outside Japan.

[Domstercool]

It will do. Dragon Quest 8 was awesome and quite popular in USA.

[Dante]

DQ9 Video.

[James McGeachie]

Incredible. My interest in this game has skyrocketed.

[darksnowman]

Just checked out the video, looks fantastic... and thats an understatement it looks like its time for me to get my first Dragon Quest game, and doesnt it look like its gonna be a corker!

[James McGeachie]

larger version of video

[mcj metroid]

im dying for a good new ds game.So There is every chance the game will come here then?

[immy]

im dying for a good new ds game.So There is every chance the game will come here then?

 

definately

[Dante]

It is funny that more 3rd party games go to PSP than DS.

[James McGeachie]

Is that really the reality now? I haven't been paying much attention to the PSP scene but it seems to me like the PSP gets a lot more ports where as the DS gets a lot more exclusive platform specific titles. For example, the PSP is getting a port of FF: Tactics and the DS is getting Tactics Advance 2.

 

I think if the PSP is still getting more third party titles though it's mainly because most developers can't think of great ideas good enough to make the big selling titles Nintendo achieve on DS, but on the other hand they can make visuals good enough to get a "moderate" selling title on the PSP. The reality is very, very few third party titles have done well on the DS and the ones that have sold well have mainly been big name franchise sequels.

[Teppo Holmqvist]

I think if the PSP is still getting more third party titles though it's mainly because most developers can't think of great ideas good enough to make the big selling titles Nintendo achieve on DS, but on the other hand they can make visuals good enough to get a "moderate" selling title on the PSP

 

Even having moderate sales is starting to be hard with PSP. NPD's November sales show that best PSP selling game sold only 100 000 copies during the last month. That's rather poor considering that November is sales-wise most active month in whole year. It's rather interesting how low sales are when you also consider that Sony sold over 500 000 PSP's during the same time period.

[Dante]

SCANS.

 

[James McGeachie]

So it turns out Japanese gamers aren't happy about this decision. I'm not surprised to be honest since not only would most Dragon Quest fans probably be anticipating a graphical update over 8, the DS isn't really the system of "hardcore" gamers so to speak in Japan either. It sells incredibly well, but almost all of the sales are attributed to people who want to play Brain Training, Nintendogs or Pokemon.

 

Found at GoNintendo.com

 

http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/001480.html

 

Does Dragon Quest IX coming to the DS make you happy?

 

40.3% - Yes

46% - No

5.2% - Neither

8.5% - Not sure

 

Do you like the idea of the series changing to action-based battles?

 

6.8% - Neither yes or no

19.9% - Not sure

19.4% - Yes

53.9% - No

 

(Question asked to retailers) Does Dragon Quest IX coming to DS make you happy?

 

47.5% - Yes

22.5% - Neither yes or no

10% - Not sure

20% - No

 

(Question asked to retailers) Do you like the idea of the series changing to action-based battles?

 

15% - Yes

32.4% - Not sure

12.5% - Neither yes or no

40% - No

 

[mcj metroid]

i've said it beofre and i'll say it again.Japanese are just like us except have an even MORE one sided taste in games .look at all the classics that don't sell as well as some lesser games.

[Domstercool]

It's understandable really. While I'd be happy for a game in a series I liked to come out on any console. I would like to have it on a home system if that is what it had been on so long. I think people think of it as going backwards rather than going forward. Less quality sound, speech, graphics. Stuff like really can affect RPGs.

 

There's no doubt it will be a good game, but I do wonder what will happen now Square-Enix have heard of this.

[Stocka]

Everyone in japan will still buy it and love it regardless

[James McGeachie]

Well there's a good chance if they realise over half of their fanbase don't approve that they could end up cancelling the project.

[Hellfire]

Japanese are too stuck on turn based battles.

[Flaight]

Japanese are too stuck on turn based battles.

Slower paced games always did better in Japan, like RPGs and strategy games. In contrast all games you could find in Snes/Genesis days here in the UK were action games. Japanese seem to enjoy a patient, slow paced games where they can dip themselves in the world and experience a long term immersion in the story. Action element, if too dominant or frantic, don't help.

 

Like, 1st person shooter don't do well at all in Japan. Even adventure based Metroid doesn't do as well there. And for the record, jap game stores have thrice as many RPGs out for PS1 and 2 than in the UK. Hard to believe, but it says a lot about the difference in supply & demand. And MS was surprised that 360 wasn't doing well there lol. Do more research on gaming habits, I say!

 

Another thing to bear in mind is that people (anywhere) don't like a big change, and DQ was famous for its turn battles. So, maybe fans aren't too happy.

[Stocka]

Slower paced games always did better in Japan, like RPGs and strategy games. In contrast all games you could find in Snes/Genesis days here in the UK were action games. Japanese seem to enjoy a patient, slow paced games where they can dip themselves in the world and experience a long term immersion in the story. Action element, if too dominant or frantic, don't help.

I'm like that. Prefer to immerse myself in a deep epic jRPG anyday rather than play a really frantic game. Saying that though, I do still love many action games, as it's all about balance, but I feel i'm more of a japanese gamer than a western.

[Fierce_LiNk]

i've said it beofre and i'll say it again.Japanese are just like us except have an even MORE one sided taste in games .look at all the classics that don't sell as well as some lesser games.

 

I think I'm going to have to agree with you there.

 

Take a look at the 360, for example. Since the release of Blue Dragon, sales have been going up, and the system is doing ok. When I say that, I mean better than it usually does.

 

How to make the 360 a success in Japan?

 

Over-saturate it with RPGs.

[Teppo Holmqvist]

So it turns out Japanese gamers aren't happy about this decision. I'm not surprised to be honest since not only would most Dragon Quest fans probably be anticipating a graphical update over 8, the DS isn't really the system of "hardcore" gamers so to speak in Japan either.

 

Well, as I said before, Famitsu's readers hardly represent japanese gamer at all. This is fairly evident, for example, when you look Famitsu's readers most wanted list. Most games that rank highly in that list don't do that well in actual retail market. And what comes to changes, Famitsu's readers weren't happy with FFXII's changes. Still it sold much better than FFX*.

 

And what comes Dragon Quest's sales numbers, whole series is in "crisis". Each title has sold less than it predecessor, and Dragon Quest VIII sold "only" 3.2 million copies worldwide. It's not big surprise that Square-Enix is trying to do something drastic to rejuvenate the series.

 

* Game that Famitsu's readership ranked greatest game ever on their TOP-100 list.

[Domstercool]

Thing is though FF12 didn't go backwards in technology. It was still on the same system. So it had all the awesome voices, cutscenes and so on.

 

According to Wiki. FF12 didn't sell as much as FF10 did.

 

"Final Fantasy XII sold 1,764,266 copies on its first week in Japan, almost equaling the sales of Final Fantasy X in its first week"

 

"Final Fantasy X's reception was largely positive, with high sales figures and critical acclaim from the gaming industry. The game sold 90% of its initial 2,140,000-unit shipment — 1,926,000 units"

 

"Final Fantasy X became the first PlayStation 2 game to reach sales totals of 2 million and 4 million copies.[36][37] Once among the top twenty best-selling console games of all time, as of March 2006, the game's consistent sales have earned it the position of the second best-selling Final Fantasy game. As of July 2006, the game has been rated the US market's 11th best selling game of the 21st century,[38] and was nominated for the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards for animation and console role-playing game of the year in 2003."

[Flaight]

Thing is though FF12 didn't go backwards in technology. It was still on the same system. So it had all the awesome voices, cutscenes and so on.

You are implying that DQ9 is "going backward in technology"? If so that's a good point, and a friend and I had a big debate about that last week. In conclusion tho, we felt that it may work out rather nicely. DQ series isn't FF series in design concept. DQ isn't meant to have "all the awesome voices, cutscenes and so on" as its focus was on subjective experiences rather than objective theatricality. In various threads I briefly skimmed over the detail about this philosophical difference between the 2 series, as it's a common myth in the west that FF and DQ are trying to achieve the same thing.

 

But anyway, still I think it is a valid point that "going backward" in technology is bound to raise a few eyebrows, especially from those who prefer FF design philosophy. So it's anyone's guess if it's the right move for DQ series. If I had any say in it, I'd say it is a good move just for the sake of giving DQ a chance to come back to its roots.

[Stocka]