New Dragon Quest Remakes Coming

Square Enix planning something before DQIX's release.
by Anoop Gantayat

May 23, 2007 - Square Enix has been upping the remake count of late,
with, at last count, two billion Final Fantasy remakes appearing on
various platforms. So, you might be wondering, if they're willing to
remake all the older Final Fantasy games, why aren't they doing the
same for the Dragon Quest series?

According to the online version of Japan's Mainichi Shimbun, CEO
Yoichi Wada managed to answer that very question (even though it
wasn't asked!) at a Square Enix financial briefing in Tokyo today.
Asked about release plans for Dragon Quest IX during the Q&A session
that followed the briefing, Wada said, "This summer, we'll release
Battle Road in arcades and Sword for the Wii. Following that, we're
thinking of a release for 9 once we've released remake versions and so
forth."

He didn't get into specifics on what entries in the series the company
is looking to remake, nor did he refer to a specific system. The last
DQ remake, DQV, sold over a million copies on the PS2.

And as for that mysterious "so-forth," it's possible that Wada was
referring to off-shoots. Itadaki Street DS could fall into that
category, as it features Dragon Quest characters.

Despite strong potential for a remake to turn into a blockbuster, it's
doubtful that anything will be able to beat the noise generated by
DQIX itself. During the Q&A, someone asked Wada about the planned
price for DQIX, noting that some have suggested that the game could
end up selling three times as many copies as DQVIII. In response, Wada
would not comment on sales targets, nor would he offer a specific
price point.

We'll point out that selling three times that of DQVIII would make
DQIX Japan's best selling videogame ever with sales of over 11 million
units.


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